Second Presbyterian Church

"Now Cut That Out!"
September 28, 2003

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Sermons Homepage » Sermons for 2003 » Sermons for September 2003

26^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
by The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.

• Psalm 124
• Mark 9: 38-50

This is not the easiest gospel lesson to preach! It is one of the "hard sayings" by Jesus. So, my challenge was to wrestle with this lesson and see what would emerge. Musing over his words, one realizes that Jesus could not have literally meant for John, or the other disciples to cut off their hands, or their feet, or eyes! After all, how would chopping off a hand or a foot or plucking out an eye REALLY excise our sin? Even Jesus had noted how all kinds of evil come from the heart, not the actual parts of the body!

As I was prayerfully musing over these things, I remembered Jack Benny, that famous musician and comedian who always played the role of a rich cheapskate. He would almost always say, somewhere in his routine, "NOW CUT THAT OUT!" When I mused upon that phrase, then Jesus' hyperbole started to make sense. He was in the midst of teaching his disciples about who he was (the Messiah), what must happen to him (suffer, die, be raised from the dead), and how they - his disciples - are supposed to behave with one another and those around them. The disciples had a lot to learn and they were having a tough time with the subject matter! The whole deal about Jesus' death and resurrection didn't make sense. And what they did understand, they did not want to accept. The disciples were very resistant to Jesus instructing them about his Passion.

In verses previous to our lesson we note that the disciples had to re-learn what Christian greatness meant. They had to learn that Christian greatness was really to serve, not to lord it over other people. Today we note that they had to learn the fact that, as the actual disciples of Jesus, they were not to become elitists and become exclusive of those who are not in the in-crowd.

John had said to Jesus, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us."

Jesus responded that the disciples were not to stop others who did mighty works in the name of Jesus. Jesus pushed the envelope further. He said, "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea."

He went on to say that if your hand, or your foot cause you to sin, lob it off; or if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. "For it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands, or two feet, or two eyes and be cast into hell."

What IS Jesus trying to say? We have already noted that Jesus probably did not mean it literally, although in those days a convicted robber could have his hand cut off as punishment. And, as mentioned earlier, we noted that Jesus had spoken about evil coming from the heart, from inside. Yet we also note that often our hearts do harbor evil, vengeance, envy, lust and a whole host of other vile thoughts. Would it not make sense for Jesus to say to Christians who continue to harbor such evil, NOW CUT THAT OUT? It does make sense and we are challenged to constantly cut out those evil thoughts that come into our minds and often tempt us to do things we know that we are not supposed to do.

But as far as the disciples, what were they supposed to cut out? Jesus, I believe, was telling the disciples to cut out their tendency to exclude followers of Jesus who did not happen to be in their own, specific group! He was telling them that God, in the name of Jesus, can work might wonders without the knowledge or blessing of the original twelve appointees!

And in similar manner Mark was telling the readers of his gospel to also cut out the exclusion of Christians who were different from them, or who belonged to another community.

God is telling us, "NOW CUT THAT OUT" too. We have nothing to be jealous about; we have nothing to be envious about. The power and blessings of God can include Methodists, Roman Catholics, Baptists, Orthodox and other Christians, not just Presbyterians. Jesus Christ has followers everywhere, people whose faith and lives demonstrate the love and power of God.

God is telling us, "NOW CUT THAT OUT" too. We are to cut out excluding Christians who are different than we are. We are to cut out discriminating against Christians who are poor. We are to cut out discriminating against Christians who come from different cultures. We are to cut out discriminating against Christians who disagree with us about certain specifics of doctrine!

And as we lob off these sinful limbs from our hearts Christ is purifying us. Like salt and fire eliminate the dross from the gold, so also we focus upon our own sanctification journey (the process of allowing God's Holy Spirit to purify and to cause us to grow spiritually). When we do this, when we strive for this we are at peace with one another, because our focus is upon how we, ourselves, need to grow as Christians, and not project upon our sisters and brothers in Christ and concentrate upon how they should grow.

Quite practically, who has the arrogance to take a moral or theological superior stance over a brother, or sister in Christ? Who is so perfect? No one. And in our realization that our fellowship with Christ and in Christ is a gift, not an earned prize and in our realization that it is GOD who forgives sins, we then come to realize our common fellowship is in Jesus Christ. It does not focus upon how we differ, or focus upon what is wrong with other Christians.

We serve the body of Christ far more faithfully when we focus upon how we are to love one another. We serve the body of Christ far more faithfully when we focus upon how WE can grow in Christ. No more focusing upon other Christians and their faults, we have to CUT THAT OUT! We are supposed to lob that off and throw it into the Dumpster! Then we, as a congregation can focus upon our mission to worship God, to grow spiritually and to listen to ways in which God is calling us to serve and to be a part of our community!

The Rev. Daniel E. Hale, D. Min.