lopping off

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off....thus writes St. Mark in his Gospel (Mark 9:38-50). The whole passage is about pulling in the right direction, but far from being a mandate for self-harm it is calling the believer to pay attention to the things which are drawing them, and those they are likely to influence, in the opposite direction from the Gospel.
At harvest time we give thanks for good things - especially those which sustain us. At All Saints the Environment in which we exist and which we influence comes into focus for six weeks. We thank God for food and life and then in the middle of this celebration we find ourselves wondering at the ferocity and violence of the language in Mark's Gospel.
The comments below are obvious, there is nothing clever, but sometimes if does us good to remember the simple basis of our faith.
You could, I suppose, read it literally - but you would not survive for very long if you did which means a literalistic interpretation makes little sense. So what does all this mean? I want to draw out three simple points.
First of all, pulling against God is a serious issue. Secondly that even though something is a gift of God we can use it in ways which are not good and pull against God and thirdly there are times of real sacrifice in this road we walk with Christ.
So first, that pulling away from God is a serious issue. If the MPs expenses scandal a few year ago shone any sort of light on British society it should have been one which pointed out to us that too many of us have become folk who see what we can get away with. Now whilst I suspect most of us here are not fiddling expenses I suspect that every so often, most of us do a little something, which flies slightly under the radar - whether it is driving too fast or being a little too snappy with the checkout operator at that big superstore who you will likely never see again anyway - there are things which nibble away at our aim to reflect Christ in our lives. We might have good justification and even legal right to do what we do but we have to always pay attention to that internal radar which we develop over the years - is what I am doing reflecting the values of the kingdom and proclaiming Jesus? If the answer is absolutely not then that is probably a millstone moment - if the answer is maybe, maybe not then we can spare dragging a hefty lump of rock to a river but we need to be aware that pulling ourselves away from God is serious enough but we do not live in a vacuum and our actions reflect our values and our values and motivations need to be Christ centered.
Secondly there can be a temptation to say if you've got it flaunt it. After all if everything good comes from God then shouldn't we be able to do whatever we like with who we are and what we have? Again, this is not a matter of legality and the fact that Mark talks about lopping of limbs which are leading to sin should remind us that things, even good things, can go bad - that sin tends to creep in and that, again, our motivation and attention must be towards Christ.
Thirdly that there might be some very real sacrifice involved. Christianity is not a feel good religion - it does make us feel good but that is not how we should judge ourselves. Sometimes as we look at our world we feel dreadful that it is so far away from God, that things seem so broken, that the doors of so many lives seem to be hanging off the hinges. It is not primarily about me and mine but about God and who we are for and with and to God. Going to church is not a spiritual spa treatment where we simply feel better, it is an offering and a thanksgiving, and offering means sacrifice.
So I would suggest that all machetes and meat cleavers are returned to their drawers but that the force of action which is suggested in this passage is something which spurs us on, not to remove any vital organs or limbs, but to really be thorough in our assessment of whether we are pulling in the right direction, and self-sacrificing in taking up the slack.