Be the Salt, Not Salty - With Special Guest Kristen Harlin

Jesus challenges our tribal instincts in Mark 9:38-50, teaching that 'whoever is not against us is for us.' He warns against causing others to stumble and emphasizes the importance of being salt—preserving goodness while maintaining balance. Like Esther, we're often positioned 'for such a time as this,' facing choices to act courageously or become bitter. When life's challenges arise, we can choose to be salt that enhances others' lives or become 'salty' with bitterness. God remains faithful even in difficult times, calling us to surrender our illusion of control and find peace.

Transcript

Good morning. How is everyone this morning? Good morning. Well, it is an honor to be here. You guys actually got to hear my son speak a few weeks ago, and so I will not be as brief, probably as he was.

Sorry about that. And he definitely does a better job than I do. But I am so glad to be here with you this morning. Our scripture reading today comes from Mark, verses 38 through 50, and I'm reading from the NIV. It said, Teacher said, john, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we told him to stop because he was not one of us.

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 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. If anyone causes one of these little ones, those who believe in me, to stumble, it would be better for them if they hung a large millstone around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.

If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to not enter life maimed, then with 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 them do not die and the fire is not quenched and everyone will be salted with fire. 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. This is the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God.

I know that we have heard probably our entire lives that whoever is not for us, against us. But in this gospel reading, it says, whoever is not against us is for us. Is the way Jesus says this. Jesus reframes John what John is trying to enter to all of us as us versus them, thought going through his mind at a consensus. I think we all have the tendency to do what John did right here.

We bring it to our context, our experiences, what we've been going through, and our life situations, and we can make things a little bit messier than they need to be. Have you ever had the best of intentions and they just end so Badly or have you said something and immediately thought that? Man, that really sounded better in my head. I often find myself in these situations where I say something or I do something and it's taken so differently than the way I intended it. I try to be helpful, to be told to butt out or not listen to, or I just stop talking because no one is listening.

Relationships, they are so messy. Communication, it is so hard. And even in the most loving of situations, we can all be misunderstood. When we are working together in our day to day lives, we try our best. And some days this just seems like we just should have stayed in bed.

I'm sure John thought this immediately whenever he began to speak. And Jesus corrected him whenever he said, teacher, we saw someone drive out demons in your name and we told him to stop because he was not one of us.

Jesus said, don't stop him. And John's probably standing there thinking, wow, why I'm not putting down John. He was a fisherman. Jesus had asked him to come and follow him with his brother James. He was an apostle.

He's not John the baptizer, two totally different people. And he had given up his life fishing in Galilee to follow Jesus. He had seen Jesus perform miracles, that they were in the time of growing oppression, they were watching religious leaders come after them and come after the Messiah. So of course, the context of where he was coming from was very strange.

He didn't realize that these people were not trying to do anything malicious, they were trying to help. But because of what he had been going through in his life in that construct, and in that time, he was very jaded. Jesus goes on to say in Mark to John, if anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble, those who believe to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and thrown into the sea. And he's telling them, hey, these people, they're trying. Don't be the stumbling block for these people.

So if you were to hang a big millstone around someone's neck, they would just sink to the bottom of the water. That's what Jesus is trying to say, don't cause somebody else to stumble.

Now this is where it starts getting more difficult. We can think, we can be objective and we can remove ourselves and our context we have lived in, but in reality, it's actually impossible to be completely objective. We all bring in our own ideas, our own ways, things even from our childhood that come back and play into what's going on. So that's where it says, if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It's better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands and go to hell.

If your foot causes you to stumble, it's better to enter crippled. So those things that might seem like they're not such a big deal, those issues that you had, those things that you think make you whole, sometimes it's best to take a step back and make sure they're not a stumbling block for somebody else.

Then it goes into where the worms that eat them do not die and the fire is not quenched. Everyone will be salted with fire. But 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.

Salt, when used in moderation, is a really good thing. It can preserve, it can enhance taste. But when it's used excessively, it can be very overwhelming. I know occasionally I'm going to admit it, I watch random TikTok videos or videos that pop up on Facebook. It kills time.

This is probably not the best use of my time. But anyways, so have you saw the videos where people will be cooking and they'll go, honey, taste this. And they like hide a whole bunch of salt on the bottom of a spoon and then they put whatever they're cooking over it and then they give it to their spouse? Yes. The kids are yes, yes, you've seen this.

So that's what it's like whenever you're overly salty, it's just like, oh, it makes your jaws hurt. It makes can be so overwhelming that people will not understand you or appreciate what you're doing. They certainly don't appreciate the person's cooking, do they? In that moment it is so bad. But we are called to be the salt of the earth, to be honest, to be kind, to be trustworthy, to preserve the goodness of God and share the good news with others.

In verse 50 James Jesus tells them that salt is good. But what if it loses it? How do you make it salty again? We have to salt each other. We have to be at peace with each other.

