CUT IT OUT!
Numbers 11:25-29; James 5:1-6; Mark 9: 38-43, 45, 47-48
If you’re in a profession long enough, you can point to a lot of positives that make it a rewarding career. For me, as a teacher, I can honestly say that the opportunity to work with young people, to be surrounded by their energy and enthusiasm, and the opportunity for me to learn from them and for me to grow as a person as I tried to impart knowledge and deepen their faith, are but a few of the positives that kept me going back to the classroom for so many years. But along with the pluses, realistically, there are always a few negatives. For me, the long hours of preparation, the paperwork, and sometimes having to deal with administrators who lacked the ability to appreciate and affirm are a few. But if you asked me what aspect of teaching I disliked most, I would have to say it was being a disciplinarian. As I’m sure those of you who are parents can identify with, children want to do what they want to do, and sometimes it takes multiple tries to get them to cease and desist. Sometimes, “Stop it!” wouldn’t be enough and would need to be followed up with, “Knock it off!!” But sometimes, in order for them to really get the message that I was losing patience and would no longer tolerate their shenanigans, with eyes widened and volume elevated, I needed to emphatically say, “CUT IT OUT!!!” And usually that did the trick. They got the message.
CUT IT OUT!!! I think that’s message that Jesus is trying to get across to us today.
In our gospel we hear some very jarring words from Jesus. He tells us that if our hand causes us to sin, to cut it off; if our foot causes us to sin, to cut it off; if our eye causes us to sin, to pluck it out. And I’m sure, although not directly stated by Jesus, by extension, he would have the same admonition for a tongue or an ear that has become the vehicle of our sinfulness.
Well I’m happy to tell you that we’re NOT selling knives and axes after mass today in the Atrium as a fundraiser to pave the parking lot! But we get a little nervous when we hear Jesus’ words. Is he really suggesting radical surgery as the way to avoid sin? Radical? Yes. Surgery? No.
What we have here is the typical, exaggerated language of the Middle East. We call it hyperbole. If a truth is important enough, the Semitic people don’t go in for concise, moderated, (and often dull) language such as the Romans favored. The Semites expressed truth in vivid word pictures; exaggerated images. And Jesus, a true Semite, used that kind of dramatic language to make his point.
For our culture, especially when we’re writing or giving a formal lecture, the bigger the truth the more careful and concise and logical the language should be. Not so for the people of the Middle East. For Jesus and his people, the bigger the truth the more exaggerated the language might be. Get this right and his teaching packs a punch. Get it wrong and some earnest souls end up with a literalism which leads to confusion or grave error.
And so I am quite sure that Jesus is not actually looking for more one handed, one footed, half blind disciples in response to this teaching. He isn’t advocating self-mutilation. But he is advocating an extremely rigorous, uncompromising approach to dealing with the roots of sin within ourselves. He’s telling us to root it out, to go hard on it, to CUT IT OUT. His language is clearly metaphorical. Feet, hands and eyes don’t cause sin. As the Apostle James has been telling us in recent weeks, sin has its roots in the attitudes of our hearts, in selfish ambitions and jealousies. Feet, hands and eyes may perform sinful actions, but they are followers not leaders.
But one of the traps of saying that something is a metaphor is that we can use that as an excuse to ignore the passage altogether instead of asking what the metaphor is telling us to do. If Jesus isn’t telling us to chop off our hands and gouge out our eyes, what is he telling us to put under the knife?
Jesus is telling us to be ruthless on anything that keeps tripping us up and causing us to fall into sin. And he’s making the point that sometimes this may mean giving up things that aren’t bad in themselves. Isn’t that the point of his metaphor – there’s nothing inherently evil about feet or hands, but if they’re causing a problem, “CUT IT OUT.”
When Jesus tells us that if our hand or foot causes us to sin, to cut it off, or if our eyes causes us to sin, to pluck it out, it constitutes the great reversal. He who healed a boy with a withered hand, made the lame walk, and restored sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and speech to the mute, is telling us to become maimed, lame, blind, deaf and mute, if our hands, our feet, our eyes, our ears, our mouth, OURSELVES inflict sin and hurt and evil. And he tells us how to do it:
- If our hand greedily grasps for wealth and power and the latest must-have items, if our hand refuses to let go of some of what we have acquired to help those in need – CUT IT OUT!
- If our feet move us away from God and God’s Church, if they take us to places where God is disregarded and Gospel values are scorned and ignored – CUT IT OUT!
- If our eyes see success in terms of money and possessions, if they look upon pornographic and violent images that poison the human spirit, if they fail to see others as children of the same Father – CUT IT OUT!
- If our tongues wag with lies, negativity, gossip, vulgarity or words that promote hated and discrimination – CUT IT OUT!
- If our ears are all too eager to hear scandal, dirty jokes, and lies that lead us away from the truth of the gospels, or if they tune into music that contains obscenities or promotes violence and sexual promiscuity – CUT IT OUT!
Quite simply, if you spot a pattern of behavior where involvement in something leads you down unhealthy and destructive paths, give it up. CUT IT OUT!
But I know what you’re thinking. “CUT IT OUT! . . . Great advice, Deacon Bruce. But easier said than done. How the heck do we do that? Here’s a few suggestions.
- Identify the Problem: Look in the mirror and do some introspection. And ask yourself two questions. First, what’s my reputation? Are you the “go to” person that people depend on for the scoop about everybody else? Are you the friend that everyone can count on for a good time, but is nowhere to be found when they’ve been dealt a bad hand or the chips are down? Second, what are the things about yourself, the things that you do, that you would never want anyone to know about?
- Avoid the Near Occasions on Sin: Remove yourself from the things, the people, the places that put yourself spiritually in harm’s way. Maybe that means ending some toxic friendships. Maybe that means limiting your time on the computer, or moving it to a public place in your house.
- Go to the Sacrament of Reconciliation: Confession is a win – win proposition. You get your sins forgiven but you also get sanctifying grace: God’s presence and assistance for you to change your heart, to break away from sinful patterns in your life, and to have the strength and courage to follow his way.
- Pray: Let me ask you a question: If you sincerely ask God to help you change, break away from the times your hand, your feet, your eyes, your tongue, your ears cause you to sin and distance yourself from Him, do you think He’s going to say no? Of course not! Pray for the Gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. And if you do, you will receive the Fruits of the Holy Spirit: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and fear of the Lord – everything you need to embrace radical transformation and avoid radical amputation.
Today, Jesus the Divine Physician, puts before us two treatments for the spiritual cancer that we’re afflicted with. One is a regular dose of antibiotics (the Sacrament of Reconciliation), diet (a life of self-control avoiding the near occasions of sin), and exercise (prayer). It’s non-invasive, but will absolutely bring about spiritual wellness. The other course of treatment is radical surgery to cut off the diseased organ. Which one will you choose?
