Holiness and Gentleness
Mark 9:38-50

9:38 "Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." 9:39 "Do not stop him," Jesus said, "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 9:40 for whoever is not against us is for us. 9:41 I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward. 9:42 And if anyone causes one of these little one who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. 9:43 If your hand causes to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 9:44 (where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.) 9:45 And if your foot causes to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 9:46 (where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.) 9:47 And if your eye causes you to sin, 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, 9:48 (where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.) 9:49 Everyone will be salted with fire. 9:50 Salt if good, but if it loses it saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."

Teaching on Gentleness

Last week, we learned from the Mark 9:35 & 37, in that Jesus said: "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." Also, Jesus said: "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." This week, let us learn the continued teaching of Jesus to his disciples on Gentleness.

This teaching was triggered by the word of John. Usually, Peter was the one who first speak to Jesus, but this time it was John. John was the youngest among the twelve disciples and very active. Jesus gave John the nickname "Boanerge" meaning Son of Thunder. In the old Japanese saying, the examples of fearful things were "Earthquake, Thunder, Fire, and Father". Now, Father is no longer fearful, but Thunder still is. All of a sudden, a clear sky gets cloudy and dark, and thunder hits the ground with big sound. Once in a while, a golfer is hit by thunder on the golf course. Likewise, a calm person all of a sudden becomes very angry and gets out of control. John might be such a person.

John said to Jesus: "We saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." By this time, there had been many disciples of Jesus who did not follow Jesus and his twelve disciples. But, they were driving out evil spirits from sick people in the name of Jesus. John could not stand those disciples and challenged them saying "You have been driving out demons in the name of Jesus, but why don't you follow him? If you don't follow him, you have no right to use his name." John might have thought that "We twelve disciples have been with Jesus all the time since the time in Galilee and had come through the hardships together. So, unlike those disciples left apart from Jesus, we are firmly united, despite the argument about who is the greatest among the twelve disciples." John was not a type of person who apologizes and makes excuses, but he wanted Jesus to know that he truly love Jesus, unlike those who left him.

But, Jesus taught the disciples to be "gentle", while understanding the John's feeling. Even though some disciples did not follow Jesus and the twelve disciples, as long as they use the name of Jesus properly, there is no reason to deny them, Jesus told John. "Do not stop him," Jesus said, "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me." (9:39) Of course, Jesus did not mean that anyone who does a powerful work using his name is a righteous person. In Matthew 7:22-23, Jesus said: "Many will say to me on that day 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never know you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" What a harsh word! How we would be fearful when we come to the gate of heaven and hear such a word from Jesus. There is nothing more tragic than being sent back from the gate of heaven before entering it. But, if you sincerely believe in Jesus Christ as your personal savior, you don't need to be afraid. In this passage in Matthew, those people denied entry to heaven are such ones who have become famous and rich or have formed a cult, using the name of Jesus. Tody, there are many groups of people saying they are Christians without believing in Jesus, practicing the way entirely different from that of Jesus. We must have eyes to judge which ones are false teachings. We must not be gentle toward them. But, we must be gentle toward those who believe in Jesus, and properly use his name.

Reasons for Being Gentle

Next, Jesus pointed out three reasons for which we must be gentle. The first reason is in Verses 39 and 40. He said: "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." It is unlikely that a man who has done a powerful work in the name of Jesus says anything bad about Jesus. Even if the man did not understand Jesus well at the time, he would be lead to understand Jesus well later, as long as the man believed in the power of his name. The name of Jesus has the power to lead a man into faith. Therefore, we must be gentle.

The thought: "Whoever is not against us is for us." is a good way to lead the people into Christianity. In the United States 90% of the people say "I believe in God." Only 70% in England, where there are many Atheists. In the States, the people still have faith in God. But, not all the people believe in God rightly, even not in Jesus. For many people, "God" might mean Calama, universe, or philosophy. For those people, their ideas of Jesus might be far apart from the truth in the Bible. But, if we deny them out right, saying "Your faith is wrong! It is not of the Bible!", we could not lead them to Christ. Thinking this way might discourage some people to spread the Gospel, because almost all the people around us do not have the right faith. Then, we just keep our faith to ourselves and leave others unsaved? Let us contact others around us with the thought: "Whoever is not against us is for us." Then, we might find common ground about the existence of God, the greatness of Christ, the truth of Bible, the wonder of Creation, the Life after death, the preciousness of Life, etc. Through the discussions, we might be able to lead them understanding the Bible. Let us not think negatively as "He is hopeless as he does not read the Bible." or "She is hopeless as she does not come to the Church." Let us think positively as "They are future Christians and members of our Church, and good servants of God." What do you think? Are you thinking negatively as "It is no use to talk to her or him about the word of God", giving it up from the beginning? Please think positively! By being gentle as Jesus taught us, and by accepting the people positively, we can lead them to Christ.

The second reason to be gentle is that God lead all the people and all the things to be beneficial for us. Jesus said in Verse 41: "I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward."

