PENTECOST
19
October
2-4, 2021
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Mark 9:38-48
“JESUS, ARE YOU
SERIOUS…”
1.
About
the horror of hell?
2.
About
the happiness of heaven?
Mark 9:38–48 (EHV)
“John
said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name. We tried
to stop him, because he was not following us.” 39But Jesus said, “Do
not try to stop him, because no one who does a miracle in my name will be able
soon afterward to speak evil about me. 40Whoever is not against us
is for us. 41Amen I tell you: Whoever gives you a cup of water to
drink in my name, because you belong to Christ, will certainly not lose his
reward. 42“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me
to fall into sin, it would be better for him if he were thrown into the sea
with a large millstone hung around his neck. 43If your hand causes
you to fall into sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed,
than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, 44‘where
their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ 45If your
foot causes you to fall into sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter
life lame, than to have two feet and be thrown into hell, 46‘where
their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ 47If your
eye causes you to fall into sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter
the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,
48‘where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’“
Are you serious? (Now all the iphone
uses have to check their phones to see if Siri went into action. Don’t you hate
that?) Are you serious? That’s an exclamatory question we often use when
someone tells us something that is incredulous, hard to believe, or we don’t
want to do. Honey, I think I just won the lottery. Are you serious? Kids,
before you play one more minute of that video game you will clean your entire
room. Are you serious? You can’t possibly expect that! Did the Gospel lesson
leave you feeling that way? Jesus, are you serious about what you are saying?
Let’s look and see.
Now, kids, your parents, probably need
your help here. How many of you have played the game, “Would you rather?” It’s
a game that gives you a couple of scenarios with a difficult choice to make.
Here are some examples: “Would you rather die in a horrible accident or live to
100 and never move or be able to talk again?” “Would you rather eat nothing but
celery or oatmeal for the rest of your life?” Tough. Well long before that game
came up Jesus pointed out some difficult scenarios. “Whoever causes one of
these little ones who believe in me to fall into sin, it would be better for
him if he were thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around his neck.”
Let’s put it another way. Would you rather be responsible for causing a child
to lose their faith in Jesus or die by having a millstone hung around your neck
and thrown overboard. By the way here is a picture of the type of millstone
Jesus was talking about. Now let’s make sure we understand what Jesus is
talking about here and in the next verses. When it says “causes to fall into
sin” it means not just any sin but THE sin. You know what THE sin, the damning
sin is, right? Unbelief. So what Jesus is saying it would you rather be
responsible for causing a little child who believes to lose their faith or take
the millstone. And he’s answering the question. Take the millstone. It’s
better. Wait, Jesus, are you serious? Yes. He is. Because for those who cause
children to lose their faith Hell will be most horrible. Last week Chris and I
were watching a Dateline mystery where they were seeking leads to a cold case
where some man had lured an 11 year old girl into his clutches and then. Now if
you are like me your blood just starts boiling and you think of all the things
that you’d like to do to such a man. But then I thought, “Who am I compared to
God? How horrible will Hell be for this man?” But there are actually easier
ways to experience these horrors of Hell that are so bad it is better to have
the millstone before you do them. Parents. You can do this. Are you by word and
example teaching your children that Jesus is a school thing, Jesus is a church
thing, not a rest of your life thing so they don’t value their faith because
you don’t value your faith? Take the millstone. Hell is that bad.
Jesus goes on, “If your hand causes
you to fall into sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed,
than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, 44‘where
their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ 45If your
foot causes you to fall into sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter
life lame, than to have two feet and be thrown into hell, 46‘where
their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ 47If your
eye causes you to fall into sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter
the kingdom of God with one eye, than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,
48‘where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’“
Jesus, are you
serious? Would you rather cut off your hand or leg or poke out your eye or go
to Hell? Jesus! Are you really saying that it is better to maim yourself than
to end up in Hell? Yes He is. So if that hand just keeps shoplifting from Kohls
though you know better, leading to guilt and staying away from worship and
finally forsaking Jesus. Hack it off before that happens. If your feet keep
leading you to the bar or the drug dealer or the casino where you can’t say
enough so that eventually it affects your faith in Jesus saw ‘em off before it
happens. And that eye that wanders and lusts and that ear that likes to hear
the juicy gossip and what about that tongue that likes to shade the truth and
spread the stories. Cut ‘em all off. OK, humor me. Show me your hands. You have
yours. I have mine. Don’t we think Jesus is serious? Because He is. Because
Hell is horrible. The Bible consistently describes it as ongoing burning and I
want you to think about the last time you got burned and multiply that by a
billion.
