Mark
Are you for us, or against us? Friend or foe? Whose team are you on, anyway? These are important questions. Things can get quite confusing if one doesn't
know the answers.
For example, if you're watching a movie
and you don't know which people are the good guys and which are the bad guys,
you won't know who to cheer for--who you hope wins in the end.
In sports, you need to know who is on
your team so that you know who to give the ball to and who to take it from.
In war, not knowing who the enemy is can
be deadly. Friendly fire casualties underscore the importance of things like
communication, uniforms, and markers to identify allies and enemies.
In the life of a Christian, too, it is vitally
important to do these two things: 1) identify the enemy and oppose it. Then, 2)
work together with those who are with you.
That's what Jesus is talking about in the Gospel for today. Jesus says,
"Be
at peace with each other."
I.
Opposing the real problem
In the section right before our text the disciples showed that they were a little confused about how to deal with each other. You may remember from last Sunday's Gospel that the disciples were arguing among themselves who was the greatest among them. Jesus told them what greatness really was. Greatness was having the faith of a child. It was in service. It was in humble work done in Jesus' name.
But the disciples showed they still didn't
understand. "Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out
demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of
us." (38) They thought that
only those with Jesus should be doing such miracles. It seems John was seeking
Jesus' approval for what they were doing.
Surely Jesus would be pleased with stopping this man.
"'Do not stop him,' Jesus said. 'No one who
does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for
whoever is not against us is for us.'"(39-40) Don't oppose this man, Jesus said. He's not the enemy. He's not against us; he's for us. Jesus approved of this man's work because it
was a miracle done in his name. It was
done to the glory of God, not for his own glory. What gave his work Jesus'
approval was not his status as a disciple.
It wasn't even how important it seemed or how effective his work was, or
how well it fit into the disciples' ministry plan.
Jesus continued, "I tell you the truth,
anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ
will certainly not lose his reward." (41) This work was good because it was done in
Jesus' name, seeking to serve Christ and those who belong to him. The reward
this man and all who do such things would receive is not a status, a position.
In fact, it wasn't even won by doing the work. It was won by Jesus' work--a
reward waiting for them in heaven. No, this man was an ally, not the enemy.
Jesus said, don't oppose him, oppose the real
problem. "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." (42) The real problem was anyone who
causes a believer to sin. The word used here for "cause to sin"
pictures a trap being set off, like grabbing the cheese from a mousetrap.
Setting off the trap brings more than just a warning. The trap kills. Jesus
says, anyone who causes a believer to get caught in a trap, and kills their
faith, would be better off anchored to the bottom of the sea.
This is not just true for anyone, but anything
that does this: "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 if your
foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It
is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown
into hell. And if your eye causes you to
sin, pluck it out. It is better for you
to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown
into hell, where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.'"
(43-48) It would be better to live
without anything that would cause people to fall away from faith. Jesus wasn't suggesting the practice of
elective amputations. Even if you cut
off one hand, foot, or eye, do you think its mate wouldn't do the same
thing? And if someone went that far,
wouldn't they also have to remove their heart and mind, too, because sin comes
from inside a person, not from the outside? (Mt. 15:19-20) No, Jesus is simply making
the point that his disciples needed to seriously oppose their real problem--sin,
unbelief. Their real problem is our real
problem.
It can be very easy for us to forget that we are
on the same side. Perhaps we argue or
bicker with each other. Or maybe we just
try to get in someone's way--if they're not going to do it my way I'm just
going to make it harder for them. Pride and jealousy can make us forget who the
real enemy is. The real problem isn't
our fellow Christians. The real problem
is anyone or anything that opposes God's Word.
It's anyone who, by their words or actions, leads believers away from
faith in Jesus Christ. It's anything,
even part of ourselves, that would do the same thing.
The problem isn't outside, in other people. The problem isn't physical, in my hand, my
foot, or my eye. I'm the problem. I'm
the one threatening to make me fall away.
