The Stone is Lifted
Mark 9:38-50[1]
I wonder whether we as a people have become immune to scandal. In
the days of Watergate, when the Senate hearings were broadcast on TV every day,
we were shocked at the abuse of power that went all the way to the top. These
days, it seems we have lost our ability to be shocked. We have grown so cynical
about power and those who use it or abuse it, that we almost expect anyone in
such a position to be caught in a scandal at some point. I might go even
farther, and venture the opinion that many of us don’t care about scandals any
more. We’ve heard so much about Iran-gate and Nanny-gate and Whitewater-gate
that our eyes glaze over and we tune out at the very mention of another
scandal.
Perhaps I should amend that opinion to say that we don’t care
about the scandals that apply to the people we support. We pay plenty of
attention to the abuses of power on the part of those we see as the “bad guys.”
But if someone is on our “good guy” list, we will suspend judgment and give them
the benefit of the doubt over and over again. As a fan of world class cycling,
I myself didn’t want to believe the accusations that Lance Armstrong was using
performance-enhancing drugs to win an unprecedented 7 consecutive titles in the
Tour de France. That is, until he publicly admitted that he had done so and was
stripped of his titles and awards.
In our Gospel lesson for today, Jesus talks about what happens
when we abuse our power to take advantage of others. It might not seem obvious
at first glance, because this is one of the most difficult passages in Mark’s
Gospel. It talks about stumbling blocks and self-mutilation and being thrown
into hell and being “salted with fire.” And the combination is confusing to the
best of us and difficult to sort out. But the central concept in this passage
has to do with “stumbling,” either causing someone else to do so, or stumbling
ourselves. The Greek word is to “scandalize,” but the meaning is different from
our understanding of a scandal. It’s talking about causing others to sin, or
falling into sin ourselves.
I think in order to understand any of this, we have to have a
clear perspective on the biblical concept of sin. While many religions have
identified sexual outcasts as the chief of sinners, the Bible points instead to
the “wicked” ones who abuse their power to take advantage of others. As some
have put it, the Bible is more concerned about what happens in the boardroom
than what happens in the bedroom. Jesus followed this pattern by saving his
harshest criticism for those promoted injustice, those who diminished the lives
of the least and the lowest in society. And, sad to say, typically those who
were guilty of this kind of behavior were the “leaders,” both religious and
political.
In our Gospel lesson, Jesus says that “it would be better for you
if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the
sea” than to “put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe
in me” (Mark 9:42). I think you would have to say that Jesus was serious about
confronting those who used their power to take advantage of others. And to
emphasize the point, he follows this up by saying that if your hand or your
foot or your eye causes you to take oppress someone in this way, you would be
better off simply removing that part of your body! Now, Jesus knew that “sin”
isn’t located in any particular body part. He was exaggerating to make a point:
spare no effort to avoid the selfishness, the unbridled greed, and the total
lack of concern for the welfare of others that leads to this kind of abuse.
Unfortunately, we are surrounded by the monuments memorializing
the fact that our society has had its fair share of “captains of industry” who
made a fortune and rose to power on the backs of thousands who labored in
poverty. Names like Carnegie, Mellon, Rockefeller, Hearst, and Vanderbilt can
be found on buildings all over the country as testaments to their “generosity.”
But I doubt that the people who had to endure harmful working conditions,
substandard housing, and malnutrition would have seen them in that light. The
simple truth is that they used their power to enrich themselves by taking
advantage of others.
It’s easy to look back and point out those who have abused their
power in the past. It may be harder to recognize that we have tycoons today who
are enriching themselves by taking advantage of others. But even more difficult
is the realization that all of us have diminished another person at some time
in our lives. And we’ve felt the weight of our misdeeds like a heavy stone
around our necks. I think that’s why Jesus said it’s better to be drowned in
the sea than to carry the burden of knowingly taking advantage of another human
being. It’s a burden that can be crushing to bear for those of us with a conscience.
It’s also easy to point an accusing finger at “others” as the
culprits in the predicament we find ourselves with our fellow human beings. But
Jesus didn’t come to bring release to the oppressed and heap vengeance on the
oppressors. Injustice of any kind oppresses both those who have to endure it
and those who perpetrate it. Jesus came “to free the oppressors and the
oppressed” from the burden of injustice.[2] When
we allow the weight and the “fire” of our guilt to cleanse our hearts, we find
freedom from the need to take advantage of others. Then the stone of injustice
is lifted from us all.
[1]
©2018 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Dr. Alan Brehm on 9/30/2018 at
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
[2]
Cf. Jürgen Moltmann, The Crucified God,
307.
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