10/15/06 - Pentecost 19 - Mark 9:38-50

CLEAN OUT THE FRIDGE
- Throw out the spoiled sins
- Preserve your faith

Every once in a while, my wife and I have the unattractive and disgusting job of cleaning out the fridge. It’s a common job that everyone has to do. Everyone knows what it’s like: You put leftovers in there or things that you plan on eating in the next couple days - but then you forget about them. And they sit there and they sit there and they sit there. And soon enough, half the fridge is filled with things that are out of date or moldy or spoiled. And it comes to a point where you just have to bite the bullet and clean out the entire fridge. Get rid of all the spoiled food to make room for the good.
This task, this chore can be applied to our spiritual lives too. Because in our text today, Mark 9:38-50, Jesus tells us to basically clean out the fridge. Get rid of all those spoiled sins so that you can preserve your faith. And just like cleaning out a regular fridge, it’s not always fun, it’s not always easy, it’s not something that you look forward to doing. But it is necessary. It is essential for us to do this every day of our lives.
“If your hand causes you to sin, 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 sin, 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 sin, 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.” These are very strong words from the Lord. He wants us to take sin seriously. He wants us to get rid of sin completely. And it’s not as if you are to actually cut off your hand if you steal or actually pluck out your eye if you covet. After all, your hand doesn’t really cause you to sin, you sin using your hand. But the point Jesus is making is clear: get rid of the sin that entangles you. Your eternal life is at stake.
Of course, that means being able to identify what those sins are, being able to figure out what you have to personally get rid of in the first place. This is going to take some work. Cleaning out your fridge is not pleasant. You’re going to have to take some time, you’re going to have to dig into the back corners, you’re going to have to open some containers that you don’t want to touch. But it must be done. And I can’t do it for you. You’ve got to do it yourself.
Check in the back of your fridge. Do you have to get rid of that rotting sin of complaining? Do you gripe about things that the Lord is in control of? Do you whine about things that don’t go your way? Take that sin out and throw it away. Now dig a little deeper. Do you have to get rid of the moldy sin of jealousy? Are you bitter that someone seems to have a better life than you? Do you dislike a person for what they have? Take that sin out and throw it away. Now dig even deeper. Do you have to get rid of that spoiled sin of holding a grudge? Are you refusing to forgive that person? Are you not taking their actions in the kindest possible way? Grab that container, pry open the lid, and throw that sin away! What else is in there? What particular sin do you have to personally get rid of? What sins have you kept in your fridge far too long? Get rid of all those sins because they are spoiled, they are rotten, and they are taking up precious space in your heart and soul.
And realize this is not a one time job. This is an every day task. This is a constant cleaning. This is a constant throwing away. And when we do take out those sins and throw them away, we don’t throw them in the trash and try to forget about them. When we throw our sins away we repent of those sins. We confess our sins, plead for the Lord’s mercy, and throw them at the foot of the cross where they are forgiven. That’s the reason Jesus hung there. To suffer for your sins, to be forsaken by his Father for your sins, to forgive your sins. To forgive mine. I must constantly unload my spoiled and rotten sins at his feet because I constantly sin. It’s a continual process of repenting - admitting my sins and asking for mercy - and it’s a continual process of the Lord’s forgiveness. Time and time again, no matter how many sins we lay at his feet, he takes them all, he pays for them all, and offers us free and full forgiveness for them all. No questions asked. No reservations. Just forgiveness every time. Because that’s what God promises. That’s what Christ does.
It is a relief for us as Christians to clean out those sins, repenting of them, and receiving forgiveness. There is nothing else quite like that in this life. And we will receive a tangible, visible, edible form of that in the Lord’s Supper. Forgiveness of sins through the same body and blood that died on the cross. What a blessing that is! What forgiveness in so many different ways!
But as we stand before the altar today rejoicing because we are able to lay all those sins at the foot of the cross, don’t stop there. Because when we have thrown out those sins by confessing them to the Lord, it is also necessary to preserve what remains. That is: our faith. “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” These words of Jesus may seem like a strange ending to the section of Scripture before us today, but it really does fit together. Back in Jesus’ time, and not too long ago in this country, salt was used for more than just a seasoning. Its main use was to preserve foods. And without the luxury of fridges and freezers back at that time, salt was a very important commodity. So when Jesus urges us to have salt in ourselves, he’s saying: preserve what you’ve been given. Do not let it spoil. Don’t let it become rotten. And what is that we have been given? Faith. We have been given the gift of faith and we are to do everything we can to preserve it.
There is really only one way. The only way we can preserve our faith is through the Word. We must live in the Word if we don’t want our faith to spoil. Because only through God’s Word as it is recorded for us in Scripture does the Holy Spirit promise to work in our hearts and strengthen our faith in the Savior. Psalm 119 explains how important the Word of God is: “Do good to your servant according to your word, O Lord; teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I believe in your commands. Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word… It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.”
And I’ve said it before, I’ll say again today, and I’ll keep on saying it until you’re sick of hearing it from me: make time for Bible Study. Why do I keep pushing that? I’m not going to get anything out of you coming. I don’t get paid more, I don’t look better… it is simply for your own good. I want you to grow in faith. And I know you will grow in faith in Bible Study. That is where we hear the Word and dig into the Word and are comforted in the Word together. Today after church, Wednesday night at 7, any other time of the week that you want to study Scriptures - you tell me - I will make time for that. It is the most important thing you can do to preserve your faith. Actually, living in God’s Word is the only thing you can do.
I also hope you read your Bible on a regular basis. If not you are missing out and your faith is in danger of spoiling. And I’ll just point out again the daily Bible reading sheets on the back counter. Pick one of those up, make time for the Word, preserve what you’ve been given by letting the Holy Spirit do his work and strengthen that faith.
And when your faith is being preserved, when you are in the Word, it will show. And that’s how Jesus ends his mini-sermon here to us. He says, “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” Being at peace with each other means that we get along when we don’t really want to. Being at peace with each other means taking other’s words and actions in the kindest possible way. Being at peace with each other means that we go out of our way to help another person even when they don’t deserve it. Being at peace with each other means being patient. And ya know what? I think lately we’ve been doing a pretty good job of that. We have. I’m impressed at the way we’ve been at peace with each other! Keep up the good work! It’s a beautiful thing when the Lord allows a congregation to be at peace. And the only way we can continue to be at peace with each other is if we have salt in ourselves, if our faith is being preserved by the Word.
In a couple weeks we have our joint Reformation service at St. Paul’s in Grand Junction at 4 in the afternoon. I would love to see all of you there so that we can worship the Lord again with our fellow believers. Please don’t miss this opportunity if you at all possible. But the reason I’m bringing it up in this sermon is because I’m preaching at the service. And the text I have decided to preach on is from 2 Chronicles chapter 34. In that chapter the Book of the Law - which was God’s Word recorded up to that time - was found in the temple. It had not been read for years before that. When the king at that time, Josiah, heard what was in God’s Word he tore his robes, repented of his sins, removed all the idols from the land, and began to follow the Lord and what was in his Word. Josiah cleaned out the fridge. He got rid of all those spoiled sins in Israel and preserved the faith of the nation through the Word. And “as long as he lived,” Scripture says, “they did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their Fathers.” I pray that the Lord moves us to act like Josiah every day: that we remove our sins, confess our sins, and constantly cling to the Word for our Savior and our forgiveness.
Amen.

“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
- 1 Thess. 5:23