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Mark 10:17-31 · The Rich Young Man
L4G Live For God
Mark 10:17-31
Sermon
by Leonard Sweet
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The front of local markets have been crammed full of candy for the past two weeks. [Get someone to take pictures of your specific local markets.] Halloween “Trick or Treat” might not be until the end of this month. But candy creators want us to stock-up and stock-pile.

As a kid it was such a rush to come home after “making the rounds” of the trick-or-treat neighborhood and ceremoniously dump out all that candy crammed into our paper bag. Every piece would be inspected. Perhaps some cautious trades made with siblings. Then each of us got our own bowl to keep our “cavity central” separate from everyone else.

Halloween candy is consumed according to two very different philosophies. There are the “hogs” and there are the “hoarders.”

The “hogs” dive right into the bowl, scarf down all their favorites the first night, eat until queasy, and then finish it up during lunchtime at school the next day.

The “hoarders” not only stretch out the life-span of their goodies until Thanksgiving. They also allow themselves only one or two “favorites” per day, mixing in the less desired goodies to fill out the daily ration.

There are obvious problems with both of these strategies. The “hogs” either get horrible stomach aches, or suffer an out-of-control sugar rush that leads them to harass little sister, drive the dog crazy, and get grounded by a frustrated parent.

The ”hoarder” lords their “I still have candy” status over others for a month. But eventually they end up with stale, rock-hard, break-your-teeth “goodies” that really are not good (although they would never admit it).

For both kids and adults it is hard to know how to deal with “wealth,” with “stuff” we have that others may not. No matter how big or small your “bowl of candy,” you’ve got to decide how you are going to deal with it and dispense of it.

In today’s gospel text Jesus’ directive to the rich young man is both dramatic and daunting.

Sell it all.

Give the money to the poor.

Follow me.

Is there any one of us who wouldn’t have had a problem “following through” on such a stark commandment?

But note this: Jesus doesn’t give a time line. Jesus just tells the truth. And the truth is we cannot “take it with us.” In fact, Jesus gives us a vivid image of the fact that we cannot “take it with us.” He said it is as likely to find a “rich man” in the kingdom of God, as it is to find a lumpy, grumpy old camel sliding through the eye of a needle. Forgetaboutit! We all have to “give it away.” No one can take one cent with us. The only question is when will we give it away, and to whom will we give it? How we will accomplish that inevitable end of giving it all away, and where will our wealth go?

Welsh poet David Whyte succinctly summed up that decision when he wrote, “I don’t want to have written on my tombstone, when people finally struggle through the weeds, pull back the moss, and read the inscription there, ‘He made his car payments.’”

Dream bigger.

Be a disciple.

To be a disciple means that you don’t just “pay the bills.” You “pay it upward.” Notice I did not say “Pay It Forward.” I said “Pay It Upward.” To be a disciple is to be a trustee, an “epitropos.” Trustees “own” nothing. Yet trustees ARE legally accountable for every dime they spend. Every church has a legal entity known as “trustees.” They go by other names in some places, but legally every 501-C-3, every church, even every estate has to have a “trustee,” a legal entity that is lawfully responsible for how that institution is being run and that estate is being disposed of. The job of a trustee is to oversee an institution or estate and to make decision that fulfill the intent of the One who set up the trust.

Sound legalese and boring? It’s not. Because YOU are a trustee.

As a disciple of Jesus Christ you are a trustee for the kingdom of God. That is the “institution” or “estate” with which you have been entrusted. You own nothing. I own nothing. Most of us, what we think we “own,” we really “owe” anyways. Our primary fiduciary responsibility as a “trustee” is to introduce others to Jesus, to make disciples of Jesus, to receive the gift of the kingdom and to take care of God’s kingdom, God’s estate. We are trustees of God’s estate. Making your relationship with Jesus the first and foremost commitment in your life is the “prospectus” you offer to prospective disciples. Giving of yourself, of all that you have, of all that you are, is the investment you make in the next generation of disciples.

If you can see yourself as a “trustee” then you acknowledge that we are merely the momentary caretakers of God’s goods — “entrusted” with some “stuff” for the span of our lifetime. And one day we will be held accountable before God as to how well we’ve invested and cared for what was God’s all along. Did it advance God’s kingdom? Or did we use God’s gifts to build up our own kingdoms?

