Beware

I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this before, but if you don’t look properly when you cross the road it’s very easy to get run over by a car! I once was waiting the traffic lights in town, the last set between here and Haymarket on St Mary's Place, and I did what so many people there do, I got impatient. I checked quickly and I walked out into the road. And just as I did, I heard a shout, and felt my friend’s hand grab me, and pull me back, as a car sped by (at definitely over 30mph). We appreciate (and sometimes we need) clear warnings, don’t we? Decisive things that pull us back from the brink, to safety.

Well that’s what our passage this evening is. It’s three warnings, two smaller ones sandwiched in between a bigger one. And these warnings are what it looks like to be safe, and stay safe, with Jesus, who came to pull us back from the consequences of living for ourselves, to him. So, we need God's help. Let's pray:

Lord, we pray this evening that we'd listen to these warnings of Jesus and take action. Amen.

Last week Ramzi took us through a section of Jesus' teaching on greatness. True greatness, says Jesus, is laying down your rights, to serve others, i.e. it's about becoming a nobody to serve everybody. But the disciples thought greatness equalled power, or status – like being in the inner circle of Jesus' followers. And when they saw a man casting out demons in Jesus' name they told him to stop. Maybe they thought, "He isn't one of us, he needs to commit to our way of doing things." Maybe they hadn't seen him around. What were his credentials? Was he a real follower of Jesus? I wonder, how the man would have felt? He'd been serving people, in the name of Jesus only to be squashed by fellow believers. He’d have been upset and discouraged. At worst, I guess, he'd have really doubted his faith and why he was doing what he was doing. And Jesus won’t tolerate Christians treating other Christians like that. So, here’s the first of his warnings:

1. Beware of causing other Christians to stumble in their faith (Mark 9.42)

So, Mark 9.42:

Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin…

And in the Bibles you'll see that there's a footnote after that word sin which tells us that another way of translating sin is ‘stumble’, and, I think that’s a better way of understanding this verse. So:

Whoever causes one of these little ones [i.e. any brother or sister in Christ, but especially those who easily overlooked, or may appear less significant – in the world's terms] who believe in me to stumble [i.e. to fall, or falter, in faith], it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea…

So, there's no escaping the strength of what Jesus is saying here, is there? Those who (repeatedly, without repenting and changing) cause other believers to stumble in faith, well, a terrible, watery, death would be better for them than facing Jesus’ judgement because Jesus loves every single believer in him, even the Christian that the world could easily overlook. In the next chapter of Mark, Jesus will go on to say that he (Mark 10.45):

came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many

I.e. Jesus is all about serving others. He would go on to give up his life for sinful people. Jesus is in the business of saving people and keeping people going in faith. So, how do you think he’ll react when a professing Christian causes an other believer to stumble? He can’t, and he won’t, just sweep it under the carpet. So, he warns the disciples, and he warns us. We need to get into our minds what true greatness is: becoming a nobody in order to serve everybody. Jesus says there’s so much at stake in our relationships with one another. We should actively care for everyone. Even the little ones among us. But, so often, the little ones are over-looked. These things start small, don’t they? We don’t arrive at church every Sunday thinking, “I’m going to cause another Christian to stumble today…”

They start small because we tolerate false ideas of greatness. Deep down, we make it about status and power. Deep down, don’t we all have a sort of ‘greatness checklist’ in our minds? Maybe those who have a certain church background, those who are well thought through and theologically sharp. Those who come from the same circles as us, who are part of our crowd. Those who have been here for years, or have been Christians for decades. Those who are a similar race, or class, or have had the same type of education. Or have a top job. “She’s a head teacher, you know”. “He’s a top consultant”. Those who see things our way, or understand how we do things here at JPC. Or those with certain gifts, or a certain type of personality. What about being on church staff? Does that make you great? No. How do we treat those who don’t have many ticks on our list? Maybe we don’t welcome them, maybe we don’t involve them in life and ministry with us. Maybe we ignore them. Perhaps the real problem is we hardly notice them at all. Let's not tolerate false ideas of greatness. If we do, the danger is we'll cause them stumble. Jesus says, beware. And we need to remember that true greatness is becoming a nobody to serve everybody. Do you believe that? And Jesus’ next warning is this:

