All things possible with God

Mark 10:17-31 “All Things Possible with God” October 14, 2012 20th Sunday After Pentecost Year B It is Halloween in the stores already The front of local markets have been crammed full of candy for the past two weeks. Halloween “Trick or Treat” might not be until the end of this month. But candy creators want us to stock-up and stock-pile. As a kid it was such a rush to come home after “making the rounds” of the trick-or-treat neighborhood and ceremoniously dump out all that candy crammed into our paper bag. Every piece would be inspected. Perhaps some cautious trades made with siblings. Then each of us got our own bowl to keep our “cavity central” separate from everyone else. Halloween candy is consumed according to two very different philosophies. There are the “hogs” and there are the “hoarders.” The “hogs” dive right into the bowl, scarf down all their favorites the first night, eat until queasy, and then finish it up during lunchtime at school the next day. The “hoarders” not only stretch out the life-span of their goodies until Thanksgiving. They also allow themselves only one or two “favorites” per day, mixing in the less desired goodies to fill out the daily ration. There are obvious problems with both of these strategies. The “hogs” either get horrible stomach aches, or suffer an out-of-control sugar rush that leads them to harass little sister, drive the dog crazy, and get grounded by a frustrated parent. The ”hoarder” lords their “I still have candy” status over others for a month. But eventually they end up with stale, rock-hard, break-your-teeth “goodies” that really are not good (although they would never admit it). For both kids and adults it is hard to know how to deal with “wealth,” with “stuff” we have that others may not… But thinking about something as simple as how we deal with Halloween candy – is a good introduction to our text for today. Mark 10:17-31. This is a favorite story, we also see it in Matthew. It is the story of the rich young ruler. He is a good person, he obeys the commandments, he has been following Jesus while he is in town, and is considering even following Jesus. Not speaking definitely about any plans, don’t take this conversation too serious, but just in case I wanted to be a disciple and follow you all of the way – what would I have to do. I have done everything already, and since I am rich is it obvious that I have God’s favor. Knowing that if he is attached to his life, then he wouldn’t be able to follow where Jesus us going. He helps him out a bit, sell it all – then come follow me. Jesus price is too high – he cant sell his soul for his possessions. He returns to his life. and Jesus reminds us that it is hard for the rich to get into heaven. But the good news is that all things are possible with God. What we cannot do alone, we can always do with God. The disciples are looking on at all of this. They have always been told that if you have lots of stuff, if you live a happy life, that is a sure sign that God loves you. If this man cannot be saved, then who can? He had everything that we want. Jesus reminds us as disciples that having a lot of stuff does not put you closer to God. If you are willing to sacrifice on behalf of God, then you will receive the ultimate reward. Not a story about money We have all heard this story before have we not. Or have we really. Jesus is not saying that there is nothing wrong with being rich or with having money. Not within itself at least. But the problem is that just those who like to hold onto the Halloween candy – we like to hold onto our stuff. It starts to possess us – to take over our life, our dreams, our commitments. Once we get it we have to have more and more and more. Mr. Coleman’s diamond A diamond expert was taking a trip on a plane – he couldn’t help but to look at the finger of the lady next to him, and see that she had an exquisite diamond on her finger. He commented – that is a nice diamond. She commented that it was the famous Coleman diamond. It was the largest diamond of its kind in the world. And that for all of its beauty – it carried a curse along with it. The diamond expert couldn’t resist asking about the curse. Oh the woman replied – the diamond comes along with Mr. Coleman. Lack of commitment The problem with rich is not so much the stuff that we have – it is our attachment to the stuff. Our unwillingness to give it up. Along with our unwillingness to give up on our stuff – is that we tend to start to put our stuff before our commitment to God. The rich young ruler wanted to follow Jesus – but he couldn’t give up his stuff. How many other things do we put before serving God? This is not a story about being rich. It is a story about the choices we make. It is a story about the commitments that we make in life, it is a story about what keeps us from serving God. And if we are serving God, what keeps us from fully serving God. Why is God’s will taking second place in our lives? And the reality is that a lot of times, it is being able to give up the that we already have. Hawerhaus’s ethics Stanley Hauerhas is a professor of ethics at Duke university. He might be retired by now. But I remember being able to meet him in college. He was a friend of our religion professor, and he gave a wonderful lesson on ethics. He believes that when someone joins church they should be asked if they love Jesus, if they will commit their lives to living for Jesus, but the next question should be – how much money do you make, and how much will you be willing to give to God. Mr. hauerhas is United Methodist, but obviously he is not a practicing pastor. Because any pastor knows, that there is nothing more sacred, holy and untouchable then how much money someone makes. There are just somethings in life that you do not touch – and people’s income is one of those things. There have been times when the pastor has been asked to see the giving records of a church – and been told absolutely not – that is sacred information between the person and the financial secretary. And yet many stewardship experts tell us that giving records are not about money. It is about the care of the soul. A change in what you give to the church can tell a lot about the condition of a person’a soul. It can track wellbeing of the family, financial priorities, even ones happiness about the church. The devil was on the prowl one day out to get the Christian. When he saw the Christian he shot one of his fiery darts and it struck the Christian in the chest. The Christian had on the breastplate of righteousness so he wasn't harmed. The devil shot at the Christian's head but that was protected by the helmet of salvation. The devil figured everyone has an Achilles' heel, so he shot at the Christian's feet that were shod with the gospel of peace so no harm was done. The Christian smirked and turned around to walk away. The devil fired an arrow into the Christian's wallet and killed him. Beth Quick, Mission: Impossible You can tell all about someone and what they value – just by looking at their checkbook and their key ring. What they give money to and what they have keys to, demonstrate what it important to them. 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. Don’t be greedy The problem with the rich young ruler wasn’t really that he was rich, His problem was that he was greedy. He had more than he really needed to survive and he wasn’t willing to get rid of the excess. And his greediness was standing in the way of him making a full commitment to God. He wanted to keep more for himself, than he was willing to give to God. And yes on the surface we are supposed to criticize the rich young ruler. We can see where he had too much. We can see what stood in the way of his full service to God. But on the sly – Jesus wants us to realize that the rich young ruler is a part of all of us. In what ways do you also say no to God? What areas of your life have you told God that is out of his realm. What areas are you holding out on God? It could be a attitude, a feeling, a hobby, an anger, or even your possessions. Henry Thoreau said, "Be not merely good; be good for something." That was Jesus' challenge to the man who wanted to know what he could do to inherit eternal life. He had been good at making money, in being morally upright and keeping the commandments; but that is not the ultimate good: he must also give of himself and what he has in behalf of others. He needed to also realize that, "The gift without the giver is bare." John Wesley proposed an excellent guide to goodness. He said, and he practiced what he preached: Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, At all the times you can, As long as ever you can. Someone else has expressed the ideal of goodness in a wonderful way, saying, "I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore, that I can do, or any goodness that I can show to my fellow creatures, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." I like when Jesus says however, why do you call me good. No one is good but God alone. Because only God can give us life. all that we have in life is a gift from God. Praise be to God! God would never hold back on you, so make sure that you don’t hold back on God. If you want to be rich, be rich in the things of God: gratefulness, love, a willing spirit and most importantly a full commitment in all areas of your life. Mark 10:37 Jesus says truly I tell you there is no one who has left house, brother, sister, or mother, or father, or children, or fields, for my sake who will not receive a hundred fold now in this age and in the age to come. Let us pray…..