Before and After. Ante and Post.
Each of us has moments, choices, circumstances in our lives that act as a watershed — experiences dividing our life into everything “before” and everything “after.” The event doesn’t have to be devastating or dramatic. Sometimes it is joyful and exhilarating. Sometimes it is a quiet realization. Sometimes it takes decades for us to even determine just when that moment occurred.
You have a parent or a sibling die.
You are the first in your family to go away to college.
You enlist in the military.
You get married.
You become a parent.
You win the lottery.
You declare bankruptcy.
You have a heart attack . . . but you wake up.
Whatever it may be, the event changes your perspective, changes your life’s trajectory, changes your dreams, and changes your goals. All is different now.
“Before” you lived in one world.
“After” you live in a different world.
A different world is what Jesus kept trying to describe to his disciples. A world so completely topsy-turvy to their experience they found it incomprehensible.
The disciples think they have already had their “watershed” moment, that their lives changed when they were called by Jesus to “Follow me.” But the disciples had no idea what “discipleship” meant. They felt empowered by their chosen-ness. But they had no sense of the cost of their calling. They did not understand that to be a “disciple” was to be “under discipline.”
In the world of first-century Judaism, disciples of a rabbi were in the cat-bird seat. Jesus’ disciples were even personally chosen by him, in contrast to the universal custom of the students choosing their teacher. They were the wonder worker’s apprentices. They were the inner circle of the “entourage” of the most talked about person of the day. The disciples felt they were “us” — and everyone else was just “them.”
The exorcist successfully casting out demons by using Jesus’ name was definitely a “them.” Unsanctioned. Unselected. Untrained. No wonder John was so pleased to put the kibosh on this interloper’s exorcisms. This “new-by/wanna-be” couldn’t possibly qualify as a member of Jesus’ chosen crew.
Expect for the fact that he was faithfully employing Jesus’ name. Except for the fact that he was successfully casting out demons. Except for the fact that The Twelve had so recently and publically failed in their own attempts to exorcize demons (Mark 9:18).
John was protecting his inner-circle, top-of-the-food-chain status. Problem was, Jesus’ idea of “status” was completely different, even upside down. Or right-side up.
Instead of congratulating John on protecting the sanctity and exclusivity of discipleship, Jesus opens the door to any and all who do a “deed of power” in his name. He then goes even further and declares that just an insignificant act of kindness — giving out a cup of cold water — if done in his name, was enough to make the giver a disciple, one who could share in the “reward” of the kingdom of God.
It is perhaps unfair to judge John and the other disciples too harshly at this moment in the gospel story. They have not yet experienced their “before” and “after” moment.
Being called to follow Jesus was not it.
Witnessing the miracles was not it.
Participating in his ministry was not it.
Learning at his feet was not it either.
Jesus kept teaching them about the world-changing event that was imminent. Jesus kept mentioning about how in God’s kingdom the last would be first and the first would be last. But without “visual aids” his disciples just didn’t get it.
Jesus welcomed the weak, the unimportant, the rejected, the unclean, the sinners, the outsiders, the contemptible, and the condemned. The Twelve mistakenly thought they were somehow especially righteous. But they were wrong. They had to learn to give the “right-of-way” to those despised and deemed disposable by the culture they had lived in all their lives. Jesus was calling everyone to discipleship. Offering grace and glory to all who called on his name with faith. The “bottom of the heap,” the dregs at the bottom, were on the same playing field as the “cream of the crop.”
The watershed “After” moment did not come for The Twelve until after the resurrection. Not until the power of the Holy Spirit opened their hearts and filled the holes in their souls did Jesus’ first-followers finally figure it out. Discipleship is not an exclusive club. Discipleship is a daily offering of service and witness to the power of Jesus’ name, no matter what the cost. Discipleship is never about power over others. Discipleship is only about praising the restorative, redemptive power of Christ.
Discipleship is the carrying of the cross of Christ. But the cross is not a burden. The cross is a death. "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die," wrote Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his classic The Cost of Discipleship. Come and die to self. Come and die to the world. Come and die, that we might Go and live. The emptying of self (kenosis) is for the filling of Christ (plerosis).
Power struggles. Riots. Rebellion. Violence. “Us-vs.-Them.” Red vs. Blue. We are chosen, you are not. Might is right.
We have been bombarded by those messages in the last few weeks. People who pledged their lives to service have lost their lives in that service. The struggle over who has the upper hand is fueled by hate and hubris. It is a daily struggle not to get sucked into the “who is most chosen,” “who-is-on top” world-view.
But the more the world boils over, the brighter God’s grace shines. Jesus did not offer a “special” place for his followers. Jesus did not lay down “special” rules for belonging. Jesus did not choose “special” disciples — the best and the brightest — who could make him look good.
Jesus changed everything into Before and After. Jesus inverted all the hierarchies that the world holds so dear. The strongest are not the strongest. The weakest are not the weakest. The most righteous are not the most righteous. The most knowledgeable don’t know-it-all. The outsider is welcomed inside and becomes the ultimate insider.
There is only one power and presence that unites us all. That is the precious name of Jesus.
But it’s sometimes as hard for us to see this new world “Where All is Different Now” as it was for the disciples.
Here’s a story that showcases how difficult it is for us to internalize the “all is different now” realities.
It was a strange contraption that slid down the track on 17 December 1903 at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. The engine sputtered, the rudder quivered, but the machine rose. The flight lasted only twelve seconds. But it was the first time a machine carrying a man had raised itself by its own power into the air, sailed forward without slowing down, and landed.
