Stumbling Blocks 9-29-24
Stumbling Blocks
Numbers 11:4-6,10-16, 24-29; Mark 9:38-50
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29
The rabble among them had a strong craving; and the Israelites also wept again, and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we used to eat in Egypt for nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic; but now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, all at the entrances of their tents. Then the Lord became very angry, and Moses was displeased. So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you treated your servant so badly? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? Did I conceive all this people? Did I give birth to them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries a sucking child,’ to the land that you promised on oath to their ancestors? Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they come weeping to me and say, ‘Give us meat to eat!’ I am not able to carry all this people alone, for they are too heavy for me. If this is the way you are going to treat me, put me to death at once—if I have found favor in your sight—and do not let me see my misery.” So the Lord said to Moses, “Gather for me seventy of the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and officers over them; bring them to the tent of meeting, and have them take their place there with you. So Moses went out and told the people the words of the Lord; and he gathered seventy elders of the people, and placed them all around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke to him, and took some of the spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders; and when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they did not do so again. Two men remained in the camp, one named Eldad, and the other named Medad, and the spirit rested on them; they were among those registered, but they had not gone out to the tent, and so they prophesied in the camp. And a young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” And Joshua son of Nun, the assistant of Moses, one of his chosen men, said, “My lord Moses, stop them!” But Moses said to him, “Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit on them!”
Mark 9:38-50
John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward. “If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched. “For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
Prayer – God of all people, particularly those who are most vulnerable. Help us to see every beloved person through your loving and grace-filled eyes, that we would not become a stumbling block for anyone who views you through our actions – amen.
Our Hebrew Scripture lesson from the book of Numbers is a lesson on leadership. Moses had been selected by God to lead his people out of slavery, out of Egypt and return to the land of promise. Along the way, Moses found the people of Israel to be a royal pain in the . . . well you know what I mean. They complained that they had it better in slavery than out wandering the desert waiting for God to deliver them. Moses was frustrated with them and probably just as much with God, for putting him in this position. In Moses’ mind, there were all kinds of stumbling blocks – complaints from one side and complaints from the other, and Moses was caught in the middle with no place to go.
Being in a position of leadership is fraught with all types of stumbling blocks. One doesn’t need to look any further than Washington, DC, to realize that truth. Whether Democrat or Republican, both can be, have been and hopefully will one day figure out how to serve the people rather than increasing their power, and if not, will remain stumbling blocks.
Having been in ministry for over 30 years I have found the church has it’s own stumbling blocks – the wealthy family that holds the church hostage in order to meet the budget; the pastor who believes he is supposed to be on the pedestal and tries to get away with misconduct of any variety; the member who walks in one day and says that if ‘you don’t start preaching like such and such, then I’m leaving.’
While in my first call as minister of youth and missions, we had a number of young people attend our youth group which brought in new members and suddenly the ‘old guard’ was feeling threatened by all of these new folks in the church. When budget season came up it was amazing that the pledges were short about $50000 from previous years. The handwriting was on the wall, someone had to go and guess who? I was really ticked off and swore I would never serve in the church again after that bit of church politics left me high and dry. And to rub it in, about a month after I left, they decided to fund some renovations on the church organ and came up with $100000 in two weeks. Stumbling blocks from growth – who would have thought.
Why would Jesus speak so harshly about “causing one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble”? I think it was because he was serious about injustice especially for the least of these, the vulnerable, the marginalized, those on the edges. While the religious people of every day and every age have identified sexual outcasts as the chief of sinners, Jesus pointed instead to the people who used their power to diminish the lives of the least and the lowest in society, instead of helping them to thrive. In the eyes of the biblical prophets, this was the true sin that plagued Gods’ people, and I think it still plagues many who claim to follow Christ today.
As I think about leaders, as I think about stumbling blocks, I began to ponder a pretty significant stumbling block in our world today – people who are gatekeepers. Gatekeepers show up everywhere. They may function as security and protection as they bar those who threaten the safety of those within their boundaries. They may serve as hospitality, ensuring that participants know where they are going and when they should be there. Gatekeepers also maintain standards ensuring adequate preparation and accountability measures are in place for access to positions of responsibility and power.
