…and be at peace with each other...

Series: …and… | The Movement of God and his people through Mark
Title: “…and be at peace with each other.”
Text: Mark 9:38-50 (NIV)

Transcript

Camping Conflict And A Hard Reset

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Last week, we the Johnsons went camping. All right. We love camping. We love camping a lot. Elizabeth is going to throw some photos up of random camping things that we did to prove that we did it. But right as we started our wonderful camping trip, something else arrived. The heat dome. And so, for our very first time camping here on the island, we do a lot of camping. We've got the gear. We love it. Is the one of the tents up there? Because I'm really proud of that because I contributed to the tents looking good. This is kids playing disc golf in the woods. I just was there. See, there we go. Look at all that wonder and that glory. It's miserable in the heat. If you don't know that. And so come Wednesday, there was a division in our camp. Some people wanted us to just call it and say, we need to go home early. We know that there's another day of camping ahead of us, but we're all miserable. Not everybody's having fun. We need to get back home. Can we just go early? And I said, but we still have another day and we've already paid for it. And I want us to go camping still. So there was a division. The smart people and then me. And in my stubbornness, I continued to say, we're camping, we're fine. It's gonna cool off at like 2 a.m. We'll be fine. We'll we'll just grin and bear it. We'll get through it. And my family was very gracious and they were kind and they were logical. No one's having fun, even you. So why don't we just call it? Let's camp it, let's, let's pack it up, we'll go home. Everybody will be rested. We're going to be better as a family. I think this is wise. And I am sad to say that it took me like a full day of solid encouragement to actually realize that I was being stubborn. I was making it about me, and I was not listening to my family and actually considering their greater good. And so we came home, we packed it up, we came home. It was 100% the right decision. But I almost let my wants overpower what was good for my family and the whole part of us being together and enjoying ourselves. I lost sight of what we were about. In our text this week that Michelle just read, Jesus challenges my selfishness that had me at odds with those that I love. But he doesn't just challenge my arrogance. He's also addressing that all that we clutch and we hold tightly to that pits us against each other and prevents us from our full participation in his mission need to be abandoned. They need to be rejected. They need to be pushed aside. So when we walk out of here, I pray that we are reminded of this. This is where we are going. Remaining united in his mission demands our all. Remaining united in his mission demands our all.

Mark 9 And The Unknown Exorcist

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Okay, so we are in Mark. This is our series called And, the Mission of God and His People. Our text this week highlights this ever-growing, expanding, blessed more of the kingdom of God. So we are going to jump back in verse 38 of chapter nine. Teacher, said John, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we told them to stop. Ha ha, because he was not one of us. So two weeks ago, the disciples weren't able to cast out a demon because they didn't have faith. Last week, Andrew Hawes preached that they were arguing about who was the greatest. And now, this week, we have an unknown exorcist who has heard about the powerful name of Jesus. By the way, again, this is that expanding, that rapidly growing, the movement of God is continuing to go out. And we have an unknown guy who is successfully driving out impure spirits by Jesus' name. And the disciple John wants Jesus to back him and shut this down. This isn't what we're about, Jesus?

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Because I didn't approve of it. Right, Jesus? Right? Right, Jesus?