2. Beware of your own sin – and be ruthless with it (Mark 9.43-48)

Reading from Mark 9.43-49:

And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ For everyone will be salted with fire

Jesus makes the same point three times. So, he wants us to understand what he's saying loud and clear: that sin left unchecked will send us to hell, because sin is that serious. Not just because of the things we all say, think, and do, which are wrong, those are symptoms. But because of the disease, which is that deep down we've all rejected God, our rightful ruler, and decided to rule our own lives. And God, in his justice, can't let that go unpunished. So, people who hold onto sin in this life will go where all sin ultimately will go, to judgement and to hell. Now hell is very far down the list of things I want to talk about but being a Bible-believer leaves me no choice and these are Jesus' words. So it's on his authority that we need to say that hell is real. And it’s on his authority that we have this description of what it will be like; unquenchable fire and devouring worm, an awful place of eternal punishment.

And I know this is hard to swallow, and it's also hard to understand, but can I say, we need to leave it to God to define what is just and what is unjust. And we can't rewrite what the Bible says because it's his word, not ours. So, as is often said, the first thing to do with hard truths is to let them in the room with you – to let them settle, and then to ask questions, to look at the Bible. And to ask others for help. But here's why Jesus is speaking about hell: so that we don’t go there. He wants to pull us back to safety. So, if you're not yet a Christian, you can only escape hell by trusting in Jesus. But if you do trust in him, you can have absolute certainty that you will because Jesus died for all of our sin, once and for all, on the cross. And if we trust in that, and if we make him the Lord of our lives, he will forgive us, and bring us into relationship with himself. And he’s not going to let those who know and love him, be anywhere else but with him in this life, and in the world to come. Because, look at this passage (Mark 9.43, 45, 47), Jesus wants us to have life. Life with him now, and one-day life with him forever, in a sin free heaven. So, will you trust in Jesus?

But there's another question here, particularly for those of us who call ourselves Christians: Do we take our sin as seriously as Jesus does here? That question has challenged me so much this week. My parent’s garden back in Northern Ireland has a slope at the end of it, and when they first moved in they planted lots of little shrubs on this slope. But of course, over time, they became trees and sprawling bushes, and in the gaps in between brambles and thorns grew up which became impossible to pull out. It was a jungle. They’re good at many things but gardening isn’t one of them. And so, one day, they decided it was time to pull it all out and build decking and have a summer house put across this slope. A much nicer end to the garden. So, imagine if in preparation for their decking they went around with a pair of these (small clippers) and did some gentle pruning. It would have been a disaster. The project could barely have begun. And if the decked went up, the trees would put the structure and its foundations at risk, and the brambles and thorns would grow up through and round the decking. So that’s why a team went out with saws, and axes and spades and cut, chopped and dug the whole lot out.

Sin presents itself as something we can get away with, as something small, that doesn’t cause any real harm but that’s wrong. Yes, when we trust in Jesus we can be 100% sure we’re forgiven 100% of the time. And that's based 100% on his work, and 0% on anything we have done, or ever could. But sin is rotten and it will rot us, and harm us, and choke our faith. So, God, through his Spirit, gets inside us and is busy ridding us of it. And Jesus is saying we have a part to play in that. And we need to take action and trust that the part of us as Christians that wants to rid ourselves from sin is the real us. Of course, Jesus isn’t literally saying we’re to cut off our limbs. It’s picture language. Gentle pruning won’t do. Ruthless action is needed.

