Mark 9:38-50
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The first bishop to be martyred in the early church was St. Ignatius of Antioch. Bishops were high profile leaders in the early church. They trained ministers and kept the churches connected and in communication with each other so that individual churches didn’t just do their individual things in ignorance of the needs of their sister churches. Martyring a bishop would have been a major political attack on the early church meant to cripple the networking of churches and to instil fear among the faithful. Ignatius was arrested in Antioch in Turkey and sent to Rome oddly by land rather than by sea with an escort of ten Roman soldiers to be tried by the Emperor Trajan. He wrote seven letters along the way and indicated that he was often made a spectacle along the way which meant being publicly tortured in coliseums.
In one of these letters which he wrote to a young, newly starting bishop by the name of Polycarp of Smyrna Ignatius states what he considers to be the most important things a young leader in the church should concern himself with. He writes:
“I beg you, by the grace with which you are clothed, to press forward in your course, and to exhort all that they may be saved. Maintain your position with all care, both in the flesh and spirit. Have a regard to preserve unity, than which nothing is better. Bear with all, even as the Lord does with you. Support all in love, as also you do. Give yourself to prayer without ceasing. Implore additional understanding to what you already have. Be watchful, possessing a sleepless spirit. Speak to every man separately, as God enables you. Bear the weaknesses of all, as being a perfect athlete [in the Christian life]: where the labour is great, the gain is all the more.”
That paragraph really spoke to me when I first read it 20 years ago while I was working through that there Doctor of Ministry deegree in the area of Congregational Redevelopment that has yet to gain me fame and fortune and the respect of my peers. These were in essence Ignatius’ last words. He was probably between 70 to 100 years old and advising a young Bishop who was just starting out. Not only did Ignatius have a wealth of experience, but tradition has it that he was instructed by the Apostles Peter and John and probably met Paul and that Peter hand-picked him to be Bishop in Antioch which was a major hub for missionary work in the early church. Tradition also has it that he was a child whom Jesus himself blessed.
The letters of Ignatius give as a picture of life in the early church, on what being the church was like in the churches the Apostles left behind. So, these words of a soon to be martyred elderly bishop to a young bishop just starting out are quite important. They help us to understand what was important then and this helps us to determine what’s important now for the life of churches. The early church exploded onto the scene in the first century amid much persecution. Today’s dying off, stumbling church could stand to listen to what Ignatius has to say.
Well, it appears that what was most important to Ignatius and therefore to the early church with regard to its life and growth was unity in the church. Ignatius says: “Have a regard to preserve unity, than which nothing is better.” Unity wasn’t just agreeing on things. It was the love that undergirded Christian fellowship. He gives advice on how to do that. Bear with one another which means to be patient with one another in our faults. Support one another in love. Pray without ceasing and grow in understanding of the faith and Scriptures. Get to know your people individually as much as possible.
As I said, when I first read Ignatius, I was doing doctoral work in Congregational Redevelopment. In the early 2000’s congregational decline was severe and church leaders were desperate for guidance on what they could do to turn their churches around. The advice one could garner from the field of Congregational Redevelopment was largely practical. It was things that dying churches could do to turn around the decline. It was to do congregational studies to discern strengths and weaknesses and overall health. Study the demographics of the neighbourhood in which your church was located to understand the needs of the people who live there and how your church could address those needs. Start a program like Alpha or an after-school program for kids. Make your worship service(s) either more contemporary or more contemplative. Most importantly, quit doing same stuff the way you’ve always done it and get rid of those damn dusty, plastic flowers.
Having made the career path mistake of doing congregational redevelopment in small congregations, I was quickly noticing that none of that stuff worked. Then along comes Ignatius saying pay attention to how you relate to one another in love because there is nothing more important than that. He sounds very influenced by Jesus’ teachings to his disciples – the greatest among you will be the least among you and servant of all; deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me; love one another as I have loved you, bear with one another in love; welcome children by humbling yourselves and actually loving them not because they are part of a program that insures the future of your church (and really show understanding love to their over-extended and exhausted parents who are badly in need of some rest); instead of judging others mind your own conduct and don’t give others a reason to judge you especially those outside the church; have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.
