In Jesus Holy Name October 15, 2024
Text: Mark 10:17-31 Redeemer
“Driving with the Wrong Map”
If you know American politics, especially the politics of the 1980s, then you certainly remember Lee Atwater. He was the amazing man who almost singlehandedly engineered the election of George Bush as the President of the United States in 1988. That is not simply my opinion, but is the considered judgment of both Republicans and Democrats. He was the man who made Willie Horton a household name. He is the man who told George Bush, “You can talk all you want about this kinder and gentler stuff but it’s not going to get you any votes.”
Lee Atwater is remembered as the modern day father of negative campaigning. No, he isn’t the man who started it. But he is the man who popularized it in our political system. He’s the man who made it most successful on a national scale, which we still see today. I think it’s fair to say that Lee Atwater fully earned his reputation as “the bad boy of American politics.” To his opponents he was a mean-spirited, arrogant egotist. Even his friends considered him a lovable scoundrel. (Illustration from sermon by Ray Pritchard Luke 18)
By his own admission, he had two goals in life. One was to be a successful manager of a Presidential campaign. The second was to be the leader of a national political party. He accomplished both by the time he was 39 years old. Having successfully managed the candidacy of George Bush in 1988, he reached his second goal when the President-elect named him the Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Certainly Lee Atwater was one of the most respected and feared political operatives in America.
At the age of 39 he was on top of the world. Then out of nowhere he developed a massive brain tumor. He was treated and instead of getting better, he got worse. And worse and worse. In February,1991, Life magazine published an article in which he evaluates his life in light of his terminal illness. And these are the words of Lee Atwater:
“The eighties were about acquiring–acquiring wealth, power, prestige. I know. I acquired more wealth, power and prestige than most. But you can acquire all you want and still feel empty. What power wouldn’t I trade for a little more time with my family? What price wouldn’t I pay for an evening with a friend? It took a deadly illness to put me eye to eye with that truth, but it is a truth that the country, caught up in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can learn on my dime. I don’t know who will lead us through the ’90s, but they must be made to speak to this spiritual vacuum at the heart of American society, this tumor of the soul.” (Life Magazine Feb. 1991 Internet Lee Atwater)
There was a cartoon that shows a man driving in his car. He’s going down the expressway. And it says, “At twenty, I couldn’t wait to get on the road. At thirty, I learned how to go from zero to 60 in eight seconds. At forty I found that I’d been holding the map upside down and at fifty, I discovered I had the wrong map altogether.” Here’s the question: “What map is driving your life?”
Once there was a young man with big dreams about the future. He was twenty or twenty five or he may have been thirty but not any older than that. He was a tiger, a go-getter, a young man on the way to the top. He was a young man who had made his money in real estate, which is one of the best ways to make money if you know what you’re doing. He made a lot of money at a very young age. And he had risen to the top of his corporation. And he still felt empty. (ibid Pritichard)
One day that young man went to see a man who was a carpenter from Galilee, a man named Jesus. This young man, at the top of his game, with all the money you could want, a man who had it all, felt empty and unfulfilled. And he went to Jesus with a question, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
This young man wanted what so many people today want. He wanted a list. “Give me a list of the things I need to do to make sure I go to heaven. Give me a list and I will check it off. Do this, this, this, this. When I get to the bottom of the list I’ll know that I’m going to go to heaven.” So, Jesus says, “Fine. If you want a list, I’ll give you a list.
Jesus gave a list that he would be familiar with. “Do not murder. Do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, (instead of the word covet) then put the commandment to “honor your father and mother.” Last.
In a fascinating article for the Journal of Biblical Literature entitled “Torah for the Man Who Has Everything: Re: ‘Do Not Defraud’ is the word Jesus used in Mark 10:19,” instead of “covet”. Michael Peppard, theologian at Fordham University writes that the word Jesus used, “defraud, “is used in the Jewish scriptures to speak of stealing another person’s wages or land. Who is he defrauding? Who gave him the ability to gain wealth? That is the challenge of the words of Jesu to this young man.
In the localized zero-sum economy of agrarian Palestine, there was little
chance one could become rich without having defrauded people along the way. Thus, Jesus cleverly adapts this word “defraud” from the Decalogue’s commandments about interpersonal relationships.