So, why aren’t we cutting off all our
body parts? Well, it’s exactly because we take Jesus seriously. We know where
the sins of stealing and gossiping and substance abuse originate. In our hearts.
And if we really want to stop ourselves from sinning we have to cut out our
very heart, soul and mind. Like the disciples who heard Jesus say, “It is
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to go to
heaven,” and immediately followed up with, “Well then who can be saved?” we
also are so glad to hear Jesus say, “With man this is impossible but with God
all things are possible,” We know that no matter how hard we try or what we do
left to ourselves we are heading for Hell that is so horrible Jesus says it is
better to be totally maimed than go there. And He is serious.
Serious about saving us. Serious about
the happiness He has prepared for us in heaven. Before the warnings about the
horribleness of Hell Jesus said this, “Do not try to stop him, because no
one who does a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil
about me. 40Whoever is not against us is for us. 41Amen I
tell you: Whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in my name, because you
belong to Christ, will certainly not lose his reward.” The disciples had
seen a man doing the work Jesus told them to do. They were miffed. What’s he
doing? He shouldn’t get that honor! We have to give the disciples a break. They
were still learning. But did you see what Jesus said? He pointed to fruits of
faith and said there is a reward. He’s talking about the happiness of heaven.
Heaven is wonderful. It is being with Jesus. It is your best joy and happiness
multiplied by a billion. It’s perfection. It’s forever. And Jesus gives that as
a reward to those He has chosen. And what a reward does is show how generous
the reward giver is. Vicar and I were just talking about this the other day. If
I find Vicar’s wallet lying around somewhere in school and return it to him
have I done anything special? No. That is what every person who finds a lost
wallet ought to do. Return it to the owner if you can. But then what if Vicar
said, “Oh, pastor, thanks for returning this. Here is $50!” is that special?
Yes. The Vicar is going over and above. He is giving me something for doing
what I should do in the first place. Heaven is like that. We say Jesus, it’s
your Spirit who gave us faith. You provided us your word and Sacrament to keep
that faith alive and surrounded us with people who cared, parents and aunts and
uncles and pastors and teacher. I just did what I was supposed to do. And Jesus
gives us the happiness of heaven. Are you serious? Yes, he is.
Now why? Why did Jesus make such a big
point about the horribleness of Hell and the happiness of heaven? Well, we
understand it with the disciples. If you refresh your mind about the Gospel
lessons from Mark we have had the past few weeks you quickly see they were
being spiritually immature. They would need these serious teachings. But what
about us? We aren’t spiritually immature, are we? Earlier this school year one
of our new teachers who will remain nameless (Janelle Nitz) was talking with
some others in the office outside my door. I heard her say how she could not
stand the sight of needles. They made her faint. And so I thought, well I have
a safety pin in my desk, I should go see. And I did. And she didn’t faint but
said, “Were you planning on paying my doctor bills if I fainted?” And I
thought, “You never I never even thought of that.” And it struck me. I’m an
American. And you know what’s true about Americans? They are short sighted.
They have a very hard time thinking long term. It’s all in the moment. That’s
why Pastor Waldschmidt and I have often said, “Sin is stupid.” It makes no
sense. If a person would only stop and think before they post or before they
cheat. But they don’t. I don’t. We are Americans. Spiritually stunted and
immature thinking more about now than what is to come. That’s why Jesus so
lovingly reminds us He is serious. Hell is horrible. Don’t be short sighted. You
don’t want to go there. Heaven is awesome. And Jesus has given it to you. Don’t’
be short sighted and keep putting other things ahead of feeding the faith Jesus
gave you. Don’t sweat the temporary unpleasantries of earthly life. Heaven is
coming for you. Seriously? Yes, seriously. Jesus has promised. And that’s why
we cling to Him. Amen.
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