Fourth Discourse in Matthew: Stumbling Blocks

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. Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes! ~ Matthew 18:6-7
These children that come at you with knives--they are your children. You taught them. I didn't teach them. I just tried to help them stand up. ~ Charles Manson

Maybe you know the names Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Leslie Van Houten, Clem Grogan, and Patricia Krenwinkel. I think at some point I had heard of some of them, but they weren't as engraved in my memory as the name Charles Manson.

 On the nights of August 8th and 9th in 1969, a group of Charles Manson's followers, on his orders, committed unspeakably violent murders in Hollywood in the households of the actress Sharon Tate, and supermarket executive, Leno LaBianca.

 Charles Manson didn't lift a knife against them, but died in prison forty-eight years later after receiving a sentence of life without parole.

 And he's the one we remember.

 The rest don't get a pass for their crimes. They weren't the victims. They were free to not follow Manson.

 But in the end, they had the bear the stumbling block Manson put around their neck.

 And maybe other stumbling blocks had been put around their necks from other places. What had they been taught up until that point?

 When I was discerning my call to ministry, this quote from Jesus was the one that gave me the most pause. Remembering that this passage is Jesus cautioning his disciples - and was used as a caution for the early Christian community - made me aware that it was the one I knew I needed to take seriously before I entered into service for the Church. It was a big responsibility.


 I have to take seriously everything I say and do in my life and my faith because anything I say and do can have ramifications beyond what I can imagine.

 My words and actions have consequences not simply for me, but for anyone who I teach or preach to. I'm going to stumble, but I really, really don't want to be the cause of anyone else doing so.

 So where's the grace here? For those of us who teach, it's tough stuff.

 But it also is something that gives us an expectation of hope. We know that the Word of God is good. 

 And that the teachings of Jesus are meant to bring life.
Meditation: Have their been times in your life where you felt as if someone was trying to lead you astray?








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