Differences Make Us Whole
Luke 9:49-50
Rabbi Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
9:49 John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your
name; and we tried to prevent him, because he does not follow along with us.” 50 But
Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; for the one who is not against you is for you.”
Luke chapter 9 verses 49 and 50 deal with a very interesting cultural situation. In the
Near East, especially during Jesus’s day, artisans held onto the secrets of their trade at
almost every cost. It was normal for a father to pass down to his son all the secrets of
the trade and that his son would follow him in his footsteps. Even farmers would keep
secrets about how they were able to get their crops to grow better than the farm next
door. The sharing of that kind of information didn’t happen very often. There were no
books or libraries available to the common person. Information was passed down
mouth to ear to generation after generation. Luckily for us today we have books and
libraries and artisans that are willing to share the trade secrets. However, there are still
some that want to keep their secrets.
I used to buy chocolate from Fitskee’s chocolate which is in Spry, Pennsylvania. One
day I was speaking to the owner about how wonderful his chocolate was and asked him
if he would tell me what his secret was. He said he would not tell me all the secret but
part of it and I did appreciate that. He said that he used chocolate from Hershey’s
chocolate company and Nestlé’s chocolate company in a special blend to make his
chocolate. I found that fascinating that his chocolate was really a hybrid of others.
Apparently, that is done by chocolatiers all over the world. Thank God for chocolatiers
because where would the world be without different kinds of fine chocolate.
There’s a big difference between chocolate secrets and the secrets of the kingdom of
heaven. The disciples stopped an individual who was trying to help a person by
removing demons from them. The disciples were following their culture when they
tried to stop this person. They saw the ways of Jesus as a trade. Thus, they needed to
protect the secrets of their trade. History tends to demonize the fact that they tried to
stop someone who is trying to do a healing in Jesus’ name. As you can tell it was a
cultural reaction, and they should not be condemned for it. Rather, we should
concentrate on what Jesus said to them which was my trade secrets are no longer
secretive. Jesus wanted us to know everything that he knew. He wants us to go out and
be able to do the things that he did.
He is not trying to hide any of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus wants us to
not only understand all the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to also experience all
of them. When we do anything, and we use the words “in the name of Jesus” what we
are actually doing is saying to God that we are following the ways of his son. The ways
of Jesus have a divine quality to them because everything Jesus did was for us, and he
followed God’s word that we find in the Bible.
It is an honor and a privilege to go out and do things in the name of Christ. What would
the world be like if every Christian would go out and act just like Jesus did. Peace and
love and grace would cover the earth and the evil which is Satan would be forced to
leave. Imagine a world where we would be willing to listen to each other and express
our differences without anger.
There is so much anger in the world that it keeps us from having the true peace and
love that Jesus was promoting during his time on earth. How can we possibly get around
this? I know that we can do it if we really try hard. The first place to start is within the
family unit and resolve any differences with the understanding that we all can have
different opinions and that we need to respect each other’s opinions. However, we
should never force our opinions on others. God made us all different so that our
differences would come together and be there for the best of the whole society.
And then it needs to spread especially inside the church. There should never be
situations where people hate each other in church. Then it should spread out through
all the denominations and all Christianity should come together and realize that we have
one thing in common and that is Jesus Christ. All our opinions and differences should
be brought together to make a better hole instead of keeping us all apart.
When I was on my cross-cultural trip in Mexico, the instructor for a group of Baptist
students who were within my group said that his students were not allowed to interact
with the rest of us because we saw things incorrectly about Jesus. I was overwhelmed
with sorrow. I thought we all believed in the saving grace of a discipleship to Jesus
Christ. Shouldn’t that overshadow all the differences we have in the different
denominations? The answer is yes, and it all starts with each of us as individuals.
So, I urge you to come to understand that your fellow Christians will have different
opinions not only in church matters but also in society matters and political matters.
We must be accepting everyone and of all opinions. We need to work together to fulfill
the idea of the kingdom of heaven. You know we are all going to end up in heaven so
we might as well start liking each other now because hate and distrust are not allowed
in heaven. Only peace and love are allowed in heaven. We need to start that idea here
on earth. So, my final words are to go out and appreciate differences of opinion because
we are all going to end up in the same place at the end anyway.
