The Worst Lie You Could Ever Believe In

this section of saint mark's gospel which deacon bud just read contains some of the most shocking words ever spoken by jesus jesus said a lot of shocking things when he walked the earth but i think very few of them were as shocking as these words from matthew chapter 9 beginning in verse 43 if your hand causes you to sin cut it off it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to hell to the unquenchable fire and if your foot causes you to sin cut it off it is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell and if your eye causes you to sin pluck 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 now what in the world is going on here is jesus really advocating self-mutilation as a radical means for avoiding serious sin i mean the words themselves and their plain meaning are pretty clear aren't they but if we are to take this admonition literally something doesn't add up because first of all all of us here this morning must be sinless because if we look around here in the church and out there in the larger society we don't see very many one-handed one-footed one-eyed christians among us do we so what then well you probably know the answer the church has always seen this as jesus use of hyperbole exaggeration for effect it's a way of speaking and teaching that is designed to get his hearers attention both the early disciples and us it's kind of like when he says in luke chapter 14 verse 26 if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters yes and even his own life he cannot be my disciple what jesus is teaching there of course in a very emphatic way is that we cannot prefer our human relationships or even our own life to our relationship with god how do we know that how do we know that that's the correct interpretation of that that verse because for us to conclude that jesus literally meant hate would be an utter contradiction of everything else he taught in the gospels about love not to mention a contradiction of the fourth commandment to honor your father and your mother and god does not contradict himself so then what's the point that jesus is making with this disturbing imagery here in mark chapter nine he's using the imagery of the hand the foot and the eye as a metaphor for anything that leads us into sin and thus the radical need we have to separate that from our lives those of you who grew up with the old baltimore catechism may remember the section on the near occasions of sin remember that the near occasions of sin which i'm sure most of you could could quote it right now the catechism defined them as all persons places or things that may easily lead us into sin now notice the stark contrast that jesus speaks of in addressing the ultimate consequence of unrepented mortal sin in our lives again it is better for you to enter life meaning eternal life maimed than with two hands to go to hell the contrast is between life and hell seen that way that's not a hard choice is it most of you probably are not familiar with the name aaron ralston but i'm pretty sure you would have heard his story aaron ralston was the young guy who was hiking alone in april of 2003 in a remote area of the blue john canyon in utah when a dislodged boulder rolled onto his right arm in a slot canyon pinning his arm against the canyon wall he was hopelessly trapped he couldn't move the boulder and he was far isolated from any means of help he soon ran out of food and water and after five days in that condition he came to the dreadful conclusion that if he didn't somehow free himself he would die of thirst he came to the inescapable conclusion that the one thing that stood between him and life was his own right arm and so using his multi-tool knife he cut off his arm freeing himself from the boulder and the canyon and then he hiked several miles to a place where he was rescued for aaron ralston cutting off his arm was a hard hard choice but it was his only choice if he was going to live so when it comes to our spiritual life you and i are confronted with choices every single day and the lord is saying if any of those daily choices lead to the ultimate tragic choice of an eternity in hell change the daily choices by eliminating from your life those things that motivate those choices and this may very well involve cutting things off and plucking things out of your life certainly not your hand or your foot or your eye but quite possibly activities that you're involved in or places that you frequent or quite possibly your computer or your tv or your ipad or your cell phone or quite possibly a person or persons with whom you have a relationship brothers and sisters we have to get serious about this these words of our lord are deadly serious and graphically expressive of how important a life of pursuing virtue and avoiding sin really is now this metaphor that jesus uses includes another startling image the image of hell itself as i think about this on this beautiful sunny sunday morning what a great topic to preach on when you're trying to build up the parish huh hell this will really fill the pews if you check the list of the top 100 things that so-called church growth experts say you should do to grow your parish this isn't on it but we must preach on this because jesus did frequently and forthrightly and the single most important job that you and i have in this life listen to me the single most important job that you and i have in this life is the attainment of heaven and the avoidance of hell everything else everything else is secondary so what is it that we're avoiding we get some sense of it in the actual word jesus uses in the gospel which our modern english translations render as hell the word in the original language is actually gehenna gehenna say the word gehenna to a first century jew and you evoke an image of the most god forsaken place on earth a real place gehenna is the greek translation of a hebrew term which literally meant the valley of hinnom again an actual place in jesus day it was a valley that ran along the southern edge of jerusalem outside the city walls which prior to the jewish conquest of that land had been used by the canaanites as a place where they sacrificed their children to the pagan god molech by burning them alive that abominable practice was even at times repeated by the ancient israelites during times of apostasy until it was ended once and for all by king josiah after that gehenna became a dreadful toxic dump for the city of jerusalem where all of the city's garbage and refuse including human waste and maggot ridden animal carcasses were burned in fires that stayed lit 24 hours a day day in day out year in year out thus jesus referenced to the place where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched of course the earthly metaphor of gehenna is just that a metaphor and it doesn't even begin to compare with the eternal reality of hell itself a place of everlasting torment suffering isolation and separation from god the catechism defines hell this way quote the state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with god and the blessed reserve for those who refuse by their own free choice to believe and be converted from sin even to the end of their lives end quote one of the most dangerous lies that you can buy into in this life is the lie that hell doesn't exist or that if it does almost no one goes there that of course is a direct contradiction of jesus own words on the subject all throughout the gospels that's why jesus jesus was so adamant and so graphic in warning his disciples to avoid it at all costs he would also ask the question in another place what would it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul nothing nothing in this life is worth that dreadful price now let me quickly add that this truth is not something for us to obsess about or to be fearful about but rather it is something that we really need to consider honestly at the way that as we look at the way we're living our lives jesus died for our sins our sins and we must not we cannot squander in our lives that supreme act of love mercy and forgiveness that his sacrifice on the cross represents that's why we should not be fearful about confronting this reality that jesus presents in this gospel passage because the good news is that christ has overcome sin and death and satan for the good of the world and for your good and mine the way to begin or if necessary to begin again is to come to our lord jesus in faith and as he reveals to you those things that need to be cut off and plucked out of your life repent of those things and as i said last week avail yourself of some of the greatest gifts he left us the sacrament of reconciliation confession where our sins are utterly forgiven and our wills are strengthened against temptation and the sacrament of the eucharist where god lavishly pours his own life and grace into us through partaking of christ's very body body blood soul and divinity god wants us free as i said last week free to know love and serve him with all that we have and all that we are in this life and free to be eternally happy with him in the next in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit amen

Channel: Fr. Edward Meeks

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Length: 13min 25sec (805 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 26 2021