Don’t Cause Others to Stumble                               Mark 9:38-50

The middle of Mark’s Gospel chapters 6, 7 and 8 are great reading and important verses to study. We have Jesus performing great miracles. He fed more than 5000 with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. He sends a demon out of a young girl, he heals a deaf and mute man, he walks on water, and perhaps the greatest moment in his ministry; the transfiguration, where Jesus takes on and shows the full glory that is his in heaven, and where God speaks from heaven in Mark 9:7 declaring  “This is my son whom I love, listen to him.”

And offsetting all of this is that people in general and his disciples in particular just don’t seem to understand what Jesus is saying about the Kingdom of God. We see throughout scripture that those trusted to teach the faith were at the time more concerned with the rules that kept them in positions of authority than they were in spreading understanding of God’s message of love and redemption. They weren’t teaching the great commandments of loving God and loving each other.

I can see how this must have caused Jesus great frustration that his disciples still don’t understand after all they’ve heard him say and all they’ve seen him do. Now we have another example of how they miss what Jesus is teaching. We see they are still trying to hold onto the old ways and not being open to the new understanding Jesus is teaching.

Just a little back story; remember that Israel and her people were supposed to bring God to the nations around them; God tells Abram in Genesis 12 to go into lands he will show him, lands where they do not know God’s name and that he will bless those who bless him. Israel was supposed to be using the Ten Commandments and the sacrificial system to remind themselves and to teach others how we all need God’s grace and mercy.

Our readings verse 38, “…teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.”

Notice the wording John uses, he didn’t say “he’s not following you Lord,” He said, “…he is not following us.” John and the disciples in general are applying the attitude of the Jewish nation in Jesus day; we are the chosen, you are the pagans. At this time in Israel’s history God was spoken of but he was almost placed second to being an Israelite. The most non-practicing Israelite was still better than the Gentiles who lived around them. Who you were was more important than if you knew God.

We see here as the representative of the twelve John is bringing that philosophy to the forefront of the apostles, you were not picked by Jesus, it doesn’t matter what you believe or what you do.

Now obviously this exorcist believes in who Jesus is or he would not have invoked his name and power. But the apostles are saying it doesn’t matter what you believe you can’t know God if you’re not one of the chosen. And we see like he’s done before, Jesus stops them in their tracks and corrects misguided ideas.

Verse 39, “Do not stop him…for anyone who does a miracle in my name cannot speak against me in the next minute.”

Jesus is telling them that this man may not be one of the disciples, he may even be a Gentile, but none of that matters because this man knows God. This man believes in who Jesus is and his faith is strong; and it’s ironic that at this point in their journey, the disciple’s faith is less than this man’s.

“…no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything against me.” In a time when Satan, demons and angels were more in the minds of men than they are today Jesus is telling them here, do not fear those who do miracles in God’s name because they are of God. The devil cannot cast out his demons; Satan cannot invoke the power of God because he is the antithesis of God.

This is for us too. We live with the Holy Spirit in us so we can call on the power of God as we bless others, but when we see miracles being performed by others we must see if they are done by invoking the power of God through Jesus Christ. One way to determine this is whether or not the one performing the miracle boasts on himself or if he holds up God.

Verse 42, “If anyone causes one of these little ones…” Here little ones are those new to faith in Christ. “If anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble…” “Stumble” refers to anything a believer says or does that causes a new convert to abandon their faith or to be drawn into sin.

New believers are drawn into many of God’s churches. And in some their faith is less important than the rules they have to follow; never drink alcohol, you absolutely have to tithe every penny you earn, you can’t watch certain movies or tv shows, if you do than you really weren’t saved, you don’t have God in your heart. To me these churches are more like the Pharisees, salvation is dependent on what you do not on what you believe.

We should be consistent in what we teach about how God wants us to live, but we should realize everyone is a work in progress and it takes time to mature in faith. We should be looking at how God is working in someone’s life and not what hard and fast rules they are following.

