+ 20th Sunday after Pentecost – October 10, 2021 +
Series B: Amos 5:6-7, 10-15; Hebrews 3:12-19; Mark 10:17-22
Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The author of Hebrews exhorts us to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.” In this Christian faith this is always true, especially when we look at the Scripture’s teaching on stewardship, as we’ll be doing these next few weeks.
After all, everything in faith and life begins and ends with Jesus, the Alpha and the Omega. His words and deeds in these Gospel lessons, starting with the rich young man today, will lead us toward the fear, love, and trust in God above all else that puts every other thing in its proper place, giving us eyes of faith.
Jesus’ words with the rich young man in Mark 10 reveal not only his own sin but also ours. That we have superficial eyes. That’s the reality of our sinful nature, that all too often we see what we want to see when we look at ourselves. Problem is, this isn’t the right view of things in God’s eyes. After all, which is more reliable, God’s Word or our superficial eyes?
This is why the Ten Commandments end and begin with the heart of man. The first commandment deals with faith; and the final commandments forbid coveting. Believing and coveting both originate in the human heart. Believing and coveting are more than thoughts, words, or deeds. Believing and coveting proceed from the depths of man’s nature; “out of the heart,” as Jesus says. To believe in God is more than simply thinking godly thoughts, speaking godly words, or doing godly deeds. So too, coveting the world’s treasures runs deeper than the eyes, mind, tongue, or hands; to believe and to covet are fundamental yearnings of the human heart.
This is exactly what’s going on in our Gospel reading this morning. A man came to Jesus came seeking salvation, so Jesus began with the commandments. But did you notice…Jesus didn’t mention the beginning or the end of the commandments. Honoring father and mother, avoiding murder, adultery, stealing, and false witness were all listed, but Jesus was silent about believing and coveting. He listed the commandments that govern the thoughts, words, and works of man, but did not speak the commandments that govern the desires of the heart. Why? To reveal where the eyes of this man’s faith and desire were focused. Jesus is doing the same for us as well.
You see, the beginning and ending of the commandments go straight to the heart of our life; they testify that above all else, man is a creature of desire. We hunger, thirst, and yearn. It’s another way of saying that man wasn’t created to be an independent, autonomous, or self-fulfilling being. No man is an island; no man is truly a rock. We are creatures of need. We need air to breath, food to eat, water to drink – and so on. To hunger means that food is a necessity. It is this necessity that is felt at the depth of our human nature.
Here is where we begin to understand the nature of what it is to covet. To covet is to believe, to desire, to need anything other than God. Coveting is not merely a superfluous want, and extravagant wish, or an impossible dream; coveting runs deeper than any thought, word, or deed. Instead, coveting is believing something to be a necessity. Coveting means that the need for God is overwhelmed by a need for something or someone else.
The man in the Gospel is a picture of our covetous humanity. This man counts the wealth of this world to be a necessity, and makes himself a slave to this necessity. Coveting is the worst kind of slavery, for it is not a slavery that comes from outside of us. The covetous man is not enslaved from without, but from within. It is not unlike a fountain from which all sinful thoughts, words, and deeds proceed. It was desire that compelled Adam to grasp for what is forbidden; it moved Cain to steal his brother’s life; it inspired Jacob’s sons to persecute and sell their brother; it lead King David down the path of adultery and murder; and it compelled this rich man to reject Jesus and go on his way in sorrow.
“You lack one thing,” Jesus said, “go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” With these words, Jesus exposed the man’s heart. This man may have had righteous thoughts. He may have spoken righteous words. He may have done righteous deeds. But that is not what makes a man righteous.
If we are to be truly righteous, then we must have a righteousness that reaches beyond the hands, the mouth, or the mind. Indeed, we need the righteousness that penetrates to the very core of our humanity. We need a righteousness that creates a new heart, a new spirit, a new nature. This is the true righteousness that Jesus offered to this man when he called him to come and follow him in the way of the cross. In Jesus, God does not merely offer laws to govern the thoughts, words, and deeds of man; he offers his Son, who entered into human flesh and blood so that human flesh and blood would be created anew in his own image and after his own likeness.
Jesus is righteous not merely in what he thinks, says, or does; but even in what he believes, needs, and desires. On the tree of the cross, humanity is fundamentally altered. Since it was at a tree that Adam filled man with a heart that covets, so now it is at the tree of the cross that Christ fills man with a new heart – one that fears, loves, and trusts in God above all other things.
Jesus’ perfect righteousness is revealed in his cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” These words reveal the depths of Jesus’ righteousness, for in this cry we see Jesus’ deepest desire, his most heartfelt yearning, and his greatest need. In the face of death Jesus does not cry out for life or breath, he does not yearn for vengeance or even an escape from his enemies; instead, Jesus simply cries out for God. His desire is nothing but the presence of his Father. For Jesus, there is only one necessity; there is only one need, one requirement for man – the presence of the living God.
“Come,” Jesus says, “take up your cross and follow me.” On the cross, Jesus keeps the beginning and the end of the law for you. Our sinful coveting is overwhelmed by Jesus’ righteous believing. The cross is the perfect worship of God, the perfect love for God, the perfect faith in God. On the altar of the cross Jesus offered his own flesh as the perfect sacrifice, the very flesh and blood you receive today from this altar.
Here Jesus offers his own flesh and blood to be the one thing needful for you. Here Jesus’ righteousness becomes your justification; his holiness your sanctification; his life your resurrection. Here is true treasure the likes of which the world can never give. Here you are filled with an eternal wealth of God’s grace that fills your eyes, ears, hearts, and minds with the love of God. Here our Lord gives us eyes of faith that look to him for every good thing.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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