The Tree House

First Lesson: Esther 7: 1-6, 9-10; 9: 20-22
Responsive Reading: Psalm 124
Second Lesson: James 5: 13-20
Gospel Lesson: Mark 9: 38-50

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Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
​
“Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example[1].”-Mark Twain

The year was 1988.  I was eight years old; third grade would be starting in one month.  My Dad and a buddy had recently built a treehouse that stood several feet off the ground.  Dad being responsible had attached a ladder for safe travel up and down.  The treehouse soon became a hang out for kids from my neighborhood (Danny, Tommy, Ben, Ira, and I).  We were all about to start the third grade.  Pretty soon though a few of my friends noticed something about the ladder, it wasn’t very exciting to climb down.  You don’t want to be goody-two-shoes heading into third grade.  So they began jumping down from the treehouse.  Whereas I listened intently to my parents instructions, to always take the ladder.  This went on seemingly the whole summer.  Friends would jump down, and I alone would take the ladder.  So eventually my friends start getting on my case about this.  I keep taking the ladder, until one day.  One day I was going to jump, just like they jumped.  I had seen them jump dozens of times safely without incident.  So I leapt in the air to jump down from the treehouse.  The rest of the night was spent in the emergency room at the Chisago Lakes medical center with Dr. Overgaard.  My leg was broken.  I would spend my first three months of third grade in either a cast transported by crutches or a walking bone.  My friend's example had led me astray and I had paid the consequences for it. 

In Today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus declares: “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea[2].”
These words speak to the power of one’s good example.  Ed Markquart describes reading an article about a pastor and protestant congregation in Ireland[3].  Ireland has been marked with generations of strife between Protestants and Catholics.  So the Pastor will preach to the parents all the reasons for the strife.  The parents will then go home and instruct the children why they are to oppose Roman Catholics.  The children, in turn, will throw bricks throw Catholic homes[4].  So what these examples teach is that hatred, violence, and prejudice for generations are justified if one has a good excuse.  Perhaps Jesus’ words then make a bit more sense: “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea[5].”

The third example, last winter the Silver Bay Girls Basketball team was playing in McGregor.  It was a tight back and forth game.  McGregor had some fans who every time, Silver Bay would dribble up and down the court would yell at our small, short guards that they were committing some violation that should lead to a turnover.  I could tell by the second half that the girls were getting bothered by this harassing.

So I was going to make a point.  Next time, McGregor dribbles the ball up the court, I start shouting “carry” over and over.  A ‘carry’ is a violation that would lead to a turnover in Basketball, even though everyone in the gym knew McGregor was doing no such thing.  A couple of our high school boys watching chimed in the same.

The offending McGregor fans were then quiet for the rest of the game.  Luke Thun was the Silver Bay assistant coach that night; he turns around, shouts at me then gives the knock it off symbol.  After the game, Luke comes up to me to point out “No matter how bad other fans might be, that doesn’t mean we want to set a bad example.”

For even in our own lives, Jesus’ words often apply to those around us “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.”

Today’s Gospel lesson comes to us from Mark 9[6].  It contains some of the most dramatic language of Jesus within all the Christian gospels.

“If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.”

Jesus’ words are a reminder that we will all face temptations in this life[7].  These temptations will hit us in different ways from different angles.  For some of us, we will struggle with alcohol more than others; others might be a temptation towards adultery, others might be inclined to be loose with the tongue through destructive language.

When we give in to temptation it doesn’t merely affect us; it affects those around us, especially the littlest ones among us.  As Ed Markquart points out, little ones doesn’t merely refer to young children it refers to new Christians, the poor and vulnerable of society, even seasoned believers who fall short of what God is calling them to do[8].

Jesus to illustrate the importance of the example, we set for others uses the analogy of a millstone.  Millstones in Jesus day were huge being eight feet in diameter and three feet thick.  They would be hauled by oxen to grind grain[9].  They would weigh well over a ton[10].

Jesus says it would be better to drop with a millstone into the deepest, the middle part of the ocean that causes one of God’s little ones to sin.

