Scripture Reading Mark 10:17-31
As Jesus started on his way,
a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he
asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Why do you call me
good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.
You know the commandments:
‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you
shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and
mother.’”
“Teacher,” he declared, “all
these I have kept since I was a boy.”
Jesus looked at him and
loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything
you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven. Then come, follow me.”
At this the man’s face fell.
He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Jesus looked around and said
to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom
of God!”
The disciples were amazed at
his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter
the kingdom of God!
It is easier for a camel to
go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the
kingdom of God.”
The disciples were even more
amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and
said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are
possible with God.”
Then Peter spoke up, “We
have left everything to follow you!”
“Truly I tell
you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters
or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel
will fail to receive a
hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters,
mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to
come eternal life.
But many who are first will
be last, and the last first.”
Here ends this reading of the Word of God for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Message
What Must I Do?
This morning,
we return to the story of the rich young many who wanted to know what he needed
to do to obtain eternal life. This may
be the $64,000 Question – we are afraid to die and just be dead. We want to
live forever. We want to be reunited with our loved ones. We want eternal life.
So, the man’s question was not an
unusual question to ask a prophet or a spiritual guru. Jesus seemed to have answers about
theological questions, so the young man asked Jesus: “How do I obtain eternal life?”
Jesus asked if the man in turn if he
followed the Commandments. Apparently, he faithfully followed them and did not
break any of God’s rules.
Jesus asked the wealthy man to give
up the most precious thing he had: his wealth. And, the man couldn’t do it. The
man could not give up his riches. He could not give up his lifestyle. He couldn’t
give it all up to follow God.
Despite the centuries that have
passed between this conversation and our day and age, we also let things get in
the way between us and God. Sometimes, we allow literal “things” to get in the
way – like the young wealthy man, we have a problem with letting go of our
riches or accumulated objects too. And, sometimes we let other things get in
the way of our relationship with God….we love other people more than we love
God, we idolize celebrities and athletes, we focus all of our attention on our
professional work or our hobbies, we have trouble letting go of grievances we
have with other people or with God….we have tons of things that distract us
from our faith in God.
We want to be happy. We want to be
good. We want to be loved and respected and cherished. But, sometimes we look
for ways to reach those desires in unhelpful or unhealthy places. Jesus wanted us
to not let anything separate us from God….not our stuff….not earning money….not
our relationships with other people….not our jobs or our hobbies or our teams.
We live in a world where we are constantly
fed information from the media --advertisers, marketers, Instagram influencers,
Facebook algorithms – we are fed information that tells us that “they” have the
secret to happiness. If we just drink
kombucha or wear L’Oréal mascara or do 100 burpees a day we will become happy.
If we just find the right boyfriend on Match.com we will become happy. If we just wear Lularoe leggings or bank with
Key bank or buy the latest iphone, we will be happy.
We know this is not true.
All the money in the world will not buy us happiness. All the stuff in the world will not buy us happiness. We know movie stars and celebrity billionaires
have broken marriages and kids with addictions and become sick with cancer.
Having money does not protect us from unfortunate things happening to us. Having money and the ability to buy all of
the stuff of our dreams does not buy us happiness.
Instead, our true comfort is our relationship with God. While perhaps becoming a Christian will not
lead to eternal happiness, our relationship with God supports us through every
trial we experience. As it sagely says in the Heidelberg Catechism, a foundational
document of our religious tradition:
“Our only comfort in life and death is that I am not my own, but
belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
Jesus has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has set me
free from the tyranny of the devil. Jesus watches over me in such a way that not
a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact,
all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ,
by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly
willing and ready from now on to life for him.”
God loves us
so much that hair cannot fall from our head without God noticing. Our hope is
built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
Throughout history, God has reached
out to us, God’s people. God created this beautiful earth where we dwell. God
empowered prophets to teach us about how to have a relationship with God. God
sent Jesus, God’s’ word made flesh, to dwell among us and teach us about God’s
love and grace. God reaches out to us through the words of the Bible, through the
words of enlightened and spiritual people, through the messages God sends us in
our prayer times and in our dreams; and through the physical presence of the Holy
Spirit in our lives. God reaches out to
us and welcomes us to be in relationship with God.
Jesus’ words to the rich young man
are a reminder to us that we must respond to God’s overtures. Nothing we do
should put a barrier up between us and God. Nothing we have should put a
barrier up between us and God. Our faith calls us to be open to God and to cast
aside all that we put in the way of that relationship.
May it be so. Amen.
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