January 23, 2005 - Lesson: Matthew 18.6-9

Sermon Title: Millstones and Stumbling Blocks

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INTRODUCTION:

Lyrics: Nobody Knows the Trouble That I've Seen

{verse 1)
Nobody knows the trouble that I've seen
Nobody knows my sorrow
Nobody knows the trouble that I've seen
Glory Hallelujah
-repeat verse-

Sometimes I'm up and sometimes I'm down
Yes lord, you know sometimes I'm almost to the ground
O yes, Lord, still
-verse 1-

You got here before I do
O yes Lord, don't forget to tell all my friends I'm coming too

O yes Lord, still
-verse 1-

  1. Trouble, we live in a word of hurt as well as help!

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MAIN BODY:

  1. Jesus said emphatically: "Occasions for stumbling are bound to come."

    1. This is another way of saying that we live in a world that is full of trouble.

    2. On a bulletin board outside a church, there was a sign which read:

"If you have troubles, come in and tell us about them. If you have none, come in and tell us how you do it."

    1. Listen to the first part of the lyrics to: Life Is Hard (God Is Good) by Pam Thum

You turn the key
Then close the door behind you
Drop your bags on the floor
You reach for the light
But there's darkness deep inside
And you can't take it anymore

'Cause sometimes living takes the life out of you
And sometimes living is all you can do

Life is hard, the world is cold
We're barely young and then we're old
But every falling tear is always understood
Yes, life is hard...

    1. Just about the time you're thinking you had a really bad day, think of Swedish business consultant Ulf af Trolle.

Ulf af Trolle, labored 13 years on a book about Swedish economics, the problems and the solutions. He took his 250-page manuscript to be copied, only to have it reduced -- to 50,000 strips of paper. A worker confused the copier with the shredder.

    1. George S. Gibson, "The Heart-cries of Tortured Faith," writes: (1)

Two quotations I noted at the time of reading a book, the title of which I have forgotten, put it thus:

"In what other book will you find such an ungodly company of vicious scoundrels as you find in the New Testament? ... All the evils that make men cynical are in that book .... Christianity was suckled in adversity; it was cradled in pain. At the heart of its book and its gospel is a good man crowned with thorns, nailed to a cross, with a spear wound in his side." The New Testament offers no retreat from life's grim realities. Whatever is the secret of Christianity's survival, it is certainly not the absence of trouble!

    1. Are you now on overload and really desirous of some relief.

      1. Well hang in there.

      2. It is coming, a little later, but it is coming.

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  1. Jesus also said: Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks!

    1. Woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes!

      1. This ought to get our attention.

      2. It is a primary exclamation of grief.

      3. Wo!--Or, alas! ïõáé. It is the opinion of some eminent critics, that this word is ever used by our Lord to express sympathy and concern.

      4. Sympathy and concern for those who responsible for being or becoming a stumbling block.

    2. 6"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 fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea.

      1. This is not a pleasant picture.

      2. It is a necessary one.

      3. Again, it get's one's attention.

      4. No one would deliberately choose such a fate.

    3. To avoid the millstone, Jesus offers some candid council

8"If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire.

      1. This is an Eastern way of illustrating a significant point.

      2. To us it sees extreme.

      3. All Jesus is saying is what is the most important?

      4. Hell fire is waiting for the unsuspecting, irreverent, and impeachable.

  1. How may we turn stumbling blocks into stepping stones?

    1. One of the stumbling blocks is Allurements (Entice, Bait, Come On's)

In a modern parable, the story is told of a community of people who lived on a stretch of dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occurred. Eventually, some of the townspeople decided to put some time and effort and money into a rescue operation. A small life-saving station was built and the devoted members of the rescue team kept an ongoing watch over the sea, ready to use their little boat to search for survivors in case of a shipwreck. As the result of this volunteer operation, the town became famous because of the many lives that were saved.

More and more people joined and became part of the team. Soon a new building was erected. It was much larger than the first little building and it was beautifully furnished and decorated. And as more and more amenities were added for the members' pleasure and comfort, the new building was slowly transformed into a kind of clubhouse. As a result, some of the members began to lose interest in the rescue operation.

