by Rev. Scott Summerville

Jesus said unto him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37

Matthew 18
[1] At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” [2] And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, [3] and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. [4] Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. [5] “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; [6] but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. [7] “Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes! [8] And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. [9] And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire. [10] “See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven. [12] What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? [13] And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. [14] So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. [15] “If your brother or sister sins against you, go and tell that person their fault, between you and that person alone. If they listen to you, you have gained your brother or your sister. [16] But if they does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. [17] If your sister or brother refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, let them be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. [18] Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. [19] Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. [20] For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” [21] Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”[22] Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.

Has anyone ever told you that you have three brains? If you are not already aware of it, then I must break the news to you that you have three brains. When our son was a little tike, he said one day, “Mommy, I am having a disagreement with myself.” How can one person have a disagreement with himself or herself? It happens all the time, doesn’t it, because our brains are so complicated.

I was talking last week about Jesus the healer. Today I will talk about Jesus the teacher – they called him Rabbi, which in Hebrew means teacher. Jesus forced people to think.

Whoever receives one child in my name receives me” – wait a minute, just what does that mean? He is making me think.

“If your eye causes you to sin pluck it out! It is better to go to heaven with one eye than to go to hell with two!” What does this mean? – how can your eye cause you to sin – and what if you follow this advice and your right eye causes you to sin and you pull it out and tomorrow your left eye causes you to sin, should you remove that one out too?

Everything he says forces us to think.

Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them.” What does this mean? How is he among us right now?

Peter came to him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” When we hear that teaching we run for our lawyers and try to make the case that our situation is the exception, and that due to all manner of extenuating circumstances, forgiving 490 times far exceeds any reasonable requirement in our particular case.

Everything he says makes us think. Jesus taxes our brains with his parables, with his metaphors, with his outlandish demands. He really puts our brains to the test.

Why is fundamentalist religion so popular? Because it relieves people of the pain of thinking. In certain Islamic schools or madrassas, little boys sit in rows and memorize the Koran day in and day out. I am not trying to characterize all Islamic education, let’s be clear about that. But there are places where the memorization of the Koran is the totality of some children’s education. No literature, no science, no other history, just the rigid learning of this book and the insistence that it alone is the literal word of God.

Fundamentalism is not a problem limited to Islam. Fundamentalist Christians teach that one must believe in the infallible truth of the literal words of the Bible. But frankly, I don’t think anyone actually takes the whole Bible literally. There are millions and millions of people who claim to take the Bible literally, but have you ever seen one of them pluck out their eye?

Fundamentalism is so popular because it tells people that the thinking has already been done for you, so you don’t have to think very hard for yourself. Fundamentalism is dangerous in whatever form it takes, because there is nothing so dangerous as a person who has given up their right to think for themselves.

Jesus himself did not take the “Bible” literally (in his day the “Bible” would have been what we refer to as they Old Testament or Hebrew Bible.) The apostle Paul certainly did not take the Hebrew Bible literally. Jesus was the kind of teacher who made people use their brains. Is very use of language force people NOT to think literally.

There is so much that we still do not know about the human brain. What an extraordinary contraption we have between our ears. With it we dream, we hold memories, we love, we plan the future, we analyze and create. A Lutheran psychologist and clergyman named Peter Steinke has written a book entitled, “Congregational Leadership in Anxious Times,” subtitled “Being Calm and Courageous No Matter What.” (Wouldn’t that be a cute trick?)

He says in this book that it is very useful for all of us in church life and especially those in leadership to know a few things about how the human brain works. The basic insight is this:

A portion of our brain is very primitive; it functions like the brains of reptiles. It does not hold ideas. It is concerned only with survival. It wants to eat and reproduce and stay alive.

Another portion of our brain is more developed; it functions like brains of other mammals. Mammals form relationships. Mammals have families. Mammals look out for one another in groups. Mammals have strong emotions. This portion of our brain makes us capable of bonding and being playful and passionate.

