It’s more than a flesh wound!

Mark 9:38-50 "Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." ³⁹ "Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, ⁴⁰ for whoever is not against us is for us. ⁴¹ I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward. ⁴² "And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. 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 into hell, where the fire never goes out. ^{44  45} And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. ^{46  47} 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 to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸ where "'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' ⁴⁹ Everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."

 

In Monty Python’s, “The Holy Grail,” King Arthur wishes to cross a bridge but the Black Knight stands in his way. They engage in an epic sword fight (not really), until King Arthur cuts off the Black Knight’s left arm. Though his arm is lying on the ground and his shoulder is spurting out blood, the Black Knight says, “It’s just a scratch.” When his right arm is cut off in battle, the Black Knight famously insists, “It’s just a flesh wound!”

For fans of Monty Python, the Black Knight scene is one you know by heart and have probably even acted it out line for line. For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, though most British humor is hard to understand, this is a hilariously absurd piece of comedic cinema.

Jesus told His disciples, “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 into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and 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 to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’” These words about body parts being cut off made me think of the Black Knight insisting, “It’s just a flesh wound.”

 

How often aren’t we like the Black Knight? Claiming that our sin isn’t so bad? Insisting that we can just be forgiven later? Believing that living together, having a child and then getting married – basically doing everything backwards – is still God-pleasing and not fraught with problems? Believing that you can live however you want Monday through Saturday, as long as you repent of it on Sunday? Believing that the anger you show your spouse, the disrespect you demonstrate toward government and school authorities, and the foul language you spout from your mouth will not rub off on your children? Not understanding that all these sins are fitting you for your personal millstone necktie?

We don’t need Jesus to tell us we aren’t perfect. We know that on our own. But, we want to believe, “It’s just a minor mistake in judgment.” “It’s an alternate lifestyle.” “It’s a choice.” “It’s just a flesh wound.” We may not need Jesus to tell us that we are sinners, but we do need Jesus to teach us about the depravity and destruction of our sin. When Jesus talks about maiming and crippling and gouging, He shows that sin is much more serious than a mere flesh wound.

Jesus knows the devastation of our sin. The sin we so ignore, overlook or even consider harmless. We are wrong. Jesus says that t is better to remove the parts of our bodies that cause us to sin than to let those sins remain and continue. It would be better to have a large millstone hung around your neck and you be cast into the sea. We shudder at such thoughts, but Jesus says these things are better than the alternative. Better than being condemned for your sin and spending eternity apart from God, where those body parts you saved here only serve as food for the worm that does not die and the fire that is not quenched.

Seeing the Black Knight as only a stump, without legs or arms, is an absurd image. But the image Jesus presents in the Gospel is powerful in its absurdity! What would we look like if we actually did what Jesus says and cut off offending and sinning parts of our bodies?! What body parts should be removed?

·         Our feet - for they have taken us to places we do not belong and we know we should not be.

·         Our hands - for they have touched what should not be touched and have been slow to help others.

·         Our tongues - for they have spoken words that were untrue, unkind and disrespectful.

·         Our eyes - for they have gazed upon images that were unclean and impure.

·         Our ears - for they have eagerly listened to gossip and complaining.

·         Our minds - for they have thought thoughts that we would be ashamed of if other people knew.

·         Our hearts - for they are filled with sinful desires and selfish ambitions.

·         We have sat in the company of people who mock God with their words and lives without saying a word. We have bent our backs in compromise to the ways of the world instead of standing tall and firm on God’s true and unchanging Word. We have bent our knees to false gods, we have turned up our noses to God’s will and shrugged our shoulders refusing to carry our cross.

As if being maimed and crippled wasn’t serious enough, Jesus warns you that you dare not get between a child and Jesus. Don’t cause a little one of faith to stumble in his childlike trust. Don’t create doubt where there is none or you’ll wind up with a millstone hung around your neck and tossed into the sea. This is how seriously Jesus takes His little ones who believe in Him.

Then Jesus adds that “everyone will be salted with fire.” If you have ever felt the pain of a burn, imagine what the unending burning of hell will feel like. Jesus is “seasoning” you with the hot sauce of hell, warning you not to go there.

