Stumbling Blocks

In tomorrow's Gospel reading Jesus says,

If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.

In a sermon on this passage Sticking Close to the Center I said,

Jesus is not advising us to start strapping millstones around our necks and take a flying leap into the sea. Jesus is showing how serious it is when we cause a fellow Christian to stumble in their walk of faith. Rather than choosing to leap into the sea with a great millstone tied to our necks, Jesus was kind of hoping we might decide not to cause one another to stumble in our faith....

I think Jesus is challenging those who follow him to consider the costs of discipleship. Jesus is not holding out a cheap grace in which following him leaves our lives unchanged. Instead, Jesus is suggesting that we might have to make some changes that cost us dearly, as dearly as losing a limb. And further, the cost will not be the same for everyone, for each of us has different things that cause us to stumble....

Jesus warns that whatever it is that causes you to stumble, whatever it is that leads you further from God rather than closer to God, whatever those unwholesome, unhealthy influences are, you are going to need to cut yourself off from those influences or you may find your whole self lost body and soul.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor + King of Peace Episcopal Church