Stumbling

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday morning, November 1, 2020.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 18:1-9.

            What causes you to stumble?

            It’s an important question.  I assume that everyone here, and everyone watching on the livestream, would call yourself a Christian.  Don’t get me wrong--if you don’t, I’m still glad you’re here.  I’m still glad you’re watching the livestream.  You’re always welcome.  But I assume that the vast majority of us would call ourselves Christians.

            But I also assume that the vast majority of us would say we are imperfect Christians.  That really goes along with being a Christian.  Someone who claimed to be a perfect Christian would, pretty much by definition, not really understand what being a Christian really means.

            We like to use words like imperfections, but of course what we’re really talking about is sins.  We know we’re all sinners who fall short of the glory of God.  Sometimes we make excuses for our sins, of course.  We say things like, well, after all, nobody’s perfect.  Well, after all, I’m only human.  Well, after all, I’m doing the best I can.  I may not be perfect, but you know, I’m pretty good.  I’m a lot better than some people I know, I can tell you that.  So, you know, I don’t really need to worry about my sins too much.  Sure, I should ask God for forgiveness, and I do--once in a while--but it’s not really any big deal.  I can just keep doing what I’m doing.

            Now, I’m not saying we should constantly beat ourselves up.  We don’t need to walk around with our heads down, feeling nothing but shame and sadness.  But we should not ignore our sins, either.  Nor should we treat them as if they were no big deal.  Because they are a big deal.  Our salvation and eternal life may depend on how we deal with our sins.

            And you say, but wait a minute.  I thought we were saved by faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior.  I’ve heard you say that any number of times.  And I do have faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior.  Jesus died so my sins could be forgiven.  So why do I have to worry about all this “sin” stuff?

            Well, we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ.  But faith in Jesus Christ means actually following Jesus Christ.  And following Jesus Christ means actually doing the things that Jesus told us to do.  

            Remember all the times when Jesus would tell someone their sins were forgiven?  It happens over and over in the gospels.  And it’s an awesome thing when Jesus does that.  We read those passages, and we put ourselves in the place of those people.  We say, yes, our sins are forgiven!  But then, remember what Jesus would always say after that?  This is the part we tend to forget about.  After telling someone their sins were forgiven, Jesus would say something else.  He would say, “Go, and sin no more.”

            You see, if we say we have faith in Jesus Christ, but we don’t allow that faith to impact our life in any meaningful way, how real is our faith?  Can we really say that we have faith in Jesus if the way we live is pretty much the same as it would be if we did not have that faith?  

            And I want to make clear, I’m not saying this in an accusatory way.  It is not for me to judge anyone’s faith other than my own.  And I know I often fall far short of what I should be.  I have a plank in my own eye to take care of before I start looking for specks in anyone else’s eye.

            But the point is that we are all sinners.  We all have things that make us stumble.  And we need to deal with those things.  Because in our reading for today, Jesus makes it clear that our stumbles are pretty serious.

            Think about what he says.  Jesus says that if it’s our hand, or our foot, that’s causing us to stumble, that’s causing us to sin, we should cut it off and throw it away!  Jesus says if our eye causes us to stumble, if our eye causes us to sin, we should gouge it out and throw it away!

            That’s pretty extreme, right?  To cut off your hand or your foot?  To gouge out your eye?  Did Jesus really mean that literally?

            Well, I don’t know that Jesus actually expected anyone to do that.  After all, as far as we know, none of his disciples cut off their hands or their feet or gouged out their eyes, and they had to be sinners, too, just like we all are.  But Jesus was trying to make a point.  His point was that, as bad as it would be to lose a hand or a foot or an eye, it would be even worse to be thrown into the fire of hell.  And so, whatever it is in our lives that is causing us to stumble, that’s causing us to sin, we need to get rid of it.  We need to do everything we can to get rid of everything we can that causes us to stumble and to sin.

            So, what is it for you?  And what is it for me?  What is it that’s causing you and me to stumble?  What is it that’s causing you and me to sin?

            I don’t know the answer for you.  I don’t know the full answer for me.  I know that for me, and I suspect for a lot of others, selfishness and self-centeredness enter into it.  I know that for, and I suspect for a lot of others, arrogance enters into it.  Now, maybe those things enter into it for you.  Maybe for you it’s something else.  Again, I don’t know what it is for you.  Each of us needs to look at ourselves and our own lives to figure out what it is that’s causing us to stumble and sin.

            But of course, just figuring out what it is, is not enough.  That’s just the start, really.  Once we figure out what’s causing us to stumble and to sin, then we need to do something about it.  We need to repent of our sins.  We need to confess our sins to God and ask for God’s help to stop committing those sins.  And then, we need to put as much effort as we can to actually stop committing those sins.

            Because it takes both.  We cannot, of our own accord, just decide that we’re going to stop sinning.  At least, I cannot.  And I don’t know anyone else who can, either.  We can maybe make a few improvements at the margins.  We can, maybe, pick out one or two things about our lives to work on and improve.  But if we’re really going to stop stumbling, if we’re really going to change our lives, we cannot do it by ourselves.  We need the help of God.

            But at the same time, we need to do our part.  God could change us without our help and even without our consent.  After all, God is all-powerful.  God can do anything.  But God does not work that way.  God does not force us to do things or not do things.  God may give us some nudges sometimes.  And in fact, sometimes those nudges get fairly forceful.  But God does not force us.  Yes, we need God’s help, but we also need to take action ourselves.

            And we need to do more than take action.  We need to have desire.  We need to have a real, true desire to change.  We need to have the determination to stop stumbling, to stop sinning.  We need to be committed to changing our lives and getting rid of those things that are causing us to stumble.

            So the question is, will you and I make that commitment?  Do we have that determination?  Are you and I willing to do whatever it takes to get rid of whatever it is that is causing us to stumble, to get it out of our lives?  No matter what the cost?

            Because that last question is really the tricky one, isn’t it?  “No matter what the cost.”  Another way of asking that, really, is “how seriously do you and I take this?”  Do you and I really believe that our eternal life depends on this?  Do you and I really believe that, if we don’t get rid of whatever it is that’s causing us to stumble, we could be thrown into the fire of hell?

            Those are not easy questions.  As I said, most of us can get really good at excusing our sins.  I know I can.  And again, I’m not suggesting that you and I should beat ourselves up and hang our heads in shame and live our lives in guilt and fear.  But I think we do need to take this seriously.  After all, we’re talking about the words of Jesus.  If we’re going to consider ourselves Christians, we need to take Jesus’ words seriously.

            Each of us has something in our lives that’s causing us to stumble.  It may be several things.  What is it for you?  Are we willing to confess it to God?  Are we willing to ask God to help us get rid of it?  And are we willing to do whatever we need to do to get rid of it, too?

            Let’s make our faith real.  Let’s stop stumbling.  Let’s walk confidently, with the help of the Lord God.