When I was in Argyle during my first call, there was a very limited pool of prospective members.  There seemed to be an unspoken competition between churches for any new families that might happen to move into the area.  The feeling was – if some another church is growing, ours will keep from growing.  This led, I think, to some jealousy and resentment among clergy.

When I got into campus ministry, however, it was a much different story.  There were so many students who were not involved in any religious organization on campus that we were glad to celebrate any successes groups were having, no matter what their affiliation or theological stripe – from Roman Catholics to Baptists; from Methodists to Campus Crusade.  Whenever students gathered in the name of Jesus, it was a good thing.  At least, that was my attitude.

I think that’s one of the things that Jesus is trying to convey to his disciples in today’s gospel reading from Mark 9.  Twice now Jesus has told his disciples where he is going and what awaits him there – he is going to Jerusalem , not to glory and power, but to suffering, rejection, death and resurrection after three days.  Jesus has also invited the disciples to take up their crosses and to follow him. 

Nevertheless, this does not mean that Jesus expects them all to die.  He expects that there will be a community of his followers that will survive the ordeal of his death and resurrection, even to survive their own suffering, and this community will continue to live and proclaim the kingdom of Jesus .  But the kingdom of Jesus is not like earthly kingdoms.  There is no turf to defend against those who might not be “one of us.”  That’s not the way it works.

So, when John says, “Can you believe it, Jesus?  Some guy is horning in on our turf!  He is casting out demons in your name and he’s not even one of us!” Jesus says, “He’s doing good works?  Liberating people from oppression?  And using my name to do it?  No, this is a good thing.  Whoever is not an enemy is an ally.  Even those who do far less than casting out demons – giving a follower of Jesus a cup of water to drink – are showing that they are on our side.  So, take note, because God surely is.”

Don’t worry so much, Jesus seems to be saying, about protecting your turf or safe-guarding your authority against whatever they may be doing.  Don’t worry about the things that other people do.  Worry more about yourself.  Worry about what’s getting in your way with God.  And worry more than that about how you may be getting in other people’s way with God.

This is what I think he is getting at in the next group of sayings.  Jesus doesn’t really mean for us to cut off our hands and pluck out our eyes.  It may surprise you to know that there have been a few Christians in the history of the church that have taken these sayings literally.  But what they found – at least, what I hope they found – was that cutting off your hand doesn’t stop sin.  Plucking out your eye doesn’t stop sin.  What Jesus wants us to do is to be far harder on ourselves than we are on others. 

This is what Jesus means when he says, “How can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me wash the speck out of your eye,’ when there is a log in your own?  First, wash the speck out of your own eye; and then help your neighbor.” 

It is also what Paul means when he exhorts us to treat one another with humility.  In Philippians 2, Paul tells us to have the same mind – the mind of humility – that is the mind of Christ, who, though he was in the form of God, did not use his status for his own benefit, but emptied himself and took the form of a servant.  In conclusion, Paul tells us, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

How can we practice this?  James gives us good advice.  “Are you hurting?  Pray.  Do you feel great?  Sing.  Are you sick?  Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master…Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.”  (The Message) 

This is the model of community that James presents us: prayer, praise, and repentance.  Together we pray, we sing, we confess and we hear confession.  And we do so with salt in ourselves, that is, we do so with humility – understanding our own vulnerability and our own capacity for sin.  This humility gives birth to compassion – a compassion in which we both hear confession and make confession.  And we both announce and receive forgiveness.

In this way we can live together whole and healed.  In this way we can have salt in ourselves and be at peace with one another.  We are to be slow in talking about what other people are doing and quick to examine our own hearts.  This is what will make for a healthy church – healthy relations with other churches and healthy relations within our own church – to support one another and to be at peace.

This is the call of community.  It is also the call of our baptism.  In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther writes, “What does baptism mean for daily living?  It means that our sinful self, with all its evil deeds and desires, should be drowned through daily repentance and that day after day a new self should arise to live with God in righteousness and purity forever.”

Every day is a chance to ask – what is getting in my way with God?  What thoughts and feelings, what actions and attitudes, are getting in the way of a fuller life with God?  How can I be more aware of them?  How can I offer them to God?

Everyday is a chance to ask – what is getting in my way with God?  And every day is a chance to remember – in the end, nothing gets in the way of God’s love for me.  It is always there. It is always present.  It is always in my heart, because of Jesus.  It is always in your heart, because of his death and resurrection.  It is always in your heart, because of your trust in him.

This is God’s gift in baptism.  And it comes to us because of Jesus, who let nothing stand in his way of showing his love for us.