The Native Americans couldn’t understand the Europeans’ urge to “own” the land upon which they lived. They knew their time would come and go and the land would still be there. The world and all that it has to offer us is God’s estate, God’s trust. We are to care-take, to “trustee” God’s creation and to invest in God’s creatures. We are trustees not of bank accounts or land grants or mineral rights. We are trustees of the relationship we have been freely given by Jesus — to be in relationship with him, to be in relationship with each other, to be in relationship with ourselves, to be in relationship with creation itself.

The Pacific Northwest Native Americans held a big party called a “potlatch.” It was like a reverse birthday party. Instead of everyone bringing a present, the intention of the potlatch was for the host to give away as much as possible. The most “gifted,” the “richest” member of the tribe, was the one who gave the most away.

Jesus’ disciples are a potlatch posse. We are a “tribe” dedicated to giving it all away in order to usher others into the kingdom and to fulfill our fiduciary responsibility as God’s trustees.

For a while the #1 hashtag on Twitter has been “YOLO,” an acronym for "You Only Live Once." The phrase was made popular by singer Drake, who used "YOLO" in his song "The Motto.” But it is now used in a couple of ways.

For some it is the new version of “Carpe Diem,” which is Latin for “Seize Today” or “Seize the Moment.” We someone reaches out to seize the moment, they say or text or tweet “YOLO.”

For others it is an invitation to take risks, or to do something that you normally wouldn’t do. For example, someone tweeted this: “Couldn’t find deodorant so used Febreze. #YOLO.”

For still others it’s an excuse to do something really stupid. And sometimes it’s so stupid it could get you killed. A 22 year old rapper named Ervin McKinnes just signed a record deal last month (September 2012), and got drunk with four of his buddies. Instead of using a designated driver, they decided to drive anyways, and the last tweet the rapper would ever send said this: “Driving Drunk. #YOLO.” A minute later he and his four friends were dead, having crashed into a wall at 120 mph.

The story of the rich young ruler might carry with it the hash tag #YOLO. You only live once, Jesus is saying. #YOLO. So #L4G. Live For God. Invest your life, invest everything you have, in the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness. Give the kingdom all you are, and everything you have. “And all these things will be added unto you.”

In a #YOLO culture, #L4G.

Live For God.

Who will commit to #L4G this morning? Who will agree to give everything they are, and invest everything they have, in the kingdom of God? Who can hear the Savior calling?

1. I can hear my Savior calling,
I can hear my Savior calling,
I can hear my Savior calling,
"Take thy cross and follow, follow me."

Refrain:

Where he leads me I will follow,
where he leads me I will follow,
where he leads me I will follow;
I'll go with him, with him all the way.

2. I'll go with him through the garden,
I'll go with him through the garden,
I'll go with him through the garden,
I'll go with him, with him all the way.

(Refrain)

3. I'll go with him through the judgment,
I'll go with him through the judgment,
I'll go with him through the judgment,
I'll go with him, with him all the way.

(Refrain)

COMMENTARY

After enduring the worst economic recession in the past fifty years, it is hardly surprising that every political candidate this season promises new jobs, more money in our pockets, and blossoming businesses — if only they are elected. We desperately want reassurance that things are going to get better and our financial security will be assured.

It is a safe bet that if today’s gospel reading were a stump speech, Jesus wouldn’t get elected dog-catcher.

As Jesus is continuing on his journey to Jerusalem, he suddenly encounters a potential disciple. While Matthew and Luke identify this individual as “young” and “a ruler,” Mark does not provide any descriptive details about the man at this time. That the man runs to Jesus and then kneels before him suggests a sincere earnestness in the man’s demeanor. He addresses Jesus as “Good Teacher” and asks him how he may “inherit eternal life.”

Despite the man’s inquiry and respectful tone, Jesus’ initial response to him is surprisingly rather sharp. Jesus begins by rejecting the man’s designation of him as “good” and reminds him that “No one is good but God alone.” In Judaism the emphasis on the one God and thus the unique divine goodness of God was central. While God and God’s creation could be called “good” (Genesis 1:4,10,12,18), “good” was not a title attributed to even learned, pious rabbis. Jesus’ rebuke reminds the man that his focus should be on the one true God, the One who is capital Good.

Because the man has asked about what actions he should take (“what must I do”), Jesus offers him the example of the second half of the Decalogue. These are the commandments that deal with human interactions and relationships, adding on the command “You shall not defraud,” an addition that portends the monetary issues that soon come up.

