Zoom
Mark 10:17-31 · The Rich Young Man
On Claiming One’s Inheritance
Mark 10:17-31
Sermon
by Donald B. Strobe
Loading...

As the salesman came to the front door, he turned to the little boy sitting on the steps and asked, “Is your mother home?” The boy said “Yes,” and the salesman began to ring the doorbell.  After several rings and no response, he turned to the boy and said, “I thought you said that your mother was home.” To which the boy replied, “She is, but this isn’t my house.” Sometimes we get the wrong answers because we don’t ask the right questions.  In Mark 10, we read: “And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, What must I do to inherit eternal life?’” (Mark 10:17)

I.  THAT SURELY IS THE WRONG QUESTION, ISN’T IT?  Note carefully that word “do.” It represents one of the greatest misunderstandings about the Christian Faith.  Methodists are most susceptible to this misunderstanding.  We are often referred to as the “doers” of Protestantism.  Just find a good cause to be supported, and Methodists are usually there.  In fact, we are so busy doing good works that someone once commented that he thought the Methodists’ patron saint was “St.  Vitus.” Now, I am not knocking it.  Now, I hope that you know me well enough to know that I believe that our Christian Faith must be put into practice.  It must be practiced not only where we pray but where we play, not only where we worship, but also where we work.  But first we must have it, in order to practice it.  Before it is a demand, it is a gift. 

Most folks think that Christianity is a burden, something which must be done on top of all of the other things which one has to do.  This man in today’s Gospel lesson understood religion as something to be done.  Then one could claim to have done what was required, and could therefore rest content with one’s spiritual development.  But a whole Reformation was fought over this one fact: the Gospel is not first of all a demand, but is rather a gift.  In the 16th century, an elaborate theology had developed which made our relationship to God one of doing good deeds.  If we did enough good deeds, then God would accept us; if we did not, then we were consigned to eternal punishment.  Against all of this reward-and-punishment theology Martin Luther said “no!”

Luther said that “Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works.” (Vergilius Ferm, ed., CLASSICS OF PROTESTANTISM, New York: Philosophical Library, 1959, pp. 54-55) He took his text from Jesus in Luke 6:43-44: “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its fruit.” Luther commented: “It is clear that the fruits do not bear the tree, nor does the tree grow on the fruits, but, on the contrary, the trees bear fruits and the fruits grow on the trees....the trees must exist before their fruits.” (Ibid., p. 55) He mockingly described the trees in the pope’s garden which, said he, are very strange: they first have the leaves, and then the tree springs forth from the leaves.  But this is to get everything upside-down.  The tree comes first: then the fruits.  The faith comes first, then the good deeds.  One does not do good deeds in order to be saved; but one does good deeds because one is saved.  Receiving God’s grace comes first; and then, afterward, the individual tries to do all that he or she can to reflect that grace...just as a lover cannot help but try to do things which please the beloved.  Can you imagine anyone who professed to be in love saying, “I don’t really care what my loved one wants.  I don’t care if I ever do anything to please the one I love.  But don’t get me wrong-I really am in love?” (Sounds like the way many of us act, doesn’t it?  We eagerly profess our love for Christ, but rarely spend much time thinking about ways to please Him.)

Christianity is not, first of all, a demand.  It is a gift.  It does not say first.  “Do this, go here, go there.” It says: “Here is God’s gift to you in Jesus Christ.” Its first words are not “Do” or “Go,” but rather: “Come” and “Receive.” Claim your inheritance as children of God.  In the famous words of theologian Paul Tillich, “You are accepted.  You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know.  Do not ask for the name now; perhaps you will find it later.  Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much.  Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything.  Simply accept the fact that you are accepted!” (Paul Tillich, “You are Accepted” in THE SHAKING OF THE FOUNDATIONS, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1948, p. 162) First of all, God’s grace is a gift.  The doing comes after we receive the gift. 