Back again to verse 42, “…it would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around one’s neck.” In Greek it says “mulos onikos”; a donkey powered millstone, a huge stone. Tied to this would certainly cause drowning. And to the Israelites, this punishment prevents them from a proper burial; a terrible fate in their eyes.

Jesus uses this exaggerated example to dramatize the danger of causing another to stumble in their faith, that those who cause another to turn from God will suffer a terrible fate at God’s hands.

Verse 43, “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off.” Jesus is not advocating self mutilation, as with the millstone Jesus is using an exaggerated example that is shocking so he can get his point across.

To these ancient people physical disfigurement kept you out of the Temple, it kept you away from God. The spiritual meaning behind this is this; when we are disfigured by our sin we are kept out of the presence of God. Only when we are perfect, perfect through faith in Christ are we allowed into the Holy presence of God

Now we should never take the words “cut it off” literally as they apply to our bodies, we should however take the lesson they teach seriously. Discipleship sometimes does require an “amputation.” We need to amputate from our lives the bad habits, resentments, desires and even relationships that cause us to weaken our relationship with God. We need to physically put out of our lives those things and people that cause us to stumble. Believe me, I know it can be difficult, I had to end a friendship with someone I knew for years because the things he wanted to do and the beliefs he had went against what I felt God was telling me.

Our readings verse 45 is the only place in Mark’s gospel where Jesus references hell, so it should be taken seriously. The idea of hell is hard for us; we don’t like to think about it. But by pushing hell away heaven in our minds is lessoned. We don’t see the great chasm between the two realities in the next life. This is why so many don’t take God seriously in their lives and why many don’t think it’s important to bring God to others.

Verse 48, “Where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.” The original verse is in Isaiah and Jesus references it here to warn those there and all of us that judgment and a physical hell is a reality.

The end of our reading has Jesus talking about salt and fire. With fire he is alluding to the hardships the disciples will face because of their faith, almost all of them will be killed for their belief. With salt Jesus is talking about faith. Pure salt is good, it can be used as a preservative, a spice, even as fertilizer; but mixed with other minerals and impurities and salt becomes less valuable.

Jesus is telling us our faith is good to him, good to others only when it is pure. I know a man who believes in Christ but he also incorporates into his life Buddhist beliefs. Some believe in Christ but then add new age ideas into the mix. When we mix our faith with other things it becomes lessened. Now I know yoga, meditation and acupuncture originated in other religions and some ministers will tell you that you have to stay away from these things. All of these things have been proved to be beneficial to ease anxiety and pain, and you can partake of these things for these purposes, I have and they help my back a great deal, you just have to guard yourself if someone tries to insist on the religious aspect of them, just find another practitioner.

Jesus asks us what good is our faith if we are not enjoying the joy that comes with loving God. What good is our faith if we’re not sharing his Holy gift of Christ? Jesus words are prophetic, they reach across the centuries and they can be hard for us to hear.

The harsh and exaggerated language Jesus uses in these passages causes many to skip over these verses and look for nicer passages. Jesus is telling us, he’s telling our churches don’t look at others and tell them “you’re doing it wrong.” Heaven doesn’t have a Congregational neighborhood, a reformed neighborhood. It doesn’t have fences around the Methodists or the Baptists. The differences between denominations, individual churches and people matter little to God, what matters is the faith in your heart.

So we must guard ourselves and not cause others to stumble, to walk away from Christ or revert to their sinful ways because they’re not doing “church” the way we like.

Equal to this; we must guard ourselves and literally remove from our lives anything and anyone who causes us to stumble and push God aside.

We see from the Tower of Babel in Genesis that diversity is God’s plan for humanity. We must remember that not all of Jesus followers will look the same, or act the same, or live the same. We who believe in Jesus; we who have committed our lives to Jesus, all of us should look away from the small insignificant earthly differences between us and see each other as part of God’s family.

The Contemporary English version of the Bible puts 2 Timothy 2:14 this way; “Don’t let anyone forget these things. With God as your witness, you must warn them not to argue about words. These arguments don’t help anyone. In fact they ruin everyone who listens.”

God bless.