Mark 9:38-50
Jesus has ramped up His teaching ministry, and He’s really focused in on discipleship. “If you are a follower of mine,” He says, “then here’s what that is going to require. Here’s how I expect you to live.” It’s interesting to see the process that these disciples go through, the thought process, and the development of understanding. We get a front row seat to the raw personalities and struggles, the wrestling that they go through. Just last week we saw how the disciples were arguing about which one of them was the greatest. There’s this level of pride that they were feeling. And while, to a certain extent, they should have a confidence about them, being a close follower of Jesus and being used in miraculous ways, Jesus corrects the bad pride by teaching on how to become truly great.
This morning we still see this struggle. We are continuing in the same conversation as last week, and the disciples are still learning.
Read Mark 9:38-41
1.. The Name of Jesus Must Be Our Priority
The disciples have a concern. There are things happening that have not yet happened. Up to this point, the 12 have been the only ones outside of Jesus to perform miracles. And now, this man who isn’t one of the disciples, but apparently believes in the power and person of Jesus, has been granted the ability to cast out demons. And again, we see this certain sense of pride. “We told him to stop,” John says, “because he was not one of us.” Jesus, WE are your chosen ones. WE are the called ones. WE have been walking with you, hungry and exhausted. We’ve left everything behind to follow you. They are so concerned with themselves.
Notice what Jesus says to them. “Don’t stop him! If He is doing it in MY NAME, then let him do it.” Even on the smallest scale of ministry, from performing miracles to giving someone a cup of water, it must be “in the name” of Jesus. When we serve others, we do it in Jesus’ name. We show them the love of Jesus in how we serve. The gospel goes forth in how we serve. Paul takes this a step further in his letter to the Philippians.
Philippians 1:15-18
Even if the motivation of the preacher is for selfish gain, guess what?! The gospel is still going forth! And what an important lesson for us this morning. What is the most important thing that we can do in our lives? What is the most important thing we can do on Sunday mornings? Preach the gospel! In our church culture today we put so much emphasis on style, on tradition, on how loud or soft the worship music is, how bright or dark the lights are, how energetic or introspective the pastor is. Who is the right denomination? What is the right preaching style? And we’ve created this menu for people to choose from. Instead, the primary concern for us should be, are they preaching the gospel?! Is everything done in Jesus name?! Is it all about Jesus?
The disciples are like, “hey man this is our thing!” And Jesus is like, “oh no no no, this is MY thing.” Jesus builds off of this in the next section.
Read Mark 9:42-50
2.. Do Not Cause Your Brother/Sister to Stumble (42)
He begins with a warning on how we treat other believers, and then moves into a warning about our personal lives. It’s important to note here that when Jesus says “little ones,” he isn’t referring to children necessarily. He is referring to anyone who is a disciple, anyone who follows Him.
The disciples had come really close to causing the anonymous young believer to stumble. Jesus was using him to change peoples’ lives, and the disciples tried to snuff out the flame. So Jesus uses this as a teaching moment, and quite a harsh one at that.
“If you cause another believer to sin, it would be better if a millstone turned by a donkey were tied around his neck, and thrown into the sea.” In other words, it would be better to die than to lead a fellow believer into sin. Wow. What we see, though, is that Jesus is not meaning this to be taken literally. When we move into the next few warnings we’ll see that more clearly. But this isn’t the only place we see this warning against leading other people into sin. Paul gives us some specifics on what this could look like.
Romans 14:13-21
The principle is this. If a brother or sister has a vice, or something they struggle with, or have maybe struggled with in the past, when we are spending time with that person, we should steer clear of it as well. For example, alcohol. If you have someone in your life that struggled with alcohol at some point in their life, and you know that it could potentially be a temptation for them, it would be wrong to drink in front of them. This could be a temptation that in an extreme case leads them down the wrong path and back into addiction.
And then Jesus moves into another warning, this time with a three-fold implication. He warns against sin in what we do, where we go, and what we see. We can’t interpret this literally, not should we. If we did, we’d have a bunch of pirates roaming the earth. Peg legs, hooks and eye patches. Jesus is using strong language, but here’s the truth about these 3 warnings. Even if we were to cut off our hands, feet and gouge out our eyes, our hearts would still be sinful! This isn’t a call to self-mutilation. It’s a call to radical transformation in our hearts.