But then a shipwreck occurred and many survivors were rescued and brought into the clubhouse for first aid. During the period of the operation which lasted for several days, the frenzied activity caused the attractive clubhouse to be considerably marred by such things as bloodstains on the lush carpeting. At the next meeting there was a split in the membership. Most members felt that the life-saving operation was a hindrance to the social life of the organization. Those who disagreed were told that they could build another little station further down the coast. And, as the years went by, history continued to repeat itself. Today, so the story goes, that seacoast has a number of exclusive clubhouses dotting the shore - but no one in the area seems to be concerned with rescue operations.

      1. Turning the tables, remember what is the mission?

      2. What is the need?

      3. Who else is going to do it?

      4. Avoid the following:

      1. Erwin M. Soukup has compiled what he terms "The Seven Steps to Stagnation": (2)

          1. We've never done it that way before.

          2. We're not ready for that.

          3. We are doing all right without trying that.

          4. We tried it once before.

          5. We don't have money for that.

          6. That's not our job.

          7. Something like that can't work.

          8. Soukup admits that "there's probably an eighth step, but we've never looked it up before."

    1. Temptation (Lure, Induce)

      1. Here's an illustration from the movie "The Aviator," courtesy of MovieMinistry.com:

    After months, and hundreds of thousands of dollars, Howard Hughes is about to climb aboard his experimental airplane and attempt to break the air speed record.

    Hughes is getting ready to start the test, and one of his engineers is explaining the rules to him. The engineer tells Hughes that in order to decrease the weight, and allow the plane to fly faster; they have only put in enough fuel for Hughes to make two passes at the airfield. The flight must be carefully controlled, or the plane will run out of gas and Hughes will crash and possibly die.

    Hughes appears to understand the instructions. He gets into the plane and the engines are fired up. He catapults into the sky and is immediately absorbed into the flight, exhilarated by the speed. He makes one pass, and then another--each pass faster than the previous pass. Instead of landing, however, he chooses to go for a third pass--and in doing so, breaks the air speed record. He also, of course, runs out of fuel, just as he was told he would, and has to ditch the plane in a beet field. Hughes is injured in the landing, and the plane is completely destroyed.

        1. You pay attention to the gages of life.

        2. When you need to, you stop for gas.

        3. How many times can you run out of gas before you learn to pay attention?

    1. Persuasions (Flatter, Influence, Seduce)

      1. The seduction is to water down the Gospel.

    We have psychologized the gospel, says William Willimon of Duke University, "turned it into a feeling, transformed the kingdom of God into a mood." We have deluded ourselves into thinking that the Messiah is the great cosmic affirmer of everything we hold dear and of all our illusions.

      1. But Hans Küng reminds us:

        1. "We are to preach metanoia. We must entice people from the world to God.

        2. We are not to shut ourselves off from the world in a spirit of asceticism, but to live in the everyday world inspired by the radical obedience that is demanded by the love of God.

        3. The church must be reformed again and again, converted again and again in each day in order that it may fulfill its task."

    1. Bad Examples.

      1. In Matthew 23:1-5, Jesus speaks about the scribes and Pharisees.

    1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2"The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; 3therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. 4They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. 5They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.

      1. Take time to discover good examples to emulate and the good ones will help you to avoid the bad ones.

    1. Calumnies (Criticisms, Verbal Assaults, Backbiting)

      1. Standing in the Enemy's Shoes: I learned how non-believers feel when they encounter Christianity at its ugliest. By Bob Welch (3)

    In addition to holding down a newspaper job, I was teaching a Reporting 1 class at the University of Oregon when I encountered the most irascible student I've ever taught. She questioned nearly every grade I gave her. She claimed I was not doing enough to help her succeed. She berated me in front of the class. Enough was enough. I asked her to please stay after class.

    "You don't seem to like me," I said. "Can I ask why?"

