Fall Sermon Series

 

September 13 - "Where the First are Last"

Adapted from Lectionary Sermon Series

  Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, How hard it will be for those who have  wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But  Jesus said to them 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." (Mark 10:23-25) 

The last time we moved, we realized we would need 2 moving tucks and our cars to get everything we had to our new place here in Currituck. Eb and I grieved the fact that we had so many things. When we started out, we literally had milk crates as nightstands and cinder blocks holding up our mattress. We were amazed at all we had accumulated especially with the kids, much of what we had was attached to memories and special times in our lives, but it was a chance for us to really look and hold onto only what was necessary. Three yard sales later, we still had way too much stuff to move, yet we had a lesson in understanding that if all the stuff was gone and all we had us each other, we would have enough.

Having surprised the crowds in the previous passage with a polemical word against the culture's understanding of power and human value, Mark goes one step further and tells a story about the inversion of economic priorities. If money indeed “makes the world go round,” Jesus in this story effectively reverses the direction of the earth’s rotation. Prioritizing the last to receive resources as the first that will receive in the Kingdom of God.

We are told little about the man who comes to kneel before Jesus and ask him this question about eternal life, except that he has many possessions. That in itself is no reason for concern; how closely he chooses to hold on to them is the problem for Jesus. This text reminds us that of all the topics that Jesus preaches about throughout his ministry, money is the second most frequent, second only to the kingdom of God. And here he teaches about both.

Jesus knew that one’s relationship with money is, for many people, the greatest obstacle to living a life of full commitment and faithfulness. How much of not just our money but our time is spent on the procurement and upkeep of our possessions? Whether we like it or not, what we own has a tendency to define, or at least influence, who we are. If people can get their economic priorities right before God, then they can give their entire lives to God. And this point is punctuated by the well-known image of the camel and the eye of the needle. Could Jesus actually be using hyperbole? Yes considering that Jesus does this repeatedly: pluck out your sinful eye, cut off your sinful hand, put a millstone around your next and throw yourself into the sea, etc.

Meanwhile, let us not forget the rather troublesome context in which this conversation begins in the first place. The man begins by asking a question that, by every measure of Protestant doctrine, should be disregarded: ”What must I do to inherit eternal life?” We would naturally say, “Nothing! Nothing at all!” But that is not how Jesus answers the question. Instead, he lists the commandments, with which the man is not only familiar but also fully obedient to. In verses 19 and 20, the man has gone on an apparent six-for-six in keeping those commandments, which is a far better record than most people these days. In verse 21, Jesus, “looking at him (the young man), loved him,” and then asked him to sell everything he owned, give the money to the poor, and then follow him. Jesus never found to hard to love and to challenge. To say, “Wow look at where you are, and where you started, and let’s dream about how much farther we can go together.”

Still, we may be puzzled as to whether Jesus is at first advocating for something other than grace-based salvation, as he states that apparently, eternal life is something that can be inherited with one’s good works. Ultimately, the question becomes moot, since this man, and presumably all of us, have not sold all we have and given the proceeds to the poor. Even if it is permissible for human beings to earn their salvation with their deeds, this story reminds us that it is ultimately impossible to do so.

Verse 27 then sets the entire doctrine of salvation by grace alone back in the right standing: “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” The caveat does not let us off the hook in our need to right our relationship with money, but it reminds us that another relationship is key to making everything else right. How we view and use money and follow Jesus is an important thing to get a handle on. When Jesus is talking about inheritance, perhaps he is giving us the opportunity for us to think about how we as individuals and congregations steward what we have for those who come behind us. Inviting us to think not only of the needs we have today but to be responsible in preparing for the future that God is laying for us and the generations after us.

So what’s the point? This parable is about the value we place on relationships and our neighbors, and how these things matter more than our possessions. This parable is not just about wealth and possessions, but our attitude about wealth and possessions. Do we place our trust in God or in our things?

We know what earthly treasures are- what are heavenly treasures? If you were to make an Amazon wish list of treasures of heaven what would it include? Relationships, forgiveness, love, grace? God’s grace in Jesus Christ shows us how to live with love, forgiveness, and compassion, as God has taught previously in the commandments and the prophets. Though it may not be possible for us to achieve these things on our own, With God, all things are possible.

Friends, the challenges presented to this man are also presented to us. How will we respond, how will we sacrifice and give of ourselves to allow God’s kingdom to come on earth as it is in heaven?

Join us in worship this week, at Pilmoor Memorial at 9am and City Road at 11, or online. We will discuss this more and how all of this is so much “easier SAID than DONE”.

Grace and peace!