Sunday's Message - Closed Windows, Open Doors

As disciples of Jesus, we've been called to follow him by claiming his example and learning from his teachings. From June to October, we're going to focus on the Gospel of Mark so that we might better understand how we might follow our Savior and live as his community. 

During the following twenty Sundays, the message will apply following passages:

June 6, 2021 - Mark 3:20-35

June 13, 2021 - Mark 4:26-34

June 20, 2021 - Mark 4:35-41

June 27, 2021 - Mark 5:21-43

July 4, 2021 - Mark 6:1-13

July 11, 2021 - Mark 6:14-29

July 18, 2021 - Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

July 25, 2021 - Mark 7:14-23

August 1, 2021 - Mark 7:24-37

August 8, 2021 - Mark 8:27-38

August 15, 2021 - Mark 9:30-37

August 22, 2021 - Mark 9:38-50

August 29, 2021 - Mark 10:2-16

September 5, 2021 - Mark 10:17-31

September 12, 2021 - Mark 10:35-45

September 19, 2021 - Mark 10:46-52

September 26, 2021 - Mark 12:28-34

October 3, 2021 - Mark 12:38-44

October 10, 2021 - Mark 13:1-8

October 17, 2021 - Mark 13:24-26, 32-36

On Sunday, August 22, 2021, we looked at Mark 9:38-50. The passage, the message and the podcast is below:

Mark 9:38-50 [Contemporary English Version]

John said, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to force demons out of people. But he wasn’t one of us, and we told him to stop.”

Jesus said to his disciples:

Don’t stop him! No one who works miracles in my name will soon turn and say something bad about me. Anyone who isn’t against us is for us. And anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name, just because you belong to me, will surely be rewarded.

It will be terrible for people who cause even one of my little followers to sin. Those people would be better off thrown into the ocean with a heavy stone tied around their necks. So if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! You would be better off to go into life crippled than to have two hands and be thrown into the fires of hell that never go out. If your foot causes you to sin, chop it off. You would be better off to go into life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. If your eye causes you to sin, get rid of it. You would be better off to go into God’s kingdom with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell. The worms there never die, and the fire never stops burning.

Everyone must be salted with fire. 

Salt is good. But if it no longer tastes like salt, how can it be made salty again? Have salt among you and live at peace with each other.

Closed Windows, Open Doors

Now, let me ask y’all. Have you ever been woke up from a sound sleep in the middle of the night by a really loud noise? How does that make you feel?

Well, I’ve got to tell you, it happened to me this past Tuesday night, or better, Wednesday morning. You see, somewhere around 2:00, I heard the sound of a dog barking, from inside the house, in fact, right there on the bed. And even though I don’t want to make any false accusations, it may be been Coco Chanel. Now we were sleeping, with the windows open, and someone in the house and on the bed must have heard or seen or smelled something that caused her to bark. And as soon as I heard it, man, I was awake. Of course, after I’d kind of gathered my thoughts, the first thing I did was to close the window and the shades, shutting out whatever it was on the outside that was causing all the stress so that we could get some sleep before it was time to get up and take a walk. Now that’s what happened to me early Wednesday morning.

And I’m mentioning this, because it seems to me, that’s something we sort of do in other aspects of our lives, and I’m talking about closing the window. And the reason we do it, well, it’s not all that different from the reason I closed mine Wednesday morning. But you know, and this is kind of cool, I believe this is the kind of thing that happened in the passage we just read, something that Jesus confronted and corrected when he spoke to his disciples. And so, that’s what we’re going to talk about this morning, how these words of Jesus might challenge us to close fewer windows as we go about our daily living while, at the same time, to open a few more doors. Now that’s what we’ll be doing for the next ten minutes or so.

Of course, if you don’t know what I’m talking about with this business about closing windows, let me explain. You see, based on what they hear and see and smell happening in the world, I think all people, including Christians, man, they face a real temptation just to get up and symbolically close their window. In other words, they try to separate themselves from the stuff they don’t like, thinking that if they do that, they’ll be protected from what’s happening on the outside. And often, they’re pretty creative in doing it. For example, I know some good, sincere believers who spend a lot of time focusing on the differences between them and those, and as a result, they create a barrier between them on the inside and those on the outside. Of course, in the past it was pretty blatant. I mean, the most segregated hour in the United States has always been Sunday morning, from 11:00 to 12:00. And I’ll tell you, even in my life-time, denominational labels were a big deal. But you know, even though that kind of stuff isn’t as important as it once was, that sure doesn’t mean that people don’t find other differences to emphasize. I’ll tell you, now-a-days, the person you voted for in the last presidential election is every bit as important as race was for us when I was growing up in the south. No sir, whether it involves political positions or person tastes, the language used or the clothes worn, good night nurse, there’s a whole bunch of stuff that can used to emphasize differences. And I’ll tell you, when that’s what people do, I mean, when they focus on all those things they don’t share with the guy down the street, man, then they’re sort of justified in bringing the window down, aren’t they? My goodness, now they can separate themselves from all those people who just don’t belong, and they can feel really comfortable knowing that they’re protected from all those outside influences. And so, they create barriers to keep the problems out. 

