Include Everyone?

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
September 27th 2009

Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Include Everyone?”
Psalm 124; Mark 9:38-50

Jesus teaches the disciples that faithfulness means moving beyond ourselves. He does this in very clear ways when he says that betrayal, suffering and resurrection is the way he himself will go. The disciples don’t or simply cannot imagine that Jesus is serious. After all they have seen his power and have participated in that power. So the only logical conclusion that the disciples can make is that Jesus does not really mean it. If that is the case the responsible thing to do is to figure out who is going to take over? The obvious choice to follow Jesus in leadership is the one who is most powerful and charismatic. So the preparation for the exchange of power begins. There is just one small problem. Jesus knows this is what they are thinking so he must try another way of teaching.
It is a simple message: “Greatness is achieved through service.” Everyone can be great because everyone can serve. It is from the previous passage of Jesus showing the disciples a child where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Drum Major speech finds is roots. Jesus says that anyone who welcomes one like the powerless child welcomes him. This is the mark of faithful discipleship. Being faithful means serving and welcoming the powerless. But this is a lesson that is too often lost on the disciples of all ages.
Jesus has just said that the way of faithfulness is the extension of hospitality to all people. Following that lesson we have John coming to Jesus with disturbing news in our passage this morning. It appears that some imposters causing trouble. “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” This is such a great interchange. John has found someone who has been touched by the ministry of Jesus. That person has been so moved that he too is healing and preaching the good news. But John, and the other disciples, have stopped him from sharing the gospel because he does not follow them. He does not do things the way they have always been done and in the church that cannot be faithful. This is at center of John’s concern. He did not care that the person was doing ministry John was mad that the man was not following him and his way.
John, and the other disciples are still caught up by the idea that they have been called to be leaders. They are looking for followers instead of focusing on the ministry of hospitality and welcome. Unfortunately, this is not a new pattern. Jesus says he will be leaving and the disciples look to dominate one another. Jesus says welcome the powerless and the disciples make sure that this ministry of reconciliation is properly ordered under their leadership. But before we spend too much time beating up on the disciples I think it is important to see their mistakes as natural pitfalls for anyone who seeks to follow Jesus.
At the heart of this passage is the central message of the gospel. Anyone who seeks to follow Jesus is called to welcome and serve others. Despite news to the contrary it is not right doctrine or dress or style of worship. It really is as simple as welcome and serve, all the rest appears to be details. But Jesus seems to know too well that the details will become our focus. That is why this passage serves as an important warning. When Jesus says I will be betrayed, killed and rise again, the followers of Jesus are busy comparing worship attendance and denominational prowess and access to political leaders. When Jesus says welcome all those who are hungry to follow me and serve in my name, the church in all ages gets tied in knots about whether or not it is natural for some people to serve in leadership roles. You can respond to God’s call, we say, as long as you follow us. This is not to say we cannot and should not set up expectations for leadership. However, when that criteria mimics the exclusionary impulses of the culture, the church should not be so quick to accept it as ordained by God. Instead we should be asking: Who are the powerless in our society? Who are those that receive no welcome or are invisible in society? These are precisely the people to who Christians are called to love and extend hospitality. And anyone involved in this ministry of welcome in Jesus name should never be forbidden from leadership. It really is that simple.
Ok, you say all this talk of inclusion does not seem to fit with the passages on hell. What gives? Shall we ignore them as a remnant of an unenlightened past? Well I do think you all know me better than that. We cannot ignore them but we also cannot take them at face value either. We must tread carefully. During Jesus earthly ministry and when the Gospel was finally penned there was revolutionary fervor in the air. Into these times Jesus speaks a message of inclusion and welcome. However, there was a need for faithfulness to the community as a matter of survival. So this is what is at the heart of the calls for bodily dismemberment.
In a revolutionary era when one member of the community could not or would not remain faithful the response was to kill them. So within these words from Jesus is a call to maintain the faithfulness of the community without finally killing them. We also know that when people were excluded from the worshiping community, they were not shunned. Instead, they become one who was deserving of ministry. In other words, it may become necessary to keep someone who embezzles funds away from the finance committee but we do not exclude them from the ministry of hospitality. This is what these apparent exclusionary passages are all about.
The need to define who we are is often based on the childlike framework of who we are not. This is not a bad impulse until we use those childlike behaviors to define the boundaries of God’s love. Whatever the reason, power, control, or simple bigotry, we cannot fall into this trap. Where do we find ourselves acting in ways that seek to grow our power, at work, here at church, or in our families? Where do we find ourselves seeking to control others in the same way? Where do we find ourselves trapped by the messages of our age that say white folks and black folks cannot live together? The message is not: If they agree with us, and follow us, and do what we say, they are for us. Instead, it is into these places that Jesus says: “Do not forbid them. Anyone who is not against us is for us!” Amen.