How Far Should We Open the Door?

Dr. Richard J. Henderson September 27, 2009

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Psalm 1
Mark 9:30-37

Introduction

For our 25^th anniversary we had talked about going to Hawaii. We hadn't made arrangements, but that was the plan. But then one day we drove through Heidelberg Beach along Lake Erie and saw a cottage for sale. The cottage where we went as kids was just a mile down the road, and I had seen how beautiful the beach was. We looked through the house and ended up buying it (with a lot of help from Sheila's mom).

We didn't know until we were working out the sale that Heidelberg was begun by a group of ministers and laypeople from the Evangelical Reformed church who wanted to create a place where members could get away for rest and recreation. We didn't know that the mission statement for the association says that it is set up to enhance and support Christian life and values. What a pleasant surprise that was!

There is a real community there. Worship is held on the bluff overlooking Lake Erie every Sunday during the summer. You aren't allowed to use the beach on Sunday morning until church is over. All the board meetings begin with a prayer. Was it the providence of God that we found such a place by accident?

I

People naturally seem to be drawn together. We tend to group together based on what we have in common, whether it's where we live or what we believe or how old our children are or c interests we have in common. I think if you put fifty people together for any length of time pretty soon they would pull together into different groups based on something they have in common.

Being together helps us. To live a sense of community provides support for those who are part of it. We encourage and look after each other. We care about each other and so we support those who are facing difficult times and we throw parties for those who are celebrating exciting events.

Being together also encourages the beliefs and values we hold in common. In our shared life together we teach, both directly and indirectly, the values that we hold. It's easier for a teenager to resist drugs when he goes to a senior high meeting every week and hears about the destructive effects of drugs.

A student who goes to a university that strongly encourages its students to be outstanding leaders is more likely to be an outstanding leader. It's the influence of the community that makes the difference.

People's identity is formed by the group that surrounds and supports them. A wholesome group can be a great help for our continuing growth.

II

But close groups can also be destructive. All of us know of groups that have become ingrown and exclusive. They turn in on themselves and enjoy each other so much that they don't want anyone else to join them. They become closed off and that's the first sign that they're on the pathway to dying.

I've seen churches that have such a great sense of fellowship that they don't welcome others, and they actively discourage people from joining. Often they do that without even realizing what they are doing. If something drastic isn't done, that church will die when the last member of the inner circle dies.

Some exclusivity is demonic. When some of the beliefs or actions of a group are evil, the group supports that evil and encourages it. Think of the neo-Nazi groups where people are very close, but their goal is hatred. Remember the Jim Jones cult where everyone drank poison when officials were coming to close them down.

The characteristics of a supportive group - the encouragement, teaching, support, and sense of identity - can be used for good or evil.

III

What is the balance between welcoming new people, and sticking to the principles you stand for? How can we be clear about what we believe and still be open to people who believe differently? It's a difficult question.

Jesus gives us some direction in the passage we read this morning. Jesus says to his disciples, "Whoever is not against us is for us." We can support those who are not trying to undermine what we are about. We should encourage the people who serve in ways that we also serve. If a group provides counseling and support to people who are unemployed, we can support them whether or not the group is specifically Christian.

Or, in an example that may be closer to Jesus reference, how do we respond to churches whose worship is very different from our own, such as worship that involves speaking in tongues, worship that is extremely emotional, or worship with jazz, or rap music?

Each style of worship speaks to different groups of people. A "holy roller Pentecostal" church may speak to a person in rural Appalachia far more than the dry and sedate worship of Presbyterians.

Just as a worship service in Spanish, Korean or Japanese is appropriate for some people, worship incorporating silence or loud music may be appropriate for others. Theologian Tex Sample talks about people's soul music - the music that really speaks to someone's spirit. In the same way there is also soul worship - the style of worship that moves you. For each of us it's different.

Jesus is pulling us away from judgments (like the disciples wanted to make about those who were healing in Jesus' name) and toward openness to the ministries of other people. If they're not doing us harm, they're helping us, he says. People of faith have different styles, approaches, and ways of worshiping. Some are based on an authoritarian structure and some offer greater freedom. Each will attract different people.

IV

But Jesus does not say that anything is okay. There are those who are against us, even some who carry the name Christian. The Klu Klux Klan tries to promote itself as somehow Christian, even though it clearly opposes Christian beliefs.

In more subtle ways there are groups that claim to be Christian and yet teach the opposite of what Christ taught - groups teach hatred, those that say we can take things for ourselves at the expense of others, groups that say we can ignore the needs of people who are hurting. Try this exercise: while you are reading through the Psalms, highlight every time caring for the poor is mentioned. Psalms doesn't deal with the needs of the poor nearly as often as Isaiah or Amos or Hosea, but even in the Psalms you will see that concern expressed all through it.

Conclusion

Whoever is not against us is for us. The disciples want Jesus to criticize those who aren't in the inner circle but are still doing ministry. Jesus surprises them by saying, "let them alone, they are helping us." Jesus pulls us out of our desire to set up walls and draws us to be open toward those who are doing good ministry, even if it isn't the way we do it.

I had a conversation several years ago with a man who was very angry that his daughter was marrying a Catholic. We talked about it for a while, and then I realized that I wasn't making any headway with him. He said, "I would rather she married someone who didn't believe at all than to marry a Catholic!"

We look at small differences we have with each other and build a high wall, rather than looking at the enormous amount we have in common and step over the speed bump.

Amen

© Richard J. Henderson 2009