One more thing to note, is that in some translations, verses 44 and 46 are missing entirely from the text. This is because in the earliest manuscripts that we have of Mark, those verses are not there. They were added later, and have become commonplace in many translations. They are identical to verse 48, and have been placed for emphasis on the severity of what Jesus is saying.
3.. The Severity of Our Sin (43-48)
A.. What you do (43)
If your hand causes you to sin. If your actions are marked by sin, then cut out whatever it is that is causing you to sin. Why? Because that sin is leading you to an eternity separated from God in hell.
B.. Where you go (45)
If your foot causes you to sin. If the places you go cause you to sin, then cut those places out of your life. Why? Because that sin is leading you to an eternity separated from God in hell.
C.. What you see (47)
If your eye causes you to sin. If what you look at is marked by sin, then cut those things out of your life. Why? Because that sin is leading you to an eternity separated from God in hell.
Now before we get into what this looks like in our lives, we have one more thing that we need to address. Jesus very clearly talks about “hell” here. The word “hell” is the Greek word “Gehenna” which means literally “the valley of Hinnom.” This valley was south of Jerusalem where the “refuse and filth, bodies of dead animals, and bodies of criminals were cast and burned. These fires were continually kept burning. It was a foul, forbidding place where the fire, smoke, and stench never ceased.” The disciples would have known about this location, so it would have brought a vivid picture to their minds.
Jesus was using this as an illustration of what hell was going to be like. “Unquenchable fire. Worms do not die.”
Listen, nothing in this life is worth missing out on heaven. Nothing in this life is worth eternity separated from God in hell. So if there is something in our lives that creates a pattern, a lifestyle of sin, we have to cut it out.
Examples: When I was in between colleges in 2003, I moved in with some friends from high school and got deep into the party scene. Alcohol became a vice for me, and the more time I spent with certain people, the worse it got. I woke up one day and was faced with 1 of 2 options, either keep living my life the way I had been and see where it ends up, or cut that part out of my life completely. I moved out of that house that week, and that was the beginning of a new life for me.
Maybe alcohol is that for you. Alcohol is not bad in and of itself, but the abuse of it is. If you are finding that alcohol is becoming something that is leading you to make poor decisions, or that you are turning to alcohol to numb the pain of whatever it is you are going through in your life, then I would say it’s probably time to cut it out of your life.
Maybe it’s technology, specifically maybe streaming services. Maybe you are watching hours of shows every night. Maybe it’s becoming the thing that you are using to forget about what’s going on in your life. Watching TV in and of itself is not bad. But, maybe you are up late watching something, and temptation leads you to search for the shows or movies that have sexual content or abusive behaviors portrayed. Watching TV might be the thing that leads you down the wrong path. Cut it out of your life.
Maybe it’s the friends that you have. I have told some of you the story of the 2 students I had that went on a mission trip to Haiti with us. One night they wanted to talk, and shared with me that they had been at a concert with some friends and had too much to drink. They were in high school, so shouldn’t have been drinking anyways. But the conversation we had wasn’t about the alcohol, it was about the friends that they were spending time with. My challenge to them was to cut those friends out of their lives. One of them did, and one of them didn’t. One of them is doing really well today, one of them is not.
We have to recognize what it is in our life that leads us down the road to destruction. What is it in our life that causes us to sin? What is it that I need to cut out of my life?
We get to the end of the passage, and Jesus starts verse 49 with the word “For.” We could also say, “because.” Be warned that sin leads to hell, so if there is anything causing you to sin, cut it out of your life. “Everyone is going to be salted by fire.” Everyone is going to be tested by fire. Everyone is going to be tested through suffering. And just as salt preserves, so you will be preserved in that suffering.
Salt is good! Live a life preserved by righteousness. One way to do that is to be at peace with one another. Stop arguing about who is the greatest. Stop being so concerned with other people serving in my name. Serve together. Love one another. Stay far away from that which causes you or your brother or your sister to sin.
Application
Communion prayer prompt. Pray for the things that the Spirit revealed that need to be cut out. Pray that the Lord would give you strength. Tell someone. Ask for help.