The themes of our lesson are carried on a generation later by the Apostle Paul who declares in Romans: “Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. “- Romans 14:13. 

Jesus’ words serve as a powerful example of the judgment that awaits those who carelessly interact with not only the church, but the world around us.

Children learn the faith from their parents, grandparents, friends, and neighbors.  If we deny this responsibility, then we cannot cry out when they walk away from the church.

Examples are often more powerful than we think.  Monterrey, California for many years was a paradise for Pelicans from far and wide[11].  Monterrey had a large commercial fishing base.  So when fish were being cleaned, the residue organ meats would be tossed aside, and the Pelicans would feast.  Eventually, changes to the fishing industry started seeing these pieces be utilized.  The Pelicans feast had come to an end.  The Pelicans because of years of habit would not fish for themselves.  The Pelicans began to starve and die.

Monterrey though eventually thought of a genius solution, they started imported Pelicans from different parts of the country, Pelicans that were used to fishing on their own.  Placing these Pelicans among their starving brethren soon changed everything.  The previously hungry Pelicans came to discover once again, Monterrey as a paradise for them.  All that was needed in the Pelicans case was a good example.  Are humans really any different?

Let me close with one final story, in 1853 Hudson Taylor was a 21-year-old missionary moving to China where few missionaries dared to go[12].  Taylor was one of the first missionaries to venture away from the big cities with their large British populations and journey into China’s interior.

Taylor translated the Bible into Chinese, recruited more missionaries, and founded a  missionary organization within China.  Taylor believed his great calling in life was to bring the Gospel to those in China’s most remote areas who had not heard the Gospel.  Hudson Taylor died in 1905[13].

In 1949, after the Chinese Civil War, the communist People’s Republic of China was born.  Government leaders were seeking to discredit Christianity by going after its greatest missionary within the nation of China.  An author was hired to do a hit piece on Hudson Taylor to paint him and all Christians in a bad light[14].  The author researched and researched.  Eventually, though something stood out about Hudson Taylor that was his example to the little ones around him.  The author eventually decides he cannot do a hit piece on such a man.  To refuse assignment from the Communist government could result in one’s death, yet this didn’t matter.  The author would soon renounce his previous Atheism and become a Christian because of Hudson Taylor’s life a few generations before.

“For whoever is not against us is for us.”- Mark 9:40

We are never perfect examples within this world.  Even Hudson Taylor was in need of God’s grace and forgiveness.  What Jesus’ words remind us of though is the power of our example.  How we will all face grave potentially temptations in this life, yet our example has the power to both give life and death to those around us.  This passage serves as a reminder that our greatest calling as Christian people is not to re-earn the salvation that was previously won for us upon the cross.  Our greatest calling instead is the care of our family and neighbors alike[15].  There is no more powerful form of care than our example.  You might even prevent a broken leg or two because of it.  Amen


[1] Found on Sermon Illustrations on August 22nd, 2018 under example.
[2] Mark 9:42. 
[3] Markquart, Ed. “Millstones.” Sermons from Seattle. Pentecost 17B. Mark 9:42-50, Luke 7:1-4, Matthew 18:6-10. Web. August.22nd.2018. 
[4] Markquart, Ed. “Millstones.” Sermons from Seattle
[5] Mark 9;42
[6] Mark 9:38-50.
[7] Markquart, Ed. “Millstones.” Sermons from Seattle.
[8] Markquart, Ed. “Millstones.” Sermons from Seattle.
[9] Markquart, Ed. “Millstones.” Sermons from Seattle.
[10]
[11] Found on Sermon Illustrations on August 22nd, 2018 under example.
[12] “Hudson Taylor and Missions to China”. Christianity Today. Found on Christian History. No.52 published in 1996.  Web. August.22.2018. 
[13] Hudson Taylor and Missions to China”. Christianity Today. Found on Christian History. No.52 published in 1996.  Web. August.22.2018. 
[14] Found on Sermon Illustrations on August 22nd, 2018 under example
[15] Juel, Donald. H. “Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Mark 9:38-50 (Causing One of These
Little Ones to Stumble.” Word and World. Volume XIV, Number 3. Summer 1994.