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I just find it hilarious that this mystery person trusts in Jesus' name enough to cast out demons. He isn't competing for status. He isn't competing for his own position. And John instead says, We the 12 disciples, we are super special. And I want to make sure that we boundary this guy out so that he understands he has to kind of go through us or be with us before he does what you tell us to, Jesus. Ironic, we might say. Verse 39. Do not stop him, Jesus said. For 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, for whoever is not against us is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name, because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward. Side note, if you ever are in a conversation with somebody, if you hear somebody talk about the fact that Jesus never claimed to be God, that Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah, it is right here, clear as day, Jesus talking about the fact that people are believing in the Christ, believing in his name, believing in the Messiah. It's him, Jesus is saying it. He's talking about himself. So tuck that one away. Mark chapter 9, uh verse 40, 41. Uh back to the text. Okay, so John has missed what the kingdom of God is about. And he wants to make it, he wants to make the kingdom of God more advantageous for he and his boys. Jesus, in the way that only Jesus can, nicely tells him to knock it off. Because the people that are about what God is about are allies, not enemies. The people that are about what God is about are allies, not enemies. So you might be asking, what is God about? What is God about? Mark started off the entire book reminding us of it. Chapter 1, verse 15, Jesus says, the time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news. Jesus has brought the kingdom of God. The good news is here. The good news is here. This is wonderful. It is good. The inbreaking of the kingdom has arrived. So repent, change your way of thinking, change your actions, and believe it. Trust in him. So Jesus brings this news. Later, a few years later, Paul is writing the book of Ephesians. And an earlier rendition of this sermon had me reading like a large chunk of chapter one because I was so excited. But then that was foolish and it took too much time. So I'm going to shorten it and say that in 14 verses, Jesus talks about God's will, God's purpose, God's plan. He mentions it six times. And he says clearly in verse 9 and 10, it is to unite all things under Christ. So verse 9, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment. It's all bolded in mine because I was so excited about it. To bring to unity all things in heaven and on earth under Christ, right? This uniting of all things under Christ. That is the common mission. That is the thing that we as Christians are all called to. That is actually what God's will is, is that He is wanting to unite all things in Christ. And when we are united in Christ, we are in him. We are in Christ. In those 14 verses, Paul talks about that uniting, that under, that in him 12 times. It's a big deal. God's mission, what is he about? Well, it is about his plan, his will, and his name for all of us to be in him, united for the glory of his name. That's what Jesus is about. So back to our text. Jesus reminds John there aren't sides when it comes to being on Team Jesus. There is Team Jesus, allies, and then there are the people that are against Jesus, enemies. Team Jesus is about Jesus. He is the sovereign. He is the one that we worship, and we are united in him. And if we are in him, those who are in him, everybody else, me, you, you, you, you, all the people I could point to, and then those who are also not in this room, we are on common ground. We are united in his mission. We are in him. He we we are in the for us category, and that's by his

Convictions Without Superiority

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grace, not against us.

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All right. Now I'm gonna make it slightly awkward.

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I have seen a little bit of John's pride in myself and among others here at West Village and how we hold our beliefs and our practices and how we hold them as superior to our brothers and sisters who attend different gatherings of the body in Christ in the Greater Victoria area. Right. So let me kind of qualify this. There is a difference between having a set of beliefs that you believe in, those convictions that you hold to. We should have them. We should be convicted. That's a good thing. But then when we use that good thing as a measuring stick of righteousness or faithfulness against other believers, and we say, well, they don't believe like us, they don't practice like us, they're not like us, and we have slowly done this, and we have created a barrier of ourselves against them, that is a bad thing. So let's put on the humility of Christ like Jesus asks us to. What do we bring to the equation? What do we bring to the equation that brings us to salvation? Honest question. What do we bring to the equation that brings us salvation? I heard nothing. I heard nothing, but I also heard mutterings of nothing. So it was all the same. All right, so we bring nothing to the table for our own salvation. It is Jesus who calls, it is Jesus who forgives, it is Jesus who justifies. Okay, okay, okay. So once he calls us, so what do we bring to the equation that makes us have enough strength to become like him? What do we bring to the table? I'm hearing more mutterings. Nothing. Nothing. We don't bring we don't make ourselves more holy, right? That is the Holy Spirit working in us. He sanctifies us, he is molding us into Christ's likeness. Okay. So once we are in the process of being made like Jesus, right? Okay, so now that that's already going, what do I bring to the table that is helping me do all of Christ's mission in an awesome and amazing manner so that I can look at myself and finally say, now I am awesome, and other people who are not doing this like me are not as awesome.

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There's nothing.

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There is nothing. There is nothing that we bring to the table that sets us apart or sets us above anybody else that has come to receive the free gift of salvation that is given to us by Jesus. Jesus is king, all the rest of us are on common ground. As brothers and sisters. We are one in him by his gift. We are sealed by his Holy Spirit. That is a sealed salvation. Spirit has taken care of it. We are unified under his name and we are fully together about his mission in all things. Not because we are awesome, but because he is. It is our focus on him and his mission in the world. So if I boil this down, we take it down to brass tacks. This means that everybody who calls Jesus Lord is our brother or our sister. So those who come under Jesus are our allies, whether they affiliate as Baptist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, Anglican, Catholic, or Orthodox, if they call him Lord and they have submitted to him as followers of his name, truly and honestly, we are one. We are one. And this should cause us to work together in collaboration for his mission wherever he has put us. And right now, that's Victoria. We need to be about what he is about, right? It is blessing over branding. That is what he has called us to. Okay. So now back to the text. What does this laser focus on Jesus' mission

