This sermon was delivered to St Oswald’s, Maybole, Ayrshire, Scotland on the 30th September 2012; St Oswald’s is a Scottish Episcopal Church in the Dioceses of Glasgow and Dumfries.
The readings for today are:
Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22 Psalm 12 James 5:13-20 Mark 9:38-50
Prayer: In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit let these words bring you honour, and prepare us to live in the world which you have given us. In the name of Jesus, Amen.
Our text for today’s sermon is Mark 9, verses 38 to 50. “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.”
But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
“For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Introduction
Years ago I watched my wife’s routine at making breakfast. She made lots of trips to the fridge, cooker, table, and cabinets, often carrying just a single item at a time. ”Christine“ I suggested, “Why don’t you try carrying several things at once?” You may ask, “Did this save her time?” Yes, it used to take her 20 minutes to make breakfast; now I can in 10.
Criticism, if not handled sensitively, rarely works; even if it is sincere. Most people do not like it, as it usually comes across as being demeaned; and it tends to tear people down more than it builds them up.
Let us see how Jesus addressed that problem with his first disciples who themselves were becoming overly critical. You see, they had followed Jesus for three years, and they had learned from the best, yet when they saw somebody “driving out demons in people in Jesus name” they told him to stop as he was not “one of them”.
Well there is more to this story than you first realise, because these same disciples failed to cast a demon out of a small boy earlier in this very chapter; yet here was a man, not one of them who could cast out daemons, and on a regular basis.
What they were really saying was “he is better than us … he is showing us up, yet he is not one of us … we be better put him down somehow; … I know, we will get Jesus to help us”. So they went to Jesus and pointed out this mans faults … in an attempt to hide their own.
But Jesus could see this, and said in verse 39, “Do not stop him. No one who does a miracle in my name can say anything bad about me, … for whoever is not against us is for us.”
Jesus was saying, we are all in the same boat here, and so we should encourage each other; and do not put anyone down who is trying to help as it says in Verse 41 “I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to me, they will certainly not lose their reward”.
This verse tells us that if we are serving the Lord, and neither our families, friends or community appreciates it, then do not worry, Jesus appreciates it and he himself will reward us. He is our biggest fan, no matter what anybody else says. He will reward every cup of water, (or tea), we give in his name.
People need to hear our words of appreciation. They don’t need to hear words of criticism; of how they got it wrong; they need to hear words of what they are doing right. A thank you on a regular basis works wonders, as Christine constantly reminds me.
Our critical comments can stop people dead in their tracks. I do not know if you have seen it, but there is an award-winning film called “The Joy Luck Club”, where one little girl has the capacity, “to see the secrets of a chessboard”. This special gift enabled her to become a national chess champion by age eight.
Her only liability was a driven mother, who is both envious of her daughter’s gifts, but still uses her to fulfil her own selfish ambition.
At one point, the little girl dares to speak back to her mother, who responds first with the icy silent treatment, and then by saying to her daughter, “You are nothing. You are nothing at all.”
The little girl described this put down later: “What my mother said to me was like a curse. This power I had, this belief in what I’d been given, I could actually feel it draining away. I could feel myself becoming so ordinary. And all the secrets that I once saw, I could not see any more. All I could see were my mistakes and my weaknesses, and the best part of me disappeared.”
As you know, I was brought up here in Maybole and encouraging words were and still are, very rare. … What is more popular is the put downs: like “ye canny dae that”, “Jack will never be better than his master”, “your too stupid to better yourself”, “you canny look after yourself let alone others”. The one I used to get a lot was … “a leopard canny change its spots”; but that was before the Holy Spirit intervened and changed my spots to stripes, although some people still see spots.
I am sure you can all add to this list. Come on, you must be with me on this one, how many times have you heard such put downs, both to yourself and to others, and you know it is wrong.
Oswald Chambers the nineteenth century Christian author once said; “A man who is continually criticized becomes good for nothing; the effect of criticism knocks all the gumption and power out of him”.
Criticism is hurtful, it is destroying, and it drains the very life out of you; but I take great comfort from the Nicene Creed every Sunday when we say “We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life”. The Holy Spirit restores that life which was taken for us, and gives us even more. Praise God.
Verse 42 goes on to say: “And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck”.
Now that is some warning. The “little ones” Jesus is talking about here are those who are of lesser importance to us. The man the disciples told to stop casting out demons was certainly of lesser importance to them.
And the word sin used here in Greek means to give offense, and to trip somebody up; so what Jesus was actually saying was: “If anyone scandalizes one of these “lesser important ones” they will be punished severely”.
That is strong. Jesus cares for the “lesser important ones” who are in effect us; and he appreciates our service so much so that he will seriously hurt those who hurt us.
I do not say this to condemn anyone; I say this to relieve you of any hurts done to you in the past. People who have downtrodden you, (according to this verse) will at some stage be made answerable for that; and I feel this need to be communicated; because we have all been hurt without reason.
