Recently I watched a short You Tube video showing some of the richest people in the world. However, it wasn’t an exhaustive list because it only included those whose net worth was more than 10 billion. So if your net worth was only one billion or 9.9 billion you were excluded from that exclusive list. Interesting that some of these people had a net worth greater than that of some countries and maybe greater than that of some provinces and states. But I wondered what their view - of their wealth is doing to their lives now and especially to their eternal life.
In our gospel reading this morning Jesus has something to say about the effect personal wealth has on people’s happiness and their inability or impossibility to enter eternal life in heaven.
The Jews at the time of Jesus believed that wealth was a blessing from God. And we might understand their view from a couple of Old Testament verses. For example; Psalm 128:2 “You will eat the fruit of your labour; blessings and prosperity will be yours.” Or from Proverbs 10:15 “The wealth of the rich is their fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor.” Or Proverbs 10:22 “The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it.”
But we have to read these verses within the context of God’s expectations of what we do with the money he gives us. We are given some idea of his expectations when we read the first verse of Psalm 128:1 “Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in obedience to him.” Another way of saying this - within the context of wealthy and not so wealthy people is: The result of obedience and fear of the LORD may bring blessings- wealth and prosperity.
God can certainly bless a person with great wealth and prosperity but - is their heart and therefore their life God centred or – is it world centred or – is it self centred. He is concerned about how they gained their wealth and what they do with it.
Consider these verses; Solomon warns us about how we get our wealth in Proverbs 10:2. “Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value…” And here are other verse from Solomon in Ecclesiastes chapter 5 verses 10 and 12; “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless.” and verse 12; “The sleep of a labourer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.”
In my career in the RCM Police and as an investigator with the Province of British Columbia I interviewed some very wealthy individuals. I observed and heard about some of their habits and life styles choices. A lot of their thinking and worrying is about how to get more money and the fear of losing what they have. A few said they would wake up during the night worrying about the safety of themselves and their families. But they believed that they had enough money to protect their family and their financial interests.
And what does Jesus say about the effect of wealth on a person. In Matthew 6:24 he is talking about building up treasures in heaven rather than treasures in this world. Then he says; “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
And Paul in 1 Timothy 6:10 - is very blunt about his view of those who seek greater wealth apart from God’s blessings:
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
Some Christians have referred to these verses from Paul and Mark to say that God opposes money and wealth. We don’t see any of that in the Scriptures. But God is concerned about what we do with it. Do we use it to help others less fortunate than us. Do we use it to honour God. Do we use it to advance God’s Kingdom. Do we use it for good – or evil.
Again I will refer to Solomon - in Proverbs 3:9; “Honour the LORD with your wealth…” Remember - it all belongs to God anyway. So are we good stewards of his monetary gifts to us.
This encounter between Jesus and the rich young man is less about worldly wealth and more about heavenly wealth – treasures in heaven. Jesus says to him; “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Mark 10: 21) And in the end the rich young man can’t leave his worldly wealth.
For some people their wealth has an unhealthy pull on them. Instead of putting their trust in God they put their trust and their faith in their wealth and the power and prestige that comes along with it. They believe it will protect then like a strong fortress against what they perceive to be the bad things and bad people of this world. So Jesus is right when he says you can’t serve God and money. And for wealthy people it is easier to trust the money, they have in their bank account than an unseen God – so they; “…will will be devoted to the one (money) and despise the other (God)...” (Matthew 6: 24)
Now I want to back up a few verses. Right before Jesus has this encounter with the rich young man - he teaches us about receiving the Kingdom of God like little children.
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (Mark 10: 14b-15)
Now let’s think about this from our own experience as children and as parents. As parents we give lots of things to our children. We love them and take care of them – we provide a safe and comfortable home life for them (At least we try) We cloth them – feed them – help them with homework and drive them to every extra curricular activity they want to do. And we buy them gifts – for birthdays and Christmas and sometime just because.
And in their minds the family car – and the family home is their home and the family car is their car as much as it is mom and dads - whose names are on the title and who have to make the payments.