Stumbling Blocks And Costly Discipleship

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also mean? It means we must leave everything on the line for Jesus. Verse 42. If anyone causes one of these little ones, those who believe in me, to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. So last week in Andrew's sermon, when he was talking about little ones, it was actually little children. This week, um, Jesus is tying on that idea of little ones, but he is no longer just talking about little kids. He's talking about anybody who believes. Anybody who believes. If anybody who believes is taken away from following Jesus, if they abandon their faith and it is done by somebody else, the doer of the bad thing that causes them to stumble, it would be better for them if they were thrown by a very large, very large millstone that is driven by a donkey. It is that large, through tied around their neck and thrown into the sea. That is actually a better consequence than what is coming to them after they die. Now, because I think this is just fascinating, who is Jesus talking to? Who has he been talking to for weeks? The disciples. This is a message to his disciples, to his inner core, to the people who are following him most closely. Jesus is giving them a warning. Our actions must follow Jesus. And we must be about uniting everything under his mission and his likeness, not fighting for our opinions or our desires over Jesus. He is looking at his disciples and saying, stay focused. It's about me, not about what you want. Because if what you want causes somebody to abandon following me, you have lost your service of me. Keep your eyes on me. Now, um, I just feel I have to. Before we hop to the next few verses, I do need to have a side note for the observant among you. We have in our pages, if you have your Bible app, the UVersion app, which we try to update every week, uh as far as like things to think about and see, UVersion app, the Bible app, or your paper Bible, you are going to notice it says Mark 9, 43, and then it says Mark 9.45, and then it says Mark 9.47 and 48. So what happened to verses 44 and 46? Uh the footnotes are going to explain to you that earlier manuscripts that they used to translate from scripture only have 43, 45, 47, and 48. Later manuscripts have 46 and 44 and 46, and 44 and 46 are actually duplicates, replicates of verse 48, where it says the worms never die, where the fire never ends. All right, so verse 48 talks about hell where the worms never die and the fire never ends. And so they had used that exact same phrase and they put it in 46 and 44. And later scholars said, this is an addition that Jesus didn't say at the time. And so if this causes you to freak out, and you are saying, you literally just told me what I see in the Bible might not be what I thought was in the Bible, and now your faith is uh in jeopardy. Don't worry. I want to encourage you. This is welcome to normal Bible translation history. And if you would like to know more, I recommend to you this book, Scribes and Scriptures. Scribes and Scriptures by Dr. John Meade and Peter Gurry. Look it up, read it. It is an encouragement and a joy to your faith on how we actually got the Bible that we have today. It's really well written, it's really exciting. They can talk about manuscripts and make them exciting. I don't know how Dr. Mead did it, but he did. So I commend it to you. Okay, now we're jumping back into our text 943. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It's better for you to enter life maimed. That means your two hands to go into hell where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, 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 stumble, 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 the worms that eat do not die, and the fire is not quenched. Jesus isn't offering this as an explanation for what hell is literally like. Hell is real, but this description is an analogy. So the word in verse 43, 45, 47 is Gehenna. Gehenna was translated for hell, because that is what Jesus is talking about. But Gehenna was a real place and it was a valley just outside of Jerusalem. Once upon a time, the Israelites, in their season where they were not following the covenant and they were walking away from God, they would sacrifice to the God Molech, and what they would sacrifice were their children. And out in Gehenna was where these sacrifices took place. And so there were high places to Molech. When King Josiah came, he said no more. And he