Proper 21B (Pentecost 19 2024)

Text: “And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’” (Mark 9:47–48)

This has to be one of the most challenging passages for us as modern American Christians. You and I are ruled by our bodies, aren’t we? You are surrounded by companies and businesses that will sell you all kinds of entertainment for every member of your body: amazing places for your feet to take you; cool things for your hands to do; and endless stream of entertainment for your eyes. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with most of the things that they offer. But, everywhere you go and everything you do, every whim and desire is catered to.

In Paul’s letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 2), Paul compares Christians to soldiers and athletes. The soldier is not concerned about his physical comfort; he is not worried about being entertained; he is there for a more important purpose. Many of you have served in the military. How effective would that soldier be if he stopped the moment things got hard? the moment things got uncomfortable? Or consider the athlete: how much success would expect an athlete to have if he or she stopped training when it was uncomfortable? when it was unpleasant? There are very few sports that such an athlete would have success in, aren’t there?

Do either of those descriptions sound anything like Christians in our day? Do either of them come close to describing how you see yourself as a follower of Jesus Christ? Isn’t it just the opposite? Even here, we are ruled by what is comfortable; even here, we are ruled by what you and I like or do not like; even here, we seem to hit a wall when things get a little bit difficult or uncomfortable or when they might require a little bit of sacrifice.

If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; if your eye causes you to sin, cut it out. And do you think Jesus really means to stop there? What else would you need to cut out from your life? If Jesus warned you to cut off your foot if it causes you to sin, what would He say about the camper or the cabin up north? If He warned you to cut off your hand if it causes you to sin, what would He say about your collection of hunting rifles or all of your various ‘toys’? If He warned you to cut out your eye if it causes you to sin, what would He say about your smart phone?

Yet, even as Christians, you might seriously consider cutting out an eye rather than giving up your smart phone. You might seriously consider cutting off a hand rather than giving up your ‘toys’. You might seriously consider cutting off a foot rather than giving up going to the cabin or going camping every weekend. How many things in your life are you holding on to that threaten to lead you into the eternal fire?

Let’s be clear: these things are not bad, in and of themselves. God has given them to you to enjoy. But how many of them do you love more than you love God? Before you answer, consider which ones take priority on your calendar— which ones you invest more time in. Consider which ones you invest more of your money in.

Consider, too, how many of them you love more than you love your neighbor. Would you be willing to sell it to help someone in need? Which is more important? Or, let’s not even go that far. Which ones do you invest more time and money in— those things or the people around you who are in need?

Whether we are talking about giving offerings to God or helping other people, you have no problem doing either with whatever you have left over after catering to every whim and desire of your hands, your feet, and your eyes. But giving to God first? Actually sacrificing some of those things to care for the people around you? Who or what do you love?

That is the real standard: love for God and love for those around you. My point is not simply that you need to give a little bit more or you need to think twice about that new camper, or to use your phone less. The problem is your love for those things that cater to the desires of your hands, your feet, and your eyes rather than for God or for the people around you. That is what needs to change.

That is exactly what Jesus came to change. He took on human flesh— He took on human feet and hands and eyes and all of the rest— so that He would have a body to give as the final sacrifice for your sin. Every moment of every day of His life, His feet were set firmly on the path to the cross. His hands and feet were pierced for your transgressions; He was crushed for your iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought you peace, and with the wounds that He bore in His body you are healed (Isaiah 53:5).

He has redeemed you, body and soul. You have been buried with Him, through baptism, into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, you too might walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4). The fruit of that life that was centered on the love of comfort and pleasure and all the whims of the body is death. But you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God. The fruit of the love that He has shown for you is eternal life (Romans 6:20-22).

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:12–14).

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1–2).

Has God not given you a greater purpose than simply your own pleasure? He gives you the joy, for example, of supporting the work of His Kingdom in this world through your offerings. You have the privilege of devoting some of your time to visiting and praying for the sick in the confidence that the prayer of a righteous person has great power (James 5:16). You have the opportunity to bring back someone who has wandered from the truth— and, in the process, saving his sould from death and covering a multitude of sins (James 5:19-20). These are the kinds of expressions of love for God and love for your neighbor with which God is most certainly pleased.