Hell, eternal fire, casting people into the sea, cutting your hand off, tearing your eye out…Well, it all made for an interesting exchange when we opened our conversation during Bible study this week after we have read this passage of the Gospel. Since we couldn’t miss the harsh, and even scary language Jesus uses, we started to try to figure what Jesus really meant, since we assumed he certainly didn’t mean it like this. That’s when one of us observed that if we started to believe that Jesus didn’t mean what he said, then we had a problem. And we could only acknowledge how right she was to point that out. Not only Jesus hated hypocrisy, so we have to assume that he certainly thought what he said and said what he thought, and moreover, if we really believe, as we confess, that Jesus is the Word of God (John 1), then there is no doubt that we should take each passage of the Gospel very seriously, and not try to water it down or find a way around it.
This said, it does not mean that we shouldn’t try to understand what Jesus was talking about, and to whom he was talking to. And that’s what I would like for us to do this morning. There is a lot to say, so I just want to draw your attention on a few things to take home for your own reflection.
v 38-41: Jesus says to the disciples not to try to reform people who believe in him yet don’t belong to their group
That is probably the easiest passage for us to understand, and probably, a little sadly, because it’s kind of easy for us to relate to that. We already talked several times about the way we can judge each other between Christians, looking at each other and decide that some Christians aren’t “real” Christians. We have this kind of language where we say things like: If you were a true follower of Jesus, you wouldn’t…and then fill the blank: You wouldn’t be a liberal or you would be a liberal or you wouldn’t support abortion, or you would advocate for reproductive rights, or you would baptize children, or you wouldn’t baptize childrenetc.
Well, it is not new and actually many scholars believe that Mark reported this incident because a lot of Christian communities were already divided at the time he wrote the Gospel. We have this tendency to believe that, at first, Christians agreed on everything and later become divided. Yet, we have to realize that they had no Pope or Presiding Bishop, they had no creed, and they didn’t even have the Bible as we know it. They worshiped in their houses, in small groups. So they all had a very different ways to practice religion and to understand Jesus’s message. Doubtless that everybody thought they had it right and were the true followers of Jesus yet it looks like Jesus does not like this kind of faithfulness.
The thing is, it’s better to be welcoming and affirming of people’s faith, beliefs, questions, rather than starting with confronting them and even worse, make them feel like they don’t belong or are not worthy. It does not mean there is no growth to do, but we have to start with where people are at and help them build on this foundation,rather than tell them they have it all wrong.
Some Christians talk about winning people for Christ, but the other way around is also possible. If we’re too smug, we can also lose people for Christ, or at least discourage them.
I was watching a documentary about a nun who worked at a thrift store and she was talking with this woman who came to do her shopping. The woman had just lost her mother and the nun said: Well do you believe in God? And the woman said she didn’t. And so the nun asked: You don’t believe in heaven then? And the woman said: No. So the nun said: Then you don’t have any hope? And the woman replied: No, I don’t have any hope. At this point, the nun told the reporter that she started to pray in her heart about what to say and she heard this voice inside of her saying: Just meet her where she is. And the nun remembered the woman had admired a bird house in the store, but she couldn’t afford it. So the nun went to get the bird house and gave it to the lady.
See, she didn’t try to confront the woman’s beliefs. to talk her out of grieving, she just tried to make her feel better, accepted, tried to bring a little joy to her heart, and in this I think she helped her experience Christ. That’s what Jesus wants us to do: to meet people where they are with his love and compassion rather than with our judgmental attitudes and self righteousness!
Okay, now back to our text.
v42: 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.
