“Who Is For Us?” 

Mark 9:38-50

James 5:13-20 

Martin Luther was obsessed by sin; by his own sin.  As a monk, he would obsess over the state of his soul.  He was terrified of the wrath of God; he confessed his sins as often as 20 times a day, he punished his body by sleeping on a cold concrete floor.   When Luther performed his first Mass, he was barely able to complete the blessing of the communion elements as he was overwhelmed by his own guilt and sense of unworthiness.  

Luther stated "I am a sinner and my sins move God to anger." And later, he said "Love God? I hated him!" This, of course, only added to his spiritual turmoil and guilt.  His spiritual counselor and superior, Johann von Staupitz, exasperated at the young priest's ceaseless confession of sins, real and imaginary, told him, in modern terms, to “Get a Life!” so that he would at least have something worthy of confession. 

Today's passage from Mark forces us to confront our own views about sin, how seriously we view sin in our lives, and what we are to do about that sin.   

It is relatively easy to come to the conclusion that this world is not all that it should be.  Even as we enjoy the beauty of God's creation, we see the impact of our pollution in the air and water.  As we enjoy the freedom to worship, Christians are being put to death for their faith. Incomprehensible acts of terror, of suicide, of genocide truly deserve to be called evil.   

Surely there is evil loose in the world; and not all of it is distant in space and culture.  We see it closer to home, sometimes painfully close to home, as we meet victims of physical and emotional abuse, as we see retirement funds lost through fraud, as senseless death comes through negligence on our roads. 

We see individuals who participate in evil, who routinely do evil, and quickly come to the conclusion that there is sin in this world; sin in their lives.  We can bring up mental images, see faces of those who do the unthinkable, and with great assurance say that they are sinners. 

Yet, how willing are we to look at sin in a personal sense?  How often do we link the two words “sin” and “I” together in the same sentence?  In today's America, we are bombarded with the message that those two words do not go together.  Surely we, I, do not sin.  It is the evil of society that causes me to do bad things; I do not sin because it is not my choice.  For others, there is a great desire not to be judgmental of other people; especially people we know.  We are taught to be accepting, tolerant of differing views.  I should not apply my truth to you for you have the right to your own sense of truth. This fluid definition of truth also allows us to say that what we do is not sin. 

Whether due to our view of individual responsibility or the definition of truth, we are reluctant to label our own actions, actions of friends, as sin.  And, if we do not call it sin, we do not have to take it seriously, we do not have to confront it, obsess over it, fear God because of it, as did Luther. 

I believe that what we are talking about, sin, is not the fault of society but exactly the opposite.  Society is what it is precisely because we sin; we are the cause and not the victim of the evils around us.  In large measure, I believe this because of where I find truth.  I do not find truth within me nor within society, but within the Word of God.  If truth is relative, if there are multiple schemes of truth, then the Word has lost its meaning.   

Please, do not take this to mean that I have all the answers, that I fully understand the truth which is Jesus Christ.  Please, do not take this to mean that I have any right to be judgmental for only the Holy Spirit can convict us, convince us, that what we do is sin; only God can judge us.  But I do have the responsibility to share Jesus Christ, to lovingly offer the truth of God, as a transforming way of life.   

Mark confronts us with this incredible 'in your face' passage about sin.  There is no doubt that Jesus believes that there is evil in this world.  There is no doubt that Jesus believes that this evil resides within us as sin; he is not talking about someone else, he is talking to us about our sin.  There is no doubt that Jesus takes sin seriously, deadly seriously.  But is this a call to self-mutilation? 

No, for two reasons.  The first is that even Jesus might use hyperbole; exaggerate to get our attention.  Christ's statements such as “I have come to save the world, not condemn it” points to this as hyperbole.  Christ's ministry of healing the lame and broken and blind suggests he wants more whole people, not fewer.  Compared to the entire Gospel, this passage seems to be an attention getting statement.    The second reason that this is not a call to attack our bodies is that it would avoid the issue of where sin resides.  What does an eye do?  It transforms the energy of light into electrical impulses that are sent to the brain.  Is light or electricity sin?  No.  What does my hand do?  It grasps an object, moves it, lets it go.  Is this sinful?  No.  Likewise, my feet take me places, along paths of life; again this is not sin by itself. 

Rather, it is what the mind does with those images that is sin.  It is what the heart greedily tells the hand to grasp, to wastefully discard, to do in anger that is sin.  It is the path that we direct the feet to take that leads us to sin.  Plucking out eyes will not stop sin within the mind; cutting off limbs will not stop the sin in our hearts.

Are we then to cut out our mind, our heart, to stop sin?  NO!  Without a mind and heart, how can Jesus ever transform us, save us, lead us out of sin? 

My friend Rich grew up with a domineering father; a father who was overly controlling as he tried to provide what he considered necessary structure and discipline to Rich's life.  Rich rebelled at this control.  Now that Rich has a teen aged son, he finds that he wants to provide what he believes is some needed structure and discipline to his son's life.  Yet Rich is terrified when he hears his father's domineering voice coming out of his own mouth as he addresses his son.  His son is rebelling at Rich's attempt to influence his life. 

Rich talks about how his eyes see the pain and anger that he has caused his son; the fists often clenched in anger, occasionally threatening, the feet that seem to be taking both Rich and his son down the very path that Rich desperately wants to avoid.  Yet, if Rich had responded to his sin by plucking out his eye, cutting off his hand and feet, then he would miss the good news.  He would not see the hope and concern in his son's eyes as they struggle together to stop this pattern of control and rebellion now, in this generation.  He would not be able to hold his son, comfort and support him as they jointly struggle with actions and responses.  He would not be able to walk to this, the Lord's Table with his son.  For it is within the forgiveness of Christ that they both seek a new beginning, a new relationship, a lessening of evil within their lives.  It might be his father that shaped Rich, but he views what he is doing as his own sin.  Having sought truth in other places, he has returned to Scripture for the truth that heals. 

Today, their feet will carry them forward in their congregation to celebrate communion.  It is at the table that our feet, our paths, will join with theirs as we celebrate with them and with people all over the world who are celebrating communion in so many places and so many traditions.  Some of these traditions may be far different than our own, may emphasize different aspects of the gospel story, may be in congregations organized along different structures, may serve this feast of forgiveness in many different ways and with many different types of bread and wine. 

As we look at all of this variety, we might worry about how some other group is serving communion.  How some other group may be presenting the Good News of Jesus Christ.  We might even worry about some others who are healing and casting out demons in the name of Christ yet who are not part of this flock.  Jesus does not let us be possessive of his message; he rebuked the disciples with “If they are not against us, they are for us.”   

More important than this thought about those others who are not against us is this.  In the battle against evil, against sin in each of our lives, who is for us?  Is there someone, something that can transform us from what we are into what we ought to be?  Who is for us?  Far more important than sin in our lives is the transforming power that overcomes the sin in our lives, the power that forgives our sin.  Who is for us?  Christ Jesus. 

Let our feet carry us beyond our sin to this table where we celebrate God's answer to sin.  Let our feet join those of Rich and his son as they seek reconciliation with God and with each other, as they celebrate forgiveness and seek a new beginning.  Let our feet join the myriad traditions and peoples around the world as we come together in the name of the one who is for us.  Let our feet also join with those throughout history, even Martin Luther, who found that God is not to be feared but rather that God's grace can overcome all of our sin.  Let us celebrate that grace, that grace which resoundingly demonstrates “Who is for us?”   

October 1, 2006

Rev. Al Hammond

First Presbyterian Church

Logan, Utah