"Teacher,”
said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to
stop, because he was not one of us.”
To a statement like that, I can imagine Jesus
saying “O John, my dear John, I have called you in to my inner circle. With Peter and James, you have seen things
that others have not. You were there
when Jairus’ daughter was raised as I decreed, “Talitha Koum”. You were
there with me in the radiance on that mountaintop with Moses and Elijah. Beloved John, you will see more still to
come. Yet you argue with your brothers
as to who will be the greatest among you.
You and James, so keen to sit at my right and my left in my glory; I
tell you, you will be seated next to
me at table very soon ...stay with me to the end.
“Teacher,”
said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to
stop, because he was not one of us.”
“Do
not stop him,” Jesus said. “For 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...”
John, the apostle, privileged to be with Jesus in many special miraculous moments, is
given an answer from Jesus making it clear that building his kingdom is not meant
to be an exclusive operation. Jesus
never asks for the credentials of the one who’s been driving out demons – what
matters is that it’s being done in Jesus’
name.
The words and deeds of Jesus, and indeed the
gospel message itself, points to the need for his followers to consider
carefully the boundary lines that we
tend to draw, and to actively dismantle the wall of ‘us’ versus ‘them’ that too
often builds up. From the beginning of
the church, there have been rivalries between different groups. Remember in Paul’s first letter to the
Corinthians where the people had become divided into factions, some following
Apollos, some following Paul, some following Cephas and some following Christ –
the people were boasting about which one they followed, and the walls were
being built up.
I’m also reminded of the misunderstandings
between the various Christian traditions, pitting the ‘super-spiritual’, the
‘liturgical’ and the ‘rigidly dogmatic’ against each other. Our allegiance must be to Christ first, and
to our extended Christian family of believers.
Who is in this family? Jesus said
whoever does the will of God is included in His family (Mark 3:31-35). And the family of Christ are called to ‘love
one another’, that’s the way Jesus said we are to demonstrate that we are
Christ’s disciples. Through our Scriptures, Christians are urged to consider one another; to be kind to one
another, to value others more than ourselves, to bear with each other’s burdens
- to forgive as we’ve been forgiven – ‘to make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace’
(Eph 4:3).
And in the absence of unity, where there are
alienated feelings and bitterness, not only do we become poor witnesses for
Christ – at the same time we invite the enemy to gain a stronger foothold among
us. James 3:26 says ‘For wherever there
is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of
every kind.’ And when seekers observe God’s family fighting, they not so likely
to want to become a part of God’s family. So as we recognise the tendency to
put a wall between ‘us’ and ‘them’, how can we move on to dismantle the wall? The Lord’s Prayer is a GREAT place to start. The Lord’s Prayer doesn’t belong to any one
tradition – and so, along with the Creeds, the Lord’s Prayer is a potent way for
us to express our unity:
You cannot say the Lord’s Prayer,
And even once say "I".
You cannot pray the Lord’s Prayer,
And even once say "my".
Nor can you pray the Lord’s Prayer
And not pray for another.
For to ask for "our" daily bread,
You include your sister and brother!
All God’s children are included
in each and every plea.
From the beginning to the end of it,
it does not once say "me".
Yesterday some 40,000 Christians from all denominations
and traditions met in Wembley Stadium to pray for the nation. Among the 40,000
was a coach full of people representing different Churches in our
community. At the heart of the prayers at Wembley was The Lord’s Prayer, being
offered for this nation. We’re going to use that same prayer as a blessing now. And as we pray the Lord’s Prayer together in
a moment, I invite you first to think of a brother or sister in Christ with
whom you might need to be reconciled, and include that person with yourself as
you pray ‘Our Father’; ‘our daily bread’; ‘forgive us our trespasses’; ‘deliver us from evil’.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy
name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be
done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us
this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the
power and the glory, for ever and ever.
Amen.
One of the strongest areas of division into
‘us’ and ‘them’ can be between churches. Relationships may be better than they
were in the past, but many of us still find criticism comes easy – and the
criticism is a form of rejection.
There is a story of a World War I soldier who
died, and his friends desperately wanted to give him a decent burial. They found a cemetery in a nearby
village. It happened to be a Roman
Catholic cemetery, and the dead man had been a Protestant. When the friends found the Priest in charge
of the burial grounds, they requested permission to bury their friend, but the
Priest refused because the man had not been a Catholic. The Priest saw their disappointment, and said
he could arrange for them to have some land outside the churchyard fence to
bury their friend. This was done.
Some time later, they returned to visit the grave but couldn’t find
it. Their search led them back to the
Priest and, of course, they asked him what had happened to the grave. The Priest said that he had been unable to
sleep because he had made them bury their friend outside the fence. So he had moved the fence to include
the dead soldier.
In Christ, God ‘moved the fence’ to include
the undeserving – you and me. His love
is all embracing. As we endeavour to
honour Christ’s name, and we begin to recognise that our identity is found in Christ,
we too are called to move the fence. Then
we realise our identity in Christ isn’t threatened by any group or individual, and
we are set free to move from the position of ‘us’ versus ‘them’, and to love as
Christ has loved us.
Moving the fence can be a source of joy and healing. So let’s do this. Let’s
share in The Lord’s Prayer once more; but this time, we’ll take a moment and allow
God to bring to mind any church, congregation or minister that we may have
criticised or regarded as not quite up to the mark. Ask God to forgive, and then hold them in
mind and ask God’s blessing on them by specifically praying the Lord’s Prayer
for them.
Our
Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done, on earth
as it is in heaven. Give us
this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we
forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the
power and the glory, for ever and ever.
Amen.