Here what happens is that, after Jesus has given a warning to his disciples about not stopping or discouraging people, he elaborates on that to talk about cases where they could put “stumbling block” to people’s faith. What does it mean? Well, quite evidently a stumbling block would be what causes you to be prevented to follow Christ, to make it impossible for you to continue on your path in your church and Christian community. And we certainly know that things like that happens. Jesus here is talking more specifically to his disciples, who will be in charge of the communities, who will be faith leaders. And we know how faith leaders can abuse their power, use the name of Jesus, people’s faith in God to obtain material privileges and sexual favors, and they generally prey on the little ones, whether children, people with little education, or even just people in great sufferings who are ready to trust them. I am glad Jesus talks about that because there is an overwhelming number of scandals like that in our churches across denominations, and it certainly kills people’s faith.
Now what are we to do about it? Are we supposed to throw religious leaders into the sea?
Well, let me first observe that Jesus didn’t invent this kind of torture. It was actually something the Romans did at Jesus’s time to punish a Jewish insurrection. So it was a very vivid and terrifying example for the people who heard Jesus. They must have been terrified and traumatized by that. The thing is, Jesus does not say to do that to those predatory people, he says that it’s better to die a horrible death rather than causing others to die spiritually. Jesus means that it is a very serious offense but he is certainly not requesting this kind of punishment.
There is a terrible meme over social media that says: We put dangerous dogs to sleep, why don’t we do the same with pedophiles? Well, we don’t do it because they are people and not dogs (although I believe it’s wrong to do it to dogs as well). We believe in correction, and repentance and forgiveness, and we also believe that these cases must be dealt with the greatest rigor. And it’s a call to our collective responsibility as a church: Do we hold our clergy and leaders accountable, or do we remain in a sort of blissful naivety or indifference about their doings? It is certainly wrong to assume the worst about people, but we can also be guilty of assuming the best when people are given authority, especially if they are around vulnerable people. Church can be a wonderful place and church can be a terrible place. It is by our own vigilance that we make it a safe space for all.
v43-48: If your hand/foot/eye causes you to stumble…cut it off/tear out
From being vigilant about not being a stumbling block to others, Jesus moves naturally to the risk of stumbling we may be for ourselves. It is quite interesting to notice that temptation and danger do not generally come from the outside, but from the inside. If you remember, we had this passage not that long ago where Jesus argues with the Pharisees that defilement comes from the heart rather than from not respecting the purity laws like washing of the hands. So here we are again. Jesus invites us to be the guardians of our own souls. Most of the time the world does not cause us to stumble, it is something that we do to ourselves. Sin hurts people, sin grieves God, and sin can destroy ourselves. We have attached a lot of connotations to the words “hell” and “unquenchable fire” but if we just stick to what Jesus says, it’s really about being tormented with no end in sight, and it is certainly what happens when we cannot control our desires. We are consumed as with fire by our many wants. To free ourselves from that, we need direct action and sometimes sacrifices. The imagery of cutting out a member is very strong, and yet we observed during Bible study that an addict would certainly understand very well what Jesus means. Jesus isn’t speaking of self mutilation like a tormentor, he is talking about amputation like a doctor. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a diseased member to save the whole body. We like to think that we can handle temptation or compromise with evil, but it’s really a risk to fall into this spiral of consumption Jesus is warning us about. Sometimes we just have to stop doing whatever it is that we’re doing and that is killing us spiritually. We have to go “cold turkey” whether a substance, a toxic relationships, a bad habit, rather than trying to reason or to find a middle ground. Maybe it’s not that dramatic for us, but we too can take radical decisions for the benefit of our soul. I recently read an article about a woman who decided to just stop gossiping. And not just not say bad things about people but to not even talk about somebody who wasn’t in the room. She said she actually lost many “friends” who suddenly found her boring, but she realized a lot of her friendships were superficial and unhealthy. Instead, she gained a great sense of peace and now connects with people on a deeper level.
v49-50: Have salt in yourself and be at peace with one another
In our final verses, Jesus unveils the whole purpose of these sayings: To find peace within self and with each other, rather than tormenting others or tormenting ourselves. Following him isn’t just about being nice and have good intentions. Following Jesus requires of us vigilance, readiness to act and even sometimes sacrifice, but it’s all about becoming our best, salty self.