The commandment “do not defraud” was, in fact, the main point of the encounter: And look what the fellow says regarding the commandments Jesus listed, “All these things I have kept since I was a boy.” If anyone says, “I have perfectly kept the Ten Commandments from the beginning of my life until now,” you automatically know two things about that person: Number one, they don’t know anything about the real meaning of the Ten Commandments and Number two, they are lying.
There’s more. He did ask the right question for the right reason and he comes to the right person. He’s saying, “Lord, tell me what you want me to do. If you’ll tell me, I’ll do it.” He was like a lot of the Jewish people in the first century who believed that after they had obeyed the laws and commandments of God that there was still one thing–one great and good and righteous and virtuous thing–if they could only find out what it was and if they could only do it, it would guarantee them entrance into heaven.
His question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” is a critical question for everyone. The answer Jesus gave seems at first not to fit the question. (read) Verse 19 Jesus’ gave this answer: “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”
Jesus is saying, “When you call me good, do you really know what you’re saying? If I am good in the ultimate sense, it’s because I am not merely a good person, it’s because I am God in human flesh.” And so, when Jesus says, “Why do you call me good?” Jesus is asking the young man, “Do you really know who you are talking to? And do you really know what you are asking?”
Notice that Jesus intentionally left out the first three commandments. In a way it throws the young man off. Do you remember the first three? They are about our vertical relationship. “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me, no idols; do not take my name in vain; keep the Sabbath holy.” These three commandments deal with man’s relationship to God. The other six commandments are horizontal–dealing with man’s relationship to his fellow man.
Jesus said, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Circle those verbs. Sell. Give. Come. Follow. Wow! How would you like it if we made that a requirement for church membership? Would anyone show up next Sunday?
This is the only time in the New Testament that Jesus gave that answer to anybody as a condition of eternal life. This is the only time in the New Testament that anybody was told to sell all that they had, give it to the poor and then come and follow Jesus.
But why did Jesus say it to this fellow? Because that’s where this fellow had the problem. This fellow who looked so good on the outside, this first century yuppie, on the inside he was totally controlled by the love of money, and maybe he had gained it under false pretenses.
For this man, money was not just an object or a thing. Money had become his “god”. And Jesus knew it. He is challenging this bright young man about which commandments he was omitting. The point: “You’re going to have to give up your idolatry of money before you can be my disciple.”
This young man just walked away. Sorrowful and sad. Jesus didn’t come after him and say, “Let me lower the price. Let me make a deal with you so you can be my follower.” He just told him the way it was, and the man walked away.
It’s easy for a poor person to get saved because a poor person says, “If Jesus doesn’t come through for me, I’m sunk.” A rich man says, “If Jesus doesn’t come through for me, that’s okay. I’ve got my pension. I’ve got my stocks and bonds. I’ve got my options. I’ve got my golden parachute. I’ve got my safety net. If he doesn’t come through it doesn’t matter. I’m pretty much taking care of things myself.”
It’s impossible, Jesus says, for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, It would be like asking a huge camel to go through the eye of a needle. This young man is following the wrong life map.
Lee Atwater died at the age of 40 in November 1991. Terrible brain tumor. He died on Good Friday. But these were his words last, “I have found Jesus Christ. It’s that simple. Jesus has made a difference and I am glad I found him while there is still time. The things that once counted in my life–power, fame and glory–no longer have meaning. I don’t hate anybody anymore. For the first time in my life, I don’t hate anybody. I have nothing but good feelings toward people. There’s just no point in fighting and feuding.”
The most famous song from the movie “Frozen” “Let It go” won the Academy Award in 2014 for “Best Original Song” and it won a Grammy in 2015 for “Best Song Written for Visual Media.” “Let It Go” sold 10.9 million copies in 2014. Our text is about a man who likewise could not let go. Jesus calls on Him to let go of one thing, but he cannot.
Three conclusions Number one. As long as you make money and the things money can buy is the measure of your life, you will be empty and unfulfilled.
Number two. Whenever you stop trusting in money and the things that money can buy and turn your life over to Jesus Christ, then and only then will your heart be satisfied.
Number three. Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes into the Father’s presence except by faith in Me.” Jesus has given us the only “map” that will open the gates of heaven. The young man asked the normal question most people ask: “What must I do to enter heaven?” In this month of October we also remember that Martin Luther struggled with the same question until he discovered “grace”. Righteousness is God’s gift through faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-22)
