We've all been there. We've all been to a place where we are watching what we eat. God's given us this body with abilities that are phenomenal and flawless, and we want to respect it. I mean, how cool is this? (Extend arm out to elbow, drop hand and move hand like a crane of wrecking ball.) You have to admit that, by design, this is pretty ingenious.

We respect the gift of our bodies that God has given us, and, chances are, at one point another, we watch what we eat. Now for us kids, sometimes we are told what we have to eat—and it comes down to an adult saying this:  hey, junior, less candy and more corn, less soda and more salad—and yeah, yuck! So it comes down to all of us—no matter how old we are—we do spend time watching what we eat.

And this has happened to all of us. We've conquered the day. We are pros. At breakfast, the doughnut doesn't get the time of day. Stalwart, (a word we hear far too infrequently) we don't even put sugar in our coffee. And crème, if we even opt for that, is truly some undetermined white stuff.

Speaking of non-fat foods, if you can call non-fat food 'food', we do the super-reduced calorie lunch, snack and dinner and are, by true definition, champions.  And then, low and behold, Jeopardy comes on at 7:30. At first, we don't even notice the restaurant commercials riddling the airways during breaks from the game. And then, by the time Dancing with the Stars or a CSI show comes on, we not only notice restaurant commercials, but also we start to crave what we see. That flame-broiled burger sure looks good.  Those couples sitting around a single table at the Olive Garden, why are they so happy? And when the Friendly's ice cream commercial comes on...we're done.

It's true. We cut calories. Sometimes we cut corners. Politicians cut spending, or try to. We cut our wait time in a grocery store by moving to the check out lane that is empty or less crowded. No one opts to stand behind a man or woman with a cart brimming with groceries in aisle seven when aisle eight is completely open and that clerk, that clerk there looks fast.

Yes, we always try to cut time. Microwaves and dishwashers cut down food prep or clean up in the kitchen. When banking, we use outdoor money access machines or the drive-thru service.

Jesus has words here about cutting. He says to cut things off. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. If you foot causes you to sin, cut it off.

This startling language is not meant to promote self-mutilation, but instead stresses the importance of cutting sin out of your life. At least, that's what scholars say. Yet, here's a question. Did Jesus, the divine that walked over water and cured the incurable with a touch of his hand, mean what he said, or should we listen to scholarship?

Before I was hired as your fulltime minister a year ago, you remember that I wanted you to know who you were hiring, so you could make an effective decision. I shared in the summer of 2008 that I am not a biblical literalist. I do not take everything in the Bible at face value. Like you, I discern what the text means by looking at when it was written and to whom. That's a joy in the UCC. We do not check our brains at the door.

I mention all of this because I think Jesus really is making a strong point here. I don't believe he's going overboard. It's that important. It's that imperative that we get this. If there is a sin in your life, cut it out.

And there is sin in your life.

Let me get to point one for those following along with your sermon notes. If there is sin in your life, cut, cut cut! There are situations or distractions that keep you from God that you create, or continue.

It's true. We talked earlier about the abilities the human body is equipped to do. One of the not so obvious abilities we have is a distancing mechanism. We keep God at bay. Ever-present, God is with us, but we opt not to be with God. Ever-guiding, God directs us, yet we choose too often not to follow. Change that. Change that today. Change that now. As a father in the driver's seat puts his right hand across the seat beside him and looks back at us misguided children in the backseat of the car—and we are all children—he says when we're being bad, 'cut that out!'

Cut that out. Cut whatever is keeping you from God out.

I want someone to be honest here and say that being called a child is a hard pill to shallow. I want someone to say that a disciplining God is not the God I relate to easily because my earthly dad or father-like figure was anything but kind when I was an actual child. God is not your earthly father. God is one who speaks and directs in love.

And he does speak. And he does direct.

Here's a true story. One of us here in the congregation was coming home from work a few nights ago.   As always, this person was wearing their watch and, as they were passing under a very common bridge, the watch suddenly stopped. The battery must have died, the person thought. The night at home wasn't a good one. There were some difficulties, difficulties we all face from time to time, only these seemed acerbated.

Moving this story along, the next morning, this person, out of habit, put their watch on again and didn't think much of it until they noticed at work that the watch was working again.

Oh, yes, sure, it's a sign of a weak and dying watch battery. Of course it is. God has no hand in directing this. The creator of the stars and the ever-expanding universe didn't send a message through that watch telling this person that his or her life was coming to a halt at home. No, God doesn't work that way.

 God did send a message. God is sending us a message. We are simple people. That was a simple message. Our scripture today is a clear, simple message. Cut out what is keeping you from—or distancing you from—God. I do not know the answer to the home life situation this person faces, but God does.

God is asking us to follow. And following takes work, dedication, and faith.

Our first point today is to cut away what keeps you from God, and our second is this. Self-discipline is required of all of God's followers. Take a look at your sermon notes. Self-discipline is required of all of God's followers.

The good news is God loves us. The news is we have to accept and prepare for it,  not just when you're in big trouble with your parents or you've hurt yourself on the playground, not when you're up to bat and it's a crucial inning, not when you're facing something new, different or challenging, but daily. Not mincing words here, Jesus shares through this scripture that painful self-discipline is required of his true followers. Giving up a relationship, a job, or a habit that is against God's will may seem just as painful as cutting off a hand.

But get this. Christ is worth any possible loss or discomfort. Nothing should stand in the way of your faith. Nothing. Everyone will be tested with fire, as verse 49 states. Everyone will have difficulties and trials. During these difficulties and in times of relative calm, we must be ruthless in removing sin from our lives. We must be ruthless in removing sin from our lives.

Consider this. Make choices from an eternal perspective.

When you do, when you embrace God, you'll understand in time, point three today, and that's that God will refine you. That's right. Trust God to refine you.

No one is perfect. Yet God's perfect love surrounds us. God's perfect love encases. God's perfect love fulfills us. All we have to do is allow it to happen. All we have to do is let our internal watch stop so that we can move not on our time, but with God's.

Many working in Susquehanna County—including our students who work in the classrooms at school—have it rough sometimes. The workplace can be hard. Kids face pressures never before known, and jobs today are demanding and stressful, if we even have jobs.

But now and always, God's presence is here. God's direction is here. From our retired seniors to our school students, from the working class here to the widows, God's love is here. Cut things that keep you from God.

A baby was baptized today. Fresh water cleaned away what sins will come. Turn to God now. Be made fresh and new today. If something is keeping you from God, the father, cut that out.