The third portion of our brain, which is actually the largest part of the human brain, is the neocortex. This is where we have language and complicated ideas. This is where we make music. This is where we hold all our ideas about God. This is where we make decisions. We are capable of being creative and thoughtful only because we have this higher brain, this highly developed neocortex.

As Dr. Steinke says, Jesus directed attention to the neocortex. He used parables, and strange analogies – like chopping your hand off if it causes you to sin. He said to forgive 70 x 7 times. You must have a higher brain to receive Jesus’ teachings. As Steinke points out: tell a parable to a reptile, and what does the reptile say? “Uhhhhhhhh……”

It is only because we have a higher brain that we are capable of thinking creatively and of making moral decisions. Bishop Desmond Tutu once asked, “Did you ever see someone throw a bone to a pack of dogs and observe one dog say to another, ‘Please, you go first.’ ” The dog’s brain is not capable of such an intention.

When we become stressed; when we become upset and agitated; when we are anxious or threatened, our lower brain can override our higher brain, and we often say and do things that are not thoughtful. In those moments our primitive instinct-driven brain may take over, and the results may not be pretty.

I was talking recently with an individual in another congregation where there had been a theft of funds that had been raised by the United Methodist Women. It is enough to commit fraud or theft, but you have to be crazy to mess with the United Methodist Women! The woman who described this to me was present at the meeting of the United Methodist Women just after the theft was brought to light. The matter was very sensitive. It involves a family with generations of connections to the church. It involved a complex set of disputed facts. She went to the meeting hoping for a careful and thoughtful discussion of these delicate issues. But that is not what she found; in fact she was shocked and dismayed by the behavior of people she thought she knew well. The conflict and anger was so intense and so personal that she left the room, shaken to the core. I gave her an article about Dr. Steinke’s work on the human brain.

She said that she found it very useful. It helped her to understand how people she thought she knew so well, and who had always seemed reasonable and courteous could, all of a sudden, behave like raging toddlers. The hurt and anger about the theft of money left them temporarily “out of their minds,” literally out of their higher brains and reacting in their primitive brains.

In the primitive brain, it is eat or be eaten, bite or get bitten. The primitive brain cannot engage in thoughtful inquiry or considerate behavior. When we experience ourselves losing control, lashing out in anger, or making an inappropriate gesture to another driver on the Bronx River Parkway, and when we observe others losing control of themselves, it is useful to remember what is going on in our own brains and the brains of others.

We were talking last Sunday about health and about our own concerns about the health care system. We have all observed what happens when there are important and complex matters that need to be thought through, and when even a small number of people acting out – acting out of their minds – that is, out of their thoughtful minds – can disrupt the thoughtfulness of the whole group.

Families, marriages, churches, – any of those important things human beings do together can be disrupted and even destroyed when people act from their reptile brains instead of their higher intelligence. Teenagers and their parents can sometimes spend years in reptile land.

Jesus as a teacher challenges our higher brain over and over. “Become like a child or you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” What does this mean for me? How can I be a child today? Think.

“Better that you go to heaven with one hand than to hell with two.” What is distracting me, tempting me, pulling me away from healthy living and healthy relationships and committed living? How can I cut the cord that binds me the to those things? Think.

Where two were three of you are together, there I am in the midst of you. Do you see me? What would we say and do differently, if we were truly acknowledging the presence of Christ? Think.

I say to you, forgive your sister… your brother… not seven times but seventy times seven. And what do I mean by seventy times seven? Use your mind; ponder; think it out. Don’t take me literally – don’t get out your calculators and do the math – think about relationships and about forgiveness in a new way.

Jesus teases the mind. He pushes our brains into so many strange and new places.

As the great African American preacher, Gardiner Taylor, used to say, “When you come to church, don’t leave your brains at the door.”

Jesus, Savior, Healer, Rabbi, Teacher:
guide by us by your wisdom
that we may love and serve you
with all our heart and soul and mind.

Grace and peace to you.