Sermon on Mark 10:17-27, The Rich Young Ruler

I had heard of him from a friend of mine whose son had been healed by him.  All my friend could talk about was “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”  And it wasn’t just how grateful he was for his son’s healing.  He started paying attention to the teaching of this increasingly famous rabbi.  Much of what he had to say was about the kingdom of God and how we had to prepare ourselves for its coming.

I’ll admit, it made me uncomfortable.  I was put off a little by how people were swarming to this Jesus of Nazareth, most of them poorer people with much less education about such matters than I had.  Was he playing on their emotions and ignorance?  But my friend was not ignorant or poor or superstitious, just desperate for an answer for his son.  Perhaps that was his weakness.  Perhaps that made him less critical or cautious.  But it was hard to argue with the fact that his son was well now.  So, I decided to check Jesus out.

At first, I clung to the edges of the crowd, listening to what I could and observing what I could from a distance.  And honestly, I wasn’t too excited about being seen with this group of people or even mixing with them.  After all, I was well to-do and this was not the social circle I was used to running in.  These people were not as clean as me, not as sophisticated, I dare say, and much too willing to look for answers in such a simple way.  Life just isn’t that simple!

But as I listened, I had to admit that this man from Galilee, of all places, made a lot of sense.  I was struck by the power of his words.  He talked like he really knew God and like he understood the truth of Scripture in a way that was very different from other rabbis I had listened to.  It was like he cut to the core of what God was saying and put it in terms that were at once clear and challenging.  I mean, I was feeling a bit scared that somehow I didn’t measure up.  Was I ready for the kingdom?  Was it really coming soon?

One day I made a rather bold decision.  I was going to seek an audience with Jesus.  I had seen others doing it, waiting around after Jesus taught and asking him questions.  But I was going to wait until there was no one else around, or so I thought.  I had an embarrassing question to ask.  I was going to ask him what he thought I needed to do to get eternal life.  The way he talked about eternal life made it seem like a present possession as well as a future promise.  It was attractive.  But I was supposed to already know about such things.  My parents had money to send me to school with well-known rabbis and I had the time my wealth afforded to think about and study such things.  And yet here I was looking to this man because something about the way he said things had stirred my concerns.

I waited my turn and truth be told I’m guessing that when some poorer folk saw me waiting they made excuses and slipped away without talking to Jesus in order to yield to me.  I wasn’t trying to make the uncomfortable.  That was their choice.  So, it was my turn, and I made a noble and generous introduction.  “Good teacher,” I said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  His response angered me.  “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”  What was that supposed to mean.  I had paid him a compliment.  I had acknowledged that despite the fact that he was from Nazareth and that he stood somewhat outside the mainstream of accepted teaching that I thought he was a good man and a good teacher.

I didn’t appreciate someone coming back this hard against me.  I knew that God alone was perfect.  I was no untaught fool.  Did that mean that no human could be good?  Surely he didn’t mean that.  What was the point then?  How could anyone get eternal life?  Was this teacher really that inconsistent in his thinking?  Wasn’t he telling us to get prepared for the coming kingdom?  How else would we do that other than being good?

What he said next bothered me, too.  “You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”   Yes, I knew the commandments.  Was he trying to put me down?  He acted as if I should already know the answer to my question about how to get eternal life.  How embarrassing!  But I answered his statement with my personal record.

“I’ve never killed anyone, never committed adultery, nor stolen, nor given false testimony in a trial, nor defrauded anyone, and I’ve always honored my parents my whole life.”  That was my answer and really, I was expecting Jesus to show me proper respect for this and maybe even to hold me up as an example to others.  Isn’t this what he was seeking for, people who did what God told them to do, who obeyed the King of the world in every respect?  This was my hope, that God would accept my righteousness and grant me eternal life.  I was starting to wonder if I ever really even needed to ask Jesus this question.  Why had I doubted myself.  I did know the answer.

I’ll confess something to you.  I’ve never been so disheartened before by what someone said to me as I was when Jesus said what he said next: “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.”  He said it with a tinge of sadness in his voice, like he was pitying me when he said it.  But I couldn’t believe what he was asking me to do.  How could he ask me to give up my wealth?  And how on earth would I manage to give it to the poor?  Would I just go around throwing money to whomever was there?  How would that breed responsibility?  This was a ridiculous request!  I wouldn’t be any more “good” by giving away my wealth.  Hadn’t God given it to me to take care of me?  How would I make it without it?

And even more humbling was his charge to follow him.  What?  He wanted me to give up my everyday life and traipse around the country with him?  I had visions at one time of attaching myself to a rabbi like this and learning from him, but “Now?”, not now that I had established myself.  It was too much to give up.  Was this really what was required of me to gain eternal life?  As far as I was concerned, I already had eternal life.  I shook my head, turned around, and walked away.

What a fool I was!

I see now, looking back, just how much a prisoner of my riches I was.  I see now, too, that I thought I was good enough to merit God’s gifts, especially the gift of eternal life.  I didn’t see that goodness was really demonstrated in the devotion of one’s heart to God.  And what I had mistaken for devotion to God was really my attempt to prove just how righteous I was without Him.  And goodness was also demonstrated in trust, and I didn’t really trust Him to take care of me.  I thought I needed my money to do that.