Open Source Theology (Mark 9:38-50)

            “Whoever is not against us is for us.”

            In three act plays, the first act sets up the plot and the third act brings everything to a conclusion.  The second act is a place where plays can founder, a bit of story padding to stretch the play or where actors can gain or lose steam.  The second act can be the transitional moment when a story can amp up the audience’s attention, or it can be a time when people start praying for the last curtain to fall, all while pondering why you said yes to see this play with friends.

            Mark 9 is part of the second act of the Mark’s gospel.  The third act is well known: the passion of Christ and the unexpected ending of the empty tomb.  You can see the third act begin in Mark in just a few verses.  After Mark 10:52, the narrative starts to move into very familiar territory: Jesus sends his disciples ahead for a colt so he can enter Jerusalem.  The shadow of the cross only grows over the story. 

            Mark 9 draws together the middle section of the gospel, demonstrating Jesus in his authority and power and the disciples learning of the gospel, yet not so secretively jockeying for authority and power.  While out on the road, Jesus hears them bickering.  It is similar to a parent who hears the kids arguing in the back of the van: when the parent asks what they are talking about, the kids suddenly grow quiet.  Jesus chastens them with a reminder of greatness in his sight, not theirs.  He places a child in their midst and says, “This one is the greatest.”  And the lesson is quite clear:  disciples on power trips are not.

            The “kids in the back of the van” analogy is handy to explain what happens next.  When called out on bad behavior, children often try to distract the parent with another matter.  The disciple John speaks up and notes a person unknown to him and the inner circle is exorcising demons in Jesus’ name.  While the inner circle feels jealous toward one another, they attempt to circle the wagons and keep out others unknown to them. 

            “Whoever is not against us is for us” is Jesus’ reply.

            As the story begins to shift into the third and decisive act, this scene of Jesus teaching his disciples about greatness is necessary.  Mark 9 shows how “the kingdom of God” is found among those who are otherwise marginalized and disregarded by society and the powerful. We also learn that even among the insiders, it is not an easy word to follow.  The jealousy of the disciples among themselves is disturbing, but understandable.  Human nature predisposes us to such behavior.  The sense of propriety among the disciples is quite familiar as well, deeming themselves judges of who is and is not a disciple of Jesus.  Stick around the church (upper and lowercase “c” church alike), and you will find the inner circle mentality still lives on.  The contexts change, but the impulse to behave this way has been within down through the millennia. As one wise preacher observed, “The Church is bigger than you think.”

            As for Jesus, he offers another reversal of the disciples’ expectations.  The disciples’ preconceived notions about power are unraveled by the child.  Their hunger for control (or perhaps certainty) is shown for what it is:  the circle is always bigger than we think it is.  Jesus invites more than twelve to follow him, gathering together a diverse group of people, not to be kings or high priests of heaven’s interests on earth.  Instead, he teaches of a way of life reordered to a different scale and scope, opening up the way of discipleship to all who believe and serve in his name.

            Mark 9 reflects a narrative strategy within Mark.  Note that when the gospel begins, John the Baptist sets the stage for Jesus.  In turn, when Jesus begins his ministry, John leaves the narrative.  Jesus gathers the disciples around him and teaches them.  Soon, as Mark comes to its end, Jesus will depart the narrative as well, leaving the story of “the kingdom of God” up to the disciples to continue.  For themselves, the disciples here in “act two” are not ready for the tumult of what is to come, only half-listening to Jesus’ predictions of what is to come when the Son of Man is betrayed, killed, and then raised from the dead.  The story will not end with Jesus’ death, as the empty tomb attests.  The story does not end with the eleven (one less with Judas’ betrayal of Jesus) being the only ones who can continue.  Teaching and healing will continue, thanks to the many, not the select few, who believe in Jesus.  The gospel shall be spread by persons who might not even know the twelve, taking the stories of Jesus to heart and giving their lives to share in his name.  The kingdom of God is bigger than the disciples think it is.

            Go back a bit in Mark 9, and you will note this whole scene with the disciples’ bickering, the greatness of the kingdom being found in the child, and the complaint about followers unknown to “us” (i.e. the inner circle disciples) comes on the heels of the twelve failing.  In the earlier section of Mark 9, some of the disciples try without success to perform an exorcism.  John and the others are irritated, rather than chastened, to observe a complete stranger succeeding where they could not.  Instead of marveling at the power of God being known in the world in unexpected ways, the inner circle falls prey to the temptation to restrict who speaks and ministers in Jesus’ name. 

            As I read this passage, I thought about the open source approach to software programming.  When a company designs a software program, the work can be deemed proprietary, restricting access to the inner workings of the software and protecting the right of the software owner to turn the most profit from the program without competition.  Over the past few years, there has been a growing movement to create “open source” software.  Open Source allows any person access to the software’s core programming codes, meaning the software can be developed through collaboration, sometimes by people who span the globe.  Open Source software trades proprietary secrecy for collaboration and creativity.  In theory, open source software allows more people to participate, and the software keeps developing, sometimes beyond the expectations of those who began laying out the code.

            Ministry in the name of Jesus is not reserved for a select few.  Over the centuries, individuals and groups have tried to say otherwise, seeking to construct structures of power and authority to keep control of the Church vested in the hands of a select few, keeping a tight rein on orthodoxy, and turning in some cases to outright persecution, claiming some as heretics and valorizing violence. 

For example, my family name is synonymous with a persecuted religious movement, the Huguenots of French Protestantism.  Our Baptist history and heritage is rife with accounts of Baptists over the past 400 years and around the globe being mocked, jailed, and martyred for preaching and mission work.  I know these stories well, yet if I choose, I could become just as hindering to the ministry and witness of other Christians.  So what does it take to be a follower of Jesus and welcoming partner of fellow disciples, near and far?  Here are some thoughts:

1)      To speak of the gospel as innately “open source”:  in other words, any person who believes in Christ has the ability to contribute something to the furtherance of the kingdom of God. 

2)      To live peaceably with Christians who seem to us only to embody difference to us because of theological, cultural, political, or economic differences between “them” and “us”.

3)      To speak of the Church as bigger than the four walls around us, bigger than our own convictional/denominational/tradition’s horizons.

4)      To live the gospel, knowing that Christ’s ways are delightfully contrary to the way the world works and even the Church in its “institutional” sense works.  In the end, Christ shall welcome all who believe in him. 

The cautionary tale of reading Mark 9 still holds up well:  do not be threatened by the reality that the kingdom of God is bigger than you think.  Rejoice in the many following Jesus and be at peace with one another, or to be worth our salt in faithfulness and openness to the wider gathering of disciples.  The use of salt might strike modern day readers as an obtuse choice, as we find salt plentiful and inexpensive.  To the first century disciples, salt was a commodity not to be wasted and certainly worthless if leached out of its saltiness.  What good is salt that is not salty?  In turn, what good is a disciple of Jesus if he or she cannot imagine the kingdom of God being capable of more?

This day is given to the observance of World Communion Sunday, when Christians are reminded, whether they partake of wafers and drink wine from a chalice, or take individual pieces of bread and individual cups, Christians partake in the same meal given to us by Christ.  Our theologies differ, our rituals diverge, our theologies vary, and yet we are likewise being obedient to the same Lord.  On days like this, indeed we remember with due humility, the circle is always open. The Church is bigger than we think.  The table of the Lord is open to all who call upon the name of Jesus and follow his gospel.  Take, eat, remember, and then serve in Christ’s holy name.