In 1939, a coast guard vessel was cruising the Canadian Arctic when the men spotted a polar bear stranded on an ice floe. It was quite a novelty for the seamen, who threw the bear salami, peanut butter, and chocolate bars. Then they ran out of the food. Unfortunately, the polar bear hadn't run out of appetite, so he proceeded to board their vessel. The men on ship were terrified and opened the fire hoses on the bear. The polar bear loved it and raised his paws in the air to get the water under his armpits. We don't know how they did it, but eventually they forced the polar bear to return to his ice pad--but not before teaching these seamen a horrifying lesson about feeding polar bears. (1)
Some people make the same mistake with sin that these sailors nearly made with the polar bear. They begin feeding it--a little at a time without thinking through the consequences. "It says something about our times," writes Willard D. Ferrell, "that we rarely use the word SINFUL except to describe a really good dessert." Let's talk about "sin" for just a few minutes today, even though it is less and less fashionable to do so. There are some things about sin we need to know.
Jesus was probably the most tolerant man who ever lived. Notice in our lesson for today. One of his disciples, John, told him, "Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." (NIV) Now that makes sense. What we have here is a clear copyright infringement. A man who was not a member of a recognized church was using Jesus' name to cast out demons. If something wasn't done he would soon be putting up a tent on the outskirts of townûThe First Liturgical, Pentecostal, Evangelical, Reformed Church of the Triune God Uniting. We can't have such riff-raff representing Christ. No wonder the disciples were alarmed.
But Jesus said, "Do not stop him. No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward." Jesus had no use for theological litmus tests. The proof was in the pudding, as we say. You will know a follower of Christ by her actions. No more--no less. Political candidates talk about big tents--making the party tent big enough to draw in as broad a constituency as possible. Jesus has the biggest tent of all. If you are not against him, you are for him. All who will may come. Jesus was the most tolerant man who ever lived. But there were limits.
Listen to Mark 9: 42: "And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck." Not much tolerance there. And it gets worse: "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell . . ." (NIV) Those are not tolerant words at all. There was one area where Jesus showed no tolerance. It was the area of sin. Sinners he loved; sin he despised. There were some things about sin Jesus wanted to say to us without equivocation.
THE FIRST IS, AVOID SIN. That's pretty simple, isn't it? Avoid sin! If you are in the presence of evil, get out of there. If you are being tempted, flee! If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. You can cozy up to temptation for only so long. Before you know it, it will have you in its snare.
Now some people love sin. You and I know that. There are some people for whom the straight life is dull, boring. I was reading recently about an insect that is drawn to fire. Most creatures flee in panic from fire, but this particular kind of beetle deliberately flies toward forest fires. Its proper name is Melanophila which means "lover of blackness." These beetles lay their eggs on burnt wood that has recently been killed by a forest fire. They can detect fires from as far away as 12 miles by using special infrared sensory organs on their mid-section. They are especially attracted by the wavelengths of infrared light that correspond to the temperature of burning wood. (2)
When I read about these beetles I thought of people in this world who are also "lovers of blackness." They are drawn to wrongdoing in the same way that these beetles are drawn to burning wood. Avoid these people, friends. At all costs avoid them. They have no ambition except to bring you down.
Pastor Stephen Brown tells about a young man who came to him for counseling. The youth told his pastor that he had some friends who were having a bad influence on his life. These friends enjoyed going to a particular club where they could get plenty of drugs, and he would go with them even though he had often promised himself and God that he would stop. He explained to his pastor that in spite of all his best intentions, he could not stop going with his friends and taking drugs. Now he was in his pastor's study hoping that the pastor had an answer. And the pastor DID indeed have an answer for him, but it was not the quick fix that the youth expected. For the pastor simply said, "Son, why don't you stop?" "I can't," he replied. "What do you mean you can't stop?" asked the pastor. "You're the one who goes there. Nobody forces you. You're the one who takes the drugs. Nobody puts a gun to your head and makes you take them. So just stop." "You know," replied the surprised youth, "nobody ever put it to me that way." Three weeks later the young man called his pastor and said, "You gave me the best advice I have ever received. You said æstop' and I did. I haven't touched drugs since I talked with you." (3) Now that's a smart young fellow. His pastor told him to stop, and he stopped. I wish more adults were that smart.
Whenever we knowingly do wrong, we pay a price. It is so easy to be lured into the betrayal of some of our most sacred values. It seems such a trifling thing at first. A mild flirtation. A few dollars taken from the till. A small misrepresentation on our income tax form. But families have been lost, reputations have been lost, fortunes have been lost, because someone stepped across a line that should never have been crossed. If there is something going on in your life right now that you would be embarrassed about if the other members of this congregation found out about it, stop! For Heaven's sake, stop before it is too late. Not because we will judge you--we would never do that. Life will judge you. That which you think is covered will be laid bare. That which you think is of little consequence will have an enormous impact. As someone has said, "If you dance with the devil, you always end up with burn marks on your suit." Avoid sin.