No one wants to take a flight with a pilot that has not been tested for aptitude and fitness. Physicians, educators, and lawyers among other professions must be certified and licensed to work in individual states even if they have demonstrated competency through educational credentials. Athletes must meet certain medical standards in order to compete. Gatekeeping can help establish trust and promote positive outcomes, establish and solidify effective structures and assignments, and foster accountability and effective practices.
And, gatekeepers may become overzealous. Those charged with moderating power can become enamored of the power they wield and weaponize it for their own purposes. Those who hold others to account may forget that they too are subject to the helpful limits and necessary boundaries that facilitate good relational dynamics. The teacher who bullies their classroom, the police officer who thinks they are above the law, and the preacher who projects their preferences rather than proclaim the gospel provide just a few examples of the abuse of power to demean, demote, and damage those vulnerable to the gatekeeper’s influence.
Then there are self-appointed gatekeepers who take it upon themselves to preserve boundaries, lines, and boxes beyond their responsibility, authority, or expertise. They seek power they do not have over others who often have even less. The self-appointed neighborhood watch person who minds everyone’s business but their own comes to mind. The people who call the police because someone is doing something that makes them uncomfortable, even if that is simply existing, provides another example of out of control gatekeeping. Some take on the mantle of gatekeeping by claiming individual ownership of common resources like a preferred seat on Sunday morning, arbitrary criteria for leadership, and manufactured stories that stereotype entire people groups.
While the gospel narrative offers a powerful example of the lure of gatekeeping for the early disciples, perhaps societal stances toward immigration provide one of the strongest contemporary realities of gatekeeping as a stumbling block for our nation. The recent demonization of Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio has wrought a devastating impact based on repeated lies. The truth is that, like many small cities in the Midwest and particularly in Ohio, Springfield invited the Haitian immigrants to settle there for their mutual benefit. The town received an injection of a new labor force to meet the needs of the private manufacturing sector, and the people received economic opportunity. Both benefit and the entire community flourishes without stumbling.
But some gatekeepers seek to block the truth most of all. Whether banning books or denying our historical past, questioning the veracity and integrity of our elections, and for lying about Haitian immigrants in a community that invited them in. Gatekeepers often use fear as the strongest fence by “othering” difference rather than celebrating diversity as the intentional and purposeful gift of God.
This type of gatekeeping whether in the church or in culture goes against everything Jesus taught and did. My Christian faith tradition tells me that love for my neighbor is my great aspiration and calling while it also tells me that everyone is my neighbor; not just those who speak my language or share my pigmentation or align with my politics or believe in my God or were born where I was born.
I am going to take my chances with a wall-breaking, table-making Jesus. I’m going all in with a Jesus who errs on the side of loving people, of welcoming them, healing them, and embracing them. I’m betting that the carpenter Jesus would have me make tables and set a banquet for every hungry, hurting, exhausted person who crosses my path without caveat or condition.
To be honest with you, I cannot preach or worship or serve a Jesus who builds walls, one whose ministry is one of exclusion, separation, disconnection and segregation. I have no use for a gatekeeping Jesus whose only concern is one set of people. I have no interest in a religion that manufactures stumbling blocks based on age, race, who they love, or anything else for that matter.
I suspect that is why Jesus looked at his stumbling block disciples and pushed them when he reminded them that the person who needs deliverance does not care if the disciples have approved of the one who facilitates their liberation. Imagine trying to stop someone from being restored? John even notes that the person casting out demons did so in the name of Jesus. In other words, this person was effective in doing what Jesus was training them to do when they were not; therefore, they must be stopped—talk about being a stumbling block.
But I think we also have to remember that we all have diminished another at some time in our lives. We all have likely been a stumbling block for someone else. Fortunately, the same Christ who confronts all who enhance their own welfare at the expense of another also offers to set us free from our stumbling blocks. All of us who cause others to stumble, whether we’re “average” or a “mover and shaker,” suffer from what we do when we diminish others. It’s no fun walking around with a millstone around your neck! And just as Jesus offers freedom to the oppressed, he offers us all the chance to be set free from our oppressive deeds. No more stumbling blocks – thanks be to God – amen.