19 Pentecost 06 Proper 23

Read Mark 10:17-ff.

On a number of occasions Jesus had the opportunity to come out and publicly declare his divinity. He could have said at any time, “I am God!” Instead Jesus chose to try to get people to discover who he really was. He often did and said things that indicated that he was God.

For example, on one occasion he told a man that his sins were forgiven. Now it is one thing to forgive the sins of someone who sins against us, but we cannot forgive the sins of those who sin against God and others. The Jews recognized that Jesus was claiming to be God by claiming to forgive sins.

On another occasion, Jesus said, “Before Abraham was born, I am.” Here he was using the divine name for himself with which God identified himself to Moses on Mount Sinai. Again the Jews recognized his claim to divinity and tried to stone him for blasphemy.

Still again Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. The Jews understood this to mean that he was claiming equality with God (John 5:18).

In our gospel lesson the rich young man came to Jesus and said, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus responded, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.”

Jesus was not here declaring that he was not good. In fact, no where in the gospels does Jesus ever make that statement. He was, in fact, trying to get the rich young man to see that he, Jesus, was in fact God.

Then Jesus went on to ask the young man if he had kept all of the Ten Commandments. In listing the Ten Commandments Jesus was affirming the moral commandments of God. Sometimes Christians think that Jesus came to do away with the law, but in reality Jesus affirmed the moral code of the Old Testament.

The rich young man probably felt pretty secure in his efforts to earn his way to heaven by being what he thought was a good man.

So many people today think of themselves as “good people.” The problem is they measure their goodness against a human standard. God’s standard for goodness is perfection. That is why Jesus said that no one is good but God alone.

When the young man asked Jesus the question about eternal life he may not have realized that to get to heaven on one’s own merits that person must live a perfect life. In order to demonstrate this point, Jesus told the man that he must sell all of his possessions and give the money to the poor and come and follow him.

The young man had not counted on that. He had not realized that there was something in the way of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ and thus, eternal life. When the young man heard the conditions Jesus set forth, it says his face fell and he went away sorrowful. He was not willing to give up the thing that stood in the way of following Jesus and having eternal life.

Is there something in your life that is keeping you from coming to Jesus or following him? Jesus isn’t saying in this story that we all have to give up all of our money and possessions, otherwise the church could not grow and flourish. He is saying that we need to take stock of our lives and see if there is something that has a hold on us that is keeping us from following Jesus. He asks, “Are you willing to give up the control that that thing has over you? Are you willing then to submit your life to me and seek to do my will?”

In the case of the rich young man, his money was the thing that stood in the way of him coming to Jesus. I want to share with you some ways that we can keep money from having the same control over us.

First we must realize that:

Money Belongs to God
Only by recognizing where money comes from can we be free of its power.
God wants to help us get rid of the word mine when it comes to money. We need to think of our money not as ours, but rather as what it truly is: his.

An old miser, because of his extreme thriftiness, had no friends. Just before he died he called in his lawyer, his doctor and his priest together around his bedside. He said, “I’ve always heard you can’t take it with you, but I’m going to prove them wrong. I have placed $90,000 divided into three envelopes under my bed, $30,000 for each one of you. When they are throwing the dirt in on me, I want you to throw the envelopes into the grave.”

The man died and at the funeral each of the three men threw their envelopes into the grave.

Afterwards, the priest said, “I have something to confess, instead of throwing the whole $30,000 in, I kept $10,000 to help us with our new church building.” The doctor said, “I kept $20,000 for our new hospital, and threw in $10,000.”

The lawyer said, “Gentlemen, I’m surprised, shocked, and ashamed of you. I don’t see how you could hold out that money. I threw in my personal check for the full amount.”

Do you realize that your money belongs to God? How would that affect the way you use money if you came to that realization?

Secondly:

Money Traps Us into Wanting More
Instead of satisfying, money makes us hungrier.
The strange thing about accumulating money is that it makes us want more. Only God can reorient this natural tendency. The devil, I believe, uses debt to keep us wanting more. St. Paul said he had learned how to be content in whatever circumstance he was in. He had times when he had a lot and times when he had little. Because Jesus was more important than what he had, St. Paul knew that whatever situation he was in, it was by God’s design and so he accepted it.

The third way money controls us is that:

Money Lulls Us into Thinking We Have Power
Money isn’t just money; it is power, but its power can go either way.
Money has the power to hurt and corrupt, or the power to heal and help. It also has the power to consume.

Money can control us when we have it in the wrong perspective:

Money Fails to Buy Happiness
True pleasure comes from contentment rather than from wanting more.
Even if we don’t admit it to ourselves, we think that money can bring us happiness. We want to make more money so we can buy more stuff and go more places. But money rarely brings us long-lasting pleasure. I had a period in my life where I inherited some money. I gave a large portion of it away to Christian ministries. Why? Because I was content with what I had and I really wanted to further God’s kingdom. I wish I was always like that, but I’m not. So God is speaking to me today about contenment.

We can become deluded by money when:

Money Convinces Us It Will Bring Us Prestige
Real prestige can only come from God.
For many of us, how much we make, how much we have saved, or the kinds of things we own are indicators of what we’re worth. Sometimes people think that the amount of money they have is an indication of how much they are blessed by God, and if they don’t have much, somehow, they think that God doesn’t love them or care for them. They must not be worth much to God. However, God infuses us with real prestige when we invest our money compassionately.

Money begins to lose its power over us when we realize:

Money Is to Be Used for God
Open your mind to the possibilities of using your money for God’s glory.
Money brings all sorts of impossibilities to our minds. But when we look in our wallets, God wants us to see possibilities: for making a difference, for contentment, and for freedom that we’ve never known before.

Did you realize that because of your giving to this church people are coming to know Jesus Christ? We have had people come to Christ through our Alpha Courses and through our Sunday services. People often check the box on the blue cards indicating that they have accepted Christ at one of our services. You are making a difference for God’s kingdom by your giving.

In reality, one can never fully get the proper perspective on money without coming into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Maybe you are here and you are looking for answers and are wondering if Jesus can help.

Let me illustrate what he can do by sharing a story with you.

In a beginning logic course at a major university, the professor made an unusual offer to his students who were preparing for their final exam. He told them, “You can bring to class on the day of the exam as much information as you can fit onto one piece of notebook paper.

So every student sharpened his or her pencils and worked all week trying to cram as many facts as possible onto an 8 ½ x 11inch sheet of notebook paper.

But one student walked into the class, put a piece of notebook paper on the floor, and had an advanced logic student stand on the paper. The advanced logic student told him everything he needed to know. As a result, he was the only student in the class to receive an A.

What must you do to inherit eternal life? Invite the only one who has all the answers into your life, turn away from everything you know is wrong, ask Jesus to forgive you, give you new life and fill you with His Spirit. It is only through Jesus that you can get an A on Judgment Day. Don’t let anything in this world keep you from eternal life or from following Jesus.