John and other disciples might have pride of "following Jesus since the time of Galilee, and spreading the Gospel", but come to thing of it, it was not the disciples, but God made them do so. Do you remember that the disciples were sent by Jesus to the towns and villages of Israel to spread the Gospel among the people of Israel. When they arrived at a town, they stayed at a house of family who welcome them, and preached the Gospel in the town. Perhaps, not only the family of the house, but some people in the town might give the disciples food and money to support them. On the way to the next town, some people might give the disciples cups of cold water. Certainly, the disciples worked hard to spread the Gospel with Jesus and for Jesus, they could not do without many other people who supported them. Those who supported the disciples did not directly spread the Gospel, but God gave them the reward for just helping the disciples. Hebrews 6:10 is one of my favorite passage, in that God promised as follows. Let us read the passage with voice. "God is not unjust; he will not gorget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them." Therefore, the disciples had to be modest and gentle to others, considering that many people supported them, and should not have the pride that only they spread the Gospel with Jesus, rejecting the others who did not follow Jesus.

The third reason to be gentle to others is in Verse 42 as follows: "And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck." Here, the little one means a person who has not grown up in faith or a beginner in Christianity, as we learned last week. Such a person cannot lead others to Christ, but he or she likes to give a cup of water to those who spread the Gospel. We tend to reject those people by judging them with our own standard. The rejection might discourage them, and cause them to stumble. Jesus warned the disciples not to cause them to stumble, saying: "It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck." This is a fearful word. Of course, those who say "I stumbled on this, I stumble on that." will stumble on anything, and we are not responsible for all the cases. Even Jesus himself was called a "stumbling stone", as it is written in Romans 9:33: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trust in him will never be put to shame." Also, in I Corinthians 1:23, it is written: "But we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles." The people could even stumble on Jesus. But we should not cause the people to stumble by acting selfishly, or by using words against goodness and love of Christ when we talk. We should be always cautious.

Teaching on Holiness

We tend to be strict to others and be easy to ourselves. On the contrary, we need to be taught as being gentle to others and strict to ourselves. Otherwise, "gentleness" could be switched with "compromise" or "easy-going". That is why Jesus harshly warned his disciples not to compromise with sin, when he taught them about "gentleness".

In Verses 43-47, Jesus said: "If your hand causes to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes to sin, 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 sin, 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."

A hand hits someone, A foot kicks someone, and eyes see something which should not been seen, but are those hand, foot, and eyes the culprits of sin? Of course not! The sin is committed by a person who controls them. So, cutting off the hand dose not solve the problem. But, Jesus wanted to say here is that it is better for a person to enter eternal life crippled than living a long sinful life with a normal body on this earth. That is to say "be strict to yourself and have strong faith, even if you become crippled for it." Jesus taught the disciples to be strict to themselves, otherwise they could not be gentle to others.

This passage gave encouragement to the early Christians when they faced the persecution. For their faith, their hands were cut off, their feat were bitten off by beasts, and their eyes were plucked out. Under the circumstances, some Christians gave up their faith. Even today, some underground Christians in China have been crippled by the forced labor imposed by the Government for their faith. All the Christians visited them from outside have reported that those crippled Christian leaders in China looked so joyful. They have been given the glory of God which only the Christian kept their faith through the persecution could receive. When people tried to keep their Christian faith and to be strict to themselves in this world, they might face some hardships and lose some valuables. But whatever lost in this world will be compensated in heaven and will receive spiritual blessings in this world which cannot be received by those who chase only the selfish gains on this earth.

Jesus encourages us to be gentle to others and strict to ourselves. He promised that such a life will be richly rewarded.

In Verse 49, Jesus said: "Everyone will be salted with fire." This word reminds me of the offerings given to God in the time of Old Testament. All offerings were seasoned with salt as written in Leviticus 2:13. Salt means holiness, fidelity, and truth to God. Fire consumed the offerings, thus expressing their devotion to God. Therefore, "Everyone will be salted with fire." means that our lives must be devoted to God with holiness, fidelity, and truth.

Jesus said in Verse 50: "Salt is good, but if it loses it saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other." Food without salt is not tasteful. Even sweetness can be enhanced by salt. Gentleness is enhanced by Holiness. Let us have salt in ourselves, and be at peace with each other!

Prayer

"Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near." (Philipians 4:3) God, our Father, you have taught us this morning what is gentleness. And why we must be gentle. We learned about gentleness many times in the past from you. But, it has been so hard for us to be gentle to others, while asking others to be gentle to us. Despite of that, oh God, you have accepted us with your great gentleness. Oh God, please give us your gentleness. As apostle Paul prayed to you in 2 Thessalonians 3:5: "May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance." Please help us show our gentleness to the world and practice it, starting with our families and the friends in Church. We pray these in Jesus's name. Amen.

(Preached at SDJCC, Feburary, 21, 1999)