The Courage to Cut

Deuteronomy 30:11-20
Matthew 5:17-30

In Mr. Hunter's previous sermon--Hard or Soft? (PDF)-- he discussed a dichotomy facing the contemporary church between hard faith and soft faith:

Within the context of the Church, Hard Faith people place an emphasis on the obligations of the religious life, the demands of discipleship, and the need for moral clarity. They prefer those passages in the Bible that are clear in defining what is right and what is wrong to help them achieve righteous living. If your faith is hard, you’re focused on knowing God’s truth, keeping the Ten Commandments, and living a disciplined life.

The Soft Faith people are more likely to view religion as a relationship of grace. They tend to stress God’s love for the oppressed and view righteousness as fulfilling our Lord’s call to heal the sick, liberate the prisoner, and offer a cup of water to the least of God’s children. If your faith is soft, you are more likely to focus on keeping the command of Jesus to love God and neighbor, than religious rules written long ago. For Soft Faith people living a life of love and acceptance is the key to righteousness and scriptures that would limit their ability to extend God’s love and grace to the marginalized are subject to reinterpretation.

To be vital, he explained, "we [must] keep our hard faith and soft faith in a tension that is guided by the Holy Spirit."

On Sunday, 30 January 2005, Mr. Hunter continued this line of thought by focusing upon the hard demands of Jesus. The hard teachings of Christ are that we must control our actions, attitudes, thoughts, intents, feelings--all aspects of our lives--if we are to meet the original intent of God's law, the law which Jesus came to fulfill. Today's Gospel reading illustrates Christ's hard demand:

If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. (Matthew 5:29-30 RSV)

Reformed commentators since John Calvin have agreed that Christ does not mean us to hack away at our bodies. Christ's lesson is figurative, showing us the extremes to which we must go to avoid sin. Who among us, Mr. Hunter asked, would not accept the extreme measure of sacrificing a limb, tissue, or an organ in order to live? One man he knew, for instance, agreed to the amputation of his cancerous right arm in order to save his life--a decision he did not regret.

Jesus's hard demands warn us of spiritual cancers which would threaten our relationship with God, but often these cancers are not immediately apparent to us. These threats include anything which we set up as a false god: drugs, alcohol, gluttony, sex, gossip, and so on.

Recognizing the danger these threats present to our spiritual life is only half the problem; the other half is to act upon our knowledge. God will help us if we have the courage to cut.