Of course, for those who choose to do this kind of thing, well, as with everything else, it comes with a price. I mean, the more they cut themselves off, the more they end up pushing away some of the very folks whose help they may disparately need, you know what I mean, men and women who have the skills and the background and the experiences to make the whole community better, something that they’ll never know because they’ve made the intentional discussion to keep them on the outside. Now, that’s a problem. But for Christians and churches, maybe even more important than pushing away some folks they may need, whenever a person and a group decides to close themselves in, they’re also cutting themselves off from the very people who may need them. I mean, how am I even going to know what other folks need if I’ve made the decision that I don’t want to hear their cries or see their pain. You see, I think this can happen whenever groups and people decide to close their windows. 

And you know, I think that’s really what the disciples were trying to do in the passage we just read. Now remember what happened. According to Mark, “John said, ‘Teacher, we saw a man using your name to force demons out of people. But he wasn’t one of us, and we told him to stop.’” [Mark 9:38, CEV] Now that’s what John said, and because of that, I think the situation was pretty clear. I mean, think about it. The disciples were they’re own little group, weren’t they? And they had all this stuff in common, didn’t they? And they’d been together for a long time, hadn’t they? That was their situation. And so they decided to close the window. And even though this guy was successful in tossing out demons in the name of Jesus, something that wasn’t always the case with the disciples, man, he still wasn’t part of their group, their club, their clique; therefore, he had no business doing their thing. He needed to cease and desist and to be content living on the outside, you know, on the other side of a window that they had already closed. Now that’s what happened. And how did Jesus respond? Well, according to Mark, 

Jesus said to his disciples:

Don’t stop him! No one who works miracles in my name will soon turn and say something bad about me. Anyone who isn’t against us is for us. And anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name, just because you belong to me, will surely be rewarded. [Mark 9:39-41, CEV]

In other words, I think Jesus told those disciples to stop being stupid. This guy they considered an outsider, man, he was doing something really positive in the name of Christ; therefore, he should be encouraged to do what he was doing. In fact, this insider/outsider stuff was bogus anyway. I mean, if they were thirsty, it didn’t matter whether the cup of water came from a fellow disciple or an outsider. You see, whether it involved tossing out demons or quenching their thirst, Jesus told his disciples that they just might need something from the very folks they’d pushed away. But he didn’t stop there. You see, he also reminded them that they had a responsibility to address the needs of others. Of course, in his example, he focused on their responsibility to help his “little followers” avoid sin and it’s horrible consequences. And to sum up the point he was making, Jesus said, “Salt is good. But if it no longer tastes like salt, how can it be made salty again? Have salt among you and live at peace with each other.” [Mark 9:50, CEV] In other words, using the imagines we’ve been talking about, they couldn’t do what salt was created to do and they sure couldn’t live at peace with each other, if they isolated themselves behind their closed window. Instead, to be the kind of people Christ called them to be, they needed to open a few doors.

And I’ll tell you something, I think he’s telling us the exact same thing. You see, instead of slamming our windows shut maybe we should be looking for opportunities to open our doors wide. Now, in my opinion, that was what Jesus taught, and I believe that starts the minute we make the conscious decision to take a long, hard look at all the folks on the outside and decide to spend more thought focusing on our similarities rather than our differences and more time forging unity rather than creating separation and more effort trying to include rather than to exclude some of those men and women who are often on the other side of the window for varied and sundry reasons but who sure might come through the door, if it were open. Of course, when you’re talking about what we have in common, I think the most obvious thing we share with all people is this: we are all the children of God, some just might not know it yet. Now this can be our vision. But I don’t want to blow any smoke; making this assumption, well, it’s not without a cost. I mean, it may mean that Republicans can’t call Democrats communists and Democrats can’t call Republicans Nazis anymore. And it may mean that folks who like either a traditional structure or a contemporary style, that they both may need to be willing to look for what’s best in and not what’s wrong with the other. In other words, it may meaning that I have to set aside some of the stuff that I really like and consider important for the sake of someone who just doesn’t share my tastes or opinions or background. You see, when we do that, I think we’ll be opening the door. 

And I’ll tell you, when that happens, when we focus less on barriers and more on thresholds, I think two things are going to happen. First, we’ll be actively inviting in and welcoming men and women who have the necessary skill and background and experience so that we can do the work Christ has called us to do, and to do it better than we could before. I mean, if Sligo is anything like Weirton or Indianapolis or Fairview, Montana, there are a lot of folks out there to whom God has given gifts and talents that can bring all kinds of glory to him. And we have the opportunity to find them and to invite them in. Now that’s one thing that’ll happen. And second, when our doors are open, now we’ll be able to reach out and help the very people we’ve been called to help, and I’m talking about offering help that may be far more important than just money. You see, there are still a lot of little ones out there, who either lack the understanding or the support to resist some of the dangerous and destructive stuff floating around in our world. I’ll tell you, when our doors are open, not only will they be able to come in to us, we’ll be able to go out to them.

Now do you remember how I started this by telling you how a dog who will remain nameless and yet who was in the house and on the bed, how that dog started barking at 2:00 Wednesday morning? Well, I think I probably did the right thing in closing the window. At least it enabled us to get about four more hours of sleep. But you know, when people and communities do the same kind of thing as they live their lives, you know, when they focus on differences and separate and exclude others, well, they may end up pushing away some folks who could help them and cutting themselves off from some of the people they’re able to help. Of course, that doesn’t have be the case, not for us. I mean, we can choose to listen to what Jesus said to his disciples and we can look for similarities with those who are often on the outside and work for unity and inclusion, something that I believe will enable us to invite in those whom we may need and to reach out to those who may need us. In other words, instead of closing our windows to those on the outside, we can simply decide to open our doors.