"Let's Do It!" ILL. BRO. THE RIGHT REVEREND C. ROBERT
TOWNSHEND, 33° “If your hand is your difficulty, cut it off! If your foot is your undoing, cut it off! If your eye is your downfall, pluck it out! “ ( Mark 9: 43, 45, 47) Jesus does not offer us life and then leave us on our own to try to discover how to fit that life into our own lives. He gives us specific instructions on how we are to measure up to the life that God has called us to. He has told us what to do. We are to trust and obey; but not as a way of earning God’s forgiveness or His love. God’s love is always being offered to us. We don’t earn it. It’s a gift. By our trust and obedience we show that we are serious about accepting God’s mercy, grace and love. One of C. S. Lewis’ most popular works of fiction is entitled, “Screwtape letters”. In it a senior devil writes a series of letters to his nephew who is in training to be a junior devil. The letters contain advice on how to lead us mortals astray. For example, the senior devil tells his nephew that, for the devils’ purposes, “lukewarm religion” is better than no religion at all. Jesus has given us the same advice. The closing section of the Great Sermon on the Mount is a total repudiation by Jesus of lukewarm religion. In it, Jesus emphasizes not once, but four times, how essential it is for us to carry out the instructions He has given us in the rest of the sermon. He contrasts the rich rewards that come to those who do obey God will with the disastrous consequences that come for those who do not obey God’s will. On the one hand, there is the narrow, difficult road of holy obedience that leads to life. But on the other side, there is the broad easy road in which a lack of obedience and a lack of discipline lead us to destruction. On the one hand, there is the healthy tree that does what a tree is supposed to do, namely, bear good, rich fruit. On the other hand, there is the sick tree, the broken tree that does not bear good fruit. It is cut down and thrown into the fire. On the other hand the disciple who says, “Lord, Lord” and does what His Lord commands, is welcome into the fellowship. But on the other hand, the disciple who says, “Lord, Lord”, but does not do what His Lord commands is totally repudiated; Jesus said, “apart from me, you evil doer.” And fourthly on the one hand there is the wise man who built his whole house on the solid rock of obedience. When the storm of temptation, the storm of pain and suffering, and the storm of death beat on it, the house stood firm because it was built on a solid foundation. On the other hand, there is the foolish man who built his house on the shifting sands of disobedience. When the storms of life came the house came crashing down. There is an old legend about Moses and the Hebrew children at the Red Sea. Moses had given the command for the waters to part so that the Hebrews could go through. But the waters did not part. The waters did not part until the first person stepped into the water, in trust and obedience. The waters did not part until the first person began to act out the command. In the Gospel story that has been read for us today, Jesus uses some very powerful imagery to make this point. He says it is, “better to enter life maimed”, than to enter the hell fires unmaimed. Therefore, “if your hand is your difficulty,” do something about it; “cut it off!” “Get rid of it!” “And if your eye is your downfall, pluck it out!” Jesus uses strong language to make it absolutely clear that entering into the life He offers us requires action and commitment on our part. I dare say that anyone of us gathered here for worship knows at least one point, one relationship, one habit, one need in the community, one specific place at least, where we are being clearly called to act. Dietrich Bonhoeffer has had a tremendous impact on the lives of many people in the modern church. A theologian and a minister of Jesus Christ, he went on the radio in pre war Germany to denounce Adolf Hitler’s policies. Because of this he was forced to leave his homeland. He went to the United States and began teaching at Union Theological Seminary. When he saw what was coming in Europe, he was faced with the decision of whether to stay in the United States and be safe, or go back to his people and minister to them in their suffering, even though there was a price on his head. After much prayerful examination of his situation, he decided that he had to be obedient to the will of God and go back. He did go back to Germany and went underground. He quickly established an underground seminary, hoping to teach the way of Christ to as many young men as possible. Eventually, the dreaded knock came on the door. Bonhoeffer was arrested by the Nazi’s and put into a concentration camp. A few days before the camp was liberated by Allied soldiers, he was executed: hanged. He left an extensive diary in which there appears the following summary of what we have been discussing here today. The only proper response to the word of life which Jesus brings with Him from eternity is simply to do it.
Jesus calls us to this action You have heard that it was said, “you shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you, “love your enemies and prayer for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5: 43-44) Therefore let’s do it! If you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first to be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5: 23-24). Let’s do it! “If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. (Matthew 5: 39-41) Let’s do it!
Love your enemies. Turn the other cheek, go the extra mile. It sounds risky! But risks must be taken. Because the greatest risk in life is to risk nothing. The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, and becomes nothing. He or she may avoid suffering and sorrow but they simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and live. Chained by their own certitudes, they become a slave. They have fortifed their freedom. Only the person who risks is truly free. Try it and see what happens. Let’s go and do it now!
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