October 10, 2021 “What Good Must We Do?” - Pastor Jacqueline Hines

 

October 10, 2021

“What Good Must We Do?” - Pastor Jacqueline Hines

A certain young man came to the great Rabbi Jesus. He fell to his knees as was a common gesture of respect and humility in the Middle East. Not everyone gets that type of honor. Even today, a man will often propose marriage to a woman on bended knee, but not everyone gets the honor of having that type of respect and adoration.

It was all over town that Jesus was freely and kindly offering a way to have the best life, a good life, eternal life, a life deep enough in the Spirit that pain and sorrow were less significant.

This young man wanted to learn what he needed to do to have the good life that Jesus was teaching and preaching about. He was wise enough to seek good things for himself, even if he could not yet completely comprehend God’s ideas about life, he believed in God and he was willing to take a chance that the life God had to offer was worth further exploration and investment, so he knelt before Jesus to learn from him.

Have you ever come to Jesus asking about life? Would you ever want to talk to Jesus about your life, the good life, a deeper spiritual life?

Verse 21 says that Jesus looked at this man on his knees and he loved him. Most of us don’t know what to think of a rich man, especially a young rich man, and especially a young rich man who was large and in charge. We think all kinds of things about people. We’re suspicious of wealth sometime. We lack confidence in youth sometime. He was a ruler and he probably ruled over a few slaves in his day. Hopefully, he was kind and not cruel. He had a lot to give. God had blessed him richly. And we all know that the more God gives us, the more God is entrusting us to be a blessing wherever and whenever God guides us to be a blessing.  God is constantly pouring love and everything good into our lives, and we dare not hold it too tight, lest it become like sand. The tighter we hold it, the more it spills. We do better to pour into the lives of others, as God assigns us. It is better to give and give and give rather than be greedy, greedy, greedy. Greed is despicable, disagreeable, distasteful…Greed reveals my heart not totally trusting in God, a heart afraid that if I am left with nothing but God, God will not be enough. Greed, perhaps, reveals a lack of appreciation for the blessings I have and a lack of hope that God will provide what I need, even if it is not always what I want. Greed reveals my longing for some other love – the love of stuff and status – even though I have pledged my allegiance to an all-loving God. There’s nothing wrong with stuff and status in its proper place. There’s nothing wrong with stuff and status, until we choose it first, rather than put God first. Putting God first is a day to day decision.

The young man was smart enough or perhaps impressed enough to compliment Jesus. He called him good teacher, but Jesus pointed him to God. Perhaps Jesus was like those football players who make an amazing play and while everyone is excited and tells them how good they did, the player points toward Heaven, letting the crowd know that it is not about their being good, it’s about God who is good.

  “You know the commandments, Jesus told him.” Every serious student appreciates knowing that the teacher notices what they know, proving that they are smart. In fact, students remember what teachers and those in authority say about them. “You know the commandments,” Jesus said to him. Knowing the commandments is not something that Jesus could say about every student.

At the same time that Jesus was giving him kudos for knowing the Ten Commandments, Jesus had some lessons for this student to learn. Jesus started talking about the Ten Commandments, but he left out the first four of the Ten Commandments. The first four focus on God: have no other Gods, worship no hand-made images – no statues or monuments, don’t take the Lord’s name in vain, take God seriously; and honoring the Sabbath rest to celebrate and give thanks rather than working ourselves to death to get more stuff.

Jesus leaving out the first four was like telling the rich young ruler not to think about a pink elephant. When you say don’t think about a pink elephant what do we do? We only think about a pink elephant. Jesus did not mention the first four commandments that refer to our right relationship with God. Instead, Jesus named out loud those commandments that he knew the young man understood and was good at. Honor your mother and father, do not murder, no infidelity, no stealing, no lying, and no fraud (which is coveting to the point of cheating).

Verse 20 says “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” It was as if the young man were saying, “I understand all those things. I know it all. Give me a challenge.”

Jesus looked at him with the eyes of love and said²¹  “One thing you lack,…Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Now that’s a challenge. Most of us would be glad Jesus did not tell us to sell all we have and follow him. There are a few who have done just that, who have taken a vow of poverty, who have made up their mind, or perhaps have heard Jesus calling them to walk away from stuff and concentrate on the spiritual side of life. Mother Theresa  is  one who made a vow to serve the poor and not just the poor, the poorest of the poor.  St. Frances of Assisi of the 12^th century is another. He was born wealthy and heard God’s call to give to repair the church which was in ruins, so he gave all his money to the church which made his father very angry. Francis left his father’s home and took on a vow of poverty.

When I worked at Cokesbury, our United Methodist bookstore named after the first two United Methodist bishops –  Thomas Coke (9 September 1747 – 2 May 1814) and Francis Asbury ( 20 August 1745 – 31 March 1816), a nun came to purchase a gift. She had made a vow of poverty and she only had so much money to spend on this gift. If was very hard to watch her agonizing spending the very small amount of money that she was designated to spend.

At the very least, Jesus seems to be calling this young, rich, ruler to let go and let God. That is always a good thing. It is good every day in every way to let go and let God.

Verse 22 says the man’s face fell and he went away sad because he had great wealth. Most of us are challenged, not necessarily to sell all we have, but to at least keep our stuff in perspective as we keep the faith. Most of us have great wealth. Think about it – clean water, nice clothes, safe homes, inside plumbing, parks and beaches, well maintained highways and bridges, internet, cell phones, secure banks, working government, freedom of speech, freedom of worship, computers, beautiful building, hotels, resorts…we have great wealth. We are abundantly blessed.

The man who came to Jesus was blessed. Most people are happy after spending time with Jesus. This man went away sad. In the Greek, the word for his mood when he walked away is “stugnasas” usually translated as “shocked,” “surprised,” or “in sorrow”.  

Though most may not be asked to give up all we have for the sake of the poor, there is, no doubt, something that we have given. We have practiced our faith, we have delighted in serving, and we have loved our God with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul.  Every now and then, there may be something that we are less willing to give that causes us to struggle in our giving. We are all different and we all have different values and perspectives. God knows. You may have heard the story of three people looking at a tree; one may see the tree as so many boards and feet of valuable lumber worth so much money. The second sees the tree as so much firewood to be burned, to keep a family warm in the winter. A third may see the tree as a masterpiece of God’s creative art, given as an expression of God’s love and enduring strength, with a value far beyond its worth in money or firewood. It’s all good and it all works out if we keep our eyes on God. We all see a vision of what God has for us and if we are willing, we can be the church united, with one purpose, one goal, one vision, to be and do whatever the father, son, and Holy Spirit stirs us to do. For, without a vision, without hearing and responding to God’s voice, God’s people cannot be the church, passing the baton on to our neighbors, our family, our friends, or our children.

I heard one of the men of God of Bethel say  – “The world is in such chaos, but I am not concerned about myself. I am concerned about my grandchild.” That Bethel father’s heart is like the heart of God, and if we all are just as concerned about the next generation, we will be willing to ask God to guide us to not only to see the chaos that surrounds us but to see God’s will and to be willing to follow where God leads us, to surrender our all and put our all in the hands of an almighty God – putting our loved ones, our dreams, our comfort, our gifts, our talents and our money.

The disciples were amazed when they heard Jesus telling the man to give everything away, but in verse 29 Jesus tells us that he has better stuff than we could ever accumulate. Jesus has 100 times more than we could ever have along with some tough times. The only way to find out about all the good stuff Jesus has for us is to follow him.

May it be so today!