Epworth United Methodist Church

Epworth United Methodist Church
Rev. David Weekley, Pastor
09-27-09
Mark 9:38-50

A glass of water

The gospel of Mark revolves around the theme of unanticipated and unexpected alliances. Apparently a close group of Jesus’ disciples encounter a man who is able to help heal people in the name of Jesus, even though these disciples do not know him.

While they may have expected Jesus to understand their concern and support their attitude, Jesus does the exact opposite. He says, “Whoever is not against us is for us”, and whoever does so simple an act as welcoming someone with a cup of water because they are a disciple is noted by God.

In these verses Jesus continues to challenge his followers about what it really means to be “great”, and once again he reminds them that those who want to be first need to be last of all, and serve others.

There’s a saying that there is nothing new under the sun. Well, this story of Jesus’ conversation with those closest to him about greatness and what it means to follow God really shows how little changes in human nature.

All we have to do is look as far as stock market fraud, and even those in organizations who purport to stand for the poor, to see how little changes among humanity in general. But we are not here to talk about humanity in general. The good news is that we are here to talk about ourselves, and to stand together when and where we can to help create positive change.

Jesus teaches that we do this best when we learn to take care of each other, when we take the time to offer the simplest of human gestures of hospitality- a glass of water.

Jesus says that anyone who accepts his teaching and applies it should never be discouraged; there is no ‘in’ or ‘out’ group here.

The crucial point is that we follow the gospel; if we do this it will naturally lead to caring for others, which in turn will lead us toward the fulfillment and meaning we long for, which ultimately leads us to peace.

Addressing this issue further Jesus refers to those who follow him beyond his inner circle as little ones. He warns anyone, “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.”

The dramatic tone of this story makes the point clear: we are never to discourage someone from following Jesus, from coming to church, from joining in community, from expressing faith in God. We are never to exclude, we are not to be a stumbling block for either new disciples or people we have known for years- we are to encourage one another in our faith, and in our lives.

And from another perspective, we need to be open to those who may be unanticipated allies and friends in our lives.

In these verses Jesus reminds us that the “in group” may be far larger than we can imagine.

Can you think of someone who has proven to be an ‘unexpected ally’ for you or for your community?

When I shared my story with last month I had no idea how any of you would respond, or how you would react as a faith community, as a United Methodist Church, as Christians.

To tell you the truth, all of this is still so new we are only beginning the process of discovering what my story, your story, our story, may mean for this community and for this world in this time and place.

One of the things I most love about John Wesley is his practical practice of spirituality, i.e. his methodical way of putting his faith into action and then meditating upon his daily actions in relationship to his faith journey.

This is, after all, why we are United Methodists.

As followers of John Wesley’s particular understanding of Scripture and Christianity, we actually do believe in serving others, in caring for one another, in learning how to understand and uplift one another.

This is what Jesus kept saying to those closest to him, even when some who were farther away understood the message sooner, like the one the disciples were complaining about today.

At the Reconciling Ministries Convocation in Denver earlier this month I attended a morning breakfast bible study. We were each given a rainbow-colored bracelet.

On one side of the bracelet were John Wesley’s three simple rules of faith:

1. Do no harm

2. Do good

3. Stay in love with God

On the other side of the bracelet is says: “WWJD, WWJWD, WWID?

What would Jesus do?

What would John Wesley do?

What will I do?

This is really the essential question Jesus is posing to the disciples who are complaining to him about the actions of others, and it is really the question posed to us.

As a disciple of Jesus what do I do? What will I do?

It is interesting to notice that Jesus’ disciples complain because they have come across someone, “not following us”.

Jesus shifts the focus back to God saying, “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”.

We are called to care for one another, to welcome one another, and to treat each other with hospitality whenever possible.

There are times when a cup of water is an easy thing to offer; there are times when it is not.

There are times when a person has plenty of water to drink and there is no thirst; unfortunately there are times when some people have little water to drink and there is great thirst.

We can also understand thirst in a symbolic way; it really does not matter.

The point is that followers of Jesus offer hospitality; they do their best to be a healing and positive presence.

It is something like this example I found last week:

A stone is thrown into a calm lake and the stone makes waves spreading, reaching to the far side.

May we throw stones into the deadly calm that is our world, no matter how small is the stone, no matter how small is the wave.

The stone brings awakening, the wave is a movement, and the movement spreads when all of us standing together on all sides around the lake keep throwing our little stones.

The wave will never cease till the whole lake starts bubbling with life.”

-from a poem by Sun Ai Lee-Park

Closing Prayer: Eternal Wisdom, grant us courage to reach across borders of every kind, so we may for alliances with all your children of goodwill.

Together, Holy One, strengthen us to work for the healing and the restoration of the whole creation. Amen.

Jesus’ admonition