“WHAT DO YOU LACK?”
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 23)
October 11, 2015
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
[The rich young man] said to [Jesus], “Teacher, all these
[Commandments] I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him,
loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you
have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and
come, follow Me.”
Mark 10:20, 21 (ESV)
You have to love this guy who came running up to Jesus in this
morning’s Gospel. Even though he is described in parallel accounts as
a synagogue ruler, he is such a welcome change from the religious
types who we usually find questioning Jesus in the Gospels. He says
and does all the right stuff. He comes to Jesus on his own; he
doesn’t need to be coerced or even invited. And he comes humbly,
discarding the pompous demeanor that you might expect from someone of
his status and position, and he kneels at the Savior’s feet. And he
comes sincerely: Unlike most of the religious leaders who questioned
Jesus during His earthly ministry, this one comes with no sinister
motive--no attempt to trap Jesus into saying something that could be
used against Him at a later time. And he comes seriously, inquiring
about things that really matter. He wants to go to heaven and he’s
willing to do whatever it takes to get there. He’s young, rich,
cultured, enthusiastic, and willing to serve. What more could you
want in a prospective disciple?
But despite everything in his favor, Jesus for some reason doesn’t
respond to the rich young man in the way that you might expect Him to.
To begin with, Jesus questions the man’s use of the word “good” (Mark
10:17) in addressing Him--not exactly the best way to get a new
relationship off on the right foot. Then, when the man tells Him that
he is familiar with the Ten Commandments and has observed them since
childhood, Jesus brutally challenges him to part with all of his
possessions, giving the proceeds of his entire estate to the poor.
But, as Mark points out, Jesus says these things to the man out of
love for him. Nevertheless, how devastating it must have been for
this enthusiastic young man to hear these words of Jesus! So that we
might be on our guard against a similar experience, let’s spend these
few minutes this morning meditating on the rich young man’s problem
and the solution that Jesus offers to him and to us.
The young man’s problem becomes clear to us (or at least it should)
as soon as he asks Jesus the question that drove him to seek Him out
in the first place: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark
10:17). This man is asking the wrong question. His choice of words
betrays the fact that he has a misconception about the relationship
between what he does and the possibility of his receiving everlasting
life in heaven. He is not asking Jesus to give him everlasting life;
he’s asking Jesus for instruction on how he can earn or buy it for
himself. The man fails to see his acceptance by God as a free gift of
God’s grace rather than as a reward for his works. He has the
mistaken idea that it is somehow within his power to determine whether
or not he will receive the glory of heaven, thinking that if he only
does all of the right things heaven is his. Certainly as Christians
we have heard and believed God’s truth about these things from day
one, but we still need to hear and study it over and over again,
because everyone and everything in this world of ours seems to be
telling us that the rich young man is right and that the Gospel of
Christ is wrong--that heaven is something that we can attain for
ourselves, if not by our works, then at least, perhaps, by our
“decision” to “accept” Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord.
The other problem that this man has comes to the surface when he
interrupts Jesus’ recitation of the Ten Commandments to tell Him that
he knows what Jesus is saying and that he’s already done all of that.
This proves beyond all doubt that the man hasn’t the slightest idea
what Jesus is saying. In reciting the Commandments Jesus is trying to
make this man see that he’s not fit for the kingdom of God on the
basis of his works. But instead the man has a sense of
self-confidence--a feeling that he can handle it on his own. It could
very well be that this problem is related to his wealth. The man was
probably used to being able to buy his way out of any jam that he
might find himself in, so why should this be any different? We need
to be on our guard against this kind of attitude ourselves. While not
many of us have the wealth that this man had, we do have people and
things in our lives that are very important to us--so important, in
fact, that we may begin to think that as long as we have them, we have
nothing to be concerned about.
We need to know, as the rich young man needed to know, that what is
needed as a first step for us to be saved is repentance. King David,
in Psalm 51 (the best-known psalm of repentance) writes: “The
sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O
God, You will not despise” (Psalm 51:17). This “broken spirit” (Psalm
50:17)--this “broken and contrite heart” (Psalm 50:17)--is not some
feeling that we can manufacture within ourselves. It comes only by
paying close attention to the Law of God. That’s why Jesus referred
this man to the Ten Commandments when he inquired about how to get to
heaven. The Lord was not for a minute suggesting that a person could
actually do all of these things and thereby achieve glory; He was
merely holding up God’s standard of perfection for the purpose of
pointing out that every last one of us falls short. If we honestly
look at ourselves in the light of God’s Law, our hearts will be broken
and contrite sooner than we think, for the perfect Law of God breaks
our stubborn sense of self-sufficiency.
But sorrow over our sin alone isn’t enough. Judas Iscariot was sorry
for his sin but was not saved. What else is needed? Listen to what
Mark says: “Jesus, looking at [the young man], loved him.” It’s not
sorrow over sin that saves a sinner; it’s the redeeming love of God in
Jesus Christ--love so strong that it sent Him to the cross bearing our
sin, so that He might pay the penalty that we deserve and thereby
appease the righteous wrath of God forever. It is this love of
Christ, manifested in the sacrifice that He made for us, and nothing
else, that makes us acceptable in the sight of God and able to enter
His presence here on earth through worship and prayer and eventually
in the everlasting glory of heaven. Nowhere else can we or will we
experience love that is so strong and so deep.
The rich young man’s problem was that before the judgment of God he
clung to a lot of things that didn’t matter, depriving himself of the
one thing that did. When we stand before our Judge, it’s not going to
matter how hard we worked or how wisely we invested. It won’t matter
then how smart or well-respected we are. It won’t even matter that
our kids have made it through school, are gainfully employed, and have
a well-rounded social life. The only thing that will matter then is
whether or not we are covered with the blood of Jesus Christ. God’s
Good News for us is that we are--all of us--every sinner. His warning
is that many deny it and reject it by putting their confidence in
other things. Through Word and Sacrament His Spirit preserves our
faith in the Son of God so that we may rejoice in His grace
always--both now and in eternity.
Amen.
May the Lord bless your hearing of His Word, using it to accomplish in
you those things for which He gave it. May you be enriched and
strengthened in faith that you may leave here today to go out into our
world armed with the whole armor of God, prepared to be able
ambassadors of your Savior Jesus Christ. He who calls you is
faithful, and He will do it. Amen.