YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE? (LUKE 18:18-27)
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When Abraham Liebowitz gets to school he discovers that he is the only Jewish kid in the class. But it’s a decent town and nobody really bothers him. One day the teacher asks the class Who was the greatest person who ever lived? and why? And to make it interesting she held a twenty dollar bill in the air and said whoever gives the best answer will get this twenty dollars.
All of the kids called out their guesses. One said, George Washington – because he was the father of our country. That’s excellent said the teacher.
Another said, Abraham Lincoln – because he freed the slaves. That’s also good said the teacher, reluctant to bestow an excellent, but still being polite.
One little girl said, Joan of Arc – because she saved France. Another excellent choice said the teacher.
Then Abraham Liebowitz, raised his hand. So the teacher called on him. Abraham, who do you think was the greatest person who ever lived, and why? And Abraham said, Jesus Christ. The teacher was shocked. Abraham, she said, I’m very surprised. Class, I think we can all agree that Abraham should get the twenty dollars. And she handed Abraham Liebowitz the money.
At recess, the teacher was still very impressed. So she asked Abraham why he said Jesus. Abraham said, Look, personally I think Moses was the greatest person who ever lived, but… business is business!
Few Bible characters are richer than the ruler. Luke says he was very wealthy and Matthew and Mark says he had great possessions (KJV) in plural (Matt 19:22, Mark 10:22), to be compared to the singular possession Ananias donated to the church (Acts 5:1). There is scant evidence why he was called the rich young ruler other than his claim to keep the commandments since he was young..
What is money to you? How do you plan to use it? Why is worshipping money a deterrent to following God? Is money your superior or your servant?
Study the Scriptures, See Your Shortcoming
18 A certain ruler asked him, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? 19 Why do you call me good? Jesus answered. No one is good—except God alone. 20 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.’ 21 All these I have kept since I was a boy, he said.
A beggar stopped a lawyer on the street in a large southern city and asked him for a quarter. Taking a long, hard look into the man's unshaven face, the attorney asked, “Don't I know you from somewhere? You should,” came the reply. “I'm your former classmate. Remember, second floor, old Main Hall?” “Why Sam, of course I know you!” Without further question the lawyer wrote a check for $100. “Here, take this and get a new start. I don't care what's happened in the past, it's the future that counts.” And with that he hurried on.
Tears welled up in the man's eyes as he walked to a bank nearby. Stopping at the door, he saw through the glass well-dressed tellers and the spotlessly clean interior. Then he looked at his filthy rags. They won't take this from me. They'll swear that I forged it, he muttered as he turned away.
The next day the two men met again. “Why Sam, what did you do with my check? Gamble it away? Drink it up?” “No,” said the beggar as he pulled it out of his dirty shirt pocket and told why he hadn't cashed it. “Listen, friend, said the lawyer. What makes that check good is not your clothes or appearance, but my signature. Go on, cash it!”
Salvation is not earned or by effort. It is based on God’s goodness and not good deeds.
The noun ruler (archon) is traditionally translated as prince (Matt 9:34), chief (Luke 11:15) and magistrate (Luke 12:58), and for this reason the man is popularly called the rich young ruler. The ruler called Jesus Good Teacher (v 18), a title never before bestowed upon him. In Matthew’s gospel (Matt 19:16 get eternal life), he asked, Teacher, what good thing must I DO to (hina) get/inherit eternal life? Do not be fooled by the adverb good, because it is the verb DO that ties all the three gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke together (Mark 10:17, Matt 19:16, Luke 18:18). He thought doing good was the key that opens the door to eternal life. The Greek purpose clause in order to (hina) have/inherit eternal life was emphatic in both Matthew (Matt 19:16 get eternal life) and Mark’s gospel (Mark 10:17 inherit eternal life).
Jesus did not need to test or tell him much more than what the commandments required for him to do. However, Jesus’ version of the Ten Commandments here was not the lengthy version, but the lighter version, not the detailed one but the less demanding one for a reason, to see how the man would respond with the lesser relational commandments: adultery, murder, stealing and false testimony, followed by the imperative of honoring one’s father and mother.
