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Mark 10:17-31 · The Rich Young Man
The Heavier the Purse, The Tighter the Strings
Mark 10:17-31
Sermon
by Bill Bouknight
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The Rev. Will Campbell is a Baptist prophet from the hills of North Carolina. A few years ago he was invited to preach at the prestigious Riverside Church in New York City. That church has long been noted for its activist preachers and liberal, politically correct agenda. Will Campbell was asked to preach on this subject: "What Riverside Church Can Do to Help the Future of Race Relations in America." Campbell took for his text the same one I am using today, the story of the rich young ruler. At the beginning of his sermon he asked, "What can Riverside Church do to help race relations? What can this church do to relate to its next-door neighbors in Harlem? "Nothing," said Campbell, "nothing...unless you sell your big building and give it to the poor. Let's go out on the street and see what you can get for this big building." Needless to say, the host preacher and congregation were not amused. They wanted an answer that was reasonable, practical, and fashionable; not some shocking, outrageous answer. A liberal congregation had been out-liberaled. You can see why I wasn't about to invite Will Campbell to speak here during our recent Capital Funds campaign.

Will Campbell and Jesus have at least this in common: they shocked people often. Obviously, Jesus allowed no committee of political handlers to edit his material. He said things like, "I have not come to bring peace but a sword." "If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out." When Jesus met the Rich Young Ruler, he lobbed another spiritual hand grenade. Jesus had the gall to tell a wealthy person to go and sell all that he owned, without even checking with his accountant, and to give it all to the poor, and then to come and follow him. Whoever heard of such a thing?! Why would Jesus say such a thing?

The Rev. Reuben Tinker, an eloquent Nineteenth-Century Presbyterian preacher, gives us a clue. He said: "The heavier the purse string hangs down, the tighter the strings."

Let's look closely at that rich, young ruler who came running to Jesus one day. Full of sincerity and zeal, he dropped to his knees in humility, and asked, "0 perfect Master, what must I do to live eternally?" The disciples were shocked. Their usual crowds were decked out in jeans and polyester, so to speak, but here was a fellow in a Brooks Brothers suit with his hair carefully styled. Jesus, always a genius at asking the right questions, asked, "Why do you call me perfect? Only God is perfect." Perhaps Jesus thought the young man might perceive who Jesus really was. But he did not.

To check him out, Jesus said, "You know the commandments; fulfill them and you will live with God forever." Then Jesus named half of the Ten Commandments, the five which deal with treatment of other people. And Jesus added one: "Do not defraud." Perhaps Jesus speculated that some of the young man's wealth had come in less than honorable ways. The young man checked out on the Commandments. "I have kept all these from my youth," he said. Jesus loved him. What was it about the young man that made him so attractive? Maybe it was his humility, unusual in someone so wealthy. Maybe it was his youth and sincerity.

Jesus said, "You lack one thing." But Jesus did not tell him what that one thing was, but he gave him the cure. "Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." At that point everything prudential within us wants to say, "But Jesus, that's so extreme. Why didn't you just ask him to tithe, make a big one-time gift to the Temple's Capital Funds Program, and meet you on weekends? Why so extreme?"

Jesus knew that this young man was probably already a tither, perhaps giving even 20 percent, as was the Pharisees' custom. But his heart was still in his bank account. Jesus advised him as AA would an alcoholic. You must separate yourself radically from your addiction in order to save your soul. Here we have the only example in the Gospels of a command of Jesus clearly rejected. The young man went away sorrowfully, for he had great possessions.

I can almost feel you urging, "Come on, preacher, tell us that Jesus' command to the rich, young ruler is not intended for all Christians. Remind us that he did not require other rich followers like Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimethea to do the same." All right, I'll agree with you...but the Bible won't let me deliver us from the hot seat. Jesus said that it's almost impossible for rich people like you and me to get into the kingdom. Why? Because the heavier the purse, the tighter the strings. Every thousand dollars in income, every item of luxury is another tentacle around our hearts, used by the Evil One to steal us from God.

Let me share with your a surprising statistic. Americans of all different income levels give approximately the same percentage of their incomes to charity--about 2.5 percent. That means that the average person making $15,000 per year gives about the same percentage to charity as does the person making $250,000. That sounds unreasonable, doesn't it? High-income families have more disposable income. Why then don't they give a higher percentage to charity? The heavier the purse, the tighter the strings.

I heard about an expert in diamonds who happened to be seated on an airplane beside a woman with a huge diamond on her finger. Finally, the man introduced himself and said, "I couldn't help but notice your beautiful diamond. I am an expert in precious stones. Please tell me about that stone." She replied, "That is the famous Klopman diamond, one of the largest in the world. But there is a strange curse that comes with it." Now the man was really interested. He asked "What is the curse?" As he waited with bated breath, she replied, "It's Mr. Klopman." Some of you may wish to re-evaluate your diamonds on that basis.