defiled, which I always think is so funny because he's doing a good thing, but he defiled their high places in Gehenna by bringing the trash to the city, from the city to there and setting it on fire. And so King Josiah made the place of worship for Molech, the city dump. All right. So they bring all the trash out there and they light it on fire. And then they brought more trash and more trash and more trash. And this essentially continued on to the time of Jesus. We're hundreds of years now separated from King Josiah to Jesus. So now, Gehenna to the people in Israel, they understand that this is the place where trash is taken to be burned. And so when you bring food and other scraps like that, what comes? Worms. Lots of worms. Where the worms never die because they're always out there, they're always eating. And what do we see of the fire? Well, it never stops because the fire continues to burn where the trash is. And so Jesus is using something that is very well known to the people of like, this is a place you don't want to go, right? And everybody goes, Yeah. I don't want to spend my afterlife in the city dump. Okay. And so it is Jesus is using something that is known at the time to tell people, this is what comes to those who abandon my way and go against me, right? This is the place. This is the consequence awaiting everybody who abandons the way of Jesus. For those who walk away from Jesus uniting mission, from his gracious rule, from his life-giving faithfulness, he says, this is bad. You don't want this, right? You don't want this, followers of mine. Do whatever it takes not to stumble. And if there is something that comes to mind for you, followers of Jesus, that you are holding tight to, and you say, Jesus, I will follow you everywhere, except for this one thing. Except for this thing that I think I'm right on and I am willing to fight everybody for, or I, this is the thing that if this changed in my life, I don't know, I might die. Like I have to have this. This is really who I am, Jesus. I know you're really great and we love you, Jesus, but except for this thing, I'm not, I'm not going to give this up. Jesus says, if there is something that comes to mind that you are holding tight to, that you are willing to fight anybody on, and that is not a thing that you have given to Jesus, it is better for you to abandon that thing than suffer this consequence. All right. So now, to be clear, for everybody who's grossed out, no scholar actually thinks that Jesus is encouraging his followers to gouge their eyes out or cut off their appendages. Okay. So if that's if that's what you were worried about, don't worry about it. And beyond that, your eyes, your hands, your feet, these are good things. God gave them to us. None of us are arguing against that, right? We like our eyes and our hands and our feet. Uh, we're all in. But if a good thing is becoming your everything, is it worth holding on to? If it actually becomes more important than Jesus. Discipleship is serious. Following Jesus will be costly, but the cost is worth it. Right? Now, I know for all of us, we're kind of freaking out. You're like, oh my goodness, yeah, it's costly because you just told me I need to pluck my eye out or cut off an appendage. Um it is wise to count the cost. But can we talk also about the other side? Can we talk about what we get when we follow Jesus? Can we talk about the joy that comes from following him or the peace that he brings, or the purpose that we have, or the forgiveness we receive, or all the wonder that sits at his side? We also should, when we look at Jesus, we need to count the cost of what we're gonna give up if we walk away from him. That's costly because we don't get him and we don't get the benefits that we have in him that he gives us. So we need to count the cost, not of what we're gonna also give up if we walk away from some of the selfishness and the things of our life, but we need to realize the cost or what we get in Jesus that we would walk away from if we abandoned him. Now, bringing it back to the text, think back to the start with John. If you were offered joy with Jesus, or you were offered the ultimate power trip, which is better? Is that self-righteous place better than the one of peace that Jesus gives to any who follow him? I let it hang awkwardly in here. I could feel the awkwardness. Nobody, like, well, am I supposed to say Jesus? Because I don't want to say power trip, because I know that's the wrong answer. Let's circle back to this idea.

