21st
Sunday after Pentecost - Mark 10:23-31 - October 17/18, 2015
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
Now,
remember, last week we had the rich, young man who was so eager to
please Jesus - oh, Jesus I want to follow you. At least he was eager
until Jesus said he should give all his stuff away to the poor.
Then, he goes away sorrowful, for he was very rich. But he missed
the point. The point of the Christian faith, it's goal, is not to
get earthly treasure - in fact, we confess that all this earthly
stuff is just dross that will fade away. Rather, we are looking
forward to the resurrection of the body, the life of the world to
come. This poor rich guy couldn't see that yet, and he walks away
sorrowful. And as he walks away, our Gospel lesson today begins:
"Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, 'How
difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom
of God!'"
And
this is the point where sadly, all too often, we just sort of shrug
our shoulders. Eh. Okay, well, that's... something, I guess. But
it's got nothing to do with me, not my circus, not my monkeys. Maybe
Donald Trump or Bill Gates ought to be worried. I mean really, how
many of us squirmed when we heard this text? Because there are texts
that make us squirm - and this one, boy did it make the disciples
squirm: "And the disciples were amazed at
His words."
It made the disciples drop their jaws in utter amazement. What in
tarnation are you saying, Jesus? Because this statement shocked the
disciples to their core. Because, in their hearts they knew and
expected that good service to God would mean earthly power and glory,
especially when Jesus set up His earthly kingdom and showed those
ungodly Romans who was Boss. As evidence of this - a few verses
after our lesson, Mark 10:37 (which we'll skip over next week for
some reason) - James and John ask Jesus, "Grant
us to sit, one at Your right hand and one at Your left hand, in Your
glory."
When we get to Jerusalem, and you run things, we want positions 2
and 3 behind you, because we've earned it -- unlike Peter or the 9
who couldn't cast out that demon a few weeks ago, we haven't messed
up - we should get top billing... and power, and riches. And they
ask this even after Jesus says, twice, how hard it will be for the
folks having wealth to enter the kingdom of heaven. Even after
hearing the whole "It is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the
Kingdom of God"
- they still ask for earthly power and might and wealth. Doesn't it
seem shocking? That they would be so brazen?
No...
it doesn't. Because we are just as bold and brazen as they are.
Here's the hinge of this text for us - we Americans are the rich. We
are. We're not in some 3rd world hovel. We have stuff in spades.
How many of you in this room have a legitimate worry that you will
starve to death this winter? Or are down to two sets of clothing and
they are starting to wear out fast? See, the problem is, while we
are rich, we live in the land of the Super rich - so we compare
ourselves to them... naw, I'm not rich. Yet let me ask the question
- how often does money or wealth influence and shape your decisions
and thinking rather than what God in His Word has said is good and
right? Well, I know I probably should give a good offering to the
church... but you know, there's that new doodad that's coming out...?
Well, I could stand to help out that poor guy over there... but my
kids want one of those doohickeys, so I better look out for them...
besides, if they are poor, it's probably their own fault! Why should
I reward them, they'll probably just blow it on booze or drugs
because they are bad poor people and I'm a good little Christian...
and there it is. How often in our minds, in the back of our heads do
we equate being a good Christian, being a good person, with wealth?
If I work hard - I should have money. If I am smart - I should have
money. If I keep my nose clean - I should have money. And if
someone has more than me - then they are more successful than I am...
think on that - we measure success in dollars - not in terms of
virtue, or kindness, or goodness, but in dollars. That's how we keep
score. We are the rich.
"Children,
how difficult it is to enter the Kingdom of God! It is easier for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to
enter the Kingdom of God."
We know this verse - we smile and nod. Yet how often does wealth
and money sit at the back of our head, like a seductive tyrant, ready
to shape the way we look at everything? How often even in the Church
even does money become an issue, a point of contention and even
anger? At least the disciples are more honest when they are
astonished at this, when they wonder, "Then
who can be saved?"
Jesus, we know the way the world works - everyone wants more stuff.
Everyone wants more money. There's not a single one of us in here
who, if our income were suddenly cut in half, wouldn't be complaining
up a blue streak. I mean, we can get angry if we get passed over for
a raise, or if Social Security doesn't give us a cost-of-living
bump.... And yet, how often does Christ teach us to be content with
whatever we have -- there's a reason He has us pray for Daily Bread,
daily necessities, not more stuff. There's a reason He points to the
lilies of the field or the Birds of the air. If love of money is a
sin, is a root of all sorts of evil - who then, Lord, can be saved?
