Today's gospel reading can't be many people's favorite. Jesus says, "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire."It helps a little bit to realize how important hyperbole was in Hebrew and Middle Eastern thought and speech. Our culture is much more literal, and we tend not to be as adept at handling metaphor and imagery. Jesus doesn't expect anyone to cut off her hand. Rather, Jesus is talking about prioritizing, about a kind of single-mindedness when it comes to the life of discipleship.
Jesus presumes that there are things in life that get in the way, that distract us from living as we should. This is hardly an earth shattering notion, as anyone trying to lose weight or undertake a workout regimen can attest. The ice cream in the freezer calls and the blankets implore you to stay in bed a little longer rather than getting up for that run. Health and fitness require pushing those distractions aside.
Jesus speaks to two different sorts of distractions or stumbling blocks. (The Greek word for "stumble" is the root of our word "scandalize.") The first is when we trip up someone else, especially "little ones" which is used in the New Testament to refer to people who are new to the faith. Think of all the people who have been "turned off" to Church because of the actions of people in the Church. From general hypocrisy to unfriendliness to strangers, to overbearing moralism, there are a plethora of things that have tripped up little ones along the way. Strange that most folks I've talked to are more offended by the second sort of distraction Jesus talks about.
Perhaps the sound of cutting off one's hand just jars us. Maybe because we're so individualistic in our culture, this second sort of distraction is simply more up our alley. Or maybe it's that we have come to believe that the good life mean having it all, and we're troubled by this notion that we might need to give something up to be a part of what Jesus is up to.
In recent days I've watched news reports about the failure of a local school levy, and the fighting about health care reform. And in much that I've heard, I think I detect an inability by many folks to think communally, about the good of the other. And I've also heard people who obviously want the Medicare that they enjoy, want the goods and services that the government provides them, but rage against health care or other services they don't use. They seem unable to see beyond "how does this affect me?" and they seem completely unwilling to give up anything.
Maybe the reason Jesus' words bother us so has nothing to do with the offensive notion of self mutilation. Maybe we just don't like him telling us that the call to live by the ways of God's coming reign might mean some things we like or want might have to be pared.
Click here to learn more about the Daily Lectionary.
No comments:
Post a Comment