Jesus stopped at the fifth commandment (imperative: “honor” your father and mother) because even those on the lower end or the horizontal relationship were impossible to observe, let alone the ones higher up the table or tablet – the vertical relationship. Did God give us the commandments for our perfection? Why is it impossible to observe all the Ten Commandments? Because behind the general practices is the greater purpose. For example, God’s purpose of forbidding murder is more than just the physical danger or outer behavior, but the inner life and moral character - You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment (Matt 5:21-22) and You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matt 5:27-28).
The ruler thought he was above the call of duty, met the highest standards, and succeeded beyond reasonable doubt. In his arrogance he replied without hesitation or doubt: All these I have kept since I was a boy (v 21). Again, all three gospels were unanimous in the verb “kept” that made its debut in the Bible (Matt 19:20, Mark 10:20, Luke 18:21). The verb kept is used in the context of shepherds (Luke 2:8), strong men (Luke 11:21) and soldiers (Acts 12:4). He watched it like a hawk, eyed it like a patrol and ran it like a clock. Not only did he imply he was perfect, he was perfect in the perfect tense, from youth till now. The ruler, however, was self-deceived because the purpose of the law was not to produce the perfect man, but to proclaim the perfect Savior. The law exposes and amplifies our failings, errors and sins so that we have to depend on the Savior who is mighty to save. The law was the schoolmaster who leads us to Christ in order that (hina) we might be justified by faith (Gal 3:25). The law points to man’s nature of sin and his need for salvation. The law, surprisingly, never mentioned or promised eternal life. The concept of eternal life was foreign to the Old Testament until the book of Daniel (Dan 12:2). Eternal life can only be granted, not gained. The verb most associated with eternal life is give (John 3:16, 4:14, 10:28, 17:2, 1 John 5:11) because eternal life is a gift and not a gimme.
Share the Surplus, Save Your Soul
22 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.
Peter Buffet is a musician and a writer in his own right with half a million books on one title to his credit. But he is also known as investment guru Warren Buffett’s youngest son. One of his father's often-quoted tenets is that a parent, if he has the means to do so, should give his children enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing. In 2006, Warren and Susan Buffett gave each of their kids $1 billion to give to charity. With his wife, Jennifer, Peter launched the NoVo Foundation, which helps girls and women around the world who suffer from violence, poverty and discrimination simply because they are female.
Peter remembers his father asking: “Do you think this will affect your music?” At that time he did not know what his father was talking about, but then the work he was doing with girls in Africa started to seep into his art. He confessed, “My music has taken all these interesting turns because of the foundation. Which I never would have expected.” http://addicted2success.com/success-advice/multi-billionaire-warren-buffets-5-tips-to-live-by/
Jesus observation that the man lacked one thing and ordered him to do three things in the imperative: sell, give and follow (v 22). The verb “lack” is translated as wanting (Titus 1:5) and destitute (James 2:15) in KJV. It means absent, deficient, missing or lacking. Theologically sin is not defined merely by its commission but by its omission (Jas 4:17) as well. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Sin is not only doing wrong, but also “falling short.” To the man who prided himself of not putting a wrong foot, Jesus required him to more than not just avoid negatively, but to act positively – observing the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law.
Jesus, therefore, continued with three imperatives. The first imperative is sell, the second is give, and the last is follow Jesus. In Mark 12:30-31 Jesus summarized the law, which was to love the lord and to love your neighbor. There is no love in the person for his neighbor. Jesus never asked his disciples to sell “everything” before. Jesus’ command to give all to the poor is not final or climatic; to follow Him is. He had to sell all and follow Jesus because the law also says “You shall no other gods before me” (Ex 20:3). Nor did he meet the intention, not the inscription, of the first commandment (Mark 12:30), which is to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.” What is the ruler’s other god? Mammon, money or materialism. The phrase “treasure in heaven” is promised in all the gospel accounts (v 22, Matt 19:21, Mark 10:21).