The great missionary A.B Simpson, once put it this way: “I would rather play with forked lightning, or take in my hands live wires with their fiery currents, than speak a reckless word against any servant of Christ, or idly repeat the slanderous darts which thousands of Christians are hurling on others, to the hurt of their own souls and bodies.”
A putdown is what it says; it puts others down while attempting to bolster you.
Jesus therefore calls us to take drastic measures to keep ourselves from doing this. In other words, don’t be pointing out the faults of others, but instead, “Take care of your own faults” as it says in Verse 43 … “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out”. And verses 45-48 continues in a likewise manner. Yes, take drastic measures if need be, but keep yourself from being scandalized in your own relationship with him.”
Also, we don’t need to worry about the faults of others; we just need to care of our own faults and that way we can begin to help and bring hope to others.
I get absolutely sick of arm chair sailors trying to tell me how to sail a boat that I always want to say to them, “If you really want to help, come out to sea with me and show me”. To date none of these so called experts has ever taken me up on that challenge, and I know deep down, they never will, because they need that put down in order to bolster their own fledging egos.
Jesus says in Verse 49, "Everyone will be salted with fire." Think about it, fire burns, and fire hurts. Somebody who genuinely knows what they are talking about does not meet you head on and put you down, unless they are hell bent on destroying you; no they know your weakness and mostly will want to help because they understand how you feel.
They can relate directly to you, and they can in their own words express ways in which they can to help you without the hurt. But this tact only comes from experience; as they have been though the fire before you and appreciate its pain.
All of God’s people go through the purifying process, the fiery trials of life in order to encourage others. If you ask any big hardened fishermen for example, they will tell you that if you have not been absolutely terrified at sea, with the tears running down your face, then you know nothing of the sea; and likewise with God, if we have not been refined by His fire, then we know nothing of him or his ways, least how can we help others.
We have to be careful however, the Holy Spirit may visit with fire, … fire to prune, … fire to refine, and … fire to make us mature in God. We do not need to know what other people are dealing with, or what they are going through, as we have no authority in judging them, or putting them down. We have however, all his authority in building them up in Jesus name.
Everyone needs somebody to lift them up. Everyone needs somebody to come beside them now and again, and encourage them when they need it. Jesus is telling us to be encouragers, not criticisers, and that if we are genuinely helping someone; we are not to be doing it at our own expense, rather the opposite: if we are encouraging another for the right reason, we will also be encouraging ourselves, and being rewarded in doing so.
Encouraging others is strength, not a weakness. Criticising people for the sake of building your own ego, or putting them down is a weakness. Mishandled criticism is trying to hide our faults in the weaknesses of others.
That is what Jesus meant in Matthew 7:5 when he said, "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye”. People who criticise unfairly are bullies; they are people who need to hurt others in order to promote themselves. They are in effect pathetic, and are in need of help. They are usually very intimidating and aggressive, in hiding their deep down weaknesses.
When bullies put us down, we must realise that they not only have problems of their own, they have many more problems of their own; and the Christ in us can highlight those weaknesses making them uncomfortable.
They put us down to hide their own shame; and the stronger their words, the more they are being convicted; and the more we are succeeding.
If you think you have been a failure, then according to them you have. According to Jesus you have not.
Verse 50 says, "Salt is good," Jesus said, "but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again”?
Salt is a necessity of life, it is a seasoning, a preservative, and a disinfectant. It is therefore used metaphorically to signify permanence, loyalty, durability, fidelity, usefulness, value, and purification. We are to be a seasoning, a preservative and a cure in a world full of sin and hatred toward God, and the things of God.
The Apostle Paul said in Colossians 4:6, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt …”
And so we end on Verse 50 which says, “So have the salt of God’s refining within yourselves, and live at peace, in unity with one another”
To truly help people, we never need harsh words of criticism; we help them with words of grace and peace, seasoned with a little salt.
Like our Saviour, we are to be quick to praise, even the smallest efforts, so that we will be amazed at how people change. … Most of all, we will be amazed at how God changes us.
Amen.
Let us pray,
Father we thank you for Jesus. We thank you that he died for us on that cross, to set us free.
Father we have all suffered from bad criticism at one time or another; and you will remember the time we called to you asking for help; times when we felt you were far away and were ignoring us.
Father, we are now beginning to realise that you have been working in us all that time and that you were always with us; despite that pain and suffering.
Father we are also beginning to realise that this suffering was necessary in order to refine us for your purposes and glory, and without that pain, we would have been an embarrassment to you. Instead, we are now full of your glory, and we did not realise it.
So today Father, we pray that you help us realise who we are in you: what you have done for us, and how you are preparing us for the future. Show us that this pain was necessary for us to grow, and mature in you, and show us most of all, that it was worth it.
Father we also ask that you give us the strength to handle those who would put us down, and teach us that when they try, they can see you in us, you the one who is convicting them.
We ask in Jesus name, Amen.
