Those who are not against us are for us. My neighbor, Brad, is against me. I know because of the crisp, midnight blue baseball cap he wears. Does anybody know where we’re going with this? A few people do. It’s got this bright white insignia on it with the letters N Y Taunting me every time I see it. Brad is a Yankees fan.

Now it just happens that this is the best weekend to be preaching this sermon because if you don’t know The Yankees and the Red Sox are in the middle of a three game series. The Yankees have won two of those three games. The last game is today. They are now in a deadlocked heat for the wild card race, and that should be added to our prayer list.

I was raised as a proud part of Red Sox Nation. My grandfather rooted for the Red Sox throughout my entire life, never watching them win the World Series. One of the first t shirts I remember owning said Red Sox on the front with a nice big thumbs up. And on the back it said Yankees with a nice big thumbs down.

And all of my cousins had matching shirts.

On my days off, my favorite piece of clothing, and even sometimes on the days when I’m working, is a cozy warm hooded sweatshirt adorned with the words Red Sox and a faded gray blue cap. to match. And to this day now, yes, I recognize there is nothing inherently wrong with Yankees or Yankee fans. But to this day, if I see the Yankees playing, I immediately feel animosity in my body.

It’s just something that was conditioned from a young age. And when I check the baseball scores, I check to see if the Red Sox won. And I check, what else do I check? To see if the Yankees lost, because that’s, I’m now admitting all of my flaws to you here publicly. This is a confession in the middle of this space.

This morning’s scripture reading finds the disciples tattling on others who are not part of their posse. The disciples see someone doing work that Jesus has modeled and they have a fit. Jesus, that guy was doing work like you, but he is not one of us. How dare he? The disciples are outraged. Jesus, not so much.

This makes me wonder how often we miss the point of God’s love and Jesus example when we start trying to decide who is in and who is out. for us and who is against us. Scholar Caroline Lewis offers these thoughts in response to the passage. Quote, the goal of faith is not winning unlike our culture. The goal of believing is not who can be better, whatever that means.

Being a Christian is not about comparison, but individual expression, as individual as the incarnation. She goes on to say, Good grief, if we all believed the same way, how boring would that be? Not even our scriptures propose that. The reassurance of particularity is grace itself. So says God’s commitment to the incarnation.

Our penchant for we saw someone needs to be replaced by faith’s we see Jesus. And in Jesus, we see God, our God is here. She goes on to say, and therein lies the irony of the statement, we saw someone because the point is, do you see God? Do you see God in the acts that you saw? Do you see God in the person who does deeds in God’s name?

Often we don’t. And why is that? That is the question we need to ask. Why do we reject or accept God in acts of some, but not others? We might have justification, but you at least have to know why you say no or yes to another. When we say we saw someone, it’s a simultaneous judgment on the other and also on ourselves.

End quote.

I guess I might be saying I saw Brad wearing a New York Yankees cap. The other day, Brad’s wife texted me a picture of Brad posing proudly on a baseball field with his son, Sam. At first glance, Sam’s seven. So at first glance, it’s, you know, well, that’s nice. They went to a baseball game. But at second glance Sam’s wearing a Red Sox sweatshirt.

Oh wait, and Brad is not only smiling, but Brad is wearing a Red Sox hat. Oh, and there’s a big green wall behind them. They’re at Fenway Park. Now the picture makes me think two things. First, Brad’s actions of driving to Fenway and bringing his son on the field say a lot more about him than the Yankees hat he wears.

And second, if there were no Brads in the world, if there were no Yankees fans or Yankees, there would be no Red Sox nation. The differences, the loyalties, the individualities are what make baseball interesting. Without it, it would be boring. Who would care? So I guess I have to figure out how to support Brad and build a relationship with him.

Even if he is a Yankees fan. Actually, I guess because he is a Yankees fan. Because after all, we are both baseball fans. And if I allow myself to be blinded by the fact that he’s a Yankees fan, I miss the ways in which Brad manifests God and Jesus in his life. And I would have missed the significance of Brad, the Yankees fan.

Taking his son, Sam, onto the field at Fenway. In his book entitled The Practice of Groundedness, Brad Stolberg highlights Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, ACT for short. The basic idea is to name and accept reality, which includes accepting what you do and don’t have control over, For me, it’s a lot like the serenity prayer and then acting according to your core values.

I think the disciples in this morning’s story would have benefited from ACT. Reality. Other people are going to do work in the world in the name of Jesus. Reality. You don’t have control over those people. Value. Living the love taught by Jesus is important. Action. Don’t put stumbling blocks in people’s way.

Don’t try to tear them down just because it makes you feel superior. Don’t set up competition that is not there. Scholar David Lose has this to say about the passage. Quote, scholars tell us that this particular section reflects some conflicts between early Christian communities. Mark is framing this part of his narrative, in other words, to address some of the problems his folks are having with other Christians.

Apparently, the Christian church wasn’t all united in their beliefs. Sometimes they clashed with each other and occasionally even berated one another over differences in practice. In other words, Mark was trying to help his congregation answer the question of who they are. Will they, he asks, define themselves over and against other Christians?

Or will they discover their identity in an attempt to follow Jesus? To care for the vulnerable, to avoid those things that are destructive to self, neighbor, and community. Mark is directing his audience to their core values. Focus on your own actions, which you can control, and make sure those actions are in alignment with your core values.

The core values that Jesus taught you about the kingdom of God.

So as baseball season comes to a dramatic close, I am going to have to work hard to focus on my core values so that when I see that I’m Brad in his Yankees cap, I can restrain myself from grabbing it off his head and stomping on it. Because while Brad’s penchant for the Yankees does still make my gut twist, I just can’t help it.

Stomping on his hat is out of line with my values. Jesus tells us to do better. And if we continue to listen to the scriptures and turn towards God in prayer, I believe we can. Amen.