The Man Who Had It All – Almost! - Luke 18:18-30 - January 8, 2012
One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.
"Oh yeah," said the son.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father. The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."
The boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are." (Steve Miller, Illustrations, www.sermoncentral.com)
Perspective is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? I’m always amazed at how two people can look at the same set of circumstances and yet see things completely differently. For some the glass is always half full, for others it will never be anything but empty. But what I’ve found over the years is that my own perspective can be changed when someone, or something, helps me to see things in a completely different light. That’s a little bit of what is happening in our Scripture passage today. Jesus is going to help us see things from a different perspective – a godly one – a “Heaven’s Eye View,” if you will.
Now, the man we are going to meet in our Scripture passage this morning is one of those people who just seems to have it all. Maybe you know someone like that. Everything in his life has just seemed to fall into place without too much effort. Don’t get me wrong – he’s not lazy – in fact he’s got a great work ethic. But he’s one of those people that things just seem to happen for. Whatever he touches just seems to work out for him.
His story is found in three of the four Gospel accounts. God wants to make sure we learn from this man’s life. Mark tells us that he was wealthy. Money was not a problem for him. He wore the best clothes although he wasn’t flashy with them. His shoes were of the highest quality but not ostentatious. He could walk into any store and buy whatever he needed, or more to the point, whatever he wanted, and it wasn’t going to be a big deal for him. He had worked hard to get to where he was and he deserved to enjoy the fruit of his labour.
Matthew tells us that he was young. The word used to describe his age was used of those who were under 40 years old. Late 20’s maybe early 30’s – not so different than some of you who are here this morning. He still had all the zeal and enthusiasm for life that is so often found in the young. There was life in his step, passion in his words, and a fire in his heart.
Luke tells us that he was a ruler of some sort – possibly a member of one of the religious organizations of the day. The point is that other men looked up to him despite his youth. He was well thought of and had a good reputation in the community. He was living a good life. He had few real concerns. He had a degree of power and authority which others might have envied. His neighbours would have told you that he was a good person and a great neighbor to have. He was, in short, a man who had it all.
It’s not hard to find people like him in our society today. In fact he’s not much different that some of us who are here this morning. Maybe you even recognize a part of him in yourself. And to a degree that’s not a bad thing because the Bible tells us that Jesus loved this man. But because He really did love him He was going to help this wealthy young man to see things from a different perspective. And that’s what love does. Love doesn’t withhold the truth that someone needs to hear. So, from a heart of love and compassion, Jesus is going to speak truth into this man’s life – a truth he needed to hear but which he dreaded heeding. Open your Bibles with me to the Gospel of Luke and we’ll see what it is that Jesus wants us to learn from this man and why it is that He figures we need to take this lesson to heart. Luke, chapter 18, beginning in verse 18.
“A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”” (Luke 18:18–30, NIV)
Now we looked at this passage awhile back and we know that the basics of it are pretty clear. The question on this man’s heart is: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” It’s not a bad question as far as it goes. It’s the question that each of us asks at one time or another, isn’t it? “What must I do to be saved?”
Jesus’ response though, isn’t what we expect it to be, is it? Instead of “repent and believe,” Jesus essentially tells this man to keep the Ten Commandments. And if we don’t spend the time to carefully understand what Jesus is doing with this man we’re going to walk away this morning believing that the way we enter into the kingdom of heaven is through our good works. That’s how a lot of people live their lives anyway. They’re trying to do enough good things so that those good deeds will outweigh their sins so that they might enter into eternal life with Jesus. It’s a very empty way of living because you never have an assurance of your salvation. You’re always left wondering, “Have I done enough? Have I made it in? What about that sin I committed yesterday? It was a really big one – if I died right now would I still be on the right side of the ledger? How much more do I have to do to atone for that sin?” You have no peace in your life if that is how you are living it out. And I am personally so thankful that that isn’t the Gospel message at all.
But that being said, why would Jesus insinuate then that the way to eternal life was through keeping the Commandments? What’s His purpose in doing that? Well look back to verse 18 with me. Look at what the rich young ruler says. He addresses Jesus by the title of “Good teacher.” And in verse 19 Jesus responds by saying, “Why do you call me good? … No one is good – except God alone.” In other words, Jesus is asking this man to consider what he’s really saying by calling Him, “good.” Does he really recognize that Jesus is, Immanuel - God with us - in the flesh? And if he is acknowledging the divinity of Jesus then is he willing to walk in accordance with the Word of God?
If we were to look at all three Gospel accounts of this young man’s life we would get a picture of a man that is full of zeal and enthusiasm. Other passages tell us that he wasn’t just standing on the fringe of the crowd asking Jesus questions. Instead we’re told that he ran and threw himself on his knees before Jesus as he asked his question. This is a man of passion and fiery exuberance. But he’s also a man without a great deal of understanding or knowledge. In the book of Romans the apostle Paul writes these words … “Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” (Romans 10:1–3, NIV) A zeal for God, that is not based on knowledge, can actually stand in the way of our relationship with Jesus. That’s what Paul was saying happened to the Israelites and it’s the same thing that happened to this man in our passage this morning.