We have to understand where each other's coming from and not be the stumbling block. We have to be, oh sorry, you will have to lose your salt and salt each other to be at peace and not be too salty. It's about balance, it's about the greater good, not about our self imposed ideation.

So you guys met Chandler a few weeks ago. He also comes to youth and seen us around. And I have learned so much about being a parent and Learning about patience, kindness, gentleness, all of that. Because I'm going to be completely honest, I have OCD tendencies. I have some control issues.

I'm going to own it. Okay? We all have these things in our life. I have a little bit of perfectionism that I like to try to achieve. Just letting you know, I struggle.

I am a messy human. Well, whenever he was about 2 or 3 years old, he wanted to help me decorate the Christmas tree.

The moms in the room are going, oh, So I don't know if you've ever decorated a Christmas tree with someone who's two or three years old, but they're not real tall, and they generally like to put ornaments all in one spot and not around the tree. And so I'm sitting there watching him put his ornaments on the tree, and with everyone, I'm internally hurting for this tree because you're supposed to layer the ornaments, you're supposed to put them on, you're supposed to make it work just so.

But I took a deep breath and I took a look at the whole picture. There was a toddler wanting to celebrate the coming of the Messiah, and he wanted to help.

Fast forward to last Christmas. It was a short year. There was a lot going on, and I wanted to get the tree up, but I never had the time to get this tree up. And one evening, he got out the tree and he put it up for me. And he could hang all of the ornaments around that tree, and he could even hang ornaments that I couldn't hang.

He is now taller than I am. Had I let my own preconceived ideas from 13 years ago and my judgment of a perfect tree come out, I would not have had the help, seen the growth or help to nurture the coming of the Messiah in his life.

So who remembers the story of Esther? It's one of my favorite stories. Okay, so Esther's in the Old Testament. She was a Jewish girl who caught the king's eye, and she married him. She has this cousin named Mordecai, who she really, really, really respects.

And Esther lived in Persia. And during that time, there was a court order to destroy all of the juice. This was issued by Haman, who was an official of the court, and he was also an official of the king. And so Esther wrestles in her own mind how she can handle this situation, because Mordecai had told her, you have to do something. You're in a position.

So she wrestles in her own mind how she should handle the situation. Should she do something, should she not do anything. And we all know that whenever you don't do something, it's still something.

So Mordecai, Esther's cousin, comes to her and tells her in Esther, chapter four 14, for if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this? In his wisdom, Esther's cousin Mordecai says, God can do this with or without you. He can deliver and will deliver his people. If you choose to do nothing, you and your family will perish.

But who knows? What if you were put here for such a time as this? What if this is your time and your place to do something? Free will is a pretty tricky thing though, right? We have a God who made us in his image to serve him, and then says, but I'm going to give you freedom to choose then.

Throughout time, humans have made decisions. Sometimes these decisions have been good. Sometimes these decisions have had a bad impact on others. But have you ever been placed in just the right place at the right time? You may not have even known it at the time.

Then you were given gifts from God to handle a situation. So Esther has a choice. Do nothing. Do something. Get salty and resentful that she had a great life.

And now, why her? Why now? Why should she risk it for such a time as this? Does she help to salt the unsalty and preserve the Jewish people? Does she do nothing and she herself become unsalty?

Or does she just become salty and bitter and tell Mordecai to go kick rocks, because these are not my monkeys and this is not my circus.

But in verse or in chapter seven, verse one, it says, so the king and Haman went to a feast with Queen Esther. And on the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, what is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you. And what is your request? Even to half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.

Then Queen Esther answered, if I have won your favor, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me. That is my petition. And the lives of my people, that's my request. For we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be killed and to be annihilated. If we have been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace.

But no enemy can compensate for the damage to the king. Then the king said to Esther, who is he? Where is he who has presumed to do this? Esther said, a foe and an enemy, this wicked Haman ben Haman was terrified before the king and the queen. He's sitting there listening to all of this.

Esther not only does something, she tells the king. She also straight up calls Haman out in front of the king and in front of him, and she exposes his corrupt plan. That takes guts. And they're at a party.

In verses 9 and 10 it says, Then Hirvana, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, said, look at the very pole that Haman has prepared for Mordecai, whose word save the king stands at Haman's house 50 cubits high. And the king said, hang him on that. So Haman had already set up a spot to hang Mordecai with the word save the king written above his head. Then plot twist, the king tells them to go hang Haman there instead.

So they hung Haman on the pole that had prepared for Mordecai. Then the anger of the king abated. In Esther 9, we see in verse 20, Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of the king, both near and far, enjoining them that they should keep the 14th day of the month of Deir, and also 14th day of the same month by year as the days on which the Jews gained relief from their enemies, and on the months they had been turned from them from sorrow into gladness, and from mourning into a holiday, that they should make the days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts and food to one another and presents to the poor.

God used a Jewish girl to deliver his people and to break the injustice which was incurring. She was willing to listen. She waited for the Lord's timing and she did what needed to be done. She did not let herself and her lifestyle get in the way. She knew she could have lost it if this were to go badly.

