Going to Extremes

Have you ever done something extreme or drastic in your life? Maybe you were trying to learn a new skill or change a habit you had. And no matter what you did your attempts just were not working. So you had to try and do something extreme in order to accomplish your goal.

I know for me (story)…

Jonah story.

But you know it’s not just us that go to extremes, sometimes God has to go to extremes as well to get us to understand things.

Turn to Gospel lesson

Continuation of Jesus teaching the disciples

Last week we had the disciples trying to figure out who was the greatest

Then this week they stopped a man who was casting out demons in Jesus name because he was not one of the disciples.

Showing that the disciples, even after everything Jesus has said and done so far, still do not understand the sins they are committing.

So Jesus goes to an extreme to try and get the disciples to understand how seriously they should take their sin.

If we look at verses 43-48 we see three parallel, yet shocking statements.

Read verses 43-48

Pretty extreme, but what is Jesus saying?

Is he really telling the disciples that they should maim themselves if they sin?

Well no, because self-mutilation was forbidden in Judaism and besides, even if you were to cut off your hand or your foot it would not prevent you from sinning. For while sin is carried out with these things, sin does not come from these things, sin, as we learned earlier in Mark, comes from the heart.

So what then?

What Jesus is saying is that it is sin that leads to hell.

Which begs the question, what is hell?

Well Jesus uses very specific imagery to describe hell.

He uses imagery from . (Read)

Sounds like a terrible place to me and somewhere I would not want to go. But that’s the interesting thing, I think that many people today, don’t believe people actually get cast into hell. I mean I think most people, would admit that it exists, but how many people would admit that they think someone they knew went there?

And I think that’s significant because if you don’t believe anyone goes to hell then how seriously are you actually going to take the sins you commit?

I mean think about it when you were a child your parents or somebody was always there to correct you when you did something wrong and sinned. But what about adults? Who is there to correct adults when they sin and doing something they shouldn’t do?

And I’m not talking about things that everyone recognizes as bad like murder or theft, no I’m talking about other things like taking the Lord’s name in vain or doing something that leads someone else to sin.

See when no one is there to correct us, sinning doesn’t seem like such a bad thing, in fact sinning doesn’t even seem like sinning at all.

What about others? Do we help others to not sin as well? Or are we more like Jonah, and would rather run away from others than share the message of the Gospel message and the forgiveness of sins with them?

You see what we, like Jonah and the disciples, fail to understand is just how seriously God takes sin.

For you see God takes sin so seriously that He did the most extreme thing ever done. He sent His one and only Son to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind. Your sins, my sins, big ones, little ones, all sins were paid for by Christ on the cross.

And that is a something that is even more significant than any temptation to sin that the devil could throw at you.

For if we look at verses 49 and 50 this passage ends with images of salt and fire. Which brings to life images of sacrifice that the disciples would have understood. But it’s more than that.

For Jesus is bringing to life images of the end times. For at the end of the world, the heavens and the earth and everything in them will be cleansed with fire and all will be judged.

But you see there is one more image here. And this one is the most important and significant for you. The image of baptism.

For if you remember what John the baptist said in .

You have already been cleansed. For through these waters of Holy Baptism you have been given the fire that is the Holy Spirit. And you have been made a child of God and grafted into the saving work of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Therefore, despite temptations, despite trials and despite falling into sin over and over again, you need not be worried. For your sins have already been forgiven, your reward has already been won, and your fate has already been decided.

Through your baptism you were given the gift of faith in Christ and that faith leads to life eternal in heaven with him.

Therefore, I encourage you to that when temptations to sin do arise in your life, that you do as James says in our epistle lesson, and pray.

But don’t just pray alone, no, seek out others and pray with them. For anyone who brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Prayer is the most powerful and most amazing tool we have. For prayer is our communication line with God. And anyone that prays can have faith and know that God listens to their prayers and always answers.

For the God who listens to your prayers is the same God who died on the cross for your forgiveness. Amen.

Now may the peace that surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

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