Prayer: Come Holy Spirit, come.  Take my lips and speak with them.  Take our minds and think with them.  Take our hearts and set them in fire with love for you.  In Christ’s name, we ask it.  Amen.

In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus let’s you and me in on two of the most significant stumbling blocks—the two most significant obstacles—that Christians experience in introducing others into a life-giving relationship with God in Christ.  The first obstacle Jesus points out is exclusivity and the second is human brokenness or to use a theological word sin—exclusivity and sin. 

Mark tells us that Jesus is approached by one of his twelve closest followers, John, who says to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.”  Now, I have no personal experience of casting out demons, but I believe it is a very good thing.  Demons hold people in bondage and exorcism is the spiritual process of releasing an individual from that experience of bondage.  Certainly the disciples thought it was a very good thing, yet they try and stop this foreign exorcist from doing a good and powerful deed in Jesus’ name.  Why?  Why would the disciples want to keep someone from doing something that they, of al people, consider good?  Listen to John’s words again.  He says to Jesus, “We tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”  These last few words are the key: “he was not following us!”  Jesus responds, “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.” 

You see, the problem is that the disciples consider themselves the insiders.  They are Jesus’ right hand men.  They are the original 12, the best and the brightest; hand picked by Jesus himself.  As far as the disciples are concerned it is their way or the highway.  If this foreign exorcist would not follow them, he had to be shut down, cut off whether his deeds were valuable or not.   

There is a funny but sadly all too true tale about a Catholic priest, a Protestant minister, and a Jewish rabbi in strife torn Belfast, Ireland.  The three men were engaged in a heated theological discussion when suddenly an angel appeared in there midst and said to them, “God sends you his blessings.  Make one wish for peace and your wish will be fulfilled by the Almighty.”  The protestant minister responds first, “Let every Catholic disappear from our lovely island.  Then peace will reign supreme.”  The Catholic priest then speaks up, “Let there not be a single Protestant left on our sacred Irish soil.  That will bring peace to this island.”  “And what about you, Rabbi?” says the angel. “Do you have no wish of your own?”  “No,” responds the rabbi. “Just attend to the wishes of these two gentlemen and I shall be well pleased.”
Exclusivity is the first way we become a stumbling block standing between God and both others and, for that matter, ourselves.  When I hear objections to the Christian faith from other young adults who are non-believers their number one complaint is about Christians being hypocrites.  That hypocrisy usually has little to do with individual Christian’s lifestyles.  Instead, the complaint is about Christians being exclusive, judgmental, and unloving toward fellow followers of Christ.  Likewise, Jesus’ disciples see themselves as the only chosen ones, gatekeepers of doctrinal purity, guardians of faith and practice, protectors of right belief and right living.  So they tell a person doing a good deed in the name of Jesus to stop simply because he or she would not follow them. 

The truth is Christians of every stripe, including each of us at times, look down our noses at people we consider different from us and at people with whom we disagree, including our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  We point our fingers and shake our heads at Christians who read and interpret the bible differently than us, who prefer a different style of worship than we do, or who disagree with us about the appropriate way Christians should conduct their daily lives and relationships.  There are countless issues (liturgical, theological, and social) that we, at times, passionately disagree on within the Body of Christ.  These issues are important, and, if we disregard them, we do so at our own peril.  Yet, Jesus says, “Whoever is not against us is for us.”  All people who faithfully work to build up the kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ are for us, even if, we don’t like their style, personal choices, or always agree with their positions.  These Christians, who love our Lord just as much as we do, deserve our love and our respect.  We should be wary of becoming more exclusive than Jesus.

Now the second obstacle that Jesus highlights in today’s Gospel lesson that often comes between us and introducing others in to a life-giving relationship with God in Christ is our brokenness or again the theological word sin.  Jesus says, “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 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; better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell.”  In our western, 21st century world that is, generally speaking, more comfortable with rehabilitation than retribution, Jesus’ words might be perceived as brutal or even sadistic.  However, to a first century audience in the ancient world, Jesus’ words would be familiar.  The idea of sacrificing part of the body in order to save the whole was common among ancient philosophies and religions.  A good example of this that perhaps you are familiar with is the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex.  In Sophocles’ play, the protagonist Oedipus gouged out both of his eyes rather than look upon the children he fathered unknowingly with his own mother. 

I think Jesus’ words for us are most helpfully understood here metaphorically.  Jesus knows that it is not literally the hand that makes someone steal, or the foot that leads an alcoholic into a bar, or the eye that leads someone into an adulterous relationship.  Jesus is clear in his teachings that human brokenness, or sin, originates on the inside—in our hearts and in our minds.  Jesus is calling his disciples, including you and me, into a process of looking inward and discovering those unhealthy issues that need to be dealt with and in some cases completely cut off and out of our lives.  We are a stumbling block for those around us and ourselves if we don’t do the hard work of self-examination, and if we are unwilling to change. 

What stuff, what prejudices, what character flaws, what shame, what anger are we carrying around in our day-to-day lives?  What pride and hypocrisy, what sin and self-centeredness in our lives is a stumbling block standing between God and us—or more to the point—between God and others?  The process of exorcising that pain and those issues begins by coming to God in the name of Jesus in prayer and asking Him to show us what needs work—what might need to be cut out of our lives.  Once we have named the obstacles in our lives we are halfway there, and if you are struggling on your own don’t be afraid to reach out for help.  My father, before he passed away was an alcoholic.  One of the greatest blessings he gave me before he died was to bring me to one of his AA meetings.  I watched as men, not different from any one of us, some rich some poor, some powerful some broken beyond imagination, all share the same words, “Hi, my name is…John Doe.  I am an alcoholic.”  We begin the process of removing the obstacles and failings in our lives, whether great of small, when we do the hard work of looking inside ourselves and then honestly naming them—even for others to hear and know.

Exclusivity and our own spiritual and emotional obstacles derail discipleship every time.  Be welcoming and sensitive to others including your brothers and sisters in Christ, even if you disagree with them about some things.  Do the hard work of self-examination and naming the obstacles in your life. 

Rather than being a stumbling block, be an open road, clear of all prejudices and obstacles.  Then you will most effectively be able lead yourself and others on the life-giving journey into the heart of God.  Amen.

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