Invariably the sermon on Sunday gives me a bit of a problem. It is always a great sermon but I do struggle with some of the concepts in Scriptures. I am never sure when to take things literally.
My Catholic grandson Mike, seems to accept many things I just can’t…and we agree to disagree…you can do that if you truly love someone. He takes transubstantiation literally. I as a Presbyterian think the bread and wine are symbols.
We also disagree about the adoration of Mary. I find little scripture to advise me of many of the things he claims about her and he tells me these are ancient myths that are part of what he believes. Sigh! But we both love the Lord and rejoice in His salvation and you can’t beat that!
Our sermon today from Mark 9:43 advised us to cut off our hands, feet and eyes if they have contributed to our sinning. I wonder if Christ wanted us to take that literally. I hope not or this would be a world made up completely of handicapped persons.
I wonder if He didn’t mean…if your feet are leading you into sin then back off…those Casinos seem innocent but believe me they are not. (They nearly ruined the life of a family I am part of.) And, if your hands are clutching your worldly possessions and causing you to replace the worship of God with the worship of “things”, you need to re-evaluate your priorities.
And those precious things called eyes…how can we possibly treat them except with reverence…they reflect the images of things we love best; our family, friends and God’s creation.
It’s hard to be discerning about what is good and what is evil, what with television and movies and even our computer screen, pushing things in our faces that are not in accordance with God’s will.
In all this the Wisdom of Solomon would be an asset but then even he goofed up.
So I pray. ..”Open my eyes that I might see, glimpses of truth thou hast for me…open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine.” And He listens and He answers.