The word “inherit” should give us a clue to that truth, shouldn’t it?  We cannot “do” anything to inherit, can we?  Have you ever tried getting yourself included in somebody’s will?   An inheritance is not an award for outstanding merit.  It is not a payment for a job well done.  It is not something which one earns or can deserve by one’s own merit.  An inheritance is a gift---a gift that is dependent upon someone else’s efforts.  You may receive a large inheritance not because you are smart or ambitious or talented, but because you had a grandparent who was, or in some cases you had a grandparent who didn’t get caught.  The Gospel is first of all a gift, not a demand. 

II.  IT HELPS IF WE UNDERSTAND WHAT THE NEW TESTAMENT MEANS BY “ETERNAL LIFE.” It is one of those tricky phrases in the Bible which requires some understanding.John defines it succinctly: “This is eternal life, (present tense,) that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent.” (John 17:3) “Eternal Life” is a life lived in the knowledge of God.  It is not simply life stretched out forever and forever.  For many, that would not be heaven.  It would be hell.  George Bernard Shaw once said that he could not bear the thought of an eternity of George Bernard Shaw.  Crusty old curmudgeon that he was, I can understand that!  To say that one will go on living forever is an intolerable idea...especially if one isn’t all that happy living now.  That is why the Bible speaks of “eternal life,” not “immortality.” The Dictionary definition of “immortality” is: “exemption from annihilation,” and “unending existence.” This is emphatically not the goal of Christian Faith.  That would not necessarily be a happy prospect.  Some years ago there was a news item which noted that the governor of New York signed a bill outlawing capital punishment in that state...a rather enlightened thing to do.  The news report said that when the news flashed over the television, the inmates on death row at Sing Sing seemed more interested in watching the football game.  A chaplain at Sing Sing said that the majority of the prisoners would prefer death to life imprisonment.  (By the way, I do not take this as an argument in favor of capital punishment.  I oppose capital punishment.  It seems to me that you do not show your reverence for the sanctity of life by killing people!)

My point here is that mere EXISTENCE is not enough.  There must be some meaning, some purpose to that existence.  Can you think of anything worse than mere duration, the sort of existence suggested by a famous epitaph on a tombstone: “Don’t bother me now; don’t bother me never, I’m going to do nothing forever and ever.” (Never mind about hereafter, I know some folks who have adopted that as their philosophy here and now!) We make a distinction between “living” and merely “existing,” do we not?  The New Testament word “eternal” refers to a quality of life live in love and fellowship with God, (depth), and not merely a quantity of life stretched out forever, (length).  “Eternal Life” in Biblical terms is not a reward at the end of an arduous journey, like the America’s Cup, or Olympic Gold Medal...it is the journey itself, it is the road we take.  It is not a lollipop we get for being good, but the sweetness of the Lord all along the way.  And it is a gift of God.  “Fear not, little flock,” Jesus once said to His disciples, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.” (Luke 12:32.)

III.  BUT JESUS DID TELL THE MAN TO DO SOMETHING, DIDN’T HE??  In fact, Jesus told him several “somethings.” “Go, Sell,” “Give,” “Come,” “Follow.” Someone once said that his French was very good...all except the verbs.  For many of us, our faith is very good...all except the verbs.  And Jesus gave this man several verbs, several things to do.  But (as we note in the story) he could not become a disciple, he could not even begin doing them until he rearranged his priorities, got over his idolatry, and gave his first loyalty to Christ and not to himself.  He could not open his hand to receive God’s gift of grace until he first let go of his possessions.  (And his pride.) That he refused to do.  An so he was lost to the Kingdom. 