The curse of any kind of valuable possession is its capacity to steal our hearts and souls. The heavier the purse, the tighter the strings. Is it fair to call most of us rich? According to our Methodist founder John Wesley, it is. He said that the word "rich" in the Bible means to have the necessities of life (food, shelter, and clothing) and then something left over. But here is part of the problem of us rich folks. We have increased the number of things we regard as necessities. We want three cars, two VCRs, four computers, a house at the lake, country club membership, and private school education. There are hundreds of things that we call necessities that our parents referred to as luxuries. The Bible says that shelter, food, and clothing are necessities. To have these and something left over, as almost all of us do, is to be rich.

What is Jesus' command to us rich folks? I hear clearly these three mandates:

First, Travel Lighter.

Reduce your conspicuous consumption, this extravagant investment in earthbound goods. It is wrong for Christians to wallow in extravagance while 20 percent of our city lives in poverty. It is regrettable that you cannot tell the difference between Christians and non-Christians in terms of their extravagance pursuit of luxuries. Most of us live in houses much larger than we can reasonably justify. Status and envious comparisons drive too many of our purchases. How could we with a straight face dare to show a listing of all our possessions to that one who said, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth...?"

Just suppose that my wife and I took a two-week vacation in beautiful Destin, Florida. And, suppose that after only one day there, we liked it so much that we transferred our bank account down' there, sold our home here and purchased one there, and registered to vote in Florida. You would say, "Bill, that is dumb. You're coming home in two weeks. It makes no sense to act as though you'll be in Florida for years. Two weeks compared to a lifetime is even longer than eighty years on earth compared to eternity. Therefore, it is dumb to tie up most of our assets on earth when we're going to leave so soon.

Secondly, Invest at Least 10 Percent of Your Assets in Kingdom Commodities.

A kingdom commodity is anything invested for Jesus and other people, especially the poor and hurting, without expecting anything material in return. At no point does the Bible say that a tithe (10 percent of income) is all that God expects us to give. It is a bare minimum. To fail to give 10 percent is to steal from God. Down in Brazil a few weeks ago I heard that great Korean Bishop Sundo Kim say, "If you don't tithe, your pocketbook is not converted. And if your pocketbook is not converted, you aren't." Some people cannot be completely converted until they stop misappropriating funds.

A Christian is expected to do more than tithe. After we have taken care of food, clothing, shelter, and a tithe, we should invest a goodly portion of our surplus in kingdom commodities. Our founder John Wesley heeded this admonition. When he was a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, he received an annual salary of 30 pounds. He figured he could live on 28 pounds, including a tithe of 2.8 pounds. Therefore, he had an extra two pounds to invest for the Kingdom. The next year he earned 60 pounds. But he still lived on 28 and gave away 42. The next year he earned 120 pounds. He still lived on 28 and gave away 92.

If Christians of America were to live by this code, we would need little or no welfare funding from the government. The churches could divide this city into five-block areas, and take responsibility for meeting the physical and spiritual needs. The big disadvantage of government welfare is that it cannot spread the good news of Jesus. But we in the private sector are under no such restriction. The failure to meet the needs of the poorest of the poor is not the fault of government. It is the fault of rich Christians like you and me who have preferred to invest in earth- bound treasure rather than in kingdom commodities.

A Third Admonition for Us Rich Christians: Pray Daily That God Will Protect Us From Our Possessions.

Jesus said that our salvation is a slim possibility, but with the help of God, it is possible. The most dangerous item you own is not the shotgun you may have in your home that could accidentally discharge. It's not your swimming pool in which someone could accidentally drown. It is not your automobile which can run more than 100 miles per hour. It is your bank account which has the power to capture your soul. Perhaps that is why the Bible talks so much about money. There are only 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, but more than 2000 verses on money and what it buys. I challenge you to join me in adding this heart-felt plea to our daily prayers: "Lord, protect me from the addictive power of money."

The great preacher Halford E. Luccock once described two persons whose deaths made the papers. The first was a woman who died in London. Her obituary was long, with a picture and bold headline. She was known as the best dressed woman in Europe. She had over a thousand dresses. But, said Luccock, "in each dress she had the same unseeing eyes, the same deaf ears, the same enameled, painted face." The second death was also in London. This man's obituary was short; there was no picture. He owned but one suit, blue with a red collar on the coat. He was William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army. The wealthy woman invested in clothes; not worth much from an eternal perspective. Mr. Booth invested in kingdom commodities. Now he is enjoying the glories of heaven while his earthly heritage--the Salvation Army--goes marching on in the name of Jesus.

Where are your key investments? Earth-bound or heaven-sent? Wherever your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The heavier the purse, the tighter the strings.

ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc., Collected Sermons, by Bill Bouknight