MORE IMPORTANTLY, IF YOU ARE TEMPTING SOMEONE ELSE TO SIN, IT IS EVEN MORE IMPERATIVE THAT YOU STOP. It's one thing to be drawn toward sin, but to drag someone else with you is well-nigh unforgivable. "If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin," says Jesus, "it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck." This passage not only serves as a stark warning to everyone who would directly exploit the weakness of others, but it also serves as warning of how indulging our own weaknesses can hurt and emotionally maim those for whom we are responsible.
The problem is that we think that sin is a private matter. "It's my life," we say. "I will lead it as I choose." Life is rarely that simple. Everything we do has an impact not only on us, but also on everyone around us. When we are dragged down into the muck and mire of life, we have a tendency to drag down others with us.
An extreme example of this would be Adolf Hitler's father. Hitler's father was a promiscuous man whose third wife, Hitler's mother, was actually his niece. She was half his age and pregnant when the two got married. Hitler would later tell people around him that his father used to beat him while his frightened mother hid outside of his room. His father also used to summon him with a whistle of the same type used to call a dog. Hitler's younger brother and close playmate Edmund died when Hitler was eleven. Since his father was angry with the village priest, the father didn't attend his young son's funeral, and he forbade his wife to attend also. Hitler went alone to his younger brother's funeral. (4) If Hitler is today burning in the fires of hell, how much more punishment must be reserved for the parents who raised him in such an environment?
Obviously, this is an extreme example, but if I am true to our text for today, I must say to you in terms that are stark that YOU AND I ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LITTLE ONES AROUND US. Not only are we not to exploit them, but we are responsible for the damage that is done to them when we sin.
Pardon me for being so direct. But so often we want to ask a person involved in doing wrong, "What were you thinking of?" The truth is that they were not thinking--not thinking of the consequences for their families, not thinking of the consequences for their reputation, not thinking of the consequences for those who might conceivably be hurt by their actions. Life is not a game if sin is involved. People get hurt, families get destroyed, lives are even lost because somebody crossed a line that should never have been crossed.
It's a simple message from the Master, but oh, so important. Avoid sin. If someone else could be hurt by your sin, be even more determined to avoid it. REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE. You are a follower of Jesus. You are a child of the King. You are one who has been bought by the blood of the Lamb. Remember who you are. Jesus called us the salt of the earth. He said, "Good salt is worthless if it loses its saltiness; it can't season anything. So don't lose your flavor!" (LB) We are called to take responsibility for those around us. In the same way that salt brings taste to a meal, we are to so live that we make everyone around us better people just by being in our presence.
Have you heard that said about an athlete? "When he's on the court he makes everyone around him a better player." That's what people ought to say about a follower of Jesus. "I'm a better person whenever I'm with Joe. Being with Sally makes me feel good about myself and my faith." Heaven forbid that we would ever drag anyone else down. As someone has said: "To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world."
Christian singer Ray Boltz sings a song about how even the littlest gestures, done in Jesus' name, will be rewarded in Heaven. In his song, "Thank You," a young person dreams that he has gone to Heaven. There, he sees all the people whose lives he has touched by his Christian witness. The child he taught in Sunday School class. The person who was saved through the missionary work he supported. In one verse, he sings:
"One by one they came, far as the eye could see, each life somehow touched by your generosity. The little things that you had done, sacrifices made, unnoticed on the earth, in Heaven now proclaimed. Now I know up in Heaven, you're not supposed to cry, but I was almost sure there were tears in your eyes. As Jesus took your hand, and you stood before the Lord, He said, "My child, look around you, for great is your reward.'"
"Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am a life that was changed. Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am so glad you gave." (5)
This is who we are as followers of Jesus Christ. We are people who avoid sin. Not because we are party-poopers or spoil sports. But there are people who love us, people who rely on us, people who look up to us, people to whom and for whom we are responsible. We are the salt of the earth. "Good salt is worthless if it loses its saltiness; it can't season anything. So don't lose your flavor! Live in peace with each other."
1. Erma Bombeck, All I Know About Animal Behavior . . . (New York: HarperCollins, 1995).
2. E-zine: THE LEARNING KINGDOM http://www.tlk-lists.com/join/.
3. Louis O. Caldwell, ANOTHER TASSEL IS MOVED (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1990), p. 85.
4. John P. Koster, Jr., THE ATHEIST SYNDROME (Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1989).
5. Ray Boltz. Copyright 1988, Gaither Music Company. All rights controlled by Gaither Copyright Management. Used by permission.