Peace and saltiness, let’s look at that. Being at peace with one another – giving regard to unity – is what we are about. This is what makes Christ-shaped, Cross-shaped, Holy Spirit indwelt fellowship different from all other forms of human community. It is what the Kingdom of God, or rather the Reign of God in this present world looks like. But…the Church too often does not look and love like Jesus. We’ve looked more like a religious institution trying to preserve the ways of a particular culture.
The past couple of weeks as we’ve been looking at Mark with Jesus and his disciples now heading to Jerusalem he has been trying to tell them that he will not be Emperor-like Messiah nor will their role in his kingdom be like that of Imperial regents for lack of a better term. Rather he will suffer and be killed by those powers that be and yet he will be raised from the dead. Thus, he will “speak truth to power” and pay the ultimate sacrifice and in so doing put to an end to all those forms of power that use death and the fear of death as the root and means of their power.
The way his disciples will reign with him is to do like-wise if need be but more so his disciples are to teach and maintain the Christ-formed life of the communities that will spring up in Jesus’ name all over the world. Among them, the greatest will not be the one with the most power, wealth, and influence. The “greatest” will be those who humbly serve even the least in society and even at the cost of their own reputation. Their way of life will blossom in showing generosity and hospitality even to strangers and especially even to enemies. It will be in seeking what’s best for others rather than simply looking after your own needs. The followers of Jesus are to embody among themselves sacrificial, unconditional, and mutual love for their fellowships bear the name of Jesus the Messiah, Lord and Saviour…and yes, those titles are meant to get the attention of the Roman Emperor. Power in the fellowship of disciples is different than power in the world. Power in Christian fellowship is the power of bearing Jesus’ name. It is the power of unconditional love. It may seem weaker than the power that comes from wealth and intimidation through fear and death. Yet, it is the power of God that overcomes fear and death and ultimately manifests in resurrection.
The saltiness in the fellowship of Jesus followers is our love for one another expressed in the way we serve one another. When Jesus said have salt among yourselves he was likely referring to a practice from Old Testament days when people would taste a pinch of salt together after they had settled a dispute and agreed to live peacefully with each other. Salt was also sprinkled on sacrifices to purify them and intermingled with incense that was burned during worship to represent the prayers of the people. The use of salt and saltiness is a metaphor for the presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst. Without God’s presence at work in us giving us our saltiness we are useless.
As small churches, we the churches of this Cooperative, we are blessed in that peace and saltiness come natural to us. Loving and serving each other is pretty much all we can do. The “practical” advice of most of that Congregation Redevelopment stuff, well, should be taken with a grain of salt because we as small congregations of mostly elderly grandparent types have a wealth of guidance to contribute. The practical wisdom we have to offer sounds a lot like Ignatius saying, “Attend to unity, to the way you relate to one another in love, that’s what’s most important.” We small congregations look and act a lot like the churches the Apostles left behind. We must continue to do what we have come to realize is most important and what we’ve been doing all along.
Continue on by being welcoming, hospitable, and generous. Be encouragers. Be prayerful and live like we have hope. And most importantly, know that you each are beloved children of God – you really are. You really are. Don’t give people reason to turn away from God. If we lose our saltiness and cause other people to stumble over us and away from God, the we are a waste. As small churches, we are blessed in that we can attend to our unity, our saltiness, without having to be distracted by the politics of programming and all that. Our size gives us the gift of being able to love and care for each other unencumbered by “churchy” stuff. Let us embrace the freedom to love one another that being small affords us rather than be ensnared by things we cannot afford. There is nothing greater than attending to the bond of love that we share. Amen.