You see it's my thoughts that desire my own physical pleasure more than
God's pleasure. It's my attitudes that
are prideful and arrogant, towards my neighbor and even towards God. It's my own sinful flesh that would rather
live completely apart from God and his love, apart from his Word, apart from
the life that he gives. In short, my
sinful nature could very easily lead me to spend an eternity in hell.
There's the problem. It's the sinful nature. It's the completely sinful part of each of us that hates God and drives us away from him. So gouge him out. Cut him off. Drown him in the lake. That's easier said than done, because he's a part of us. On our own, we can't get rid of him. We can't drown him.
But God can. In fact, God has. God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit drowned our sinful nature in baptism. And now, when we fight against our sinful nature, what we do is simply remember our baptism. The catechism reminds us to do this "by daily contrition and repentance." With sorrow for sin and faith in Christ to remove that sin, we push him back under the water. With our sinful nature drowned, we can begin to live the life we really want to, free from the enemy's traps.
In the last two verses of our text Jesus uses a
different word picture to describe this whole issue. As we seek to be at peace with each other, by
opposing our real problem, he says we need to be preserved by God's Word. He does that using the picture of salt. "Everyone
will be salted with fire. Salt is good,
but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in
yourselves, and be at peace with each other." (49-50)
Salt was used, not just to season food as we do, but more often was used to preserve meat from spoiling. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus called the disciples the "salt of the earth." They had something that would keep the world from spoiling. Here Jesus says that what the disciples had to give to the world, they should have in themselves.
"Everyone will be salted with fire."
(49) This salt
would preserve all believers, but it would burn like fire. This fire would be a purifying fire, one that
burned away the impurities and left only what is good. God's Word preserves all
believers from the corruption of sin and hell.
Part of God's Word, the law, hurts. It points out sin. It condemns those who sin. It guides
believers to rid their lives of sin and temptations to sin. "Salt is
good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?"
(50) If table salt has no taste, what good is it? If salt doesn't do what it is supposed to,
what good is it? God's Word always does
what it is supposed to. God's Word is
always salt. But Jesus warns his
disciples from letting it lose its saltiness, from letting it get mixed in with
someone else's word, or from simply being ignored. No, Jesus says, listen to my Word.
In other words, "Have salt in
yourselves, and be at peace with each other." (50) Being preserved by
the Word of God brings about peace with each other. This can happen only because in God's Word he
has shown that there is peace with him. The only way the disciples could work
together--not opposing each other or others who were doing Jesus' work--was to
remember the peace Jesus had given them.
When they remembered how Jesus was sent to forgive their hostility
against God and how he did that by living, dying, and rising in their
place--then they could be at peace with each other.
It is uncomfortable to hear about our sin. It can burn like fire when God's law shows us
what we really are. It burns even hotter
when we remove the things in our lives that cause sin. It's not fun to turn off the TV when we know
it will only tempt us. It can be hard to
explain to friends why we're only going have a few drinks. It hurts to bite our tongue when we really
want to say something we know will really sting. It can hurt to be salted with
fire, to be seasoned with the Word of God.
On the other hand, to hear God's love for us in the gospel is a sweet taste. To hear a word of forgiveness from a friend leads to peace. To forgive each other, to build each other up in love and faith, to be at peace with each other happens only when we have salt in ourselves. It happens only when we are preserved by the Word of God. It happens when we listen to God's word of peace, God's word of forgiveness. It happens when we receive Christ's body and blood in the sacrament. There we receive God's forgiveness. There we are reminded that this body and blood will "strengthen you and preserve you in true faith unto life everlasting." Then we are encouraged to "Depart in peace."
The peace we receive from God spills over into
peace with each other. Be at peace with
each other. In this sinful world we have
enough problems, enough enemies. When we
recognize that very often our own sinful nature is the problem, we oppose it by
remembering our baptism and using that saving water to drown him daily. Then, we make use of the salt of God's
Word--to preserve us from the fire of hell, to preserve us in a life of love
and peace, first with God, and also peace with each other.