By The Rev. Dr. Paul A. Leggett
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Sermon Text: Mark 9:38-41
Sermon Theme
The disciple John comes to Jesus with the concern that someone whom they do not know is casting out demons in Jesus’ name. The disciples told the person to stop but apparently he continued. Jesus rebukes them (once again). He tells them not to stop the person. This narrow view of the scope of ministry is not new. Jesus states the principle, “Whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:40). This goes back to the story of the Canaanite prostitute Rahab helping the spies of Israel (Joshua 2). As followers of Christ we are spies in this world. Yet God supports us in surprising ways. We are not alone. We need to recognize the many allies the Lord provides us in his service.
Sermon Outline
- Someone. The disciples clearly do not know this exorcist casting out demons in Jesus’ name. They only know that he is “someone.” He was not following Jesus with them. Therefore they try to stop him. The view of the disciples is excessively narrow. Unfortunately this kind of thinking has plagued the church throughout its history. Moses confronted this attitude in the Old Testament (Numbers 11:26-29). A further irony is that the disciples’ negative view may be based on jealousy. They recently had tried to cast out a demon and had failed (Mark 9:14-18). We need to recognize that Jesus has many more followers than we know (Matthew 25:31-46). When Elijah complained that only he was left among the prophets God told him that there were in fact seven thousand others (I Kings 19:18). John says that everyone who does right has been born of God (I John 2:29). Jesus’ statement that “Whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:40) is far broader than most of us can imagine.
- Support. God’s plan is nothing less than the salvation of the world in Jesus Christ (I John 4:14). Jesus tells us that he alone builds the church (Matthew 16:18). Having said this, we need to remember that God accomplishes his purpose in unexpected ways. Throughout Scripture people who would seem to have no connection with God’s Word or the gospel come forward to play major supporting roles in carrying out God’s will. One example is Rahab who is both a Canaanite and a prostitute. She aids the Israelite spies and becomes, not only an ancestor of Jesus, but an example of faith (Hebrews 11:31). God raises up Cyrus, an unbelieving Persian King, to be his “anointed” in allowing Israel to leave Babylon and return to their native land (Isaiah 45:1-4). God also raises up Julius, a Roman centurion who protected the apostle Paul (Acts 27:1-3, 42-43). God has many more servants than we realize.
- Surprise. God acts in surprising ways. The disciples did not expect Jesus to support this unknown servant. From their perspective he was not one of them. The danger here is that the disciples had made themselves into the definitive model of what it was to be a follower of Jesus Christ. This exorcist did not fit their expectations. They did not know him. Jesus brings up the same point he had made earlier to his Pharisee critics. A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand (Mark 3:24). One who has taken the side of Jesus will not oppose him. The only exceptions are the false prophets and those who invoke Jesus’ name with no real faith in him (Matthew 7:15-23; Acts 19:13-16). Yet Jesus’ surprising statement is even broader. To not be against Jesus is to be for him. This is the reality behind the parable of the sheep and the goats (“When was it that we saw you hungry … ?,” Matthew 25:37). We are called to witness to Christ as spies in enemy territory. We should not be surprised that God raises up servants for himself in ways that are unknown and surprising to us. The fact that God works in so many different ways should give us both confidence and boldness in our service to him.
Questions for Us
- Have we, like the disciples, dismissed another Christian because he or she was different from us? Indeed such a person may appear to us, like Rahab, to be a sinner. Why do you think it is so easy to fall into such narrow, judgmental attitudes?
- Have we been surprised by someone whom we thought was outside of Christ but we later learned was proclaiming the gospel in their own way? What lessons can we learn from such an experience?
- How can we be more open in recognizing God’s servants who don’t fit our expectations?