What they had done, and what he had done, and what a lot of people in churches do today, is to substitute a relationship with Jesus with doing things for God. We figure that if we’re busy doing things for God then we’re going to be right with Jesus. It sounds good except that it’s not true. No amount of work for the kingdom can make up for a lack of relationship with Jesus. The two are not the same thing at all. You can do all the works in the world but still not know Jesus and when your time comes to stand before the Lord, all those works will avail you absolutely nothing! On the other hand, you can build into that relationship with Jesus and what will flow from that, are the works, the deeds, that are pleasing to God.
In the one case those actions stem from an attempt to establish our own righteousness and to make ourselves acceptable in God’s sight through our good deeds – they are based on zeal but not knowledge. In the other case we’ve gotten to know Jesus, and His heart for us, and the works we do flow out of recognition of the love and mercy we have experienced through Him just as it says in Romans 12:1 … “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” (Romans 12:1, NIV)
This man that threw himself at Jesus’ feet and cried out, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” had zeal but not knowledge of the Son of God. He wasn’t interested in relationship – he was interested in doing. He wanted the quick fix. He wanted something that he could do, and check off on his list of things to do, so that he could know that when he died he was going to enter into the kingdom of heaven. He was not interested in a transformed life. In fact he liked life just the way it was and he didn’t want any of that to change. He was comfortable with the status quo. He wanted a faith that cost him nothing – that demanded nothing of him. “I’ve kept the Commandments!,” he says. “It’s not that hard. I’ve lived with integrity. I haven’t murdered anyone, haven’t committed adultery, haven’t taken anything that wasn’t mine to take.” It wasn’t hard for him to keep those Commandments – he was doing it anyway.
But Jesus says to him, “You still lack one thing.” In other words, “There is one thing that is keeping you from relationship with Me – and it’s big.” “You’re all about doing. You want something to do? Here’s something you can do – “Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
Again, not what we expect Jesus to say, is it? In the 12th chapter of the Gospel of Luke Jesus speaks these words, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:34, NIV) Jesus looked into this man’s life and He immediately saw that which really made this guy tick. He saw what was really important to this man and it wasn’t first and foremost God or godliness – it was his riches – his things – his material possessions – his wealth. That was his true treasure, and because that was his true treasure, that is where his heart was always going to be. When he was in need of comfort, of hope, of help, his heart was always going to turn to his riches to find that comfort, hope or help that he needed rather than to God. As long as his possessions had possession of him his master was always going to be money rather than God. In Luke 16 Jesus goes on to say … “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Luke 16:13, NIV)
This is the one thing that stood between this man and relationship with Jesus. This is the one thing that stood between this man and salvation. There is nothing wrong with wealth, with being rich, in and of itself. But Jesus says it’s hard for the rich to enter into the kingdom of God because their default position is always going to be to trust in their money rather than God. It’s the one thing that is always going to be coming between them and the Savior.
Now, we can be awfully hard on this rich young man, can’t we? I mean Jesus was right there in front of him. Salvation was close at hand. And yet this young ruler walks away with nothing but his riches. We wonder how could anyone do that? What was he thinking? … Just for a moment I want you to put yourself in his shoes. Because the truth is that you’ve worked hard to get to where you are today. Now you’ve got the nice house, the brand name clothes, you’ve got the two cars and maybe the boat or the camper. A big screen t.v. hangs in the family room. You’ve got the high end computer and gaming systems or maybe that’s not your thing. Maybe your thing is the machinery and the tools and you’ve got them – the latest and the greatest. You eat out at restaurants several times a week – not because you need to - but because you can. You’re well thought of in the community and you’re well regarded in the church. People come to you for your opinions and your advice. Things are going well at work. You’re moving up in your career and good things just seem to be happening all around.
And then one day you hear that Jesus is coming to town. You’ve heard of Him from some of your friends. He proclaims a message of salvation and so you go out to see Him because, despite all the things you do have, that’s the one thing you don’t have. You have it all – almost. But something is missing and you think that this might just be what it is. And so you go out and see Him and you get yourself to the front of the crowd so that He will notice you. You place yourself in front of Him and you ask Him the question that’s been on your heart for some time: What must I do to inherit eternal life?
The only thing is that you aren’t prepared for His response, not for what He says or how He says it. He looks you in the eye and you can see the compassion there – compassion and love for you even though you’d never met Him before this day. It’s there and it’s genuine and it’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. But His words rock you to your very core: “Go and sell everything and then come and follow Me,” He says.
How would you respond? Would your reaction be any different than that of the rich young ruler? How about today? Many of you here today have been saved, your sin has been forgiven and you’ve been welcomed into the family of God. What if Jesus was to ask that of you this morning, that you give it all up to come and follow Him? Could you do it? Would you do it? Would it be hard to do and if it would be hard why would it be hard?