The finality is not sell or give, but follow. To follow the Lord means to follow no other and to fall in line. To be poor does not automatically make you a good follower. To be rich does not disqualify you either. Giving more than Bill Gates is not the definition of a disciple. The love of money, not money, is the root of all evil (1 Tim 6:10). The man’s problem was he could not part with his money or afford to follow Jesus. He did not bargain for less because he could not fulfill any of the imperatives. The purpose for goods is to do good, not be god.
Stop the Sorrow, Serve Your Savior
23 When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. 24 Jesus looked at him and said, How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 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. 26 Those who heard this asked, Who then can be saved? 27 Jesus replied, What is impossible with man is possible with God.
What do I have to give up?
A man in the East, where they do not requires as much clothing as in colder times, gave up all worldly concerns and retired to a wood, where he built a hut and lived in it. His only clothing was a piece of cloth which he wore around his waist. But, as ill-luck would have it, rats were plentiful in the world, so he has to keep a cat. The cat required milk to keep it, so a cow had to be kept. The cow require tending, a cow-boy was employed. The boy required a house to live to live in, so a house was built for him. To look after a house a maid had to be engaged. To provide company for the maid a few more houses had to be built and people invited to move in. In this manner, a little township sprang up. The man said, “The further we seek to go from the world and its cares the more they multiply!” (Bennett, William J. The Man and His Piece of Cloth 195-96 (NY/Simon and Schuster/1995)
There are three instances of “very sad” in the Bible- a single word in Greek, the ruler (v 23), Jesus (Matt 26:38, Mark 14:34) and Herod (Mark 6:26). The adjective “very sad” (perilupos) is derived from “sorrow, heaviness or grief” (lupos). The preposition (peri) means all around, all over, all encompassing, from which where the “perimeter” is derived. In Herod’s case (Mark 6:26) the translation is “exceeding sorry” (KJV). The word “sorry” is associated with “sorrow” because intent for saying sorry is to express one’s sorrow. The ruler’s sorrow is for money lost, but Jesus and Herod’s sorrow is for lives lost. Jesus’ sorrow was expressed at the Garden of Gethsemane with his coming crucifixion. Herod’s sorrow was for John the Baptist’s pending execution. The ruler was sorrowful because he cannot give up money. Money ruled and ruined his life with a revenge. It was an ambition that became his addiction, a career that became a compulsion, an object that became an objective, an ownership and an obsession.
Jesus is not against business-mined people, but money-minded people. He does not hate or oppose money. It’s been said, “God is not against you having money, but He is against having you.” It is the same equation to “Do you possess money or does money possess you?” He is not against gold, but against greed. In the classic parable of the rich fool, Jesus began with the warning against covetousness (Luke 12:15), not against commerce. He is not against profit or prosperity, but against pride and pretense. He is against you for being rich but feeling rich. He is not against your enjoyment of wealth, but you entitlement to wealth. It takes three things to be rich: to be content, to have family and friends, and to share with others -not the ability to save and spend, but the ability to share. Being rich does not depend on having more and more, but needing less and less.
Into 15 months of the second year of my wife’s chemotherapy I have a 54th birthday celebration and regular stroll with my wife. My wife asked me what would I do if I suddenly have lots of money. For a long time I could not think of what to do with instant wealth. A week or two later, I told her I would move her up higher floors from out seventh floor so that she could enjoy a better view of the sea. She said, “Don’t joke with me. I could have less than a year to live, so why do I want to go through moving?” That’s why Jesus said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. It is not to say they cannot be saved, but they are harder to convince. It is impossible but for the grace of God, the gift of God and the goodness of God.
Conclusion: Is money your identity and idol? We need money but we cannot depend on money. Is money to be a stumbling block? Do you have nothing without money? Are you ruined without money? Salvation is paid in full, but it is not free of charge. It is a privilege but not a purchase. Eternity cannot be bought or sought. We are saved by grace.
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