Jim Gilman

Introduction

Mark ends this passage with Jesus giving a blunt command to Christians: “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” What does it mean to have salt in myself? And what does salt have to do with being at peace with one another? How do Christians typically undermine peace and harmony? How can we restore peace? All of these questions point toward the practical message this of passage: be at peace with one another.

Fault-finding

Most non-Christians, I would say, unfortunately think of Christians and Christianity primarily in terms of self-righteousness and pride, strife and discord. Ver y often they are right. In Mark’s gospel lesson, that’s exactly the story he tells about the disciple John. He reports that John is scandalized because there is a Christian, not part of his group, who is casting out demons in Jesus’ name, and apparently doing so successfully. This troubles John, for some reason, so much so that he tells Jesus that he even tried to stop this other Christian from performing his healing ministry.

Think about this little episode and what has taken place. It’s an example of how Christians should NOT treat each other. First, John is quick to find fault with another Christian. Even though the other disciple is healing people by casting out demons in Jesus’ name, John is either jealous or so possessive of God’s power and tries to stop him. How often do we Christians do that: find fault with the gifts and ministries of other Christians and censor them and gossip about them try to put obstacles in their way.

Secondly, John’s fault-finding arises out of an arrogant, self-righteousness. John himself admits it. He says to Jesus: “we tried to stop him because he was not following us;” he’s not one of us. John tries to stop him “because he does not follow Christ and do Christianity correctly, like we do. John does not say he tries to stop him because he was not a follower of Jesus; or because he was defaming the name of Jesus, or because he was unsuccessful at casting out demons. No, John treats him as a rival, as a Christian who has not been approved by John and his own elite group. John apparently thinks his little club of disciples is the only authentic, sanctified fraternity. Anyone and any ministry that doesn’t follow our brand of Christianity is suspicious at best and bogus at worst. It takes a great leap of logic and loads of raw, self-righteousness to assume, as John does, that if someone does not believe and practice Christianity as I do, then they are not true disciples and should be stopped.

Thirdly, John’s fault-finding instantly produces discord and rivalry and competition with this other Christian. And it is this kind of discord and hostility that alienates those who are not Christians, and rightly so. Some say today, for example, that they support gay bishops and gay marriage and if you do not, then you’re just a narrow-minded dogmatist, suffering a kind of spiritual malaise. And others say, they don’t support gay bishops and gay marriage, and if you think otherwise you’re unbiblical and not a Christian they want to associate with; and so they decide to play with their religious marbles elsewhere. And so, faultfinding, accusations, self-righteousness and rivalry triumph and the community of Christians breaks apart and peace perishes.

Amputation

So, how does Jesus deal with this internal controversy? Well, he is blunt and direct. “Stop it. Cut it out! Whoever is not against us is for us. Whoever ministers in my name and whoever bears the fruit of healing is not against us, but with us. Don’t be an obstacle, don’t be resentful, don’t be a stumbling block to the gifts and ministry of other Christians, even though they may differing in their practice of Christianity . They are with us, as long as their ministry bears the fruit of healing.”

Jesus is telling John, in fact, that the problem is not with the other Christian but with him. You come here finding fault with someone else, John. Well, I tell you, the problem is not with them but with you. It’s your attitude, your resentment, your narrow-minded dogmatism that is the problem. Cut it out! Cut it off! Amputate yourself! Amputate whatever attitude or belief or resentment you have towards other Christians. Quit your self-righteousness and accusation. Let Christians be! Let them flourish! The healing power of their ministry, not you, will prove them authentic or not.

The problem with Christians like John is that they are skilled at seeing the small splinter in the eye of other Christians, as Jesus says elsewherem, while they remain blind to the large log lodged in their own eyes. Don’t be stumbling block to the ministry of other Christians; don’t let your own religious attitudes and hang-ups and dogmatism prevent other Christians from serving God in their own way. Don’t let your politics and religion interfere with the power of God’s grace in the lives of others. Instead of trying to amputate the faults of others, Jesus says we should attend to our own faults and amputate them.

The Salt of Peace

Finally, how then should we Christians relate to other Christians with whom we disagree? How should we treat them? What is the remedy for disputes and rivalries among Christians? Jesus’ answer, in a word, is “salt.” He tells John that “Salt is good…. Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” What in the world does that mean? Have salt in yourselves? For us today Jesus’ remedy of salt might seem obscure or simplistic. But for people in Jesus day, the metaphor of salt was clear. Salt had two practical purposes: first, salt was a seasoning, to make bland food taste better. We still use salt in this way. Secondly, salt is a preservative. With no refrigeration, salt was the way in which ancient societies preserved food that would otherwise spoil. And both senses, I think, are pertinent to Jesus’ point of making peace with one another.

First, as seasoning, Christians are to season our differences and disagreements and disputes, with the salt of humility and patience and tolerance: season pride with humility; disagreement with mercy, condemnation with forgiveness, anger with love, and resentment with reconciliation. Jesus did it for us; if we claim to be his followers he gives us the same power to do it for others.

Secondly, as a preservative, salt is the principal way to prevent food from spoiling. Metaphorically, what is it that the salt of the gospel preserves? It preserves the peace and harmony that already present in Christ’s death and resurrection; it preserves the peace that is already present in the body and blood of Christ that we are about to receive. We are no more than hypocrites, like John, if we receive Holy Communion and then don’t commune harmoniously with other Christians. The power of God’s grace that we receive in communion is nothing if it does not inspire us to pay forward to other Christians the same peace and reconciliation Jesus died and lives for on our behalf. That’s why it is such a blazing shame that the reputation for which Christians are perhaps most widely known is for its strife, for quarreling and factionalism. What happened to the salt of love and mercy and forgiveness? What happened to dying to oneself so that we might live in the peace of Christ.

Gratefully, there are Christians who are models of peace for all of us, including some here at Trinity. They differ and differ strongly about gay bishops and gay marriage, for example, or about the public option for health care, or about the support of wars. And yet they are Christians who take seriously Jesus command to amputate any resentment or divisiveness or factionalism; they have nurtured, by the power of God’s grace, habit of seasoning disagreement with salt and are living at peace with one another. I thank God for them. For they have salted their own faults with the seasoning of repentance and mercy and love and so are empowered to live at peace with other Christians with whom they differ.

For Christians living at peace with one another is Not optional! Jesus commands it. May God help us!