Avoiding Hand, Foot and Eye Disease

A sermon delivered to All Saints Anglican Church on September 27th, 2009 at St. Mary's Medical Center Convent Chapel, Huntington, WV, and based on Mark 9:38-48.

O be careful little hands what you do
O be careful little hands what you do
There's a Father up above
And He's looking down in love
So, be careful little hands what you do.

O be careful little feet where you go
O be careful little feet where you go
There's a Father up above
And He's looking down in love
So be careful little feet where you go.

O be careful little eyes what you see
O be careful little eyes what you see
There's a Father up above
And He's looking down in love
So be careful little eyes what you see

The Bible tells us in Psalm 139:14, that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made." God has created our human body with amazing capabilities - which correspond perfectly to the physical world we live in. He's given us eyes to see the beauty around - two eyes, in fact, so that we can see in stereo and judge distances correctly. Eyes that can look around to see good things to eat, beauty to behold, and dangers to avoid. Our eyes are miracles of design and function, and glories which speak of the creative power of our God.

Our hands feature an opposable thumb - perhaps one of the key things that distinguish us from the animals - especially those found in Gary Larsen's cartoons.

And our feet are marvelously constructed so that we can walk upright, run and jump with amazing dexterity.

The members of our physical body work together for the good of the whole body; any impairment in one part affects the whole. (cf. Rom. 12:5; I Cor. 12:12). Jesus uses the metaphor of body parts in our Gospel lesson today, warning us that if our hands or feet or eyes cause us to stumble, we should cut them off or pluck them out in order to avoid hell. Since this is alarming thing to think about, the title of today's message is "Avoiding Hand Foot and Eye Disease".

The Bigger Picture
As we begin, let's think of the larger context of this passage.
In Mark 8:31-9:1, Jesus is talking to the disciples about his impending death.
He admonishes them that: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.

He's getting ready to go to Jerusalem and face the cross. Six days later he goes up on the mountain and is Transfigured (9:2-13) - again in preparation for his death. He comes down off the mountain of transfiguration and is immediately confronted with the disciples inability to exorcise a demonized boy (9:14-29) and he again warns of his upcoming death (9:30-32).
The disciples argue about who is the greatest in the kingdom (9:33-37) and Jesus shows them a child and tells them that "If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” ... and that “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me...(37).

Ever astute, the disciples ask about someone casting out a demon in Jesus' name and again, Jesus makes reference to 'the little ones who believe in my name', warning that whoever causes such a one to sin would be better off if he were thrown into the sea.

So the big picture is about Death: what Jesus' death will accomplish,what we have to do to avoid eternal death, and what it is that ultimately pleases God.

Jesus speaks about cutting off your hand or your foot and of plucking out your eye - but this is clearly not literal. As he does so often, he is speaking metaphorically, using the offending members as examples of bigger issues in our lives. So, let's look at the Hand, the Foot and the Eye respectively, asking what they represent in our lives with a view towards understanding what we must do to avoid stumbling through them.

Interpreting Symbols
When I was at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, one of the most interesting classes I took was Psychological Testing. In this class, we learned about something called 'Projective Tests' where the subject looks at pictures, tells stories or draws pictures of things, such as a House a Tree or a Person. The idea is that the subject 'projects' themselves into the picture or story. The job of the tester is then to interpret the meaning of the symbols projected. In order to help interpret the test, we had to look in a handbook that gave us suggested meanings as deduced through research into these tests.

For example, when interpreting a drawing of a person, we consider how old the draw-er is, whether they have included all the parts of the body, whether any parts of the body are exaggerated, whether there are marks or wounds on the body, and what kind of story the draw-er tells about the figure they have drawn. You collect your observations and you look in the handbook, which gives you various suggestions based on research findings. Then, using that information, you develop your hypothesis about what is going on with the person you are evaluating.

Hands
Broadly speaking, hands represent Power to interact with the physical world - how much power I think I have, whether that power is in proportion to my ability and my surroundings, and whether or not I have a realistic assessment of my relative power. Hands also represent our Work or our labors in life, especially for the Lord.

Once, many years ago, I was working with a four year old boy. He was fascinated by the Hulk comic character. In his play, he would imitate the Hulk and stomp around the room exclaiming in a deep voice, "I am the Hulk. I weigh four-hundred pounds and I can crush you!" Not surprisingly, when he drew a person, it looked like the Hulk and it had HUGE hands. This little boy came from a troubled family situation, where things were pretty chaotic and he was powerless to change things. In his drawings and fantasy play, he was projecting power that he wished he had.

