“Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven, but Nobody Wants to Die”
Mark 10:17-31
It has been written that, “It is the desire for God which is the most fundamental appetite of all, and it is an appetite we can never eliminate.
We may seek to disown it, but it will not go away.
If we deny that it is there, we shall in fact only divert it to some other object or range of objects.
And that will mean that we invest some creature or creatures with the full burden of our need for God, a burden which no creature can carry.”
This story of the rich man is also recorded in Matthew and Luke.
In Matthew we learn that he is “young.”
And in Luke we learn that he is also a “ruler.”
And so, this story is most often referred to as “The story of the rich, young ruler.”
Clearly, the way worldly success is measured, we could easily say that this guy appears to “have it all.”
What more could he possibly need or want?
Well, eternal life, of course.
So, what is eternal life?
For many people today, this simply refers to an existence going on and on and on forever.
And this may or may not sound appealing; people’s opinions will differ on this.
But this view of eternal life does not catch the flavor, the sheer excitement, carried by the original meaning.
What the Jews believed was that in God’s new age, everything will be fresh, and free from corruption, decay, evil, bitterness, pain, fear and death.
And that’s just the beginning.
There will be new possibilities and opportunities at every turn…
…new joys and delights.
Heaven and earth will be joined together and God will live with God’s people.
And that is something people were longing for.
There is no more intimate connection with God, love and perfection than that!!!
And it will come about when God finally rules the world with God’s saving power.
And this is what Jesus is presently bringing to those who will trust Him.
Evil and death, there can be no doubt, still rage very strong.
But when people with humble and repentant trust accept that God’s Kingdom is active in and through Jesus Christ, life in God’s Kingdom begins to be seen—even in this life.
What the rich young ruler needs is what we all need.
We all need to allow ourselves to be claimed by the love of God.
And in doing so, we embark on a lifelong journey (both now and forever) of experiencing the love and goodness of God even though this life is difficult.
In verse 21 we are told that “Jesus looked at [the rich young ruler] carefully and loved him.”
Jesus doesn’t view the man with disgust.
Rather than condemning him, Jesus confronts the man with his “weakness,” his captivity to possessions that gets in the way of him living into the full life of the kingdom.
And Jesus names that “weakness” and invites Him to step out of it and into freedom!!!
In Matthew’s telling of the same story, Jesus says to the man, “If you want to be complete, go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor.
Then you will have treasure in heaven.
And come follow me.”
“If you want to be complete…”
God wants all of us to be complete, to be totally dedicated to His service, not to be half and half people, with one foot in the kingdom and the other in the world.
In order to be complete, we must be empty.
And in order to be empty we must be willing to empty ourselves of all things which hinder or get in the way of our relationship with God.
In order to have everything we must have nothing.
In order to be fully signed up to God’s service, we must be signed off from everything else.
In order to live the Resurrected Life, we must first die with Christ.
Sadly, everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.
You know, it’s interesting.
Life in God’s Kingdom is about transformation and character change.
It means being in the company and presence of Jesus Christ.
It means identifying with Christ.
And identifying with Christ involves a Cross.
Clarence Jordan was getting a red-carpet tour of another minister’s church building.
With pride the minister pointed to the rich, imported pews and luxurious decorations.
As they stepped outside, darkness was falling, and a spotlight shone on a huge cross atop the steeple.
“That cross alone cost us $10,000,” the minister said with a satisfied smile.
“You got cheated,” said Jordan.
“Times were when Christians could get them for free.”
We are told that the rich young ruler was “dismayed at [Jesus’] statement and went away saddened, because he had many possessions.”
“Looking around, Jesus said to His disciples, ‘It will be very hard for the wealthy to enter God’s kingdom!’
His words startled the disciples, so Jesus told them again, ‘Children, it’s difficult to enter God’s kingdom!
It’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.’”
Some interpreters over the years have tried to “soften the blow” of this statement by suggesting that the “eye of a needle” was a narrow gate in the city wall through which a camel could go only if its load was removed from it, but there is no evidence that such a gate ever existed.
Others have suggested that with the change of one letter in the Greek word for “camel” you would get “rope.”
And that Jesus is talking about a rope rather than a camel.
But Jesus contrasts the smallest with the largest several times in the Gospels to make His point.
There is no getting around this one.
The kingdom of God is unfolding, but joining Jesus in the Kingdom is not easy and is often excruciatingly painful.
But taking a “first step” is often very difficult and sometimes painful, such as:
attending your first AA meeting, calling the marriage counselor, talking with a son or daughter about the marijuana you found in their jean’s pocket, or hearing a call to serve God and literally parting with all we have to follow Jesus.
We are told in our Gospel Lesson that the disciples were “shocked” by what they had seen and by what Jesus had said.
They said to each other, “Then who can be saved?”
“Jesus looked at them carefully and said, ‘It’s impossible with human beings, but not with God.
All things are possible for God.’
Peter said to him, ‘Look we’ve left everything and followed you.’
Jesus said, ‘I assure you that anyone who has left house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or farms because of me and because of the good news will receive one hundred times as much now in this life—houses brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and farms (with harassment)—and in the coming age—eternal life.’”
Even now, God’s new age breaks into our sad world.
Within the life of Christian fellowship there are new homes, new families, new possibilities that open up for those who leave behind the old ways.
The Church is called to be a family, a living example of the age to come.
And when the church is living this way, the world around can get a glimpse of what God’s new world is like.
I don’t think any one of us are terribly different than the rich young ruler.
And what I mean by that is that we all have something that possesses, or rules and interferes with us living life on God’s terms.
The rich young ruler’s question is our question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Let’s stop for a second and consider why he would use the word “inherit.”
One of the meanings of the word “inherit” is “to share in.”
So the rich young ruler is essentially asking, “What must I do to share in God’s blessings?”
And Jesus tells him that he needs to come to grips with the one thing that keeps him from sharing life with God, namely, his wealth.
What must you and I do to share in the promise of God’s blessings?
What areas of our lives need some work so that we may share in God’s life, life that is abundant and eternal?
Based on Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler, God understands that we all have something in our lives that rules us.
It’s no accident that the author of Mark notes that Jesus looked at the rich young ruler “carefully and loved him.”
This is how Jesus looks at all of us.
Jesus is clearly aware of the depth of our captivity to that which rules us.
And He is aware that this depth makes our freedom difficult if not impossible.
But even then, Jesus promises that, “All things are possible with God.”
So, what are our “rulers”?
What gets in our way of being Jesus’ disciples?
What sends us away dismayed and saddened because we think we can’t live without them?
Each of us must answer this question for ourselves.
Amen.
