+ 21st Sunday after Pentecost – October 17, 2021 +
Series B: Ecclesiastes 5:10-20; Hebrews 4:1-16; Mark 10:23-31
Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Fix your “eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter” of your faith. Easy to say. Much harder to do. Sunday morning, sitting in church, hearing the Word, singing the hymns, the crucifix, the font, the altar – here it is easy to fix your eyes on Jesus. But that’s not always the case. Outside of church, when the stresses and grind of life wear at you, it’s easier to lose focus; to forget. It’s easy not to pray or open our Bible.
In today’s Gospel reading in Mark 10, Jesus warns his disciples then and now about some of the snares laid for us by the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh.
“How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”
No this isn’t Jesus wearing a tax the rich robe to a Pharisees dinner. He’s not making a political speech, but pointing out a spiritual reality.
Remember the rich young man we heard about in last week’s Gospel reading. He had great possessions – he was wealthy – yet he went away from Jesus sorrowful. Why? Because Jesus’ words cut him to the heart. He thought he was righteous because of what he did or avoided doing; he didn’t murder, commit adultery, steal, or slander. He honored his parents. He was basically a good guy, so he thought. Yet His heart loved the things of this world. He coveted his own possessions and feared, loved, and trusted in them so much that he wouldn’t consider parting with them for the sake of others, or for the sake of his own soul. As he walked away from Jesus, he revealed that his love for his stuff was more valuable than God.
Today’s reading picks up where last week’s reading left off. Jesus teaching his disciples. “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”
Indeed, Jesus goes on to say, “it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God,” Jesus said. Listen carefully to what he says. Difficult, but not impossible. This is Jesus’ point – what is impossible with man and all his temptations and idols and weaknesses is possible with God! The wealthy young man thought he could do it himself. But he couldn’t do it.
And neither can we. What’s impossible for man…is possible for God. And before we go pointing our finger at the rich young man, Peter reveals that we’re not all that different from him.
He began to say, “see, we have left everything and followed you.” And in one sense, he was right. He and the other disciples had walked away from whatever living, whatever career they had, and they had followed Jesus. Thinking he could receive Jesus’ approval for what he had done, he was sorely mistaken.
“Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time…houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands…” Yes, Jesus has a lot of good things to promise, and you can almost see Peter’s chest puffing up with pride at having put the camel through the eye of the needle, until the next words out of Jesus’ mouth: “with persecutions.”
Yes, you heard that right. Jesus said there was no one who left everything behind who wouldn’t receive a hundredfold now in this time…but with it would come persecutions. It all sounds good until that! Persecutions? That’s not what they were after, they were after righteousness and didn’t want persecutions or anything unpleasant. Truth is, neither do we. Persecution is painful. It’s not what anyone wants or expects as a result of faithfulness. And yet, of all the things we’re given in this world of which we are stewards, if we are faithful to God above all things – if we fear, love, and trust in him above all else – we will not have control over how the world will treat us. As our Lord said, the world will hate us because it hated him first.
Sounds rather overwhelming and frightening; but it’s not hopeless. Jesus went on. Yes, persecutions would follow faithfulness, but then, after faithfulness and persecution, there is eternal life in the age to come. And that is Good News. Not and earthly glory, riches, power, or honor, but eternal life in the age to come. That’s the promise.
Again, the problem isn’t an abundance or lack of earthly things. After all, those are good gifts from God. The problem comes when we turn it all into an idol. And there’s nothing wrong with not being wealthy as long as it doesn’t embitter us and turn us against those blessed by God with more than you. The problem for the rich young man wasn’t the wealth he had; it was the faith in God that he lacked.
And instead of seeking it in Jesus and finding every good thing from him, he looked for it in his own hands. We’re tempted the same way. Tempted to short-sightedness. The big picture is there but we, as we (like Peter) seek to find assurance in our own attitudes and deeds. The kingdom of God, however, isn’t found in our wealth or lack of wealth or in the work of our hands. But in the riches work of Jesus’ hands, outstretched on the cross for you.
In the God who came to earth in human flesh in order to rescue us. In Jesus who delivers us from the weakness of our short-sightedness. He does it all by his gifts. He gives us many earthly things of which we are stewards. You also have time and talents that God has placed into your care. He has given you everything so that as his children, you may render thanks unto him for all he has given.
And those gifts are joyous. They go beyond earthly things, and even beyond anything we might lose, even by persecution. Christ’s gifts to us are eternal. Never ending. Eternal life in the resurrection of all flesh. Eternal joy as his children. Eternal gifts of his grace and mercy that fix our eyes on Jesus.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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