This sermon was preached on the 19th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21B) at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Apostles' Church in the Park. You may listen to audio of this sermon by clicking here. The readings which inspired the sermon were the following:
Proverbs 31:10-31
Psalm 1
James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a
Mark 9:30-37
Opening Prayer: Holy God, let my words be your words and when my words are not your words, let your people be wise enough to know the same. Amen.
Good morning, and welcome to Church in the Park! There’s something about being outside, surrounded by creation, that invites us to reflect more deeply on God’s Word and how we live out our faith.
As we know well given our geographical location, there is some debate among college sports fans about... well, about everything! Who's the best? Who has the grandest traditions? And one of my favorite sports radio debate topics: Which rivalry is the fiercest?
Yesterday, I turned 40 years-old, and now with all my newfound mid-life wisdom, I am here to tell you the answer to this final question: It may surprise you. It may shock you. But… the most intense college rivalry that exists is... not the Game (Michigan vs. Ohio State), not the Egg Bowl (Ole Miss vs. Miss. State), nor is it even our beloved Iron Bowl. No, the most passionate competition in all of collegiate athletics is… the everlasting rivalry between Sewanee and Rhodes. Okay, I know... that's most assuredly not true; however, that is the long-standing competition with which I am most familiar.
During my college years, I ran track & field and cross-country. While I enjoyed middle-distance running on the track, I loved cross-country. Maybe it was the scenic setting, maybe it was because we didn't have to wait around all day for all the events to conclude, or maybe it was the fun of a small group of athletes training, performing, and traveling together across the Southeastern United States, but whatever it was, I loved it! And, to tell you the truth, one of the things I loved most about these competitions was competing against our biggest rivals, the Lynx from Rhodes College.
Almost every year when we would travel to Memphis to run against Rhodes or when they would journey east to Sewanee to run against us, my teammates and I would spend time visiting with the enemy. Gasp! During my senior year NCAA DIII Regional meet, I spent most of the race pacing off—not teammates—but rivals from Rhodes.
Now, from a competitive standpoint, I may not have wanted the Lynx runners to outperform my team; however, like all good competitive endeavors, the sport is not the main point. Some of you may be looking at me as though I am speaking blasphemy. However, there are life lessons which sports can teach us that are far more important than the outcome of any contest.
In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus was not giving his disciples a pep talk, but nonetheless, his words undercut holding onto a competitive worldview. What I mean is that in the face of arguments over greatness and who’s the best, Christ Jesus provides us with another way—not either/or, all or nothing, us or them—but something else. Christ—who is the pattern and author of our lives—tells us a profound truth that we need to write on our foreheads and, more importantly, on our hearts not just during college football season, but also during this divisive election cycle: Whoever is not against us is for us.
Jesus said these exact words. The disciples, like many of us, were focused on who was in and who was out—who was part of their group, their tribe, their circle. They came to Jesus, upset because someone who wasn’t in their group was casting out demons in his name. And what does Jesus say? He doesn’t join them in their complaints. Instead, he says, “Whoever is not against us is for us.”
This is a surprising and perplexing response. After all, the disciples are worried about protecting their turf, maintaining control over who gets to use the name, image, and likeness of Jesus. But Jesus is inviting them—and us—to think bigger, to look beyond the boundaries we so often set up for ourselves. He’s saying that the work of God isn’t limited to our small, exclusive circles. God’s love and mercy spill over those boundaries, into the lives and work of people we may not expect.
We live in a world that loves to draw lines though. Whether it’s in sports, politics, or even religion, we’re constantly encouraged to decide who is on our side and who isn’t. And that can lead to division, to a mentality of “us versus them.” But Jesus’ words challenge us to see beyond those divisions. Jesus reminds us that the Spirit of God is at work in ways we can’t always see—and sometimes through people we wouldn’t choose or expect.
Think about the world we’re living in right now, particularly as we endure this election season. It can feel like we’re being asked to choose sides, to see people who disagree with us as enemies. But what if we took Jesus’ words seriously? What if, instead of focusing on who’s against us, we started to look for common ground, for the ways that people are working toward good, even if they’re not doing it in the same way we are?
One of my favorite quotes comes from the poet Maya Angelou, who once said, “We are more alike, my friends, than unalike.” Let that sink in for a moment. What if we approached our neighbors with that mindset? What if we really believed that, despite our differences, we are more alike than unalike?
This doesn’t mean we ignore real disagreements or pretend that everything is fine when it’s not. But it does mean we take a step back from drawing lines in the sand. We can work alongside those we might not fully agree with if they are doing good, if they are working for the flourishing of others. In the same way, Jesus calls us to look at the bigger picture and to remember that the work of God is more expansive than we realize.
At the end of the day, it’s not about winning or losing—it’s about living out the love of God in the world. It’s about recognizing that God can work through all kinds of people, even those who might not be part of our “team.”
So, here’s my invitation to us this week: Let’s take Jesus’ words to heart. Let’s look for the ways people around us are doing good, whether they’re in our group or not. Let’s resist the urge to divide the world into “us” and “them” and instead live into the truth that whoever is not against us is for us.
May God give us the grace to see the Spirit at work in surprising places and through unexpected people, and may we have the humility to join in that work, trusting that we are more alike, my friends, than unalike. And, for that, thanks be to God. Amen.
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