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Sermon for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Clay Center, Kansas

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

September 27, 2015

“Can you afford a little change?”

May I speak in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I am sure we all know people who would do almost anything to avoid change, to stick with what is familiar. That probably describes all of us, at times, right? At times when we’re challenged to consider a new point of view? Or other times, if our life circumstances force us to move to a new home or a new town or state, a different place or type of employment… or the way we spend our time and money. For sure, change is difficult… and can be scary. We just don’t want to leave our comfort zone.

Recently, I read about a man by the name of Harry Randall Truman. Mr. Truman lived at the south end of Spirit Lake, at the foot of Mount Saint Helen’s, a volcanic mountain in Washington State. In the spring of 1980, geologists and other scientists figured out from the data they regularly monitored that Mount Saint Helen’s was showing signs of impending eruption. Some said the chance of an eruption was 100%. Local law enforcement agents and his family members urged and pleaded with Mr. Truman to vacate his home, which was in the direct path of the lava that would flow from an eruption. But… to no avail. Truman refused to move – and when the volcano erupted, he was killed as the lava flowed over his house with him still inside. [1]

Now, that was one stubborn and short-sighted man! He was not about to make a change, to leave his comfort zone. Harry Randall Truman died because he would not let go of his house… even to save his life. [PAUSE]

Life-saving change is what Jesus is talking about today in the reading from Mark’s Gospel. It’s a passage that sounds pretty frightening… and a bit gory too. “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. … If your foot causes you to stumble, cut if off. … If your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out.” Holy cow! Those are some pretty nasty images. What is Jesus talking about? (Seems like we’ve been asking that a lot lately, doesn’t it?)

Well, this is a passage that needs to be taken seriously, though not literally. If we were to take it literally, there would be a lot of one-armed, one-legged, one-eyed folks walking around. No, Jesus doesn’t mean for us to take his words literally here… but when he uses language like this – hyberbole, exaggeration – Jesus does want us to pay attention. He is telling us something really important… something life-changing, life-challenging, life-saving.

For the past three weeks, we’ve heard lessons from this same part of the Gospel of Mark – from pretty much the center of his gospel. And it is central to the meaning of Mark’s Gospel. Bible scholars refer to this as the Markan pivot, or turning. At this point, we move from the early part of Jesus’s ministry, when he’s traveling the countryside, inviting the disciples to join him, teaching and healing. Now, Jesus starts explaining to his disciples the very serious consequences of following him.

This is the turning point of the Gospel of Mark. From this central point of the narrative – we’ll hear a bit more in the next couple of weeks – from here, it’s on to Jerusalem and the cross. At this central point, Jesus turns toward what he knows is the fulfillment of his time on earth, his passion and death. He knows that his complete offering of himself is to be the ultimate revelation of God’s saving love for God’s people – you and me, and all the believers that have come before and will come after us.

Jesus willingly gives himself – 100 percent – for our healing, for our maturing, to bring us to God in eternal life. And he asks us to give ourselves unselfishly for others. As I’ve said before, it’s unlikely we will die on a cross. But we too are called to offer our lives – our time, our attention, our money, our talents – for the life of the world. Jesus tells us, “those who lose their life [who give their life] for my sake and the sake of the Gospel, will save it” (Mk 8:35).

Today, with his exaggerated references, Jesus insists that we notice whatever is keeping us from a closer relationship with God, from doing God’s work. He tells us to get rid of any stumbling blocks. He urges us to pivot from our comfort zones, to turn… and make a change for the sake of the Gospel – and for the sake of our own lives. Because only by pivoting toward God will you know the abundant life that God intends for you. When you generously give of yourself, when you deny your own personal comfort and preferences, and sacrifice your time, attention and resources for the benefit of the Gospel, then you will discover the deep joy of living in Christ. [PAUSE]

But do the disciples get it? No. And neither do we. We resist Jesus’s message… because it’s messy, uncomfortable, asks too much of us. It calls for sacrifices we’re just not willing to make – like Harry Randall Truman, who chose to hang onto his house… in exchange for his life. It just seems like we’re often unwilling to give up the things that keep us from enjoying the fullness of a life with God.

Well, like Jesus, I may be exaggerating a little bit. It’s possible that we don’t really have to completely get rid of the things that take precedence over God’s place in our lives. We just need to put them in perspective, to prioritize them. The bottom line is, each of us has to decide what place we are going to give to God. That’s what Jesus is saying. He’s asking us what’s holding us back from committing ourselves to God – for you, is it a hand? For you, is it a leg? Or an eye? – and he is telling us we might need to rethink our priorities.

As my friend Delmer Chilton puts it, “Family and church and career and social causes are all good and glorious things, but the issue is whether or not they bring us closer to God or drive us away from God. If they are driving us away from God something needs to change, to be realigned in our lives.”[2] [PAUSE]

Is there something that’s getting in the way between you and God? What is more important than following Jesus? What is getting in our way as a community of Christ?

What’s causing you (us) to stagger and stumble and sometimes to fall? To use Jesus’s words, what’s causing us to lose our saltiness, so we can no longer season the world around us? Do we have the will and the courage to put it in its place? To pivot and make a change? Or will we be like Harry Randall Truman, refusing to give up one thing – in exchange … for everything?

Amen.

[1] Thom S. Rainer, Autopsy of a Deceased Church (Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2014), p.21. Quoted in “The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 27, 2015,” The Lectionary Lab, www.thelectionarylab.com [accessed September 24, 2015]

[2] Delmer Chilton, “The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, September 27, 2015,” The Lectionary Lab, www.thelectionarylab.com [accessed September 24, 2015]