My dad never yelled much. For the most part, he didn’t need to. But, when he did, believe me, we listened!

One of the times I remember my dad yelling was when our whole family was driving together in the car. My sister Marsha and I would sit in the back and, especially on long and--what were to us--boring drives, we’d do like sisters and brothers do. We’d fight. We’d argue. We’d cause a ruckus.

Most times it didn’t matter. Mom and Dad could tune us out or quiet us down. But, sometimes, it did matter. Traffic would be horrible or the weather would be bad or Mom and Dad needed to pay close attention for directions.

If a simple, “Settle it down back there!” didn’t work, my dad would launch his secret weapon. He’d yell, "If you two don't stop this instant, I'm pulling over and coming back there myself!"

Message heard, loud and clear! We hadn’t realized how our little games in the back seat were affecting things in the front seat. But, now that we did, we get it! We’ll settle down!

I’m reminded of this as I reflect on today’s gospel reading. Jesus is in the front seat, single-mindedly driving himself forward toward Jerusalem and what will befall him there. In the backseat are the disciples, fighting and arguing with each other like my sister and me.

Finally, Jesus has had enough. The disciples’ squabbling is distracting Jesus from what he needs to be doing and where he needs to be going. Reluctantly, he stops and faces them. What’s going on?

“Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t in our group.”

They can’t be serious! Jesus is driving himself forward toward Jerusalem and the opposition, the violence, and the rejection he will face there, and this is what the disciples are concerned with? Someone is healing people in the name--and in the power--of Jesus, and the disciples want to stop him because he’s not one of them?

Jesus wasn’t pleased. “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath cut me down. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally. Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it!”

But, wait a minute. Jesus isn’t ready to just climb back into the car and continue their journey. Something in what the disciples have just been saying--something in what they’ve just been doing--still bothers Jesus.

It’s as if Jesus’ disciples think that they’re like the people who stand outside of bars and decide who gets in and who doesn’t. What are they called? Bouncers? It’s as if Jesus’ disciples think that they’re Jesus’ bouncers or gate-keepers. They get to decide who gets access to Jesus and who doesn’t. They get to define who gets in and who doesn’t.

Jesus will not stand for it! Using the strongest language ever heard from Jesus, he says, “[I]f you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.”

And as if being dropped in the middle of a lake with a millstone around your neck weren’t strong enough language, Jesus goes further still. “If your hand or your foot gets in God’s way, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.”

Can you tell that Jesus has strong feelings about this? Can you tell that he’s upset and angry?
What’s bothering him? What has he just pointed out about himself and us?

Let’s trying getting at it this way. Does Jesus possess us or do we possess him? Do we define Jesus or does he define us? Do we control Jesus or does he control us?

What makes Jesus so angry--what prompts him to use the strongest language ever recorded from him--is when his disciples--his church--tries to control, define, or possess him instead of our being controlled, defined, and possessed by him!

I was reading an article this week about songs and hymns. Do you know what they found? More than anything else, the single factor that determines which hymns or songs we like is ... the year that we were born! Quoting the article, “We ‘bond’ to music, both sacred and secular, between age sixteen and twenty-four.”

That’s unavoidable. That’s inevitable. But, says the article, the problem comes when people--including myself--turn personal preferences into principles and rules. It’s one thing to say, “I prefer this kind of music to that.” It’s quite another to say, “This kind of music is better than that,” or, worse still, “This is the only worthwhile music to sing!”

When Jesus hears things like that--when he hears, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t in our group”--no wonder he stops the car and gets out!

“[I]f you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.”

Of course, it’s not just music. It could be anything--any preference that we have--that we elevate into a principle or a rule: toilet seat up or down; traditional or contemporary; formal or casual; my way or your way. Any time we elevate personal preference or desire into a rule or principle that we can use to get our way, Jesus stops the car and pulls over!

“[I]f you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple trust, you’ll soon wish you hadn’t. You’d be better off dropped in the middle of the lake with a millstone around your neck.”

Years ago, when my normally mild-mannered dad, would reach around the front seat and yell at my sister and me, we knew it was time to stop. Our little games were distracting dad or endangering the safety of our car ride together. His raised and somewhat intense voice were enough to get us to settle down.

Jesus certainly is intense this morning! Is he angry? Is he yelling? I leave that to you. He certainly does use strong language, however, to get his disciples--his church--to stop acting like gate-keepers and bouncers who think that they get to decide who’s in and who’s out of Jesus’ circle, who belongs and who doesn’t.

We do not define Jesus; he defines us. We do not control Jesus; he controls us. We most certainly do not possess Jesus; he possesses us.

Thank God! In Jesus’ name. Amen!