Mark 10:17-31 October 14 2012
“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” That is one of the basic questions that all religions try to answer. We want to know that we go to a better place when we die, and so religions try to give us some direction on how we should live to make that a certainty. But this young man was not convinced. Even though he had followed all the commandments of his religion faithfully, he still did not have the certainty he craved.
And many of us feel the same way sometimes. Many people, if you ask them if they think they are going to heaven, will say, “Well I think so. I hope so.” It is not a matter of certainty.
The young man said, “What must I DO?” You see, if it all hinges on what we do, there can never be any certainty. Because no matter how carefully we avoid doing the things we know we shouldn't, there are always accidents. And no matter how hard we try to always do the right thing, sometimes there are grey areas where it is very hard to see what the right thing is. And no matter how much good we try to do for others, there is always more that could be done. Have I done enough? Could I try a little harder? Yes of course. But no one has the strength to do all that could be done. That's why, in the prayer of confession we said at the beginning of the service, we confessed that we have sinned by what we have done and by what we have left undone. If it all depends on what we do or don't do, we fail every time.
This young man tried so hard, and Jesus looked at the young man, and loved him. It was not because he tried so hard that Jesus loved him, but in spite of the fact that he tried so hard. And Jesus said to him, “One thing you lack... come, follow me.” Oh yes, he said all the rest to him as well, all that about selling all that he had and giving to the poor. That would be necessary if he were to follow Jesus. But the whole point of the selling and the giving was so that he could follow Jesus.
You see, inheriting something does not depend on what you do. It depends on who you are. I inherited from my mother, not because I took her into my home and took care of her. Her will was drawn up long before I did that, and I didn't get a penny extra because of it. She left me my inheritance simply because I was her daughter. It was the relationship that generated the inheritance.
And Jesus wanted such a relationship with the rich young man. He wanted him to follow him, that is, to be his disciple, to live with him, to learn from him, to do whatever he did, and go wherever he went. This is what Jesus wants of us, too. To live with him, to learn from him, to do whatever he did, to go wherever he went. This is what is means to be a disciple.
And this is what gives us the certainty of eternal life. It's not because of what we do, it's because of who we are. And when we are followers of Jesus, we have this relationship with Jesus which is stronger even than death. It is eternal life, not only after death, but even before death, life in Jesus, life with God.
And what is true of individuals is also true of the Church. Does our congregation please God? Is God going to save our church? Well, it is not because of anything we do that God loves our congregation. It is because we belong to God, that we are Our Saviour's church, that God loves us. And it is because God loves us that God is showing us all sorts of things that God wants done in the world. It is because God loves us that God calls us to the enormous privilege of doing God's own work.
It is not because we are doing all these things that God loves us; we are doing these things because we are following Jesus. Yes, we have had to give up a lot of things in order to do this following. We even had to make up our minds to give up our building. We have had to have to give up our comfort zones and take on new challenges and new responsibilities. We have had to say goodbye to friends whom God was calling to go to other congregations. Sometimes giving things up is necessary in order to follow Jesus. But we have his promise: “There is no one who has left house, or brothers or sisters, or mother or father, or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold, now in this age.” Thanks be to God. Amen.
“What must I do to inherit eternal life?” That is one of the basic questions that all religions try to answer. We want to know that we go to a better place when we die, and so religions try to give us some direction on how we should live to make that a certainty. But this young man was not convinced. Even though he had followed all the commandments of his religion faithfully, he still did not have the certainty he craved.
And many of us feel the same way sometimes. Many people, if you ask them if they think they are going to heaven, will say, “Well I think so. I hope so.” It is not a matter of certainty.
The young man said, “What must I DO?” You see, if it all hinges on what we do, there can never be any certainty. Because no matter how carefully we avoid doing the things we know we shouldn't, there are always accidents. And no matter how hard we try to always do the right thing, sometimes there are grey areas where it is very hard to see what the right thing is. And no matter how much good we try to do for others, there is always more that could be done. Have I done enough? Could I try a little harder? Yes of course. But no one has the strength to do all that could be done. That's why, in the prayer of confession we said at the beginning of the service, we confessed that we have sinned by what we have done and by what we have left undone. If it all depends on what we do or don't do, we fail every time.
This young man tried so hard, and Jesus looked at the young man, and loved him. It was not because he tried so hard that Jesus loved him, but in spite of the fact that he tried so hard. And Jesus said to him, “One thing you lack... come, follow me.” Oh yes, he said all the rest to him as well, all that about selling all that he had and giving to the poor. That would be necessary if he were to follow Jesus. But the whole point of the selling and the giving was so that he could follow Jesus.
You see, inheriting something does not depend on what you do. It depends on who you are. I inherited from my mother, not because I took her into my home and took care of her. Her will was drawn up long before I did that, and I didn't get a penny extra because of it. She left me my inheritance simply because I was her daughter. It was the relationship that generated the inheritance.
And Jesus wanted such a relationship with the rich young man. He wanted him to follow him, that is, to be his disciple, to live with him, to learn from him, to do whatever he did, and go wherever he went. This is what Jesus wants of us, too. To live with him, to learn from him, to do whatever he did, to go wherever he went. This is what is means to be a disciple.
And this is what gives us the certainty of eternal life. It's not because of what we do, it's because of who we are. And when we are followers of Jesus, we have this relationship with Jesus which is stronger even than death. It is eternal life, not only after death, but even before death, life in Jesus, life with God.
And what is true of individuals is also true of the Church. Does our congregation please God? Is God going to save our church? Well, it is not because of anything we do that God loves our congregation. It is because we belong to God, that we are Our Saviour's church, that God loves us. And it is because God loves us that God is showing us all sorts of things that God wants done in the world. It is because God loves us that God calls us to the enormous privilege of doing God's own work.
It is not because we are doing all these things that God loves us; we are doing these things because we are following Jesus. Yes, we have had to give up a lot of things in order to do this following. We even had to make up our minds to give up our building. We have had to have to give up our comfort zones and take on new challenges and new responsibilities. We have had to say goodbye to friends whom God was calling to go to other congregations. Sometimes giving things up is necessary in order to follow Jesus. But we have his promise: “There is no one who has left house, or brothers or sisters, or mother or father, or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold, now in this age.” Thanks be to God. Amen.
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