Priority 1
Mark 12:28-34
October 13, 2002
Not Far, But Not In
Today we conclude a series begun a few weeks ago which I entitled “Priority 1”. We began by saying that churches manage to busy themselves with a variety of pursuits, some of them quite wholesome and valuable. At the same time, it is very possible to be engaged in doing the “stuff” of ministry and miss the essence of what Jesus would have us be doing. What is “priority one”, we asked, for our churches and for our lives? We resume that study in a moment, but first,
From the diary of John Wesley comes A Lesson in the Price of Spiritual Usefulness:
Sunday Morning, May 5
Preached in St. Anne’s. Was asked not to come back anymore.
Sunday Evening, May 5
Preached in St. John’s. Deacons said, “Get out and stay out.”
Sunday Morning, May 12
Preached in St. Jude’s. Can’t go back there either.
Sunday Evening, May 12
Preached in St. George’s. Kicked out again.
Sunday Morning, May 19
Preached in St. Somebody Else’s. Deacons called special meeting and said I couldn’t return.
Sunday Evening, May 19
Preached on street. Kicked off street.
Sunday Morning, May 26
Preached in meadow. Chased out of meadow as bull was turned loose during the service.
Sunday Morning, June 2
Preached out at the edge of town. Kicked off highway.
Sunday Afternoon, June 2
Preached in a pasture. 10,000 people came out to hear me.
The Spirit of God was upon John Wesley, a man who preached a message so discomforting to the established religious folk that they kicked him out of their pulpits and demanded he not return. John Wesley was a man greatly used of God to lead multiplied 1000’s to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Eternity will be filled with souls who have been impacted by the life and ministry of this giant of the faith. As part of the message this morning, I tell a little of the story of John Wesley’s conversion. Would you now stand with me as we read together from God’s inspired Word in Mark 12:28-34?
John Wesley was born in 1703 the 15th child of a clergyman; he was well-educated and devout. At the age of 25, he was ordained a priest in the Church of England. At Oxford, he joined a group of men, including brother Charles and George Whitefield, who were dedicated to living holy lives. He prayed for an hour a day, took Communion weekly, fasted twice a week, visited prisons, helped the poor and the sick.
Can we agree, given that pedigree, that John Wesley could be termed what the world calls a “devoutly religious man”? So was the gentleman described in this passage, this scribe, this lawyer. He had a lot going for him!
What the scribe had going for him:
I. He was a religious man who knew the Word.
Skilled in the knowledge of the OT Law, it an absolute certainty that this man was devoutly religious. He was undoubtedly a devout observer of religious rituals, such as the giving of burnt offerings and sacrifices, the keeping of the Sabbath, etc. These scribes devoted their lives to the study of the Law. We can be absolutely certain that this man was devoutly religious. Similarly, John Wesley!
II. He was a man of moral integrity.
Again, this is a likely deduction from our knowledge of the fastidious lifestyles of these scribes and religious leaders. While Jesus makes it clear that these religious leaders were far more concerned with a letter-of-the-law approach to spiritual living than they were to discerning the real essence of the Scripture, it can also be said that there existed among them a sincere level of moral uprightness.
III. He was a man of intellectual sincerity.
If Jesus is Who we believe He is, then as God in the flesh, He was uniquely qualified to answer the man’s question. And what better question can be imagined than, “what does God want from us?” The scribe had an intellectual sincerity. He was capable of thinking for himself. Jesus had a respect for him as a man who went beyond merely parroting the “party line”. He evidenced a sincerity unlike his peers whose interest in questioning Jesus was reserved for a desire to trip Him up, a desire to see Him fall into the traps they attempted to lay for Him so as to discredit Him.
We live in a shallow world filled with shallow thinking. This man was a thinker! Many people blithely traipse through life without thinking of eternal realities, or at least determining that such issues are beyond them, and that they’d rather watch Jerry Springer than consider the possibility that God might not be pleased with their sin! This was a serious man who had intellectual integrity.
IV. He was a man who respected Jesus.
He may not have begun by admiring Jesus, but it seems clear that his question and his response to Jesus’ answer indicate a respect for Jesus as a good Teacher. Contrary to the obvious disdain heaped upon Jesus by most of his religious friends, he was a man whose words evidence a respect for both the Person and the teaching of Jesus.
V. He “got it”; he knew that loving God was more important than obeying religious rules.
He understood that obeying God was more important than rule-keeping. He agreed with Jesus’ answer, and demonstrated an acceptance of the idea that loving God superceded keeping religious rules. “Well said!” was effectively his comment; from the wording, it is clear that his words were attended by a fair amount of exuberance; “bravo!” might sum it up. And Jesus affirmed him for his understanding, paying him the compliment that he was “not far” from the Kingdom. At the same time, Jesus’ words serve as a warning, because “not far” is “not in!”