Friends, I hope you’ve gotten it by now – your sin has serious consequences. You can’t just shrug off your sin with the attitude, “Oh well, I’m forgiven!” “It’s just a flesh wound.” No, your sin goes much deeper than your flesh. Jesus is using a hyperbole – an extreme exaggeration – to prove a point. He knows how absurd it would be to actually cut off the offending parts of your body. Yes, it is better to be handless, footless, blind and slowly drowned in the sea than to experience the eternal horror of hell. But hacking off body parts doesn’t really keep us from sinning. Instead, Jesus is talking about cutting off the sin that infects your body.

Carol was a dear, older member of our congregation in Kentucky. After breaking her leg in an accident, her foot was placed in a cast, but over the next few weeks, the foot became infected – from the inside out. Gangrene had set in. The only way to save Carol’s body was to remove her foot. Jesus is saying that in order to save your soul, you need to remove the offensive sin, not the offending body part.

Jesus is the Great Physician of body and soul. He uses the double-edged scalpel of His Law and Gospel to cut away at the sin and then save the soul. He warns you with the sternness of the Law so that He can then save you with the sweetness of His Gospel. Rather than drowning you in the depths of the sea because of your sin, your Savior has instead drown you in the depths of His baptismal font, to kill off your sinful nature and raise up a sanctified spirit within Him. Instead of salting you with the fires of hell, He seasons and preserves you from eternal destruction with His font, communion rail, pulpit and altar, where Word, Water and Supper are proclaimed, poured out, prayed and provided. You are made holy and whole by Christ’s forgiveness and the Holy Spirit who lives within you.

Sin is serious. Serious enough for the Son of God to exit His perfect heaven and enter this world of sin and death. There are consequences to your sin. Consequences that Jesus took upon Himself as He suffered separation from His heavenly Father on the cross and endured an eternity of hell condensed into the three hours on the cross. Your sin is more than a flesh wound. It is by the wounds of Christ that we are healed and allowed to remain whole.

Sin cannot be ignored. It is like gangrene, leprosy, a cancer inside of you that grows and kills. But instead of making us maim ourselves and cut off body parts, Jesus came to deal with our sin personally. He dealt with our sins of flesh and blood by becoming flesh and blood for us. And, in a way, the parts of His body were cut off for us. Think about it:

·         Our feet take us where we do not belong, so He offered His feet to be nailed in place.

·         Our hands touch what they should not, so He offered His hands to be pierced so they could not touch anything.

·         Our tongues speak gossip, lies and unkind words, so He offered His tongue to be swollen and dry and to be burned with stinging vinegar.

·         Our eyes have wandered, so He offered His eyes to be closed in death.

·         Our minds think sinful thoughts, so He offered His head to be pierced with thorns.

·         Our hearts beat with sinful desires, so He offered His heart to be stopped in death, with no blood left to pump after it ran from His pierced side.

·         Our stomachs demand too much food, so He offered His own body and blood as our heavenly food.

·         Our backs bend in compromise with a sinful world, so He offered His back to be ripped open with painful lashes.

·         Our shoulders refuse to carry our crosses, so He bent His shoulders to accept our burdens.

·         The fire that was meant for us, that should have consumed us because of our sin, Jesus extinguished that fire from ever touching His children by enduring hell while on the cross.

·         Jesus removed the heavy millstone of the curse of our sin when He broke sin’s curse with the removal of heavy stone that blocked His resurrection tomb.

Are you starting to get the point about seriousness of your sin and the saving grace of your Savior yet? This is not Jesus talking about morality or philosophy or ethics. This is Jesus preaching the Kingdom of God! A radical Kingdom that justifies the ungodly and declares sinners to be righteous in a righteousness not their own. A Spirit-filled Kingdom where we asked in our Prayer of the Day: “Mercifully grant, O God, that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts, for without your help we are unable to please you.” An uncompromising Kingdom where the Holy Spirit directs us to use our hands to help instead of to hurt; to use our feet to walk with those in need; to use our eyes to look upon others in mercy; to use our ears to listen for cries of help; to use our hearts to reach out to the grieving; to use our tongues to offer forgiveness; to use our minds to consider new ways of sharing the Gospel. And so be the salt of love in a world where love is often in short supply.

I pray that after we have heard Jesus’ words, we never again underestimate the seriousness of our sin. Nor can we possibly overestimate the salvation granted to us by our Savior. We dare never say about our sin, “It’s no big deal.” Because it was the “biggest of deals” that the Son of God died and rose again. We dare never say, “I can just be forgiven.” Though God does forgive us, it came at the great cost of His beloved Son. We dare never say, even in jest, “It’s just a flesh wound.” But, we do have the eternal assurance that by His wounds we have been healed and made whole. Amen.