On the fourth flight of this memorable day, Wilbur kept the machine flying steady for 59 miraculous seconds. The world was oblivious of this event. The press had ignored it. But something extraordinary had occurred: the first human had flown. Before had become After.
In 1904, the Wright brothers made a couple of five-minute flights. A year later they were flying eleven miles at a time. They increased it to fifteen, then twenty. On October 1905, there was a flight of twenty-four miles which lasted over a half hour. The press continued to be skeptical. The fact that the flights had been ignored seemed to prove that they had not happened.
When a New York Herald correspondent submitted an eye-witness account of the Wright Brothers’ exploits to a magazine, the article was rejected. Wrote the editor: “While your manuscript has been read with much interest, it does not seem to qualify as fact or fiction.”
However, Europe had gone “air crazy.” In 1908 Wilbur traveled to France where he broke all records by rising 360 feet and circling in the air for one hour and fifty-four minutes. Orville meanwhile was breaking records in America, winning prizes, and beginning to attract the attention of the War Department.
What the people had seen for years they finally began to believe.
What the disciples had seen for years they finally began to believe.
Sisters and Brothers: Things Are Different Now.
Christ is Risen. Christ is Alive.
What we have seen . . . . will we believe?
COMMENTARY
High school “cliques,” college fraternities and sororities, suburban country clubs: “Invitation Only” private membership groups are not primarily about who they let in. They are most importantly about who they keep out. Exclusivity means some are chosen, but many more are turned away.
In today’s gospel text Jesus’ disciples once again reveal just how much instruction they still require. They misunderstand their calling as Jesus’ back-up team. They hear Jesus’ “Follow me” as an “exclusive” invitation which somehow makes them special. Jesus’ reprimand reminds the disciples that the only “exclusive” presence is his own utterly uniqueness as the Christ, the only one who can stand before the Father. It is Jesus, the most Exclusive One, who extends an all-inclusive invitation to the world.
There is more than a hint of pride and self-congratulation in John’s report to Jesus of the actions taken against the un-named exorcist casting out demons by using Jesus’ name. The disciple declares he tried to “stop” or “hinder” (“kolyein”) the exorcist because “he was not following us.” John has not only been deaf to Jesus’ pronouncement in v.37 about welcoming all who use his “name,” but he also appears most disturbed because the exorcist was not following “us” — a term that may or may not include Jesus. John evidently already feels worthy of being “followed,” whether Jesus is around or not.
John was anxious to protect the exclusivity of the disciples, an attitude Jesus quickly quashes with two pronouncements. First, he shifts the focus from “who” to “what.” The issue is not who is using Jesus’ name. The issue is what they are doing with it “a deed of power.” By invoking Jesus’ name the healing Spirit of God is made present and a “deed of power” may be accomplished. Jesus rightly points out that such an experience would hardly cause anyone to “speak evil” about him.
Jesus then goes on to make the proverbial declaration, “Whoever is not against us is for us” (v.40). While John was anxious to establish an “us” vs. “them” exclusiveness, Jesus welcomes all who use his name, even if their understanding is limited. This is a good thing for John since at this point in the gospel it is clear that the Twelve are as much in the dark about the true nature of Jesus and the role of discipleship as any unknown exorcist.
Jesus’ inclusivity goes even further. It is not just a miraculous “deed of power” done in Jesus’ name that makes someone welcomed. Any act, however small and simple, even giving “a cup of water to drink,” will gain a heavenly “reward.” It is unusual for Jesus to refer to himself as “Christ” in direct discourse. For such a title to be used by a stranger doing an act of kindness is even more unexpected. But the invoking of the name suggests some inkling of understanding about the power and grace inherent in that title.
Yet even as the most simple act done in Jesus’ name can gain one “the reward,” there are also dire consequences for any who would use their power of position to the detriment of others. Jesus declared that any “stumbling block” (“skandalon”) or intentional obstacle that causes even the smallest baby-steps of faithfulness in others to falter and fail will be met with dire consequences. The “reward” will become judgment, a judgment so fiery and final that it would be “better” to be tossed into the sea with a millstone necklace.
Better a watery grave than the fires of hell.
Jesus continues using graphic hyperbole to emphasize just how serious a breach of faithfulness it is to intentionally cause the stumbling of any “little ones.” Jesus dramatically declares that it would be better to lose parts of our own body than to allow those parts of our own self to bring about stumbling into unfaithfulness. The radical nature of the “cure” Jesus suggests for the offenses of the hand, foot, and eye are metaphorical. But the choice between loving one’s own self over loving and serving God is real.
Choosing the self leads to the desolation of “Gehenna,” or “hell,” a burning pit forever separated from God’s presence.
Choosing faithfulness leads to entering “the kingdom of God” (v.47). It is better to hobble in the kingdom than to stride un-scarred into hell.
The fiery images Jesus has used now leads to a series of salt and fire sayings. These sayings ring strange to a twenty-first century ear. In the first century, when ritual sacrifice was still practiced at the Temple in Jerusalem, the purifying, purging properties of salt and fire were familiar. Leviticus 2:13 declares, “with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” Numbers 18:19 describes the covenant itself as “a covenant of salt.”
Salt and fire together signified purity and properness of what was being offered to the Lord. All who declare themselves disciples “in Jesus name” are offering themselves in service to God. Jesus declares that such an “offering” must likewise be “salted with fire.” Disciples are not to be “followed.” They are called to follow Christ and to offer up their entire being in order to serve him.