Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 29, 2024
Mark 9:38-50

The audio of this sermon is availabe here. The video of the full worship service is available on the Trinity Episcopal Church YouTube channel.

Who? What? When? Where? How? Think of it, it’s those questions that we most often ask when we need to make a decision. When we need to plan something, when we need to do something. Who? What? When? Where? How? I’ll be up front about it – today we are kicking off our Annual Pledge Campaign here at Trinity Church. What is a pledge? It’s a commitment to make a financial gift for the next year. Where, how can you make get my pledge card? You can get it from the church after the service, or you can do it online. When do you want it back by? Sunday, October 27. Who are we asking to make a pledge? Everyone. Obviously. 

But those are the easy questions. Today I want to talk about the why. Why do we give money to the church? Why do we make a pledge? Why are we doing all of this? It’s the why, it’s the because, that matters. But first I want to start with this unsettling gospel passage. Because this is going to help us get to that important answer.

Jesus says that if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out. And I’ll tell you, right off the bat, most of us are going to the “Who? What? When? Where? How?” questions. What does Jesus mean, is he being serious or metaphorical? Who is Jesus talking to, people back then or people now? How does Jesus actually think we should cut off our hands, feet, and tear out our eyes?

But the real question, the heart of the matter, is why. Why would we cut off our hands and feet, and tear out our eyes? Why would Jesus say something like this? 

Strange as it sounds, I think that Jesus says all this, because he loves us. And he cares for us. Now, I do not think that Jesus is talking about actual hands, feet, and eyes. Pretty much no one in Christian history believes that Jesus is being literal here. There is no record of the first disciples actually amputating their body parts in order to follow Jesus. Jesus is using an image, hyperbole, to get his point across. And the point is that we humans are often our own worst enemies. We hold on to things, ideas, perceptions that are not good for us. We think we need them – like ours hands, feet, and eyes – but if we use them wrongly, they are actually hurting us. 

For instance, we should not forget people who have wronged us, because we don’t want to get fooled again. But that’s bad when it becomes a grudge, because the grudge makes us miserable. Or, we have laws, and that’s good for us, to have laws in this places in which we live. But it’s bad when those laws begin to favor some people at the expense of others. You don’t need me to tell you that we have a long history of doing that. 

So it all boils down to that operative question – why? If it making us worse, if it’s not good for everybody, cut it off and throw it away. Because if you don’t, your life will be miserable.

And a quick word about “hell” here. I don’t think that Jesus is talking about hell as we think about hell. We’ve translated that word as “hell” but the word is, “Gehenna.” That was an actual place. It was where ancient pagans used to sacrifice their children. Later on, it became the trash dump outside of Jerusalem. So it all becomes clear – Jesus is asking us, what do you want your life to look like? Do you want your life to look like a landfill, full of evil? Do you want all that garbage in your life? Or, do you want something else? Yes, this is a passage about judgment. It’s the judgment we pass on ourselves by choosing to live in a garbage dump, or by choosing to live in the Kingdom of God. 

So Jesus is asking – why? Why do you do what you do? And this is what I would ask about your own relationship with Jesus. Why do you come to church? Why do you pray? Why do you serve? Why is the primary question. Start there. 

And as we begin our annual pledge campaign, why? Why do you give money? Why do you support this church? That is our theme for the pledge campaign this year. Why? So when you sit down to make your pledge, don’t just think of the how much and the when. Think about the why. And when you bring your financial pledge card back, we also want you to bring this one back. It says, “I give to Trinity Church because…” And put it up on that display board in the back of the church. So that all of us can be inspired not by how much money we raise for the ministry of this church, but by how much we all care. And why we care. It’s the deeper question – it’s the question about Jesus, about faith, about motivation.

So, why do I give to Trinity Church? Maggie, Lydia, and I make a financial pledge to this church because this is where we worship the Lord God. In this place, we meet the Lord Jesus, we have been inspired by other disciples – our family has grown spiritually by attending Sunday School, we have grown by singing in the choir, I have grown by what you have taught me. We give to Trinity because we are grateful and we want this place to continuing making a positive impact.

My family is also making a pledge to the Trinity Church building fund. If you have not already done so, I’m asking each of you to consider making an additional financial gift for that. We’ve been talking about this preservation work for years, and I’m so glad to say that it will actually begin next Monday. If you haven’t already made that gift, you’ll get another packet about the building fund. Why is my family making a pledge to the building fund? Because we want this to be a safe, beautiful, welcoming place of worship for years to come.

Now, I want to address something head on. As you know, I am standing for election as the Bishop of West Missouri. And I understand there might be concern, hesitancy, during this pledge campaign because our future together is ambiguous. So let’s flesh this out. If I am not elected, and I remain your rector, then we need to keep on doing all the good work we are doing. To keep supporting our growing children and youth programs, to keep on supporting our wider community; this is one of the problems of a growing church, we don’t have the staff that we need to do all that we want to do. There is so much more than we can do, if only we had the resources. That’s why I am asking you to give, to make a pledge. Now, if I am elected, and I leave, then this parish will need your support even more. It will be even more critical that you make a pledge so this church can be in a healthy position to go from strength to strength. But that can only happen with your support. That’s why I am asking you to give, to make a pledge. 

Because it is not about me, I pray that is not why you give. And if it is, I would ask that you cut off that mentality, and throw it away.

This pledge campaign, this building fund, it’s not so much about the money, the windows, the budget, any of that. No, it’s about our relationship with Jesus. And while you are thinking about what you are going to give, it’s far more important to think about why you are going to give. And what I hope, is that you are giving for the Lord God, for your faith, because of your generosity, for this beloved church. 

See also

Wright, N. T. Christian Origins and the Question of God. 2: Jesus and the Victory of God. Nachdr. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 20.