Our children accept what we give them and what we do for them without questioning about it or thinking much about it. They completely trust that their parents will take care of them.
What Jesus is saying to the disciples and – of course us – is that we should accept the gift of heaven from a loving Father like a child accepts things from loving parents – without questioning it and without trying to earn it – because – well we can’t earn it. That is child like faith.
Apparently, this rich young man is concerned about where he will spend eternity – this was part of the Jewish tradition. In fact – it has been a part of human traditions for many thousands of years. In the Old Testament there are references to eternal life – liker this verse in Ecclesiastes 12:5 “Then people go to their eternal home.”
So this rich young man asks Jesus “…what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17b) Now let me read part of what he says again; “…what must I do…” In other words - he is asking Jesus – this “Good teacher” to tell him what things he must do to get into heaven. That is, what good deeds will Jesus tell him to do. Maybe he can go help serve a Thanksgiving dinner at the Mustard Seed or help some old lady across the street. He’s thinking to himself – what kind and how many good deeds must I do to get enough brownie points to go to heaven. Well - we know there is nothing that he can do to earn his way into eternal life. So at first - Jesus offers him an answer that is sort of the kind of answer this young man wants to hear.
Now an interesting aside – outside of Christianity – all other world religions believe in some form of afterlife. And they all promote the idea that the more good things you do relative to bad things you do is your key to heaven or some sort of pleasant after life. But the problems is how to define good. The definition can be very subjective between individuals and societies and their cultural norms. For example what might good to a communist might be evil to someone who believes in freedom and democracy.
So what is the first answer Jesus gives this young man. “You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honour your father and mother.” (Mark 10: 19) For any red-blooded Jewish man these would be an easy answer to accept. So he readily confirms that he has kept these commandments and replies with; “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” (Mark 10: 21) At this point he should have quoted or reminded Jesus of the rest of the commandments;
· Thou shalt have no other gods before me
· Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image
· Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain
· Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy
But then Jesus gives him the correct answer – the answer that would focus his life – his heart and his soul to trust Jesus as the only way to inherit eternal life. Jesus says: “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Mark 10: 21) This is not just a 10 % tithing – it is everything he owns. Remember that wealth has a very strong pull on people – the sense of security – the power and the prestige. He would lose all of that and possible family and friends and associates as well.
So this rich young man leaves Jesus – sadder but still a rich young man. Mark says; “At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.” (Mark 10: 22)
Jesus loved him - as he loves all humanity. This young man could not see the truth in Jesus as the only way to the Father. The pull of wealth was too strong. This reminds me of what Jesus said to the three disciples he took to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane; “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26: 41) His spirit wanted to inherit eternal life but his flesh – that is, his heart and mind did not want. He could not accept the free gift of eternal life like a child of God.
And to help the disciples understand why it is hard for a wealthy person to enter heaven Jesus compares their chances of going to heaven with the chances of a camel going to heaven. “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 God.” (Mark 10: 25)
Now the disciples need some explanation. They like most Jews believed that being wealthy was a blessing from God. But if the wealthy – who are blessed - cannot enter heaven, how then can not wealthy people – like them - enter heaven. Y’see for us - we cannot get into heaven by our own effort with any thing we say or do – it is impossible. Then Jesus says; “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10: 27) Entry into God’s Kingdom of eternal life is a free gift from the sovereign LORD of the universe who desires to give it to whom he pleases. And thankfully that is us – the children of God.
Think about how sad it is for this rich young man. He is in the presence of God incarnate but his wealth blinds him to the salvation standing right there In front of him.
https://youtu.be/KQTJIp5VW3A
Copyright © 2024 St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, Kamloops
https://standrewslutheran.ca
Featured below is a Previous Service. Check out our YouTube channel for Livestreams and more.
We are a family of followers of Christ, who learn and share the Good News of Salvation, making disciples of Jesus Christ.
We hold weekly Sunday morning services at 10:30 am. Please join us.
Our music team plays from a repertoire of many hundreds of Christian songs and Hymns, occasionally with new arrangements of traditional and contemporary selections.
Copyright © 2019 St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, Kamloops - All Rights Reserved.