“Keep the commandments” Jesus said....and perhaps, under His breath, He said to Himself: “Keep the commandments...and you will soon discover just how difficult keeping the commandments is.” Luther said that the first purpose of the “Law” is to bring us to despair of our own worthiness of ever living up to it.  The Commandments are the basic rules of human behavior.  They tell us how the game of life is to be played.  And Jesus pushed them into even deeper levels of understanding.  He told us that it was not sufficient just to refrain from committing murder; one must not even hate.  One must not merely refrain from committing adultery; one must root out the evil desire itself.  Luther was quite right: properly understood, the Commandments can lead us only to despair.  We know what is right, but we can’t quite do it.  We see the goal, but we can’t quite reach it - not all by ourselves.  Then, when we feel most hopeless, God can come and offer us hope.  Indeed, that’s what the Commandments are for...to drive us to God, to where we say with the tax collector in Jesus’ parable: “God be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13) And then comes the good news: “But God showed His love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) There is a cartoon which has appeared in several religious periodicals.  It shows a crucifixion scene, and depicts Jesus as saying: “If I’m O.K. and You’re O.K., What am I doing hanging on this cross?” Because of Jesus Christ, because of His Cross, we are all beneficiaries of a great and wonderful legacy.  Because of Him, the doors of heaven are open to us; all we need do is to claim our inheritance. 

Let me give you a concrete example: Next Sunday, November 20, is the fiftieth anniversary of the breaking of ground for this building.  We will be marking that memorable event next week, but this morning I invite you to claim your inheritance as a part of this church.  This building was here when we arrived.  Like God’s grace, it is a gift.  The question is: what are we going to do with it?  Are we going to receive it, and then, out of gratitude, care for it, and share it?  We ought not to give to the Church out of compulsion, but out of love and gratitude.  Tillich was right: The Good News of the Gospel is that God accepts us just as we are.  But God is not content to leave us there.  God calls us to grow and love and give and share what we have received.  But first of all, God accepts us just as we are.  There are several different stories about how one of the most popular hymns in Protestantism came to be written.  I have come across a couple of them which describe the author’s visiting some church where the minister was preaching an evangelistic sermon, and responding to the preacher’s appeal to give her life to Christ just as she was.  The problem is that the author was forty-five years old, and an invalid, when she wrote the hymn in 1834.  It first appeared in 1836 in THE INVALIDS’ Hymn Book.” She could not have attended anybody’s evangelistic service.  In fact, the hymn was born out of her frustration that she was unable to do anything for God.  Her name was Charlotte Elliott.  The “true story” of how the hymn came to be written comes to us from her niece.  At the time of the writing, Charlotte was living at Westfield Lodge, in Brighton, England.  Her brother, the Rev.  H.  V.  Elliott was arranging a bazaar in order to raise money to assist in the building of a college where the daughters of poor clergy might be educated at low expense.  Miss Elliott, being ill and unable to assist in the final preparations, lay on her bed, feeling sorry for herself at her seeming uselessness.  On the day following, when all of the other members of the family were at the opening of the bazaar, a feeling of peace and contentment suddenly came over her, and she realized that God had accepted her just as she was.  She didn’t have to do anything...except be open to God’s unconditional love for her at that moment.  In gratitude, she wrote her famous hymn.  Later on, her brother said, “In the course of a long ministry, I hope I have been permitted to see some fruit of my labor, but I feel far more has been done by a single hymn of my sister’s.” (OUR HYMNODY, Robert Guy McCutchan, New York: Abingdon Press, 1937, p.246)

And what was the hymn?  We are all familiar with it.  It is usually used in evangelistic services at the time of the “altar call.” Some years ago I was asked by someone if we Methodists still had “altar calls.” I answered, “Yes, we do.  Every Sunday.  Only now we call them the Offertory!” I wasn’t being entirely facetious.  It is a solemn and sacred moment when we lay on the altar our tithes and offerings as symbols of our very lives, laid on the altar of God’s love, in response to God’s love for us in Christ.  And God is pleased to accept us, “Just as we are.” What was Miss Elliott’s hymn?  You know it.  It begins this way: “Just as I am, without one plea, But that thy blood was shed for me, And that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.  Just as I am, though tossed about, With many a conflict, many a doubt, Fightings and fears within, without, O Lamb of God, I come, I come!” May it be so.

Dynamic Preaching, Collected Words, by Donald B. Strobe