The man’s response may strike twenty-first century readers as spiritually arrogant. He asserts he has “kept all these since my youth.” In Judaism it was assumed that a pious and obedient Jew would and could keep all the commandments — all 613 of them. Jesus himself does not seem to take the man’s response as anything but sincere, and Mark’s text declares that Jesus “looked at him and loved him.”  The “look” (“emblepein”) Jesus gives is a scrutinizing stare, a “look” that sees right through the man and yet he still loves him. Maybe Jesus even saw some of himself in the young man.

Jesus now reveals to this man that there is one more thing he must do — although his directive is actually two-fold, not “one more.” First, the man must “sell what you own and give the money to the poor.” This suggestion was as stunning to first century ears as it is today. Wealth was seen as a sign of being blessed by God. A person of wealth had the leisure time to pray, observe the commandments, and enjoy having the ability to be a benefactor to the poor, the widow, the orphan.

Jesus declares all that the man has, all he owns, is not a benefit but is a “lack,” an impediment to his entrance into eternal life. This is the flip-side of his assertion that the powerless, the “little children,” are welcomed into the kingdom of God. Those with nothing, gain everything, while this man who has much still lacks an admission ticket to the kingdom.

The second half of Jesus’ directive is an invitation and a call: “Come, follow me.” Jesus invites the man to discipleship. What the man lacks is a life that first and foremost is defined by a relationship with Jesus. The security and status of the man’s riches are without merit. Indeed, they serve as stumbling blocks not stepping stones into the kingdom. It is only when the man makes following Jesus his first priority that he will gain “treasure in heaven” and the promise of eternal life.

Only now does Mark reveal that this individual is in fact enormously wealthy. He has “many possessions.” Not surprisingly, his reaction to Jesus’ directive is less than enthusiastic. He is “shocked” (“stygnazein”), with the verb used here literally meaning “gloomy, dark, an overcast sky.” The good news of the gospel, the invitation to be a disciple, to be in relationship with Jesus and to follow him, is overshadowed by the gloom and doom message of putting his wealth aside. The rich man chooses his own safety and status over a new life in relationship with Jesus and though he is “very sad,” he decline discipleship and departs.

Jesus turns now to address his own disciples, those who have already left everything to follow him. Even though these disciples are “on the way” with Jesus, they are still “amazed” or “perplexed” (“thambein”) by his truth. Jesus continues by using one of his most memorable verbal illustrations to enforce his message, proclaiming that 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 heaven” (v.25). This humorous hyperbole burns a ridiculous image into the brain. It makes Jesus’ point needle sharp.

In Chicago there is a saying: "da kingdom of Gaad, is like city work, it ain't about watcha know, itzabout whoya know." In the kingdom of God it is not “what you have” or “what you know;” it is “who you know” and “whose you are.” Whatever treasure may be accumulated on earth, the fact remains that “you can’t take it with you.” There truly are no rich people in heaven. Entrance into the kingdom, into eternal life, is only accessed by being in relationship with Jesus, the one who stands before God.

Jesus’ “astounding” pronouncement leads his disciples to finally ask the right question. If neither wealth, power, status, nor obedience to the law can gain one entrance to the kingdom, then “who can be saved?”

Again Jesus “looks” at (“emblepo”) or better yet “scrutinizes” his questioners. Only then does he declare the final truth: “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible”(v.27). Human achievements are not the key to the kingdom. Only the grace of God makes it possible for the door to open. The kingdom is not an achievement you bring in. The kingdom of God is a gift you receive.

In the final section of today’s text Peter, the usual spokesman asks the question that still dances about in the disciples’ heads. One can almost hear the panicked squawk in Peter’s assertion: “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

Jesus’ response is both reassuring and revealing. The litany of losses he lists includes almost every communal network human beings hold dear — home, siblings, parents, children, livelihood. These are the things that must now be second tier, subservient to being a follower of Jesus.

But Jesus promises that even in “this age” life as a disciple will yield “a hundredfold” more of those connections and relationships. It would not be lost on Mark’s audience, Christians in Rome during the rule of Nero, that Jesus also notes that “persecutions” would be part of the discipleship package as well.  Yet despite all, Jesus reassures those who follow him as his disciples that they will reap a reward of rich relationships and untold treasure in heaven.

ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Leonard Sweet Sermons, by Leonard Sweet