Pastor’s Note

Dear Saints,

It’s tempting to downplay today’s Gospel as mere symbolism - to remain aloof from and perhaps a bit bemused at Jesus’s rhetorical flourish. And to be sure, no one should go home and cut off a hand or foot or pluck out an eye. But to diminish or devalue his warning would be deadly.

Our hands might not literally cause us to sin, but what do we grab and grasp for? Whatever it is - wealth, pleasure, prestige, even a relationship - if we’re terrified of living without it, better to let it go altogether. Our feet might not literally cause us to sin, but where does our chosen path lead? If we’re not going Jesus’s way of sacrificial love, better to abandon course completely than take even one step further. Our eyes might not literally cause us to sin, but what shiny objects have caught our attention? If we’re preoccupied by anything other than God’s will, better to turn our backs on the distraction entirely.

Today’s message is a hard one. It means decisively relinquishing the things we most value. But that’s exactly the point: it’s because we idolize them that we are in danger of spiritual annihilation from them. Jesus speaks bluntly because the reality is just that stark. Unless and until we desire the possession of nothing but God, our lives will end in the possession of nothing.

Christ’s Peace,

Father Daniel

δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