He Is for Us

Text: Mark 9:38-50

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

          I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about hiking and camping lately. Especially as we begin our Trail Life troop here and prepare for our first troop camping trip this coming weekend. I think about all the high peaks of the Adirondacks that I’ve been able to climb and then enjoy the view from. I think about the top of Mount Washington in New Hampshire and having to hold on so I wouldn’t be blown away, even on a “calm” day. And then I think about all those trails I’ve been on and all the forks in the road I’ve taken. And strangely enough, one of the first things that comes to my mind is all the roots I’ve tripped on. Being on the trail is a great thing, but the path isn’t always smooth. And I have more than a few times found myself lunging forward trying to keep my balance after catching my toe on a tree root, or a rock that chose that very moment to jut out of the ground under my foot. Whether it’s the trail that gets you to the top of the mountain, or just the path you’re walking in life, stumbling blocks are a reality you have to deal with.

Sometimes they’re inanimate like the ones I trip over. But often they’re not. I still remember, from my days in business, the names and faces of a few people who always seemed to be stumbling blocks to cooperation, teamwork, and even truth telling. At least that’s how I saw them at the time. I can too easily name and very quickly blame people, events, and circumstances that have tripped me up, interfered in my life, or kept me from getting what I wanted. Stumbling blocks. And my guess is that you each could name a few of your own. You could probably tell some stories about the stumbling blocks in your life. But rehashing those stories and reliving those moments does us no good when what God really wants for us is to

FOCUS NOT ON WHO OR WHAT IS AGAINST US, BUT RATHER WHO IS FOR US.

Today’s gospel gives us an account of John and the other disciples running into a stumbling block, an outsider. “John said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”

John doesn’t say that this guy interfered with the disciples’ work, that he had a different purpose, or that he opposed them. He simply says, “He was not following us.” Never mind that the guy was casting out demons in Jesus’ name. He was not one of them, and that seems to be their stumbling point.

I don’t know what that meant for John and the other disciples, but I do know that today our stumbling blocks when it comes to others can come in many forms. They don’t look or dress like us. They don’t speak or act like us. They affiliate with a different political party. They don’t think or believe like us. Maybe they just don’t do things the way we like them to be done. If any of those things are the case, he or she is not following us. Whatever it was for John and the disciples, they felt threatened by this guy. He was casting out demons, alleviating oppression, offering a new life, all in the name of Jesus. And the chances are that this guy was getting a name, and status, and recognition.

Last week we heard the disciples arguing among themselves about who is the greatest. Today they’re complaining about this other guy, this stumbling block to their own status, power, and recognition. I think there’s a strong connection here to the lesson we heard last week. Do you remember how that ended? It ended with Jesus taking a child into his arms and saying, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but Him who sent me.”

Today’s gospel is really just the continuation of that account. Jesus and the disciples are still in the same house. It’s likely that same child is still on Jesus’ lap. And Jesus is still helping those disciples to see the inward focus they’ve developed and start to curve it outward and upward.

John, however, wants to make the conversation about this other guy, this stumbling block. “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” Isn’t that what we often do or want to do with our stumbling blocks? We need to point them out. Remember those tree roots that I always trip over on the trail. I’m for sure going to let you know how big they were. And how impossible it would have been for me to get by without falling over them. Even if the truth is that there were probably times when I actually tripped over my own feet. But our nature is to draw lines in the sand, to divide into us and them, and to call out those stumbling blocks that have caused us to fall. Or are standing in front of us preventing us from getting where we want to go. It happens all the time. We’ve all been John, pointing out what and who are against us.

Jesus, however, takes a different approach. He erases the lines that we draw. He isn’t so concerned about the other person who causes us to stumble. His concern is for us, and it’s twofold. First, Jesus is concerned about whether we’ve become a stumbling block to others. Perhaps pointing at that child still on His lap, He says, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin.” And then He turns the focus to whether we’ve become a stumbling block to ourselves. “If your hand causes you to sin.” “If your foot causes you to sin.” “If your eye causes you to sin.”

Jesus is once again asking us to look at ourselves. It’s as if he’s saying to John, “Don’t worry about the other guy. You worry about yourself.” Jesus is asking us to look within. Sometimes the greatest stumbling blocks aren’t outside us but within us. Anger, revenge, prejudice, our desire to get ahead and be number one, the need to be right, our unwillingness to listen, the assumption that we know more and better than others, pride, fear, lies, gossip, our desire for power and control. These, and a thousand other things like them, are what cause us to be stumbling blocks to ourselves and others around us.

There’s an unspoken question in today’s Gospel and it’s one that we all need to be asking ourselves. In what ways have you become stumbling blocks to others and to yourself? When have you caused another to trip and fall? When have you tripped and stumbled over your own feet?

Collectively, we can become stumbling blocks to others as well, and even to ourselves as a group. As a church. Do we offer the most inviting and welcoming place we possibly can for others to come and hear the Gospel message and receive God’s gifts? Maybe we do ok. But could we be better? Sure. Could we be more vocal in sharing the Good News with others? Of course we could. And there are times as a group we don’t call each other out when we should so that we stay on the right path. Times when we could point out that tree root someone else has placed in front of us, or that we’ve put there ourselves. That would actually be the loving thing to do, rather than watching our family member fall on their face.

All this is hard work, but it’s work about which Jesus is adamant. You can hear it in the images he uses. Hanging a millstone around the neck and being thrown into the sea. Amputating a hand or a foot. Tearing out an eye. An unquenchable fire, hell, and the worm that never dies.

Jesus uses those images not to cripple us with fear, but to remind us how significant it is to recognize the consequences of our sinful and selfish natures. It’s in the language He uses, “It is better for you…,” he says. It’s why He doesn’t want us to become obsessed with the stumbling blocks in front of us. He says to John of the man casting out demons, “The one who is not against us is for us.” Essentially, don’t worry about him. He’s not hurting anyone. In fact, He’s doing good in Jesus’ name. What Jesus really wants us to do is ensure that we’re not laying down stumbling blocks for others or for ourselves. And the best way to do that is to focus on the One who is certainly not against us. The One who is always for us.

Because “If God is for us, who can be against us?” And yet people will try. Satan will cause those rocks to pop up out of the ground to try to trip you up. But when God is for us, we know that every single stumbling block is movable. Each one can be made low. And every scheme and trap of the devil is overcome by God’s own son who gave Himself up for us all. So, keep your heart, and mind, and soul firmly fixed on Him. He will make your paths straight and your burdens light. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.