The Place of Possessions (Part 3)
The Rewards of Following Christ
Matthew 19:16-30
April 6, 2008
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT USED IN MY MESSAGES IS BORROWED FROM ANDY STANLEY’S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING
FOR A CHANGE."
Opening
Top 10 Signs You’ve Hired The Wrong Guy To Mow Your Lawn:
10. He shows up with a pair of nail clippers and a Ziploc bag
9. On the side of his mower you notice the stenciled silhouettes of 13 cats
8. Stops frequently to nap inside the grass-catcher
7. Always trying to impress you by stopping the mower blades with his head
6. You notice him shoving the last of his clothes into the mulcher
5. He’s fascinated by the details of you home security system
4. Stops every couple of minutes to smoke some clippings
3. Somehow manages to mow the hood ornament off your Lexus
2. Turns a goat loose and says he’ll be back in three weeks
1. No toes
(Source: Pearly Gates Newsletter)
Me: I have to admit that I was blessed growing up, in that my ignorance of what it meant to be a Christian didn’t extend to the idea that a person had to give up a bunch of stuff.
Growing up on the reservations, evangelical churches like the Wesleyans and Baptists weren’t very common. We had lots of Catholic, Lutheran, and Episcopal churches as well as a few Methodist churches.
But not much in terms of evangelical churches. Which also meant that there was very little in terms of people who were born-again believers in Christ who lived for Him.
And that also meant that there weren’t any opportunities for stereotypes about boring Christians who couldn’t have any fun or couldn’t have money or anything.
So when I found Christ for myself, I had to learn all that stuff with my new friends.
The funny thing is, though. None of my new friends were boring, uptight, or anything like that.
If they were bothered about “giving up” anything, they never showed it.
We: The idea that following Jesus meant sacrificing having a real life is nothing new.
Unfortunately, people are somehow giving the impression that real Christians take a vow of poverty of money and poverty of fun.
They can’t enjoy TV or movies, can’t laugh like the rest of society, because they’re too busy with their self-righteousness to enjoy life.
Well, I hope that none of you suffer under that false misconception.
My hope is that if you do, that you’ll have a different perspective of that because of Jesus’ words in our passage today.
Jesus promises a full and abundant life for those who follow Him. And as you’ll see in this word today, He also promises reward when we leave this earth.
God: Today we finish our look at Matthew 19:16-30 (p. 696) –
16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
17 "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
18 "Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, "’Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, 19 honor your father and mother,’ and ’love your neighbor as yourself.’"
20 "All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
21 Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
This brought us to the first lesson from this passage:
There is nothing we can do to gain eternal life. Eternal life is found only in Christ.
This rich young man thought that his religious observance would get him into heaven.
He was just like so many people today who think that because they’ve fulfilled a religious requirement of some kind that they’re guaranteed eternal life.
And so they put their faith in their baptism, their church membership, their Bible reading and prayer, or whatever.
Or they put their faith in their morality – trying to keep the commandments on their own power.
But the problem is that none of these things is a guarantee of anything – except a big surprise when they stand before God and find out what this young man found out: that it’s only in Christ that we can have eternal life.
Believing and following Christ is the only way to know for sure that you’ll go to heaven when your time is done on earth.
This also plays into the second main lesson from this passage:
When possessions get in the way of following Christ, it can affect our lives – for both now and eternity.
This young man, just like so many people today, let the pursuit of wealth and possessions keep them from following Christ.
Remember, Jesus isn’t saying that wealth is wrong. The issue is that whenever we let anything come between us and Christ, we lose out.
We lose out on the full and abundant life that Jesus promises to those who follow Him, and we can lose out on eternal life when we realize that our lives weren’t built on faith of Christ but rather on living for ourselves.
Let’s keep going by starting again at verse 23 –
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?"
26 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Do you remember why the disciples asked this?
Because the Jewish belief of the time was that wealth was a sign of blessing and God’s favor. So if a wealthy person couldn’t make it, who could?
Again, it shows an emphasis on the idea that our possessions are what so many people put their faith in, for both meaning in the here and now and even for the hereafter.
But Jesus says that salvation is impossible for anyone outside of the goodness of God.
In other words, salvation doesn’t depend on anything we do or have, but on God Himself.
This was so totally foreign to the thinking of the disciples that Peter speaks up for the rest of the gang as we continue in verse 27 –
27 Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?"
28 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.”
And it’s in these final verses that we find today’s lesson:
There is reward for following Jesus – eternal life and the “replacement” of those things that are “lost.”
Peter’s question was basically, “What will we get out of it?”
His question emphasizes that the disciples had done the ultimate in self-denial and had followed Jesus’ call.