But God put her in a time and a place for such a time as this. I know Esther knew about the order to kill the Jews, and she fretted about it. I bet her palms were sweaty, her knees were weak, and her arms were heavy, and she worried about how horrible it could become. She had to put the safety of all of her people before her own courage and faith. Setting her eyes on the bigger picture.

She was nervous, but on the surface she looked calm and ready. It was her opportunity, her wants. In a lifetime she lets she. So at these times we can choose when we're salty. We can choose when we're going to do what's easy.

We can choose what could be hard. So in our family, we've had some kids kind of craziness. Go on. I know everybody's world kind of shifted with COVID ours shifted dramatically. And I'll go more into that probably next week.

But my husband has had some medical issues the past few years. And let me tell you, I can give you every excuse of why I can be salty, but why I've tried not to be. In 2023, my husband, Carrie, had been doing well, and he had recovered from some health issues and but started having another health episode. My coping mechanism had become if I keep everything completely done, I would not get behind and everything would just be okay. I was trying to control everything.

Whenever I tell you, control everything. I mean, wake up, make sure the dishwasher was unloaded so we could just throw dishes in at the end of the night, have that done. Laundry had to stay completely done. You couldn't get behind. You couldn't let that.

Because he had had a couple of hospital visits where everything just went out of.

So I got up that morning and made sure laundry was folded. I made sure everything was caught up in the house. And I took my shower and I ran out of shampoo and I wrote it on my shopping list. Got Chandler off to school. And Cary called, I need to go to the hospital.

So whenever I got there, away he went for surgery again.

When he came out and he was okay, friends met me at the house. I had one group of friends pick up our dogs. I had another friend come and get Chandler and take him to their house to be so he could go to school with their son. She even picked me up chick fil a knowing I probably had not eaten all day. They knew it was hard for me to ask, and they just showed up.

It was different this time. I had done everything. I had everything under control. How is this still happening? After three days of surgery, I was tired and Carrie was stable.

So I decided I was going to go see Chandler, take him to dinner, and then I would take him back to the friend's house and I'd go home, sleep for a couple hours and get up early and get back to the hospital. Best laid plans, right? So on my way, I got Chandler back to his friend's house. And whenever I'm driving, I got a flat tire. It's dark, I'm not in a good part of town.

So I called aaa.

AAA came, changed my tire. An hour later. I'm getting home even an hour later than what I had been. I was like, okay, God, get in the house. Everything's practically done.

I go shower. I had let myself forget the shampoo.

God and I had a moment. We had a very long talk about shampoo, which you might think is crazy, but if you've ever been in a moment where just the last final thing, the straw that broke the camel's back for me that day, it was shampoo. I had held it together for years. I had held it together through that surgery. But shampoo?

Oh, let me tell you, not proud about what happened after talking to God about the shampoo.

So I even threw back at God. I attend church. I do everything I'm supposed to be doing. I read my Bible, God, I pray. Why does this stuff keep happening?

Letting myself get salty instead of letting myself realize everything was going to be okay. People had been salting me. They showed up to take my dogs. They showed up to help with my kids. They showed up to help fix my tire.

But I was going to choose shampoo in that moment to be salty. About as angry as I was in that moment, something came over me. God was faithful. He had not left. He had stayed there fighting for all of us.

And he even sent his son many years before, who then gave his life to go on and prepare a place for all of us for when our time on earth is done. So my anger faded and I gave up the sense of control I thought I had and was just held in that moment. Then I looked around because my hair was still not clean and I was so tired. I'm very sad to admit that all I could find was dog shampoo.

Very defeated and tired from the really long day and the long week, I gave up. But I want you to know my hair has never been so shiny and lustrous since that night.

I'll also admit that I did cut my hair off at my next hair appointment and quit fighting with hair appointments for a while so that I could give up that sense of control and trying to make sure everything had to stay done and perfect.

There will be hard days. He never promised there would not be. But he did say he would be there with us. He did say he would walk with us.

On the hard days, we have to be salted by others and by our Father so we can keep the right balance. We are called to salt each other, to make sure that we are there for those who need it. If we are not, he will send someone else to do it. But what is he calling us to do. My husband also chose not to be salty.

Last summer he actually went to a golf tournament despite his new impairment and only being able to use one arm while golfing. And he now golfs one handed.

He played in a tournament with people who also have limb impairments that play the same way. They're choosing to be the salt and not get salty about their new normal. He also chose to play because our son loves to play golf and he didn't want to miss out on his time with his son.

So we're all given a choice. What are we going to do in the situations we are put in? What are we going to do with each day, each moment? Gifts from God. How do we still preserve whenever we have our own ideas and they don't go right?

Whoever is not against us is for us. Don't cause others to stumble. Take away the things which cause us to stumble and God can send someone else to do it if you won't. But what if you were sent for such a time as this?

Mark 9 and 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. Choose to be the salt. Don't get salty.

Would you pray with me?