Mark 10:17-27

Pentecost 21
October 25th, 2009
Pastor Waldschmidt
Grace mercy and peace are yours from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Mark 10:17-27
The Great Teacher’s Lesson About Eternal Life
I. You need a Savior.
II. You have a Savior.
Mark 10:17-27 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. 19You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do 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 a rich man 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."


In the name of Jesus, our Savior, dear fellow redeemed Children of God,
Imagine that you received a letter from Jesus asking you to have a rummage sale. Now at first you might think “Well good! This would be a great opportunity to get rid of all that stuff I don’t want anymore. But then you read on a little more and realize that Jesus is asking you to a really big rummage sale with all of your stuff and then to give the proceeds to the poor. “Oh” “All of my stuff Lord???” “Then give the money away?” I guessing that might make us hesitate a little bit and ask what Jesus is trying to teach us with this letter anyway? In God’s Word today, Jesus tells a man to do just that-have a big rummage sale, sell all his stuff and give the money to the poor. In his request of this wealthy young man, we see the master teacher at work. He had a lesson for this wealthy young man and he has a lesson for you and me. So let’s take a look at the Great Teacher’s Lesson About Eternal Life. I. We need a Savior. II. We have a Savior.
This week the Journal Sentinel began running teaser headlines to generate interest in a series of articles to run this week in the paper about how we deal with death. One doctor was quoted as saying, “In our culture, we have some work to do in coming to terms with death." In our sermon text last week, we heard Jesus say that those who enter God’s Kingdom have a simple child like faith in Jesus as the Savior. A child like faith in Jesus prays, “Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take and this I ask for Jesus’ sake. Amen.” That issue of eternal life was still on the mind of a wealthy young man who seemed to have everything except for peace about what happens after this life is over. “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?"
This young man who called Jesus a good teacher had had some bad teachers along the way. Notice the words, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The emphasis on what a person must do to inherit heaven reflects the attitude which prevailed among the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. It shows how far they had strayed from the only way of salvation offered by the true God. God had given the Children of Israel their civil and ceremonial laws to keep them as a special people from whom the Savior of the world would come-to point their eyes of faith to the coming Messiah and the sacrifice he would make on the cross. However instead of clinging to the Savior which the ceremonies pointed to, many teachers put their faith in themselves and pointed to how well they had kept the law. When Jesus came the people flocked to hear him because “he taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law.”
“Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone.” Jesus, the master teacher stoops down to this man’s level. In effect saying, “OK, if you think that you can enter eternal life by doing something, then let’s set the standard.” Jesus wasn’t saying that he was not holy and perfect but he was trying to set the man straight by making clear that you do not earn eternal life by saying the right things to the right people. The young man as a ruler in the synagogue had given this answer to many people. “You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.' If someone wants to enter life on their own, Jesus makes clear that he must keep all of the commandments- all of the time.
"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy." This young man no longer felt the sting of the law in the Old Testament passages he knew so well. Many thought that by outwardly observing the laws they had kept their hearts pure before the Lord, but God tells us in Proverbs, “Who can say, I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”? Isaiah rejected any thought of anyone working themselves into God’s favor when he says ,”All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf and our sins sweep us away.” Indeed passages in the law should have made this young man feel foolish to ask the silly and conceited question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“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." Notice that Jesus the one whose eyes blaze like fire does not let the lightning of his burning wrath break out against this young man. Instead Jesus looks at him with compassion. The great teacher comes again with a lesson about how badly we need a Savior. He doesn’t use the Law as a club but instead tries to get the young man to see that he had not kept even the first commandment. By his command of selling everything, Jesus was trying to get the young man to see that money had a higher place in his heart than God did. The young man wanted to stay on the path of earning his way into God’s favor. He didn’t want to admit that he needed a Savior. “At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. “
Let’s take a look in our hearts. The Bible says that all of our possessions come from God, but sin has messed up our thinking. When we are little children one of the first things we learn to say if something is taken from us is “Hey that’s mine.” We don’t say “Hey that’s God’s. “ If money is not an idol, why is it that it is such a touchy item in our lives? Why is it that often inheritances meant to be a blessing end up being a sore subject within a family? What would we do if Jesus asked us to sell everything and follow him? Would we gladly give up any hint of an idol in our lives? Or would we scratch and claw to hold on? Or would we walk away with a fallen face? Let’s recognize that we have walked away just like this rich man. We need a Savior. That’s the lesson Jesus was trying to teach this young man.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" Look at how easy it is for us to have been amazingly blessed to live in the country we live in to be distracted by the things of this world. “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 a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?" The disciples recognized that lesson. They felt the pinch of the law. They liked their money too. Sometimes they liked it more than they liked God. God’s law drives us to see that we need a Savior.
As I get older my eyes are getting bad. I have to hold the hymn book way out here. The other day, Sue had left for work and I needed a button sewed on. So I pulled out the sewing box. I tried to thread a needle to sew on a button and trying to fit that thread through the eye of that needle was like trying to get a camel through the eye of a needle. It was impossible. Can we sinful human beings who are so easily pulled by possessions ever enter the kingdom of heaven? No, it is impossible with man. But just when you think that something is impossible God has a way of doing the impossible. We need a Savior. We have a Savior.
That’s the second lesson Jesus the great teacher taught his disciples. Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Do you remember the other place where the Bible says, “With God all things are possible?” Those were the words of the angel talking to Mary about the birth of Jesus. God did the impossible. God took on flesh and blood and lived among his creatures. The devil tempted him with all the possessions in the world. Remember the devil’s offer that Jesus could have it all if he would just bow down and worship him. Jesus fought off that temptation and finished his life here on earth with a perfect record. Wonder of wonders God gave Jesus’ perfect record to you and me. In a great miracle of love God punished Jesus on a cross so that we would not feel the wrath of God come down on us. He gave his life so that we could have far more than the trinkets of gold and silver this world offers. He gave his life to give us eternal life.
Now that changes the way we look at our possessions in this life. They are gifts from God. They are blessings for us to take care of as stewards. But they stay here when this life is over. “We brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out.” I’ll repeat a statement I heard years ago. “You’ll never see a U haul being pulled behind a hearse.” When possessions come and go we can say with Job, “the Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised.”
I have the feeling the rich man would look at all we have and be convinced that we are far wealthier than he could ever dream of being. Whether you have a lot or a little, Jesus has given you treasure in heaven. Don’t let go of your true treasure, Jesus. You need a Savior. You have a Savior. Amen.


October 25th, 2009
Pastor Waldschmidt