Mark 9:38-50 [Pentecost 19]
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
October 3, 2021
In the name of our Savior Jesus, dear friends, What has been your biggest battle in life? What have you worked at and worked at to overcome? Oh, we begin the battles right away in life, don’t we? We don’t even remember our first fights—learning to speak and potty training. School struggles are very real for some here and a memory for others—figuring out how to make and keep friends, math or grammar or history. Later on, college courses already in high school, adapting to different and difficult ways of teaching at a university, resisting new temptations. Maybe it has been wrestling with how to put up with and get along with coworkers or the boss. If you’ve battled addiction—drugs or alcohol or pornography or something else, you know how tough it is to conquer those! And even then, it’s usually a matter of counting the weeks, or months, or years of conquering because you know it is a life-long battle. Oh, there are lots of things we could mention. Each of us knows our own battles—the ones we wage in our minds, the ones we have to talk through, the ones that require us to take action. But this morning, we talk about the battle that is common to us all—and the toughest war we will wage: the one against our sinful flesh. God says that we are all sinful from conception and birth, and that this sin corrupts everything about us for as long as we live in this world. When we know this and are then confronted with a God that demands better—perfection even—we begin to see the battle taking shape. Our sinful flesh is pitted against God’s demands. When we hear about God’s love for us in Jesus and we trust that, we then want to take on that challenge, to conquer the sinful flesh and live for God. But, How do We Conquer Our Sinful Flesh? In the gospel for today, we hear Jesus, the one who does everything well, giving instruction and encouragement to his disciples. There was an incident that triggered this. Like a child in school saying, “Teacher! Teacher! Emily is messing with the papers on your desk!” the disciples were tattling on someone who was using Jesus’ name to exorcise demons. They had tried to stop him because they didn’t think it was right. And like the teacher explaining that Emily was actually helping her, Jesus told his disciples that this person was fine doing this, because he did it with faith in him. The guy wasn’t part of the “team” of disciples, but he was on Jesus’ side. While their concern for Jesus and his name was good, their actions toward the man and their pride in themselves were tainted with sin. And so, Jesus taught them to watch what they were doing, address their sin, and live as God would have them live. We easily find applications for us today in those three things Jesus taught his disciples: Do the Good Things—Get Rid of Sin—Live as God’s People.
Do the Good Things The man that the disciples were concerned about was someone who trusted in Jesus. Why else would he use Jesus’ name to help a person who was possessed by a demon? This is what Jesus was saying when he told the disciples not to stop him. Just because he was not one of the Twelve or the usual band of believers that followed Jesus didn’t mean that he couldn’t do good things with faith in the Savior. The disciples were given the power to cast out demons on occasion, and God empowered this man to do the same. There was no reason to think that he was against Jesus. There is a good reminder here for us. Just because someone is not part of our group does not mean that they are not doing good by proclaiming the gospel. We can be happy for that good while not condoning anything they might also do that isn’t quite right. Just because someone isn’t part of our particular group of Christians doesn’t mean that their faith-filled actions—like giving a cup of water or a helping hand they give to those in need—are wrong…or come with ulterior motives…or are somehow opposed by God. When we rise above the sinful flesh, we recognize the good things others do, and we conquer the they-are-not-one-of-us-attitude of the sinful flesh. Jesus teaches here about our approach to the faith and actions of other Christians, but in doing so, we also learn that doing good is part of conquering our sinful flesh. We notice that the man was using Jesus’ name. He was doing a good thing by confessing Jesus publicly. He was doing a good thing by helping the demon-possessed person. Jesus wants us all to do good for others by sharing him and his love and by helping people with their needs. And we should take care that we are indeed doing good things—and not doing harmful things that might lead others into sin. That would be very serious! Jesus uses an extreme picture to demonstrate just how serious that would be: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to fall into sin, it would be better for him if he were thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around his neck.” Jesus may have been referring to the child that he had used as an example when the disciples were arguing about their greatness. It’s also possible that he was thinking about a person who was a “little one” in faith, someone new to faith in him. Could that have been true of the man they were reprimanding even? Jesus says that those who do those good things will find a reward for them—the reward of eternal life. BUT their reward does not come because they did those good things, or because they did more good things than bad things. No, they did those good things because it was Jesus who told them to do them, and their love for Jesus moved them to listen to him. That faith in Jesus, which was shown in doing good, will be rewarded.
