GOD VS. OUR STUFF HERE WAS A MAN WHO HAD THE WORLD BY THE TAIL, IF EVER THERE WAS ONE.

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1 GOD VS. OUR STUFF JOB 23:1-9 MARK 10:17-31 OCTOBER 14, 2018 TOM WHARTENBY HERE WAS A MAN WHO HAD THE WORLD BY THE TAIL, IF EVER THERE WAS ONE. As Mark tersely put it, He had many possessions. With just a trace of imagination, we can flesh out the stick figure which Mark has drawn for us of this man. Here was a man held in great esteem by the entire community. Here was a man who gave generously to his local synagogue as well as to the Temple in Jerusalem. He probably gave alms generously and possibly even supported the arts! He was a man of influence, a man to be reckoned with, a man who was envied. 1

2 HE WAS NOT ONE OF THOSE ARROGANT RICH PEOPLE WHOM SO MANY DESPISE. He had not built his fortune on the bodies of the poor. He had not amassed a fortune by perverting justice and exploiting the weak. So he was not like those smug rich men and women against whom Amos railed so powerfully long before the time of Jesus. We know this because Mark tells us straight out that this rich man was righteous and kept Torah to its letter. He was thought of as a good man. Again I say, this man had the world by the tail. HE APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN A SELF-MADE MAN. He had not inherited his wealth. He seems to have been a pull yourself up by your own boot straps kind of guy. He made his money the old fashioned way, he earned it. And so when he runs up to Jesus and bows down before him, he does not ask for a divine handout, does not feel entitled to salvation, does not say O what a good boy am i. Instead he asks, What must I do to inherit eternal life? 2

3 Apparently all this man lacks is treasure in heaven and he is willing to work hard for it as he has done for everything else. What a guy! No wonder Jesus gazed at him and loved him. JESUS IS EAGER TO HELP HIM It s very simple, Jesus tells the rich man; simply sell all you have, give it to the poor, and come follow me. All he has to do to inherit eternal life is to let go of everything thing he s worked so hard to accumulate, everything on which he relies for his position and his security in this life. All he has to do is let everything go as did Abraham of old and follow Jesus to an undesignated place. The man s jaw drops, his shoulders sag, he looks at Jesus in disbelief. Then, slowly, he turns and walks away. His dream for treasure in heaven has died. JESUS SHAKES HIS HEAD SADLY. He watches the man walk away. He does not run after him. He does not bargain with the man, or make him a more attractive offer. Jesus clings to his anti-prosperity Gospel. He shakes his 3

4 head and utters the unthinkable comment, How difficult it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. NOW THE DISCIPLES JAWS TO DROP. They are stunned. They cannot believe they have heard Jesus correctly. Embodying a belief typical in the Ancient Near East, the disciples believed that the rich were especially blessed by God; they were his particular friends. They blurt out, Then who can be saved? If it is difficult for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God what chance do a bunch of poor fishermen have? If those whom God has blessed with so much stuff will not also receive the eternal blessing, can anyone hope to receive it? THE DISCIPLES HAVE JUST LEARNED SOMETHING ABOUT JESUS. He does not share their viewpoint on wealth. Although he does not condemn money and what it can buy, and although he does not for a moment underestimate the painful problems of poverty, 4

5 Jesus sees the world through God s eyes. And with these eyes he sees the dangers of wealth. He sees its enslaving side. He sees its addicting side. He sees its ability to silence one s conscience and numb one s compassion. He sees its ability to evict any other suitor for the heart of the wealthy. Loving this man, Jesus wants to save him from the dark side of wealth, for this is precisely what is blocking his eternal inheritance. It appears that the cost of discipleship is way too high: treasure in heaven comes only at the price of his entire treasure on earth. SO WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT POOR RICH MAN? Was he lost? Was he condemned because he declined the offer of salvation given in person by Jesus himself? Did he blow his one chance? We simply do not know. What we do know is that he was righteous and that Jesus loved him. So, is there any reason for our hoping that somehow the man came back to Jesus as did Nicodemus in John s Gospel? 5

6 I BELIEVE THERE IS. Walk with me for a while. A bit later in the story, Jesus goes to dark Gethsemane. He prays to his Father, asking that the terrible cup which sits before him might be taken away. It is the cup of the world s salvation and the price of drinking it is his death. When the arresting party shows up, the disciples run away into the night. Another man is mentioned, a young man clothed only in a white robe. The guards try to arrest the man; they grab his robe, it tears and the young man runs off into the night. On the following Sunday, a young man, clothed in a divinely white robe, announces the resurrection of Jesus. Could this be the coward, given another chance by Jesus? Further, could it be that rich young man who later had a change of heart and sold all that he had but one robe? Could it be that the call of Jesus, the pull of his love, was so strong that it overcame the man s seemingly unbreakable attachment to his millions? I am sure biblical scholars would dismiss these thoughts as nonsense. Absolutely impossible. But, we do have it on the best authority that nothing is impossible with God. 6

7 THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT STORY FOR YOU AND ME. You see we live in the richest country the world has ever known. You and I are rich by the world s standards. We are rich by God s standards. It is therefore difficult for us to enter the kingdom of heaven. We all have great possessions. We also know what we would say to Jesus if he told us to give all we had to the poor and follow him. Why if Jesus only asked for half, we would turn him down. Twenty percent? A tithe? Is that before or after taxes, Jesus? The rich young man was no more attached to his wealth than we are to ours, no more enslaved by his possessions than we are. CAN WE BE SAVED? Can we inherit eternal life? Hear the Gospel from the lips of Jesus: Nothing is impossible with God. I believe God found a way to save that rich young man. If he s not that young man in the white robe, he s someone else perhaps even the writer of this Gospel! Therefore I believe God can save you and me and all the rest of us rich folk across this great land of ours. He can deliver us from the hold money and what money can buy has on us. A camel may not be able to pass through the eye of a needle, but God can transform even grasping covetous old sinners into saints. He can do this because He found one man who was willing to let go of 7

8 everything that he had, even his life, to inherit eternal life. The Gospel is that he inherited it not only for himself, but for us as well. For through faith in Jesus, we are his sisters and brothers. We are children of God and since we are children, we are heirs! As Jesus himself said, Nothing is impossible with God. 8