Salted With Fire And Making Peace

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Okay, let's go to verse 49. Everyone, verse 49, everyone will be salted with fire. Discipleship is costly, and we are all going to go through testing. Jesus promised us here, this verse, that everybody, meaning believers, all believers, all time, everywhere, are going to go through a refining fire. And when those fires come, do you want to stand at odds? All right. So I'm coming back to this idea where we have John who is trying to boundary and separate himself. There is a lack of peace between he and this unknown exorcist, this other people that are doing Jesus stuff, but not in the way that John wants. So when the refining fires come, do we want to be at odds with other believers, with other people in our lives who are given to us to help make us whole, to look more like Jesus, to be more like Jesus? It's a good thing to be surrounded by people who are actually going to challenge us, to encourage us, to call us on our crap, to give us grace, to give us space, to give us truth. The fires are coming. But are we going to go through it solo or in community that God has given us? Verse 50. Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves and be at peace with each other. All right. Salt is salty by taste, right? If it looks like salt, but then you taste it and it's not salty, are you going to put it on your food? No, because it's not salt. Salt serves a purpose. In John 13, 35, Jesus tells his disciples that people will know that we are Christians by our love for one another. If we call ourselves Christians and we aren't at peace with one another, if we are actually known for our strife with one another, or our team is better than your team, if this is how the culture knows us, are we salty? Are we actually affected by the love of Jesus? Or are we just like everybody else? Do we actually look like one thing but we're another? Jesus commands us here be salty and be at peace with one another. Okay. If you are a listening person, you probably are also thinking being at peace with everyone all the time is an impossibility. Because I know myself, and I'm not easy to get along with, and other people are also hard to get along with. So this feels like an impossibility. God gives us encouragements in Romans and in Hebrews. Romans 12, 18, if it is possible as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. At the start of Hebrews chapter 12, verse 14, A make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy, right? So if it is possible, as much as you are able, live at peace with everybody. That means there are other parties that might make peace a no-go. But we are called to make every effort towards peace. We are called to make every effort towards peace. So be salty. Be affected by the love of Jesus, be at peace with one another, walk towards peace. And if it isn't peaceful, I think that's a reality of being a human on earth. That is a reality of sin. When a lack of peace comes, work towards peace. Don't give up. If there's a lack of peace, I would encourage you. There's a relationship or relationships. Is there something is this lack of peace, am I bringing anything to the table? Is there anything I need to repent of? Is there is there frustration or conflict and I'm a part of it? What am I bringing to the table? If you have gone to Jesus and you have repented of what you've needed to repent of, if you have gone to another person and you have apologized and there is still not peace, talk to them about it. I know it's hard. Talk to them about it and go and say, hey, I know things are not where we want it to be right now, but I do want peace. We'll let you all know. I am not at peace fully with everybody in my life. But I desire for that peace. And because we are united for one mission, it is more important to be about his mission, to be salty, and to be at peace than to say, I'm right and keep a distance. Peace is a process. I want to invite you to take a step towards that. But there is the there is the peace with God. There is a peace with one another, like an individual. And then there is just peace with brothers and sisters, right? So I'm expanding the sphere. I'm talking about that brothers and sisters aspect. What stands between us and others who are for us? They're on our team, but we've acted like they haven't been. Like they're enemies. Are our own preferences standing between us and God's greater mission? Have we sacrificed unity to be right? Have we sacrificed unity to be right? If God wants us to be faithful so that we can see Victoria as it is in heaven, what are we holding tightly to that keeps us from doing that with all of our brothers and sisters who are in Victoria? Remaining united in his mission demands our all. Remaining united in his mission demands us all. So as the band makes their way up front, I want us to take some time to pray through what God might be challenging you and I through. There's three areas. You can kind of imagine them in those concentric circles, right? So within, with a brother or sister, with brothers or sisters, right? So small, bigger, bigger. So the first question, and we're going to take a moment to actually pray. Within, what are you fighting for? Where are you fighting for your own way? What's the proverbial body part that it would be better to get rid of than hold on to? What does Jesus want to free you from? Okay, so with one another, that's within, with another brother or sister. Do you have a lack of peace with a brother or sister? What more can you do to move towards peace with them? Is there something that you need to repent of before going to them? Do you need to go have that conversation? Again, some things take time. But if you feel the spirit is moving and bringing a name or face to mind, I encourage you to take steps. Lastly, with other brothers and sisters. Okay, so who around you, where God has placed you, who around you is in the for us category, right? They may not be at West Village, but they're allies. They're under the name of the Lord. Who is in that crew that you don't know all that well? Co-worker, neighbor, friend, even? Like, uh, I kind of know, but they're weird. If they're on Team Jesus, we're they're allies. So who can you take out for a coffee to hear their story and pray together? How can you actually move everybody who is in the for us take one step to bringing the body of Christ closer to be united on his mission in the greater Victoria to see Victoria as it is in heaven? Who is that? Okay. So as the band puts a nice little pad behind or something, we're gonna take a couple minutes and we're gonna pray. Okay. So bow your heads and let's go to Jesus. Jesus, where do you want to do work within me? Lord, we know you are moving, you are speaking to us. We also know that two quick minutes is not enough to really listen to you, to seek your face. So we just ask, Lord, that in this moment, the one that we had, you hold it in our memory. That you draw us to you and you give us the power for those who have called you Lord. Holy Spirit, that you give us the strength to step forward. Holy Spirit, I do ask that you continue to move. For those who do not call you Lord, move in their hearts to let them know what they are leaving on the line. They come to you for forgiveness, they can come to you for peace. Convict, Lord. Holy Spirit, you let us know that you will convict us of our sins as we go away from here. Let us see what we have put as an obstacle between those you love. Let us be united in your mission. Knowing that staying together is worth everything we've got. Your name we pray, Jesus, amen.