20th Sunday after Pentecost – October 11, 2015
Deal Drastically With the Sin in Your Life
Mark 9:38-50 38 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” 39 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is for us. 41 I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.
42 “And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where “‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 Everyone will be salted with fire. 50 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
Even though written over a period of time that spans 1,000 years with the most recent parts of it written nearly 2,000 years ago; God’s Word is as relevant, applicable, and timely today as it has always been. It’s an amazing thing when you stop and think about it! Our text this morning is a perfect case and point. 42 “…if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where “‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 Everyone will be salted with fire. 50 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
I don’t want to simply assume that you see how these words are timely, relevant, and apply to you, so please allow me to ask you some leading questions. If it would be better for you to drown in the sea than cause someone to sin, what is Jesus saying about sin? If it would be better for you to be without hands and feet than to sin, just how does God feel about sin? The answer: he absolutely hates it. He detests it. It is so repulsive and vile to him that it cannot be in his presence.
So how does that apply to you? How is that relevant and timely for Joe Christian and Bonnie Believer here at Faith Lutheran Church in the year 2015? Well, if that’s how our Savior feels about sin, we had better feel that way too! If that is how much our Savior hates sin, we had better deal drastically with the sin we see in our lives. And when, just tell me, when don’t we need to hearthat sin in our lives must be dealt with drastically.
The disciples of Jesus were having a hard time grasping this. They had argued about who was the greatest. Jesus rebuked them and told them to be servants to everyone. But that pride wouldn’t die so easily. So after having seen someone driving out demons in Jesus’ name, John comes to Jesus looking for confirmation and approval on the actions they had taken in trying to tell this person to stop.
Now understand – this man wasn’t doing anything wrong. He wasn’t misusing Jesus’ name. The problem the disciples had was with the fact that he was not one of them. The disciples wanted the exclusive right to claim membership on Jesus’ team. They wanted glory for themselves. It was all about them.
But Jesus tells them to take a step back. Instead of being so concerned about the great things they could do in competition for greatness, they should think about what they were doing that earned them hell. And this wasn’t just a passing reference to the place of complete separation from God. He goes on to remind them that hell is a place where the fire is never extinguished and the “worm does not die.” Picture the disgusting agony of maggots feasting on rotting flesh, without consuming it, without putting it out of its misery; of living in a place that is eternally hot and miserable, where the pain never ever stops.That is the horror of hell. That’s what sin earns.
One such sin that would earn hell would be to cause a believer to sin. That was the very thing they were in danger of doing in the way their pride caused them to treat the man driving out demons. The Lord will hold that person accountable who injures another person’s faith. For that reason, it would be better for the offending person to be removed from the scene by tying a heavy stone around their neck and throwing them into the depths of the sea.
That’s not all they had to beware of. Not only did they have to watch out for what caused others to sin - but what caused them to sin. So Jesus speaks those graphic words of cutting off part of your body and gouging out your eye if it causes you to sin. Why? Because nothing sinful can enter the kingdom of heaven!
Immediately after hearing all this we should be thinking of ourselves. If this is the way Jesus feels about sin, Can there ever be a time we can afford to think lightly of sin? Yet, have you noticed how willing you are to play with sin? To let it linger on the fringes of your life only to invite it in from time to time? Have you noticed how frequently you brush it off as no big deal, even categorizing some as being less serious than others? Have you noticed how you have excused it by saying the other person shouldn’t be bothered by it, or should mind their own business? Here’s our Savior’s message to you today – think again!
Sin, every sin, is unbelievably deadly! It must be dealt with now! There is no time to delay. It’s time to take the surgeon’s knife and cut out those times we plan our leisure time so that it keeps us and our children away from God’s house. It’s time to sever ours and our children’s eyes from the immorality watched on television. It’s time to remove the pride that demands things in church be done our way, or that we must be in control, and ends up hurting the faith of others.
The eye that looks at pornography, the hand that lifts the bottle of alcohol that has become an addiction, the foot that takes us away from our place of worship, the heart that is puffed up with uncontrollable pride – all these must be removed. If you think you can continue in them and still be fine with God, think again. And if cutting them off, tearing them out, throwing them away sounds too terrible, just consider the alternative! An eternity in hell – that’s how serious sin is.
Don’t think that Jesus is exaggerating here to make a point. He is not. He means what he says. But upon closer examination you will realize that the source of the problem is not the hand or foot or eye, it is our heart.
I pray the lump in your throat feels like an apple about right now as you think of the slanderous, careless, or gossipy words you have spoken that injured another’s faith. I pray that the pit in your stomach makes you nauseous as you consider the words of Jesus and come to the only conclusion we can come to – that you must say to yourself with all honesty “I deserve hell.” When you say that, then you are ready to deal with sin drastically the only way you can – with the salt of God’s Word.
When we realize that we can’t enter heaven with sin, and that sin is in our hands, feet, eyes and heart - it makes us despair. It cuts open a wound and then pours salt in it - making it sting and hurt. That salt is the Law of God. It is meant to hurt and it has to sting. Why? If it doesn’t you won’t cry out for help. If it doesn’t, you won’t cry out: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Pardon, cleanse and restore me.” By salting us with fire, Jesus is reminding us that there is only one way to stand before the judgment seat of God and be accepted into heaven.
It’s not by trying harder. It’s not by cutting our hands and feet off, but because Jesus’ hands and feet have been pierced. You see, salt also has a preserving nature. That salt is the gospel of God’s Word. Isaiah helps us see what that gospel is when he said that Jesus was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
The only place we find Jesus is in the Word. The only place we can wash in the forgiving, cleansing blood of Jesus is in Word and Sacrament. So we need to be in the Word. There alone the Holy Spirit works so that we can deal with our sins the only way possible: by admittingevery last one of them, repenting of them andlaying them on Jesus, letting him deal with them. Deal with them he did. On Good Friday, God the Father dealt with our sins by punishing Jesus for every last one of them. He endured the fire of God’s wrath so we wouldn’t have to.
Fire, it’s a word that brings terror to the hearts of the people living in the small ranching and farming communities. A spark from the exhaust of a tractor or a flash of lightening can start a grass fire that can literally burn for days in that wide-open country. People in ranch country have been taught from an early age the only way to escape from a range fire is to start a backfire. Burn a place out in the grass where you can safely stand as the range fire passes you by.
On Judgment Day, when this world will be destroyed by fire, God has provided us a place where we can safely stand, a place where he has already poured out his white-hot anger over our sin, and that place is the cross of Jesus. Our Savior has already paid the punishment we deserve. Jesus Christ is our backfire. We stand in safety as the fire of God’s wrath passes us by. When Jesus comes again on the last day, for us who have been given the gift of faith, it won’t be as our Judge to destroy us but rather as our Savior, to welcome us into heaven. Is there anything we wouldn’t sacrifice for that?
So deal with your sin today – for your own sake and the sake of others. Don’t become comfortable with sin and let it drag you into the flames of hell. Instead, drag your many sins to the cross of Christ. Deal with the Word of God. The Word is like salt, preserving our faith and keeping us grafted to Christ, the vine. Amen.