Get rid of sin Our sinful flesh really cares only for itself. It is full of pride and self-righteousness too— just like the disciples showed! It needs to be conquered. We must go to war against it! Jesus says that those who do good—out of faith in him—will have a reward. They will have heaven. The opposite is also true. Those who let sin run rampant in their lives will receive the opposite of a reward—punishment. They will find themselves in hell. Jesus repeats a description of hell here. You must have caught it: where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. Hell is where the maggots never stop eating the flesh of those there. It is a perpetual, disgusting, painful existence. Hell is where the fire never stops burning and inflicting pain on those who rejected God. Terrible pictures that only in a small way portray how awful eternity in hell will be for those who are separated from God and his eternal blessings. Wouldn’t we want to avoid this at all costs?! Jesus tells us how. In order to conquer the sinful flesh and avoid eternity in hell, Jesus suggests…amputations and dismemberment! Sinful hands? Cut them off! Sinful feet? Cut ‘em off! Sinful eyes? Pluck them out! Why? Because doing so will prevent you from sinning with them. And that will help you maintain faith in your Savior so that you have heaven on your eternal horizon and NOT hell, where “‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ Jesus is saying—in a graphic way—to do whatever is necessary to conquer your sinful flesh. What the disciples would have understood—and so do we—is that actually removing your hand won’t keep the sin away. Nor will plucking out an eye or two or surgically removing your feet. Sin goes deeper than that; it is a matter that begins in the heart and mind. So how do we conquer our sinful flesh? Perhaps there are actually things that do need removal because they bring temptation to your hands or feet or eyes! It might be the TV…or freedom to access anything and everything on the internet…or a friend who is no good for our faith…or a change of jobs…or hobbies and activities that pull us away from worship. Who knows what may need to be lopped off of our lives. The answer is, “You will.” You will know what needs to go as you stop and think about this. Because it’s no good to have those things here in this life if it means being isolated from God and suffering eternally. Try as we might, we will never completely rid ourselves and our lives of sin. But we are to make every attempt. That is what Jesus was saying with his graphic descriptions. We will never get this perfectly right. And understand that what we do is not a “meeting God halfway” either—none of that earns even part of our forgiveness and salvation. We trust that Jesus has made up for our imperfect lives entirely with his perfect life and by giving that life for us on the cross.
Live as God’s people Jesus used the example of salt to make his point that his disciples were to live as God’s people. His point is simple: salt is valuable only if it is and truly remains salt. In the same way, those who trust in and follow Jesus are valuable and useful if they truly live as his disciples. And what is the “salt” with which they are seasoned? What is the salt that is “in” them? We might properly think of God’s Word, the thing that preserves our faith, like salt preserves food. God’s Word is the thing that, when applied to us, gives us a unique flavor. It enhances us and makes us stand out to both God and to the world. It makes us not just a disciple, a follower, but an active representative of God in this world. Jesus spoke this way on another occasion, as he directed his followers to endure persecution as they lived for God. He said, “You are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13).” Disciples who are properly seasoned with the Word of God—who properly represent him in this world—they are salt in the world. As such, the Apostle Paul encouraged the Colossian Christians, Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you know how you are to answer each person (4:6). Jesus’ followers speak in a unique and distinctive way when they talk. They have things to say and share that the world needs to hear—the words of God and the message of forgiveness and salvation in Jesus. So, when Jesus says that they are to have salt in themselves, he uses a picture he’d used before and which was later used to encourage Christians. They are to live as God’s people. As they do this, they will encourage the faith of others, which will bring about the peace Jesus looks for. Living as God’s people first means that we trust in Christ and not in the good things we do or the sinful things we get rid of. Living as God’s people means knowing that Jesus overcame sin for us, because we will never shed the sinful nature. Even if we were to do many good things…and pluck a lot of sinful things out of our lives…and often live in a God-pleasing and peaceful way, that is not perfection. It is not us doing better that saves us. We trust in Jesus, who has done all things perfectly well and has conquered sin for us. Faith in him is how the sinful flesh is completely conquered and how every disciple finds their way into heaven. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. Philippians 4:7