"If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off." How can our hands cause us to stumble? Basically through various forms of injustice, such as:

Grabbing what is not ours: Genesis 3:22:Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” Adam and eve reached out to take what wasn't theirs and people have been stealing ever since.

Physical Violence: Genesis 16:12
He [Ishmael] shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.”

Presumptuous Self-Sufficiency: as in our reading from James 4:13-17:
... “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. ...you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting [in the work of your hands] is evil."

Sloth or Inactivity: Proverbs 6:10
"A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest..."
We stumble through our hands when we work unjustly against others, or when we fail to work for righteousness, prompting James (5:6) to conclude: ..."whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin". So it is with the sins of the Hand

The Foot: Represents freedom, mobility, the power to run from harm and to walk with the Lord.
St. Benedict describes what he called 'Gyrovagues', which is a made-up word consisting of Latin for 'circle' combined with Greek for 'wander'. Literally, people who wander around in circles. Their feet wander from place to place, always restless, never submitting to a settled way of life, running away from problems, not being accountable to anyone; being licentious, refusing to stay put.

It reminds me of the Glenn Campbell song, "Gentle on My Mind":
"It's knowing that your door is always open
And your path is free to walk
That makes me tend to leave my sleeping bag rolled up
and stashed behind your couch
And it's knowing I'm not shackled
By forgotten words and bonds
And the ink stains that have dried upon some line
That keeps you in the backroadsBy the rivers of my mem'ryThat keeps you ever gentle on my mind..."

She's so gentle on his mind, that he feels no need to actually live with her!
Our feet can cause us to wander off the path and stop walking with others and with the Lord.

Eye
Jesus said that the "eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light," Matthew 6:22. The eye speaks of the ability to see what is right, to look beneath the surface of things to the truth beneath, and the ability to catch a vision of what God would have us to do in life.

By contrast:
The devil tempted Eve by appealing to her eyes, or her desire for spiritual understanding and power: "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:5)
..." when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths" (Gen. 3:6,7).

Sin entered the world through the lust of the eyes, through desire for what is seen.

1John 2:15-17 warns:
"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.". Jesus spoke in parables that the wicked might see but not perceive (Mark 4:12). The eye needs to be connected with the heart to work correctly.

The Eye can betray Pride: Proverbs 21:4:
"Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, are sin."
Through our eyes, we can judge others hypocritically: "Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?" Luke 6:41.
So, then, the eye causes us to stumble through Unrighteous Desire - which in turn leads us to Pride, Greed and Lust and Hypocrisy.
What should we do instead?

Hands:
Cleanse your hands and purify your heart so that you can resist the Devil", says James (4:8). Another way to say this is to humble yourselves and draw near to God. Let Him convict you of sin; ask for forgiveness when you are wrong, and keep a clear conscience with God.
Ecclesiates 9:10: "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might..."
Colossians 3:23: "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men"...
Use your hands to work for God, who is your real boss, no matter who you work for.

Feet:
Walk with the Lord. Deuteronomy 5:33 says: "You shall walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you, and that you may live long in the land that you shall possess."

Colossians 1:10: "... walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."

Micah 6:8: He has told you, O man, what is good;and what...the Lord require[s] of you: ... to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

God is your Creator. He loves you and wants to have a daily relationship with you. The right use of your feet is to walk with God day in and day out.

The Eyes:
Let the commandment of the Lord give light to the eyes, says the Psalmist (19:8,)
Use your eyes to see the Truth of God; let God show you his truth by pondering his commandments and by reading His Word daily.

Look unto Jesus, Fix your eyes on Him as the author and perfecter of your faith (Hebrews 12:2). Don't trust in anything else: money, houses, cars, stock portfolios, or other people. Jesus alone is our Savior. Everything else is "wood, hay and stubble" (1 Cor 3:12), unreliable and unsatisfying in the end.

Be Like Simeon who was able to say at the end of his life:
Lord, you now have set your servant free. For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see - a Light to enlighten the nations and the glory of your people Israel. Luke 2:29-32.

Summary:
Take care with your hands, your feet and your eyes. The Father up above is looking down in love, for as the Psalmist sings, his love and His commandments are :

More to be desired are they than gold,
more than much fine gold, *
sweeter far than honey,
than honey in the comb.
By them also is your servant enlightened, *
and in keeping them there is great reward (Psalm 19:10,11).
AMEN.