What Must I Do?

Mark 10: 17-27

October 15, 2006

What Must I Do?

I don’t do well on one-on-one sports, like golf and tennis. It’s not a lack of skill, although that might me part of it, but rather I don’t have that killer instinct. I just think I’m too nice. I could be leading by four games in a tennis match or by six strokes in a golf game and I’ll just give it all back. Standing at the service line having lost my four game lead, or at the tee of the ninth hole, having lost my six stroke lead, I murmur to myself, "Boy, Dan, you sure can't stand prosperity."

Neither could the rich man in this morning's gospel text stand prosperity. He came to Jesus seeking eternal life, but given the choice of eternal life or his riches, he chose his riches. There's a saying that "for every hundred people who can stand adversity, there is only one person who can stand prosperity." Prosperity can make us arrogant and proud and self-satisfied and worldly; and we can reach the point where we worship our possessions rather than the Lord who provides them for us.

The rich man came to Jesus asking, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Two things must be said on this man’s behalf. First, he knew what was important in life - eternal life; and second, he knew who could lead him to it - Jesus. Would that we had that same mind! There are some who would seek eternal life but don't know where or in whom to find it. Others may hasten to the church to follow Jesus but for the wrong reasons. The rich man was looking for the right thing, at the right place. That is what makes this story so tragic - to be so close, and miss out.

We have blamed the rich man's riches for his losing eternal life. This is not strictly true. It was rather how he regarded his riches. He was one of many who could not stand prosperity. He did not learn that with prosperity comes the greater challenge of responsibility and good stewardship. Jesus' command to "sell all you have and give it to the poor" has as its background the understanding that the more God allows you to have the greater your challenge to manage it and use what he shares with you for others and for his Kingdom. The question before us constantly, therefore, is: "Will I use what I have selfishly or generously? Will I worship and hold on to the possessions God has provided or, with thankfulness, will I share them with the less fortunate and be a good steward of all I have and am?"

The rich man made two false assumptions when he approached Jesus. First, he assumed that respectability was the most important quality to inherit eternal life. But never did any story so lay down the essential Christian truth that respectability is not enough. Jesus quoted the commandments which were the basis of a decent life. Without hesitation the man said he had kept them all. Effectively the man was saying, "I never in my life did anyone any harm". That was perfectly true. But the real question is, "What good have you done?" And the question to this man was even more pointed. "With all your possessions, with your wealth, with all that you could give away, what positive good have you done for others? How much have you gone out of your way to help and comfort and strengthen others as you might have done?" Respectability, on the whole, consists in not doing things wrong. Following in the footsteps of Jesus consists in doing things good for others. That was precisely where this man, like so many of us, fell down.

This first false assumption was part and parcel of his second false assumption. He assumed he knew what eternal life was. We can guess that he believed, as do most religious people today, that eternal life meant something like living forever in heaven. But that doesn't come close to what eternal life means. The great truth of this story lies in the way it illumines the meaning of eternal life.

Eternal life is life such as God himself lives. The Greek word we translate as “eternal" does not mean "lasting forever"; it means such as befits God or such as belongs to God, or such as is characteristic of God. Certainly God is eternal, but he is far more. The supreme characteristic of God is that he so loved that he gave. To seek eternal life is to seek to be god-like. To be god-like, to imitate God, is to love and to give.

A very important purpose of O.T. law was to instruct Israel in imitating God. To be God's people is to share in his likeness.

From the Gospel according to the Hebrews, a book which did not get into the N.T., we hear an interesting expansion of the story. Immediately after the young man says that he has kept the law, Jesus answers, "How sayest thou, 'I have kept the law and the prophets?' For it is written in the law: 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.' And lo, many of thy brethren, sons of Abraham, are clad in filth, dying of hunger, and thine house is full of many good things and nought at all goeth out of it unto them. "

William Barclay writes, "Here is the key to the whole passage. The young man claimed to have kept the law. In the legal sense that might be true; but in the spiritual sense it was not at all true because his attitude toward his fellow-men was wrong. In the last analysis his attitude was utterly selfish. This is the reason that Jesus confronted him with the challenge to sell all and to give to the poor. This man was so shackled to his possessions that nothing less than surgical excision of them would suffice. If a man looks on his possessions as given to him for nothing but his own comfort and convenience they are a chain that must me broken; if he looks on his possessions as a means to helping others they are his crown."

James writes, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." In other words, the finest ritual and the finest liturgy you can offer to God is service to the poor and personal purity. If you would worship God, then feed the hungry, visit the imprisoned, heal the sick, and so on.

There is a poignant illustration of its opposite. There was a ship captain in the days of old. He was very religious and insisted that a religious service be part of his ship's activity for the crew. One day at noon they broke from their posts to hold the daily service. It was extremely hot. The slaves below, rowing the ship, were groaning and moaning in their chains from the oppressing conditions - especially the day’s intense heat. When a few shouts down below didn't seem to quiet them the crew interrupted their religious service, sent several of the worshipers down below who beat the slaves into silence, and returned to the deck where they resumed their religious worship with renewed devotion, and without the bothersome noise from below.

I would pray that in our worship we are not so callous, so hypocritical. The poor and needy are not bothersome, interrupting our worship. The poor and needy are opportunities to let our worship live.

A wealthy businessman donated a great pipe organ to his local congregation. Several years later he suffered calamitous reversals in his business and ended up penniless. One day he wandered into the church building where the organist was practicing the prelude for the coming Sunday's service. Recognizing the donor, the organist slid off the bench and asked quietly and kindly, “Sometimes don't you wish you could get back the money you spent to give this organ?" Not hesitating, the once prosperous businessman replied, "No. I have no regrets. This is the only thing left of all my money that will make any difference for good. To the last nickel I'm glad I gave it". Jesus 'said, "Whoever saves his life will lose it; but .anyone who loses his life for my sake and the gospel will find it." That which we keep, we will ultimately lose. Only that which we give away do we have forever.

The bag of groceries for the food pantry, the $20 given to World Hunger Appeal water projects, your weekly tithes and offerings that make possible help to the helpless, strength to the weak, and comfort to the saddened - these are the gifts you keep for eternity. Amen.

May the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.