"Jesus
looked at them and said, 'With man it is impossible, but not with
God. For all things are possible with God.'"
You want a sign of how corrupted we are by greed? How often have
you heard people use that phrase "for all things are possible
with God" tied not to salvation, but to their big awesome plan
for more stuff? Do you see - it really is impossible for man. Yet
there's the wondrous truth - the One who says this to you is no mere
Man, but He is True God and True Man, even Christ Jesus the Lord.
Christ Jesus had no love of money, no idolatry of wealth. He never
butters up the rich and powerful; instead He turns over the
moneychangers' tables. He doesn't worry about keeping up with the
Joneses - foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but
the Son of Man has no place to rest His head. So be it - for He came
to this earth not seeking His own wealth, His own leisure, but He
came seeking to win you salvation with His death and resurrection
upon the Cross. It is always, always about what Christ Jesus does
for you.
And
yet, in the back of our mind, we still want to think in terms of
power and wealth - if I do good, God will pat me on the head and give
me stuff. Here's Peter piping up - "Peter
began to say to Him, 'See, we have left everything and followed
you.'"
Peter began. Did you catch that? Peter starts up with the same old
song and dance, what a good boy am I! And Jesus cuts Peter off -
"Truly, I say to you, there is no one who
has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children
or lands, for My sake and for the Gospel, who will not receive a
hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and
mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to
come eternal life."
Did you catch it? At first it sounds like a nice little reward - I
do something nice for God and I get rewarded a hundredfold in this
life... awesome. Um... wait... did you say with persecutions?
Persecutions?
What
Jesus here is describing is the reality of the Christian life in this
fallen world. There is a cost to discipleship. If you are a
Christian, you are going to tick people off. Friends will mock and
revile you. You will end up passing up on various opportunities
because you know that they are wrong. Doing the things you are
called to do as a Christian in this world will bring you earthly
hardship and sorrow. Yet even in that sorrow, you do have brothers
and sisters a hundredfold - I'm an only child, yet how many of my
brothers and sisters in Christ do I see sitting in front of me right
now? If I go on vacation, how many different houses of God could I
enter and be welcomed as a brother in Christ - more than hundreds,
thousands. This is the reality - you have been called by God into
His Kingdom, into His Church. And this is a place where things are
not focused upon what you do, what you have done. No - here we are
all forgiven sinners, all washed in the Blood of the Lamb, all
Baptized into Christ. Here we approach the Lord's Altar and enter
into Holy Communion - and not just Communion with God... but
Communion with one another... and when I say one another I don't just
mean the folks you can turn around and see right now - I mean the one
another of all time and all places, with angels and archangels and
all the company of heaven. These things are impossible for us to
wrap our minds around, but God has made them not merely possible but
the truth, the reality. Your life is more than just the rat race you
see out there - you have been redeemed and purchased by Christ for
life everlasting. You are God's own precious children - Jesus
Himself left His house, He let His brothers and mother think He was
nuts, He forsook gathering children and lands - so that He would have
you as His brother, His sister, in His house, in His Kingdom for all
eternity.
"But
many who are first will be last, and the last first."
My dear friends, indeed, my brothers and sisters in Christ, who are
mine for all eternity - as you go on your way this week, beware of
that greed, that desire for money that clings to your sinful flesh.
It seeks to dominate you, to twist you, to make your life miserable.
Rather, remember this - you are more than your bank account, you are
more than your stuff. You are something utterly wonderful - a
redeemed child of God - and this is not based upon what you have
done. This is not like the fallen world where your value is based
upon what you do... no, though you are indeed a miserable sinner, the
last, the lowest - Christ Jesus has come, and He has suffered and
died for you, He has risen for you, He has sacrificed all to claim
you as His own, and He makes you to be first in Him for all eternity.
You have in Christ wonders and blessings our sinful minds can't even
wrap our heads around. When temptation comes and weighs heavy upon
you, especially fears about stuff, or lack of success or any of that
junk - you are Baptized, Christ Jesus has brought you into His
Kingdom; you belong to Christ for eternity, a co-heir with Christ
Jesus, the Prince of Peace, and you shall delight in His good reign
for you in His kingdom for all eternity. In the Name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit + Amen.
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