“A Rock and a Hard Place”
Sermon on Mark 9:38-50
Pentecost +17-B
October 1, 2006
Rev. J. Curtis Goforth, O.S.L.
43If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off;
it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell,
to the unquenchable fire. 45And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off;
it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.
47And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out;
it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye
than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,
48where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
-Mark 9:43-48
Jennifer and I like to go on the occasional hike, but we aren’t like some of those people to whom hiking is life. You know the ones, they always look like they are going on a hike, even if they just happen to be going to Food Lion. I came across a news story about a guy named Aron Ralston who was an avid hiker. Now I don’t know if this guy lived, slept, and ate hiking, but this guy was deeper into it than Jennifer and I are. We prefer the intermediate trails, but this guy the news story was about was into hiking hardcore. His version of hiking was getting away for the weekend and taking off for a hike of several miles through the mountains. One such outing, he chose to go to Blue John Canyon in SW Utah known for its beautiful yet barren landscape. Although he was an experienced hiker, he neglected one of the most important rules of hiking—he forgot to tell anybody where he was going and he wasn’t expected back at work for several days.
So Aron hiked a long and arduous day for around 7 miles through the canyon, often having to be more of a rock climber than a hiker as he made his way. He never expected a giant 800 pound boulder he was climbing over to shift and fall. He and the rock went crashing down, trapping his left arm under its merciless weight. Aron felt his hand eventually go numb and the pain eventually go away. But he was trapped, literally, between a rock and a hard place. He couldn’t budge the rock, and he couldn’t get his crushed arm out from under it. All kinds of thoughts raced through his head as he laid there trapped for five days!
He had a video camera with him and he was able to make a short tape for his parents to tell them goodbye in the hopes that someone would recover his body. He also had a pocket knife with him and he was able to carve into the stone that surrounded him his name and his dates: October 1975 – April 3 and the initials R.I.P. underneath. If only he had let someone else know where he was going that morning! Nonetheless, he had made peace with himself and had accepted his fate to die trapped under that 800 pound boulder. But Aron realized that he had one way out. That was to use his pocket knife to cut off his own left arm that was pinned under the boulder and try to hike the 7 miles back out of the canyon to his truck with what remained of his body. Aron amputated his arm with nothing more than a pocket knife and the will to survive and he made the hike and was even able to write a book about the incredibly difficult experience.
What do you think you would do if you found yourself in a situation like that? I often wonder if I would be able to do what I had to do if I was pinned under an 800 pound boulder. I guess I would rather be alive and not have a left arm than to be dead with both of them. We could say that serious problems call for serious solutions. Jesus reminds us of this in our lesson this morning from Mark.
In teaching the disciples about the need to not be a stumbling block for little ones, he tells them some shocking and harsh words. He tells them if their hand causes them to stumble or sin that they should cut it off because it would be better to enter into life maimed than to be cast into hell with both hands still attached. Just to make sure the disciples understand him, he explains it even more. He tells the disciples that if their foot causes them to stumble and sin that they should chop it off for the same reason—that it is better to enter into life lame than enter into the unquenchable fire with both feet. And…just to be absolutely positive they understand the words coming out of his mouth, he tells them that if their eye causes them to sin that they should pluck it out because it would be better for them to enter into life with just one eye than to enter into hell with both eyes.
What a passage! I mean, you probably came here this morning to hear some good news about how God loves you. I bet you never thought you would hear this passage where Jesus tells us sinners to engage in self-mutilation of all things. But I think this passage is wonderful.
Even those Christians who believe that every word written in our Bible is to be taken literally conveniently leave this passage out. I take it from your appearances here today that you are not Biblical literalists because I don’t see anyone in the congregation with just one hand or just one foot, but I know we are all sinners.
So if this isn’t meant literally, why is it said like this? Rabbis in Jesus’ time were known for speaking in hyperbole…exaggeration to prove a point. The greater meaning is that we are to completely cut ourselves off from that which separates us from God. If our bank account causes us to sin….do something about it. If our relationship with someone causes us to sin, cut it out….do something about it! If there is anything that is keeping us from a deeper and more complete relationship with God today…then cut it off from your way of life. This is no exaggeration!
I bet if we were in the hiker’s situation that we would do whatever physically had to be done to save ourselves. We value our perishable bodies enough to do that. But do we value our souls enough that we would pluck out of our life those things that crush our bodies and spirits or another’s? Jesus valued our souls enough to be the one who let himself be cut off so that we might enter into life.
For some people hiking is a way of life. For others it is just something they enjoy doing every once in a while. But for anybody, even for those types who do it all the time, it can be very dangerous. You just never know when the next boulder you climb over might shift and leave you forever changed.
I think hiking is a fitting symbol for the Christian life. The trail of discipleship can be one tough and dangerous hike. It is no expedition you should try to go on by yourself. And it’s imperative that you let someone else know that you are going. After all, they may need to find you. Amen.
