A man cannonballs from the top of his garage into his neighbor’s pool. A skateboarder grabs on to the back of a speeding car and zips down Main Street. A motorcyclist skids under an 18-wheeler and pops up on the other side. You’ve all seen these stunts in the movies. And you’ve also heard the warning: “Don’t try this at home!” Still, there are always a handful of daredevils who think they can safely copy what they see the professional stuntman do. What usually follows is a clip worth sending into Funniest Home Videos – that is if the amateur stuntman didn’t get hurt too badly.
In our Gospel lesson today we meet a young man who thought he could do the impossible. He thought he could earn his way into heaven. “Don’t try that at home, or anywhere else,” says the Holy Spirit to us this morning. Overestimate your goodness, or underestimate your God and you’ll be in for an eternal world of hurt.
The thing about stunts like jumping off a building or hopping between moving cars is that the professionals make it look so easy. When the young man in our text considered God’s commands he thought these were easy too. And so he approached Jesus looking for more of a challenge – something he could do to guarantee his place in heaven. In spite of his false presumption there is something likeable about this young man. He doesn’t saunter up to Jesus with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove. He runs to Jesus and falls on his knees before him. Would that we sought Jesus with the same energy and humility! Instead we often find it more desirable to run to the computer after dinner to check email than to dive into God’s Word for a quiet ten-minute devotion. Or if we do open his Word, we’re hardly on our knees in eager anticipation of what pearls will pour forth.
However, there is something about this young man that we don’t want to copy – namely the way he overestimated his goodness. When Jesus told him that he should not murder, not commit adultery, not steal, not give false testimony, not cheat, but honor his father and mother, the young man replied with a straight face: “All these I have kept since I was a boy” (Mark 10:20).
Have you ever made a claim like that? Many people do. When I ask the question: “If you were to die tonight, and God should ask: ‘Why should I let you into my heaven?’” The answer I often get is “Well I’ve been a good person. I haven’t killed anyone. I haven’t cheated anyone. I’ve tried my best to be a good father…” This response is really no different than the one the young man gave Jesus. We too tend to overestimate our goodness. We overestimate our goodness because we underestimate the precision with which God wants all of his commands obeyed. We forget that being good in God’s eyes means always responding to hurtful comments with loving words. It means speaking well of your neighbor even when his dog yaps all day long. It means respecting your parents even when they don’t let you hang out with your friends. It means protecting your neighbor’s investment of a new lawn by weeding out all the dandelions in your yard. It even means praying for those who burn down your church. There is no way we obey God with such precision, and neither had the young man in our text. All have sinned, says the Bible.
So what was Jesus to do with this young man? You’d think he’d let out an exasperated sigh, roll his eyes, and rip the kid to shreds. That would have been easy for Jesus to do. After all he is God. He knew everything about that young man. He knew about the dirty thoughts the young man had perhaps entertained earlier that day about the girl who lived down the street. He knew how the young man was refusing to forgive his father for having beaten him, and how he had scoffed at the seeming silliness of his village elders. Jesus really could have put the man in his place. Instead Mark records these astonishing words: “Jesus looked at him and loved him” (Mark 10:21a). Wow! Far from being irritated, as you and I are when someone is slow to catch on to simple directions, Jesus consciously loved the man. How did he show that love? Jesus said: “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” (Mark 10:21b).
Huh? How was that a demonstration of Jesus’ love? Like the doctor who orders a MRI in addition to the CAT scan he’s already performed to convince a skeptical patient of his illness, Jesus used this command to bring to light the fact that the young man wasn’t as good as he supposed. That became clear when his face fell at Jesus’ words. You see, the young man loved “stuff.” Give it up to follow Jesus? That was too much to ask. He admired Jesus but clearly he didn’t adore him.
Friends, you may have come to church this morning because you admire Jesus. You love his simple yet thought-provoking parables. You like how he stood with those others wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. And you know that he must love you because he willingly gave up his life on the cross for you. But Jesus wants more than your admiration; he wants your adoration. Will you give up everything to follow him, or are you too attached to your worldly possessions, as was the young man? No, Jesus doesn’t want you to sell all your belongings and enter a monastery or convent but he does want you to use all your gifts to praise him. For example he wants every movie you rent to glorify him, not mock his design for marriage. He wants every meal you eat to be received with thanksgiving, not groans. He wants every note you practice on the piano to be done with cheerful eagerness, not grumpy sluggishness. And he wants every dollar you put in the offering plate to be delivered in genuine liberality, not grim reluctance. If we have really been touched by Jesus’ love, these demands won’t seem excessive but exciting. We serve the King of the universe because we get to not because we have to.
But that was all too much for the young man and he slumped away from Jesus much like how you may be slumping in your chair now after hearing what Jesus expects of you. Good. As Martin Luther once said: “Before God can make us glad he needs to make us sad.”
While we are not to overestimate our goodness neither are we to underestimate our God. That’s what the disciples were in danger of doing. When Jesus watched the young man go, he said: “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 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” (Mark 10:24b, 25). How hard is it for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle? You might be able to squeeze through a whisker or two but getting hooves, hump, and rump through the tiny opening is impossible. It’s just as impossible for someone to squeeze into heaven while entertaining covetous thoughts because they are not happy with what God has already given to them. It’s no wonder the disciples responded: “Who then can be saved?” (Mark 10:26) The disciples may not have owned as much “stuff” as that young man but they knew they wished they were as rich so Jesus’ words also applied to them. Likewise if you’ve ever poured over those advertisements from Best Buy longing for a bigger TV. If you have a reoccurring dream in which you live in a mansion, instead of that “dinky” house you now have, then Jesus’ words apply to you too. A camel has a better chance of fitting through the eye of a needle than you do of getting into heaven! Thankfully our Savior had more to say on the subject. He continued: “With man [salvation] is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27).
Earning my own salvation is impossible. I know that. I mean if each sin was a raindrop, I’d be soaked right now just from the sins I committed since getting up this morning. And like water bursting through a dam I can’t stop the deluge of greedy, dirty, boastful, sarcastic, selfish thoughts that saturate my brain from morning until night. But there is hope for me. Jesus just said that all things, even the salvation of an incessant sinner like me, are possible with God. It’s more than possible actually. It’s guaranteed. Jesus made the impossible a certain guarantee when he gave his life on the cross to pay for all the sins I’ve committed or will ever commit. He’s done the same for you even if you mistakenly think that your sins are worse than mine. You see it’s not about your sin; it’s about your Savior. No, don’t overestimate your goodness but don’t underestimate your God either. That’s just as bad! Even right now Jesus is looking at you as he looked at that young man in our text and he loves you. He says, “I have forgiven you. My forgiveness covers you like an umbrella.” Don’t walk away from Jesus as the young man did. Throw yourself at his feet (and stay there) in grateful adoration for his forgiveness. Show your adoration by freely confessing your sin, taking responsibility for them, and undoing the harm your sins have caused others. These may seem like daunting tasks but Jesus makes them possible too through the power of his love.
Parachuting from a skyscraper. Running on the roof of a speeding train. Don’t try these at home. Leave it to the professionals. The same goes for trying to squeeze a camel through the eye of a needle. It’s impossible to do just like convincing God you’re good enough to get into his heaven. But what’s impossible for you is not difficult for God. He accomplished your salvation through Jesus. Don’t just admire Jesus for this. Adore him. Amen.