    "Because you're part of the liberal media," she said. "You've got the rest of the class conned, but not me."

    "And why's that?" I asked, puzzled by what I was hearing.

    "Because I'm a Christian," she said smugly. To which I wanted to say: "Uh, let's just keep that our little secret."

      1. First of all, I do not believe that there is such a thing as constructive criticism.

      2. All criticism is essentially negative. (Suggestions for improvement are generally positive.)

      3. Do I need to own this criticism or not.

      4. Is there something that I need to change.

      5. If I do not need to own this criticism, then do not own it.

      6. Thank the person and be on your way.

    1. Insults (Derision, Disdain, Scorn)

      1. Jonathan Kozol, Ordinary Resurrections, writes about a friend of his: (4)

    A friend of mine in the newspaper world who views religion skeptically, and seems embarrassed when I speak of the beliefs of children in a way that sounds too credulous to him, does what he can to credit me with a degree of rationality. It's nice the way you play along with them, he says -- I'm sure, not meaning to be condescending. It's probably good for kids like them that they believe these things because there may be little else they can believe in.

    It doesn't seem that way to me at all. When children speak of things not seen but which they are convinced they see, I want to see them, too. Theologians use a Latinate and rather fancy term, prevenient grace, to speak of unfamiliar moments such as these. A flash of Easter is the simpler and less imposing way that one religious writer speaks about these moments. I think of them like tiny objects of great value that you'd never find in any store or any library or any university.

      1. There is no sense arguing with this friend.

      2. Simply agreeably disagree.

    1. Persecutions (Afflict, Harass, Torment)

    One of the great stories of faith is the story of Ruby Bridges. Robert Coles, who has written so much about the development of children, has written a great deal about Ruby Bridges. He met her when she was a 6-year-old girl. She was African-American. She was allowed to attend a public school. But every day as she went to school, she had to pass through rows of adults screaming threats and insults at her. Coles and others notice a that every day as she went through the rows of screaming adults, protected by federal marshals, you could sometimes see her lips moving. Coles discovered Ruby was praying. She was praying for strength to endure the abuse, and she was praying to God to forgive the people yelling at her. (5)

      1. A 6-year-old girl got it.

      2. She understood how to be receptive to God.

      3. She knew if she trusted in God and sought what God could give her, God would see her trust as a green light and God would come to her and come into her life with strength and grace.

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CONCLUSION:

  1. Listen now to all the lyrics of a song: Life Is Hard (God Is Good)
    by Pam Thum

    2. You turn the key
    Then close the door behind you
    Drop your bags on the floor
    You reach for the light
    But there's darkness deep inside
    And you can't take it anymore

    'Cause sometimes living takes the life out of you
    And sometimes living is all you can do

    Life is hard, the world is cold
    We're barely young and then we're old
    But every falling tear is always understood
    Yes, life is hard, but God is good

    You start to cry
    'Cause you've been strong for so long
    And that's not how you feel
    You try to pray
    But there's nothing left to say
    So you just quietly kneel

    In the silence of all that you face
    God will give you His mercy and grace

    Jesus never said
    It was an easy road to travel
    He only said that you would never be alone
    So when your last thread of hope
    Begins to come unraveled
    Don't give up, He walks beside you
    On this journey home and He knows

    Life is hard, the world is cold
    We're barely young and then we're old
    But every falling tear is always understood
    Yes, life is hard, but God is good

  1. Life is hard, but God is good.

  2. And if we forget, remember millstones and stumbling blocks.    

1. George S. Gibson, "The Heart-cries of Tortured Faith," The Expository Times 96 (Fall 1985), 142-143.

2. Quoted by Martin E. Marty in Context, 15 April 85, 5.

3. ChristianityToday.com Connection-HTML [connection-html@lists.christianitytoday.com]

4. Jonathan Kozol, Ordinary Resurrections (New York: Crown Publishers, 2000), 78-79.

5. Laird J. Stuart, "Receiving Christians," January 20, 2002, Calvary Presbyterian Church Web Site, Calvarypresbyterian.org.

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