Sermon Index
October 10, 2021
He must have been a very nice young man. Jesus liked him, and so I guess we would have too. He seems to have kept all the Commandments of the Second Table, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus did not argue with him when he said that he hadn’t killed anyone, hadn’t been unfaithful, hadn’t stolen anything or gotten anything by fraud or dishonesty, and he respected his parents, too. He was a good man, and he enjoyed the good life, too. He was rich. But he felt that he lacked something. He lacked the assurance of salvation. He realized that just being good and ethical and moral was not good enough for salvation. And so he asked Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” In that question we see his problem. He asked, “What must I DO?” He thought salvation was earned by what he would do. He felt that if he did good then he would have salvation. In order to lead him to true understanding, Jesus helped him to realize that salvation was not based on keeping the commandments. But the man seemed to realize that already. He said, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And yet, he felt it was not enough.
And so Jesus had to help him understand that salvation was based on the First Tablet of the Commandments, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). The man loved something more than God. He loved his many possessions. If he had sold all his possessions like Jesus said, he would have to rely completely on God for life, both to stay alive and to live happily. But when he heard Jesus’ words, he was disheartened, disappointed, and disappointed. His riches were his life. His riches were what he trusted most. Those riches were his “god.” Jesus did not say that poverty was the way to heaven, but that to follow riches rather than to follow Jesus was not the way to heaven.
Jesus did not say that poverty was the way to heaven, if you think that giving away all that you have will get you to heaven because it is something that YOU DO, then it is just another way of trying to earn salvation through works. When Jesus called his disciples and said “Follow me,” it was just like when he told the rich young man to follow him. But even the following of Jesus is not what saves us. If you think that following Jesus is something that you DO, then it will not save you. Salvation is found in the one whom we follow, in Jesus. It is Jesus who does the work of salvation. He is the one who suffered and died on the cross to forgive our sins. He is the one who descended into hell to conquer the devil. He is the one who rose on the third day to give us the promise of resurrection and the inheritance of eternal life. Jesus is the one who did and still does everything.
Before the rich young man walked sadly away from Jesus, we are told that Jesus looked at him and loved him. We too are told to follow Jesus, and we can because Jesus loves us and he never walks away from us. When we learn that discipleship means following Jesus to his suffering and death, we might be tempted not to follow him. But Jesus never walks away from our suffering and distress. He loves us and wants us to be saved. This love of Jesus creates faith and trust in our hearts. We know that it is not earthly treasures that save us. And so we put our hope and trust in Jesus.
The man in the story had “great wealth.” In the eyes of most of the people in the world, you and I have “great wealth.” But is there one thing we lack? Do we have to sell everything and give it to the poor and then follow Jesus? If we had to, then we would probably be just like the man in the story. His face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth and a luxurious life style that he loved more than eternal life.
Are we the same as him? Maybe our treasure is not money, but something else. What do we have that we think is more valuable than following Christ? This could be a thing or a person or some activity. It might be something that gets in the way of being a good follower of Christ. Sometimes we need a call for repentance and a new way of life. It takes the wisdom and strength of the Holy Spirit to keep in balance what is really important in life.
Maybe we do not have to sell everything we have, but we have to realize that although we love the treasures that we have been given by God in this world, both the treasures that are people and the treasures that are things, we must not let them keep us from following Jesus.
When we follow Jesus he gives us something to take with us. He gives us a new treasure. He gives us a cross. It is really his cross. And so it is forgiveness, it is love, it is salvation, and it is what we seek, it is eternal life.
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church