9-30-2018 “Radical Spiritual Surgery”

Sermon: “Radical Spiritual Surgery”

Gospel Lesson: Mark 9:38-50

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is time for some good ol’ hyperbole!

If you do not remember that term from English class, let me refresh your memory: hyperbole is an exaggerated statement or claim not meant to be taken literally.

Or, as Reader’s Digest once wrote, “A hyperbole is an exaggerated claim. No, really, realllllllllllyyyyy exaggerated. I mean, like, the most exaggerated thing in the history of ever!”

You get the point.

Here are some classic examples:

I’m so hungry, I could eat a cow.
I have asked you to clean your room a million times.
If I can’t go out with my friends tonight, I’ll die.
He’s got tons of money.
My geography teacher is as old as the hills.
She’s as skinny as a toothpick.
Do you have any you’d like to add to the list?

We use hyperbole all the time for dramatic effect. It gives us a way to play with language and point to meanings that literal semantics can’t achieve. So when Oscar Meyer put forth their new slogan “It doesn’t get any better than this” about eight years ago, the online journal Business Wire commented that they were just trying to bring “to life the happiness and exuberance felt when enjoying Oscar Mayer products.” The hyperbole rises to the service when you quickly realize that you would probably experience more “happiness and exuberance” eating a perfectly cooked filet mignon at the Top of the Hub in Boston than an Oscar Meyer hot dog at a picnic — but maybe that’s just me.

Jesus used many literary forms. He taught using stories: parables. He also used hyperbole. We see it in today’s Gospel lesson.

“If your hand or your foot gets in God’s way, chop it off and throw it away. You’re better off maimed or lame and alive than the proud owner of two hands and two feet, godless in a furnace of eternal fire. And if your eye distracts you from God, pull it out and throw it away. You’re better off one-eyed and alive than exercising your twenty-twenty vision from inside the fire of hell.

Is Jesus serious? Is he? Is he really saying that if you sin with your hands or feet — say you hit someone or kick him — that you should have your appendages cut off? Is he really saying that if you sin with your eyes — let’s say you look upon a woman with lust, for example — that you should have your eye gouged out? A 2010 article in Newsweek talks about such punishments occurring in Iran and Saudi Arabia. Is Jesus suggesting this?

Hardly.

Jesus is simply making a point. By saying that it would be better to lose a body part rather than sinning with it, he is emphasizing that we shouldn’t sin. Sin does this much damage to our bodies and our souls. It deforms us. He isn’t so much proscribing a punishment as much as he is a warning his followers not to behave a certain way. Prof. Lamar Williamson, Jr. writes that “’Cut it off’ is a command to be taken not literally, but seriously” (1983, 172). Dr. Walter W. Wessel writes, “Jesus is not demanding the excision of our bodily members; he is demanding the cessation of the sinful activities of these members. Radical spiritual surgery is demanded” (1984, 708).

But there is another way to interpret this passage as well. Maybe Jesus is using the word “body” here the way that Paul did. Paul referred to the Church as the “body” of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 12, the Apostle goes to great lengths to explain how the Church is a body made up of many members, just as the human body is. All the members are necessary for the body to work in whole and healthy manner. No member of the body is more important than another. However, what if a member of the body is corrupt?

First of all, Jesus tells us what we should do when we are at odds with another member of the church. We are try to resolve that problem. “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.” But what if that doesn’t work? Jesus said “if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’” In other words, if you cannot convince the person that he or she is wrong, maybe a couple other witnesses will do the trick. But what if that does not work? Well, “If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.” There are steps to the process. The end result is bringing it before the church — the body of Christ. If that doesn’t work, then you just need to let the person go. You need to cut off the hand or the foot. As hard as it is, it is for the health of the church.

Now don’t worry. I am not about to point out anyone here and suggest that you be the hand or foot that we cut off. I am simply analyzing the text.

The point to all of this is for us to examine ourselves, to be introspective, and to do some radical spiritual surgery as Walter Wessel suggests. There are several questions that we can ask ourselves as we scrub-in and get ready to operate.

Do my actions match my words? Can people, who do not know you, figure out that you are a Christian based on the things you do? Is your faith evident in your actions? If the answer is yes, then all well and good. If the answer is no, you may need to do some spiritual surgery. What, specifically, are you doing that appears to be a contradiction of the Christian message? Cut that hand off.
Do friends, who are in the midst of a spiritual struggle know that they can turn to you? I am not suggesting that you have to possess the answers or be able to fix whatever troubles others. The best you can offer may just be a listening ear that can help others frame issues in the light of the Gospel. If the answer is no, you may need to remove that foot.

I could go on and on. You get the point. We use hyperboles for many reasons. Rebecca Mayglothling writes, “The hyperbole is used to exaggerate a truth or point to place more emphasis on the clause or sentence” (online). People also use hyperboles for dramatic effect, or to satirize something, to get a laugh, or to pose a symbol. The difference here is that we are not exaggerating anything or trying to elicit a chuckle. In case of the great teacher, the rabbi from Nazareth, a pertinent point is being made: it takes a big commitment to be a Christian, requiring nothing less than everything — every part of who we are and what we are.

Amen.