Today’s gospel is difficult because it begins with a discussion about casting out demons. This isn’t something we’re comfortable with – it sounds more something from a horror film than something we encounter in our everyday lives. In Jesus’ time, anyone who defied social norms was suspected of being possessed by demons – people who were sick or not ‘normal’ in some way, people who behaved in socially unacceptable ways – this included even Jesus himself when he touched the unclean, ate on the Sabbath or spent his time with so called sinners. Jesus’ authority over demons is a sign of his place in the cosmic hierarchy with God at the top, then angels, then humans and then anything subhuman – demons and evil spirits. So when Jesus casts out a demon, what is being said is about Jesus’ authority, stemming from his divine nature, as much as it is about the person who is healed or set free.
If you were here last week, you may remember that the disciples were talking about who was the greatest – and Jesus told them off, reminding them that, in God’s way of doing things, the greatest are those who serve, and those who are simple hearted like a child. It was all about their insecurity. And today they’re at it again -feeling threatened by other people who seem to be doing things better than they can: for just prior to these two passages the disciples have failed to cast out demons and heal a little boy. Jesus came to help them, and all was well in the end.
But the disciples didn’t like this, because other people who were not part of their tight knit group had been more successful than them. So behind all the difficult and mysterious language of this passage is the theme of who’s in and who’s out, and also something about perfection and worthiness.
Wielding their rule book the disciples had tried to stop people who are successfully casting out demons. Jesus response was that anyone doing good work in his name will be rewarded, no matter what their status, theology, or which group they belong to. The nimage he uses is of a cup of water, offered to someone who’s thirsty – an act of charity, of love, which will be rewarded by God.
What might this mean in today’s world? What about those islamic charities that you see advertised in town? Jesus seems to be giving them at ‘tick’. What about secular charities – Oxfam, Save the Children, Macmillan – yes they get a tick too. And the tick is about something so simple – just a cup of water offered in love – basic humanitarian aid. Even though many today are atheists, the idea of humanitarianism is rooted in the Gospels – that’s where the idea comes from. And sometimes that’s all we can do isn’t it – the offering of something immediate that won’t solve the problem but will help a little along the way. We can’t cure someone’s cancer, but we can turn up with a meal ready to put in the oven. Of course there also have to be charities who work to solve the underlying problems so that people have safe sources of clean water, enough money to live on, a roof over their head, or can be healed from cancer. Both are important.
I think this is important in today’s world where we can feel so overwhelmed by all the terrible things we hear that we feel incapable of doing anything – nothing we do can make any difference – a drop in the ocean. But we can take heart, because Jesus tells us that even something very simple like a cup of water brings a blessing on both the recipient and the giver. It’s much better to do small simple things than nothing at all.
I talked last week about success, about competition, and about failure. There is something similar behind today’s reading. All that alarming stuff about chopping your hands off, or poking your eyes out. That is the theology of the way of perfection – because, for all of us our hands, feet, eyes and perhaps particularly our tongues, lead us into all kinds of less than perfect behaviour – sin. People across the world, of all kinds of religion and non, including those disciples of long ago, can be fervent about perfection – about being pure, holy, righteous, better than everyone else. Here Jesus addresses them, saying ‘Go ahead – if you want to be perfect, this is how to do it: If your hand leads you into sin cut it off, if your eyes lead you into sin, poke them out’. This is exaggeration, hyperbole: the point is, we can’t live like that. One preacher has called this the way of the axe.(1)
The good news is that there’s an alternative which is the ‘way of the cup of water’ – knowing your imperfection, but living in the world as a person of compassion, humanity, towards others who have clearly got something wrong or suffered from misfortune.
And when you stop to think about it you can see that this is Jesus’ pointer to the disciples worries about who’s in and who’s out. If we are ready to accept our imperfection, our inclination to want to better than others, in rather than out, then we can look with compassion on a world full of broken people without worrying about who’s worthy, who deserves help – because we all do. And that help we received from God is what’s called ‘Grace’ – God’s loves us anyway, in our fallenness and brokenness. We’re all in, because we’re all in God’s heart, children of God’s love, God’s beloved. Amen