Some of us would find it hard because we’ve grown accustomed to our comfort. But many more would find it hard because suddenly they wouldn’t have the answers, they wouldn’t have the security that comes from having it all right at your fingertips. Friends, we talk about walking by faith but rarely do we ever have to do it because we have all these safety nets around us and so while we think we are trusting in God, many times we’re really trusting in our wealth, our abilities or whatever the case may be.
And I want to suggest to you this morning that for most of us there is that “one thing” that threatens to come between us and relationship with Jesus. It’s that thing we turn to for help, or comfort, or peace, or joy during our time of need when we really should be turning to God. For some it will be money. Like the rich young ruler, money is their God. They would never say it that way but it always comes down to the almighty dollar for them. But money is not the only thing that threatens to come between you and your Savior.
What is it in your life? I don’t know. It will be different for each of us. But you want to identify it because it’s what’s holding you back from a deeper, closer, more vibrant walk with Jesus. It’s the one thing that Jesus is telling you to do away with so that you can then come and follow Him wholeheartedly. Notice the order that Scripture gives us? The end of verse 22 … sell everything you have and give to the poor … THEN come, follow Me, Jesus says. We can’t really follow Him if we’ve made something else in our lives to be God in His place.
And here’s the tricky part … this one thing in your life … your attitude towards it, and the place it has in your life, is sin. And sin is deceptive. Unless you take a good hard look at your life you’re not going to recognize this one thing for what it really is because it’s masquerading as a good thing or a necessity but really it is that one thing which is keeping you from the vibrant spiritual life that you’re really longing for.
How do you identify what that one thing is? Here are a few questions to wrestle with that might help you answer that question.
When you have a need, or a setback, or when there is an upheaval in your life, where is the first place to which you turn? Some of you go shopping. Money might be tight, you might not need the thing that you’re buying, but you buy it anyway because for a little while it makes you feel better. Later you often feel guilty but for a few moments it makes you feel good. What you’ve really done is to replace the comfort you could know in God with a comfort that you’ve tried to buy for yourself.
Others do a similar thing with food. When stress and troubles come they open the refrigerator and start loading up a heaping plate full of food. They turn to something that gives a temporary respite from the pressures of life rather than turning to the one that will help them live life.
For some it’s relationships. Some people can’t bear to be alone. There is a fear in it for them. They look for the intimacy that they really crave with God in the people around them. There are so many other things that we could mention – things like drugs and alcohol and pornography and sex and family and work – but they all have one thing in common. When we turn to them instead of to the Lord, we’re revealing what, or who, we’re really trusting in and relying upon. God demands that it be Him. He is a jealous God Scripture says and there can be no substitute in our lives for the role that God alone is to fill if we ever want that deeper walk with Him.
Here’s another question to ask yourself: What one thing in your life could you not bear to part with for any reason? What one thing, if you let it go would result in your life being beset by anxiety and fear and hopelessness? What loss would result in the loss of your joy and peace?
At their heart, the anxieties and fears of life, are caused by a lack of faith and trust in the goodness, love and provision of God in your life. Our worries and our fears arise because we aren’t really sure if God will be there for us. We aren’t really convinced that He will comfort us in sorrow, provide in our need, guide in our confusion, grant wisdom in the midst of our troubles, give hope in the midst of despair. We so insulate ourselves from God through all the things of life that we don’t experience His provision, love, kindness or generosity because we’ve turned to all these other things. We exchange the greater for the lesser and we make “god substitutes” out of all these other things in life when God is waiting there patiently, with open arms, saying, “Come and be with Me. Come and do life with Me. Come and enter into relationship with Me and see if I am not faithful unto you in the midst of all the needs and trials and joys of life.”
Shortly after this passage of Scripture we come across the account of the blind man who cries out to God. _____________________ read that for us earlier in the service. Here is a man who had nothing. But unlike the rich, young ruler he found the one thing that mattered most – he found a relationship with Jesus and the Bible tells us that when he found Him he responded – he praised God and he began to follow Jesus – to do life with Him and that’s the one thing that each of us is called to do – to do life with Jesus.
I’ve got a short video clip to show you this morning that is going to invite you to focus on that one thing we are invited to and we’re going to take a look at that right now …
[Show Video]
So this is the start of a New Year. And I’m not going to ask you to make any New Year’s resolutions. But let’s make this year about the One who really matters. Let’s make it about Jesus in your life and in mine. And you’ve heard it said that the order of your priorities should be Jesus, Others, and then Yourself. It doesn’t really work well that way, does it? Life usually isn’t linear like that. A better way to look at it might be this, in this coming year let’s seek to put Jesus first in our relationships, Jesus first in our work, Jesus first in our recreation, Jesus first in our finances, Jesus first in all things and then we will find that Jesus is present in all those areas of our lives and that we truly have made this year all about Him. Let’s pray …
