Hard Candy: Unwrap the Hard Sayings of Jesus: Gouge It Out, 08/10/14

Sermon 8-10-14 hard sayings – gouge it out mt 5:27- 30=

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’^{[e] 28} But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. ³⁰ And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

I heard of a pastor who brought an axe to church when he preached on this topic and asked if anyone here took the bible literally……..

When we talk of taking it literally, passages like this are troubling.

Akin to this is the Mark 16 ending…..

In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; Mark 16

A Kentucky pastor who co-starred in the TV show Snake Salvation has died of a snakebite.  Emergency personnel received a call Saturday night that someone at a church, Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name, had suffered a snakebite, Middlesboro Police Chief Jeff Sharpe said in a statement. He said an ambulance crew went to the church, but the Rev. Jamie Coots had left. The crew went to Coots' home and found him suffering from a bite to the hand.  "After a brief examination and discussion of the possible dangers if the wound was not treated, treatment — and transport to the hospital — was refused," Sharpe said.  An hour later, police, emergency officials and a deputy coroner returned to the home to find that Coots had died, Sharpe said.

Coots, who was profiled on The National Geographic show featuring pentecostal, serpent-handling preachers, pleaded guilty last year to violating Tennessee's exotic animals law and agreed to surrender his snakes.

He had been bitten 8 times before

He had a dead finger that he kept as a trophy.

His friends said, well at least he went to his reward exercising faith

Should you be handling snakes?

I can help you with this passage.  It wasn’t in the bible originally.

What?  Read your bible, see what it says.  Not in the earliest manuscripts…….

Phew.  I don’t have to handle snakes…….

But the cut off your hand is in the sermon on the mount.  It is red letter jesus!

Some parts are meant to be literal…….. love your enemy.

Some are not.  I am the door.  He is not a literal door.  Gouge out your eye?

That’s not the point.

Remember that scripture  is not the end, it’s the means.

Its not the goal, it’s one of the things that point us to God.

Its ok to not cut off your hand…….

It is not your hand’s fault.  It is not your eye’s fault.

The part that really needs to be changed is the heart.

And now we see what Jesus is after.  Different hearts. Ahhh

Whats in your heart.

Do you find any sin and selfishness?

Roger horn…….i won’t sin for 24 hours

Big argument

He was thinking of sin as actions only

Is it only our actions or is it also our thoughts

Jesus is saying its more than what we do……..we must guard our thoughts

Do your thoughts ever get you in trouble?

Jimmy carter lusted.

You have power over your thought life

You can let them run

Or you can manage them…….

⁴ The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have [our weapons have] divine power to demolish strongholds. ⁵ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Cor 10:4-5

What is in your heart?

If it is bad for you then get rid of it.

We live in a throw away culture

Everything is disposable.  We set massive amounts of trash at our curb every week.  We throw away more food in a week than many people around the world have to eat.

Poor people in many cultures make their life off of what others throw away.

Yet we refuse to part with attitudes that are harmful
We recycle and retool and return to the same old reactions, attitudes and practices throughout our lives as if each one were made of the most precious resources available.

We are invited to change our life paradigms.

People say, oh, this is just me.

It doesn’t have to be you.

Unfortunately, a large percentage of our most beloved old rags should have been banished to the trash heap decades ago.

Story -Fire at grandma’s house from the old rags

They should have been disposed of……..

What is it that we need to pluck out of our lives?

Lets get real about what gets in the way - Money

Mark 10, Luke 18, Mt 19

¹⁷ As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

¹⁸ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’^[d]” ²⁰ “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” ²¹ Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” ²² At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.  Mark 10:17-22

you lack one thing.  Sell all you have.  Gouge out the money.

Set aside that which gets in your way

Set aside the money- love of money is the root of evil

Un forgivenss-

¹⁴ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. Mt 6:14-15

Jesus can I get a redirect onthis?  Is this exactly what you mean?

Does it make sense for god to forgive you if you wont forgive others

Set aside unforgiveness

Interesting that you cant chop off unforgiveness without offering forgiveness

Mt 18 peter asks how many times should I forgive?  7 times?

Conclusion
- If you want to be healthy, ... stop doing those things that harm you.

- If you want harmony in your life, ... stop doing those things that cause discord.

- If you want peace in the world, ... stop doing those things that lead to war.

- If you want a closer relationship with your children, ... stop doing those things and saying those things that build up walls between you.

- If you want to rekindle the romance in your marriage, ... stop doing those things that create animosity and boredom.

- If you want to live in a close-knit, caring community, ... stop hiding behind your front door.

- If you want a spiritual life that fills you up, ... stop pouring all your energies everywhere but toward God.

Nothing should get in the way of the kingdom

You can have a new marriage ... a new body ... a new attitude ... a new spirit ... a new career ... a new community ... a new world - but only by stopping the old destructive, hurtful behaviors you've doggedly recycled for so many years.

The changes we want to come about in our lives will not happen just by wishing them to be so. We must cut ourselves off from our old attitudes and throw them away.

Now are you thinking of yourself or someone else?

No one can judge you over what you may need to change.

It is not up to them.

Only you know what needs to change.  But you do know.

So jesus invites us to rid our lives of the things that harm us and others

For good. For God. For us