Loving God, you continue to teach us through Jesus, calling us to be a healing presence in our world.  Empower us by your Holy Spirit to carry the love of Christ in our hearts, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            Today’s gospel is one of those that is pretty hard to read without some sort of explanation.  If nothing else, it has lots of violent imagery to catch our attention.  However, it also lifts up the little ones, and how they are treated, and it actually begins with an interruption from John, who might be identified as the “king of the non sequitur” (workingpreacher.org).

         You see, in the verses right before (which we heard last week), Jesus had taken a little child in his arms, and was talking about welcoming children in his name and being last of all and servant of all.  John – totally ignoring what Jesus has just said – tells him about somebody who is not part of their group who was casting out demons in his name.  The disciples, of course, told them to stop it!  How dare somebody else perform deeds of power in the name of Jesus!  After all, aren’t they the chosen ones?  However, Jesus makes no such distinctions, and has no desire to stop this person (or any others) from performing deeds of power in his name.

         After this brief interruption – and perhaps still holding a little child in his arms – Jesus gives some dire warnings about those who would harm children or lead them into sin.  “These little ones who believe in [Jesus]” are precious in his sight, and woe to those who treat them otherwise (Mk. 9:42).  The timing of these readings can’t help but bring to mind the many children who went off to residential school and never came home.  It also brings to mind those who were abused by the very people who were supposed to be representing Christ.  Surely there were many children who lost their faith in Jesus.  What is surprising is how many kept their faith and continue to worship and serve in the church to this day!

         However, lest we get too comfortable pointing our fingers at others, we are reminded that there are always at least three fingers pointing back at us.  In a series of disturbing images, we are told to get rid of any body parts that have participated in sinful behavior.  In fact, if any of us took this literally, our whole bodies would need to be cut out, or removed.  In other words, we would die.  Jesus, however, often uses images that are intended to get people’s attention – and, in fact, we are called to “die to self” and “live to Christ” through our baptism.  As one pastor puts it, rather than “chop-chop,” ‘we can talk about the “splash-splash” of death and new life through baptism’ (Stoffregen).

         Of course, then there are those other images of hell and worms and unquenchable fire.  The first thing that we might want to know is that the word that is translated as “hell” is actually Gehenna.  It is derived from the Hebrew ge-hinnom, or “Valley of Hinnom.”  This particular valley was used by some of the kings of Judah for human sacrifice by fire – which was forbidden for all those who worshiped the God of Israel.  It was also used as a garbage dump, where garbage was burned, and the fire never really went out (kind of like those forest fires that just keep smoldering underground).  By New Testament times, Gehenna was used mostly as a metaphor for a state of judgment and punishment, whereas Hades was used to mean the place of the dead (Stoffregen).  Tartaros is yet another Greek word that was used to mean a place of punishment that was part of Hades.

         While there is an element of judging ourselves that is in today’s gospel, this is not an invitation for us to judge others, or to draw any lines in the sand (like John wanted to do at the beginning).  As a professor of theology once said, “Whenever you want to draw lines in order to mark who is outside the kingdom and who is inside, always remember: Jesus is on the other side of the line!  Jesus is always with the outsiders!” (Jensen, Preaching Mark’s Gospel, p. 149).  We can also say that Jesus is always with the little ones.

         As for the images at the end of today’s gospel, being salted with fire is another strange one.  One suggestion is that perhaps purification through persecution is what is intended (sundaysandseasons.com) – or perhaps something to do with self-sacrifice.  At the same time, the ending seems to point to some of the healing properties of salt: “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another” (Mk. 9:50b).  It seems that the healing of relationships is needed – and more than ever when we consider the harm that has been caused to children.

         At the same time, we are being called to be a healing presence in the world, rather than perpetuating more harm.  God knows that there is enough harm to go around these days, and any time that we can be a healing presence in the name of Christ, it is a blessing to those who are around us.  May others be able to see Christ in each of us, for we have been saved, redeemed and forgiven by the grace of God through Jesus.  Thanks be to God!  Amen.

Lectionary 26(B)                              Mark 9:38-50

September 29, 2024

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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