Now remember, while Peter’s question seems somewhat selfish, he was merely thinking about rewards from the standpoint of his Jewish background. In the Old Testament, God rewarded his people according to his justice, and obedience often brought reward in this life.
But Jesus explained to Peter that obedience and immediate reward are not always linked. If they were, good people would always be rich, and suffering would always be a sign of sin.
But folks, we see the opposite of that all the time, don’t we? Wicked people get rich, and good people get sick and even die.
The disciples’ true reward (and ours) was God’s presence and power through the Holy Spirit. It includes the assurance of salvation and eternal life (an assurance that the rich young man lacked.) [Life Application New Testament Commentary.]
Peter and the other disciples had paid a high price—leaving their homes and jobs—to follow Jesus. And Jesus was reminding them that following him has its benefits as well as its sacrifices.
In verse 28 Jesus clarified that the time would come when he would rule. They, in turn, would sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
We’re not entirely sure what this means, but it may refer to the apostles ruling the tribes of Israel at Christ’s return. Or it may also picture the disciples overseeing the church, which is going to have a prominent place in God’s plan, as it becomes the instrument for reaching the world by making disciples in all nations.
But let’s talk for a while about what I think is the meat of these verses.
Jesus assured the disciples that anyone who gave up something valuable for his sake would be repaid a hundred times over, although not necessarily in the same form. For example, someone may be rejected by his or her family for accepting Christ, but he or she will gain the larger family of believers with all the love it has to offer.
In my own family, I was just thought of as the religious freak of the family. There was no encouragement to love and grow in Christ.
But among my brothers and sisters in Christ, there was plenty of that. Acceptance based only on the fact that I had Christ.
Jesus explained that by submitting to his authority and rule, making him top priority over all else, and giving up anything that hinders following him, each person can have eternal life.
For the rich young man, that meant giving up money as his idol. For each person the sacrifice may be different, though no less difficult. We may have little or much, but are we willing to give it all up in order to have eternal life?
The young man here wasn’t.
What are some of the things we have to “give up” to follow Christ?
- Doing things our own way, and instead doing things the way Jesus says to do them – trusting that He knows what He knows what He’s talking about.
That’s tough, isn’t it? We like being the boss, and that goes for all of us, doesn’t it?
- Our previous beliefs about essential and non-essential issues.
- Our career plans and financial goals.
Let’s talk for just a moment about Jesus words in verse 30 –
But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.”
In the world to come, the values of this world will be reversed. Those who believe but who still seek to be important here on earth will be the least in heaven.
Jesus may have been referring to the disciples’ mixed-up motives. They had given up everything and hoped for rewards and for status in God’s Kingdom.
Jesus explained that yearning for position would cause them to lose any position they might have. Christ’s disciples who have humbly served others are most qualified to be great in heaven. This was something He had to remind them of lots of times during His time with them.
But rewards in heaven aren’t given on the basis of merit or “time served” or other earthly standards. What matters in heaven is a person’s commitment to Christ.
Real discipleship is a willingness to follow totally and accept the consequences, a willingness to surrender everything to and for the service of Christ.
And it is the only path to reward. [Life Application New Testament Commentary.]
You: The question you need to ask yourself is this:
What do I need to do to move from “hold out” to “sold out”?
What will it take for you to move from “lip-service” to “life service”?
I can’t answer that for you. And to be totally frank with you, there are times when I’m not willing to say yes.
But I can tell you that it’s worth it. I can tell you because it’s what Jesus said and He doesn’t lie.
I can tell you that because I have seen and heard it from the mouths of other people whose lives that outside of Christ would have no meaning and no assurance of heaven.
I can tell you that because I see it in the lives of people in this very room.
And I can tell you that because I’ve seen it in my own life.
When I hold out on my devotion and allegiance to Christ, I find that I miss out on the great things He has for me.
I’m blinded by my own ambitions and ideas so I can’t see that Jesus’ way is always the best way.
But when I move from “hold out” to “sold out,” I find that Christ knew better all along.
Go figure. I mean, He’s only God, after all. What could He possibly know about things, right? Just because He knows absolutely everything about everything.
Sometimes I wonder how often God does the “V-8” thing, only it’s not because He didn’t have vegetable juice, but because I do something far more stupid than that.
But then God does something or says something in His Word that brings it all back into the right focus and I see what I can gain from being sold out.
And I also see what I threw away for the sake of living for myself.
We: What will people see when they look at us – as a church and as individuals out there in the world?
Hopefully they’ll see people who aren’t “sold out” on Sunday but “holdouts” the rest of the week.
Hopefully they’ll see that we’re not so much giving up the “good life” as we gaining the “best life.”
Will they see it in you and me?
Let’s pray.
