The true price of sin
Who here has heard of the vintage club in California? Why have you not heard about it? Don’t tell me you can’t afford the 250k joining fee? Or how about our very own Australian club in Sydney with members like Malcolm Turnbull and James Packer? Although it’s men’s only. So women, sorry you can’t join even if you can afford it.
You see when we hear of these crazy exclusive clubs, we might be shocked at the price tag, but we’re not surprised by it. Like it or not, the reality is we live in a world that’s often divided between the rich and poor. Those on the inside and those on the outside.
It’s so easy to scoff at these clubs and think they’re just full of rich and privileged jerks. Whether it’s envy or pride, there’s a little part inside of us that looks upon it with judgment. It’s why articles titled Why should we have billionaires in a world where billions are starving resonates with so many people.
And so when it comes to religion, it’s the same. Christians are the most intolerant people today. Aren’t we? These are the people who refuse gay people to marry the person they love. These are the people who say to transgendered people that there’s something wrong about them. Christians are so often described as being intolerant and exclusive. Honestly, part of me gets why people are upset. The wish that Christianity was more inclusive does resonate with me. But at the same time, there must be something said about conviction and being true and firm in ones’ beliefs.
What I hope to show you from the bible today is how Jesus is actually unbelievably inclusive but at the same time unquestioningly exclusive. That’s one of the things about the Jesus we see in the bible. He doesn’t conform to just a single type or caricature.
There’s two parts to this passage First, no good deed goes unnoticed. And second, no bad deed goes unpunished. Let’s look at each in turn.
No good deed goes unnoticed (v.38-41)
Mark 9:38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.”
If you were here last week you will know the irony here. The disciples themselves couldn’t cast out an unclean spirit. They had failed spectacularly. Remember that? Because it seems the disciples didn’t. But what’s real interesting is why they tried to stop him. It’s not because he doesn’t know what he’s doing or that he might end up hurting someone. It’s because he was not following us. He was not one of us. Notice the pronouns. We saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us. What are they doing? They have swapped you (Jesus) with us. It would have been better if they had said he was not following you. If you’re not a Christian, don’t start a church. You are just giving us a bad name. That’s not what they do though. They were unhappy with the fact this mysterious person isn’t part of their select group. What’s driving that is thinking only we have the rights to Jesus.
39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. 40 For the one who is not against us is for us.
Jesus corrects them, saying, no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. In other words, if he is successful in casting out demons in my name, that would be a good thing for me right? It’s good publicity, for lack of a better term. And if they’re not against us, they are actually for us. So what Jesus says is How can you say of someone doing a good thing that it is a bad thing?
41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.
Even a good deed as small and mundane as giving a cup of water to drink, that small good deed will not go unnoticed. God will reward someone for something that small. So don’t worry about someone casting out demons. No good deed goes unnoticed. God will be the judge. See how inclusive Jesus is? That’s not to say we should not care what others are doing.
No bad deed goes unpunished (v.42-50)
42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.
Jesus was talking about little children, which for us is not anything controversial. Even people who don’t believe in God do believe that if you hurt a little child, you definitely deserve to suffer for it. So what’s the point here? Well to understand what Jesus is saying we have to remember how kids are viewed in society then and now. It’s not that kids are less valued then, but if I had to guess, their family unit was simply bigger and broader than ours.
So for example today you might hear someone say “you can insult me but don’t you dare say anything bad about my kids.” Would it be weird for you to hear someone say “you can insult me but don’t you dare say anything about my auntie’s step daughter’s husband’s mother.” It’s strange because we wouldn’t necessarily include such associations as family. But I suspect that’s the case back then and in a bigger family unit, kids were just relegated to the back.
What Jesus is doing then, is showing how causing someone as insignificant as a little one to sin is actually a serious crime. Put it another way, Jesus is teaching us that to threaten a garbage man is as serious as threatening the president. Which is not the case today mind you. You can get in a lot of trouble even just making a joke about killing the US president. But Jesus says whoever causes one of the little ones to sin, would be deserving of a grievous punishment indeed. That Jesus would levy such a serious punishment on leading children astray is a display of his incredible inclusiveness. And at the same time exclusiveness.
Sin is so serious and it’s consequences so severe that literally nothing is worth the risk. That’s the meaning behind the next section.
43 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. 45 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. 47 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, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’
It should be obvious to all of us that Jesus doesn’t mean for us to take this literally. For the very simple reason that even if you cut off one hand, you still have the other. And you can still sin as a blind person. What Jesus is teaching us is we have to be absolutely ruthless with our own godliness if we want to be a Christian. It might cost us a hand and a foot. But even if it costs us everything, do it because nothing is worth going to hell for.
“What Jesus is teaching us is we have to be absolutely ruthless with our own godliness if we want to be a Christian.”
So here’s the question: why tell us that? I think the answer is priority.
Priority
What were the disciples concerned about at the start? What someone else is doing. Someone casting out demons in Jesus’ name, which the disciples themselves didn’t approve of. They were very quick to condemn someone outside their circle. Jesus then tells them to stop. No good deed goes unnoticed. No bad deed goes unpunished. Instead, what you should be worried about is yourself. Be ruthless with your own sin. Cut off your hands if you must.
Notice how the passage ends.
49 For everyone will be salted with fire. 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.”
There are two pictures here – salt and fire. Jesus uses both elsewhere in the gospels. Fire purifies and salt preserves. But I think there’s another perspective here because Jesus doesn’t say be salt in the world, but have salt in yourselves. The picture Jesus is using here, I think, is of the temple sacrifice. In the Old Testament, if you were to offer a sacrifice to God, salt and fire were the two elements necessary to ensure the sacrifice is accepted. Only with salt and only after it is completely burnt up, will God accept it. So in v.49, when Jesus says for everyone will be salted with fire, I think he’s teaching his disciples that you are the sacrifice. And just like a burnt offering, God will only accept it if it’s salted with fire.
In other words, don’t worry about other people, worry about yourself. Make sure your sacrifice has salt in it and is burned completely. Whether someone is casting out demons in my name or not, whether they are part of your church or your denomination, whether they use the same bible translation, whether they vote liberal or labor or greens. Judge your own sin harshly and ruthlessly and so be at peace with one another. Let’s be quicker to judge ourselves before others. If Christians are to be intolerant, let it be that we are intolerant with ourselves.