Our hands, our feet, our eyes. It’s very concrete, isn’t it? What we handle, open, switch on, buy, touch, see, where we go, what we do, what we read, what we watch. What will it look like to be ruthless with pornography? Do you have accountability software on your devices? Will you ask your friends for prayer and support? Will you keep your phone, or computer, in the living room (if you have one)? I’ve heard of someone who doesn’t have the internet in their house because that’s what it looks like for him to be ruthless. How inconvenient must that be? What about spending? I know one friend who’s told me he’s 1,000 times more likely to buy things he doesn’t need online late at night than look at pornography. Could you do what the CAP Money Course advises, and live only by cash for a while? Is social media causing you to sin? Is it time to get rid of it? Is TV causing you so sin? Do you need Netflix? Do you need a TV? Some of us here don’t. And if they’re weird, well, it’s not because they don’t have a TV. I can think of all sorts of examples from Christians I know. A friend who was surrounded by terrible chat at work, and he was getting caught up in it all. So, he took a stand. It didn’t stop. So, he left the job. With the huge uncertainties that came with doing that.

Let's pause now. Just briefly, and think, what sin in your life is the Lord pressing on tonight? And what will it look like for you to be ruthless with it? Is there anyone you trust who can help you? Because we need to support each other in all of this. A moment of quiet now.

When Jesus tells us to cut and to pluck, he knows it will be painful. Maybe immensely painful. How much value would you place on your hand? How much it is worth to you? What about your foot? Or your eye? What about all of them put together? Jesus is saying, that even what seems like unthinkable loss, is worth it in the context of eternity with him. And, friends, we need to hold onto that truth, and be ruthless with sin. What feels like painful loss now, will one day it will feel like nothing. Mark 9.49 is a complicated verse, and I'm not 100% exactly what it means. So, I’m going to skip it because we’ve got the thrust of what Jesus is saying here. And, also, because we’ve got limited time, so let's look at the last warning. 

3. Beware of losing your distinctiveness (Mark 9.50)

Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

So, salt in the ancient world preserved food (i.e. stood against decay). And, like today, it added flavour (i.e. it was distinctive). But some of the salt back then could have been very coarse rocksalt, mixed up with all sorts of impurities, so, it would be useless salt that’s lost its saltiness. And Jesus is saying that’s a picture of a Christian life that’s lost its distinctiveness. It no longer really does what it was designed to do. So this verse is a reminder of another of God’s purposes in ridding us of sin: that we’d show a decaying, and sinful world, what living for Jesus looks like. Imperfectly? Yes, but consistently enough, that at least some people stop and think, “there’s something different about her”. Or, “this group of Christians is unlike any people I’ve ever met before. They live the good life. They love each other, they serve each other, nobody is left out, they're at peace with one another. Why is that? What’s really behind it? Who’s really behind it?” And we can say, “Jesus is”.

So, let's work to be distinctive because that’s what Jesus wants. He wants people to hear about him. He wants people to come into relationship with him, he wants to pull them back from hell and eternity without him. He wants to save sinners. He wants to keep Christians going in their faith. He wants people to have life, with him, in his Kingdom. And in his Kingdom we won’t be hand-less, or foot-less, or eye-less Christians, sat there miserably counting our losses. Rather, we'll know, with certainty, that what once felt like unthinkable loss was so worth it to spend eternity with him. Let’s pray:

Lord, please help us to be distinctive Christians who are at peace with one another, who serve each other, even the so-called little ones among us. And help us to really believe that it's worth the pain of ruthlessly cutting out sin. We pray for our weak hearts and wills now, that we would take ruthless action, but that we would know your unconditional and constant love, your total forgiveness and your abounding grace. Fix our eyes on eternity and show us more and more just how worth it, it will be. In Jesus' name. Amen.

To end, can I say, that in recent years in particular, there have been attempts to suggest that hell doesn't really exist and that everyone will be forgiven in the end. And also, that instead of a hell of eternal punishment, those who don't believe in Jesus will face annihilation rather than eternal punishment. Based on what the Bible says, I'm not convinced by either of those theories, but if you'd like to read more about them, this book Erasing Hell, by Francis Chan is an excellent place to start. And for such a hard topic, it's a remarkably light to read. Copies are available at the bookstall at the back of church.