Picking and Choosing

A few years ago there was a story in the news about a fifty year old man in Italy who was arrested for reckless driving when his car ended up in a ditch. During his court appearance, the man defended himself by saying that the reason his car swerved like it did was because he had taken his hands off the wheel and was letting God drive. However, the judge was not persuaded. He still found the man guilty and fined him, saying that even if God was driving, God was not a legally insured driver in Italy and had never passed a driver’s test!

In the verses before us this morning from Mark’s gospel, Jesus warns that carelessness with regard to sin endangers not only ourselves but also those with whom we come into contact with. His words encouraging us to avoid sin even at the cost of body parts cannot be taken lightly.

Another way to see this is to understand that the task of setting priorities in life is really what Jesus is talking about in these verses. Indeed, living is serious business and Jesus’ words remind us that we are to be conscious and aware of the decisions we make in life. Specifically, to have a careless or light-hearted attitude about sin is a dangerous risk for us. Ultimately, Jesus’ point is that while living faithfully is never easy and often quite costly to us, it is better to incur the cost of faithfulness, no matter how great, than to risk the enmity of God by carelessly ignoring the power of sin.

One primary way we take our lives seriously is to consciously set priorities in how we live. Each one of us makes hundreds of decisions every day. We choose to do this and not do that. We pick and choose. We decide how to spend our time. We decide where to put our energy. We decide how we will treat others.

These decisions and a multitude of others are inherently part of life. Jesus’ words in these verses are intended to help us understand that we are called to live our life with our identity as God’s claimed and redeemed children always in our minds. Do you remember the WWJD craze from a few years ago? While that was a fad, the sentiment behind it lies at the very core of our discipleship. Every decision we make either supports our faithfulness or detracts from it.

We see an example of what Jesus taught about this matter in verses 38-41. Jesus is responding to the disciple John’s criticism of someone invoking Jesus’ name to drive out demons. The problem in John’s mind was that this man was not a part of their group - he was not a disciple. This man was outside their band of followers, what right did he have to invoke Jesus’ name?

Jesus responded by telling John not to stop him, that it was okay. Paraphrasing the essence of Jesus’ response to John we could say something along these lines, “John, why does this bother you? Is your allegiance to me and the truth that I bring, or is your allegiance to your identity as a member of our small group? This man is not part of our small group but he is acting in my name.” Jesus wanted John to choose how he was going to live. Would it be in a way that trusted God’s hand was at work in the world beyond what we are familiar with, or would John allow his fear of the unknown drive his actions?

Given the plurality of our world today, this is a question we also face. Particularly on this Worldwide Communion Sunday as we join millions of other Christians across the globe at the Lord’s Table this is a question we need to ask ourselves. Indeed, we claim a unified body of Christ, but do we really believe it? There appears to be so much that separates and divides us.

Let us remember that the vast majority of Christians at the Lord’s Table this morning are quite different from us. We Presbyterians are a small part of the body of Christ. The majority of Christians worship differently, they interpret scripture differently, and in most cases they organize the polity of the church differently than we do. So, then, in light of Jesus’ words, are we willing to accept them as brothers and sisters in Christ? Or, do we join the disciple John in being suspicious of them because they are different from us?

This is not an easy question for us. As we seek an answer we must admit that we bring centuries of theological divisions and disputes to the task, not to mention our racial and ethnic prejudices which are implanted in us from early childhood on. Can we allow our primary identity as a child of God, claimed and redeemed by our Lord, to inform our reading of scripture and guide us in our discipleship? We can, but only if we consciously choose to rise above our ingrained prejudices and preferences. We must pick and choose how we will live. We are called to trust God.

Reading further on to verse 42 of this passage Jesus continued to make his point. Pointing again to a small child, who in this context represents one new to the faith, Jesus tells us to be careful about the conditions we set before someone who wishes to join the body of Christ in the world.

Across the centuries, we in the church have become quite fond of establishing boundaries to enter the church. However, the plain force of Jesus’ words is clear: If someone professes faith in him that is good enough for Christ! Accordingly, we need to be very careful about subsequently establishing theological hoops to jump through in order to become a part of the formal community.

Particularly for members of a tradition such as ours this is an important issue. Our Reformed tradition is that part of the body of Christ which has over the centuries placed a great deal of emphasis on learning and theological precision. Generally speaking, we prefer the life of the mind. It is one of our greatest contributions to the body of Christ in the world that we in the Calvinist traditions have emphasized that God calls us to worship Him with our minds. Unfortunately, that preference has often come at the expense of the life of the heart.

So, then, do we draw a tight circle around the fellowship we enjoy at the Lord’s Table, welcoming only those who meet our theological standards, or do we welcome all who profess trust and faith in Jesus Christ. We must pick and choose how we will live.

Jesus’ words about cutting off hands and feet or poking out an eye which causes others to stumble are clearly rhetoric, aimed at grabbing the attention of the listener. Jesus is not interested in seeing us maim ourselves, but he is interested in helping us see that there is nothing in this life which is more important than living in accord with God’s will.

Jesus’ words remind us that we are accountable for our lives. We are accountable for the decisions we make in this life. The way we choose to spend time is important. The actions we take are important. The words which we speak have implications. We are accountable. It is one of the great myths of postmodernist thought that claims that we are nothing more than a disparate amalgamation of our experiences. The scriptural view is that we are each an individual responsible for our thoughts, our words, and our actions. The biblical view of the self is that we are accountable for who and what we are in life.

So, then, as we make decisions in life, whether they be small ones or large ones, is our priority to live glorifying God, or someone or something else? Jesus’ dramatic images of amputation and blindness are intended to make the point that everything else in life, even having 2 hands, 2 feet, and 2 eyes, pales in comparison to the glory of God. There is no other commodity which compares with serving God faithfully and living in the kingdom.

As we are called to come to this table this morning, joining our hearts and spirits with millions of others who are similarly called, let us pick and choose how we will live when we leave this table. Let us choose to reflect the glory of God through what we think, through what we say, and through what we do.

So may it be for us. Amen.

Reverend Marc V. Mason

October 1, 2006 (World Communion)

Trinity Presbyterian Church

Travelers Rest, SC