“Not far”, Jesus said, but not in the Kingdom of God. Let’s recap what we’ve said thus far: this man was highly religious, a man of fastidious moral integrity, a deep thinker with a high degree of intellectual honesty, a man who paid respect to Jesus as opposed to others in his party, and a man who agreed with Jesus’ answer. This sounds like a man who has got it all together!
But wait a minute: Jesus doesn’t say, “Buddy, I can’t wait ‘til you get to Heaven; you’re just the kind of man we need up there!” He didn’t say, “Man, you’ve got it made in the shade with a harp and a crown!” He said, “You aren’t far away!” But while it is possible that the man came the rest of the way, there is no Scriptural evidence one way or the other as to whether the man made it into the Kingdom of Heaven—or whether he died within sight of the gate, but never making it in. And here is the sobering truth: the man who drowns within sight of the shoreline is just as dead as the man who drowns 1000 miles out to sea.
Back to the story of John Wesley, a devoutly religious man. In 1735, he left England for Georgia to serve as a missionary to American Indians. The experience was a disaster; he had terrible conflicts with his colleagues, he almost died of disease, he failed to reach Indians, and he left in agony. When he returned to England, he wrote, “I went to America to convert the Indians; but oh, who shall convert me?” John Wesley was devoutly religious, but there was a hole in his soul; something vital was missing. Like this scribe who questioned Jesus, he was extremely religious—but something was amiss; all was not well with his soul.
Jesus commended the man for his basic understanding of Jesus’ teaching, of the fact that the law of love superceded the laws and regulations of the Torah. He understood much,
But did he understand
I. The reality and depth of his own sin?
The problem, according to the Scripture, is that our sin is “through and through” us, that we are all sinners guilty before a holy God. We don’t know everything we might wish to about what was going on in the man’s mind. He pronounces his satisfaction with Jesus’ answer—but is he assuming still an attitude of superiority? Is he happy to announce to Jesus that “hey, you got it right!”
We don’t know, but we do know that a problem endemic to humanity is the problem of overestimating our own goodness and underestimating the reality of our own sin. One reason I think we do this is because we use the wrong yardstick. We measure ourselves against ourselves. We look at other people and we say, ‘oh, I may have my faults, but I’m not like old so-and-so.’ But the Bible says that even our righteous deeds are like filthy rags. The Bible says that the heart of man is so desperately wicked that none of us can fully understand its depths. We tend to think that, yeah, maybe I’ve done some things wrong, but I’m a lot closer to God than that fellow—as though our relative goodness compared to another person merited us any consideration in the eyes of a holy God.
II. The impossibility of self-deliverance?
This is where religion gets it wrong; we think that we can do something to “even the score” with God. This might be true if our sin only made a tidy little mess of us, but if it warps us to the core, we’ve got a problem. The Bible never uses the word “religion” to describe man being able to reach up to God, but this is what most of the religions of the world represent, and there are some within the pale of Christianity who see themselves as trying to reach up to God. I spoke to a young man this week who testified that this was just his experience: he had been to some churches which had given him the idea that pleasing God involved becoming better people on the basis of our own good works. Frankly, I wouldn’t walk across the street for religion. All the religion in the world isn’t worth a nickel. If religion is defined as man trying to reach his way toward God, then the world has way too much religion; you don’t need any; get rid of what you have, because it is worthless, eternally.
Did this man think that by virtue of his virtue, he could reach God? Did he imagine that he could keep the commandments that Jesus issued? Did he consider himself to be a man who loved God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength? Did he justify himself as one who loved his neighbor as he loved himself? And do you? Because you don’t, friend, none of us do. We all fall tremendously short of the glory of God; none of us loves God anywhere near perfectly; none of us truly reaches the standard Jesus set. That’s why we need Jesus and God’s grace! And thus I wonder, did the man understand
III. That salvation was found in the One to Whom he spoke?
Right in front of his face was the One who said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man comes to the Father but by me.” The Way isn’t religion, or goodness, or church membership, or anything else you can do; the Way is Jesus!
It’s not enough to be religious, or moral, or to have intellectual curiosity, or sincerity. It’s not enough just to respect Jesus, or even to understand and give assent to Jesus’ teachings. This man did all of that! And Jesus said, "You’re close!” But he wasn’t in!
What he needed:
A living relationship with God through trust in Jesus.
That relationship of trust will result in a forfeiting of our lives to His Lordship. It will change our lives, so we’d better count the cost. Salvation from sin is bound up in a person, not in a program or a set of rules. It is not bound up in trying harder or joining the right group or church. Today, in our relativistic world, you’ll hear a lot about people who are on a “spiritual pilgrimage”, people who say that they are on some spiritual journey to find something. Now, within the context of the believer’s life, perhaps we can use this terminology, but apart from Christ, there is a term used of people in the last days which I think fits these folks perfectly. It is found in II Timothy 3, and it speaks of people who are “always learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” We don’t know if the lawyer ever arrived; Scripture is silent on this point. Perhaps he was one of the many religious teachers whom the Bible says came to faith in Christ right after the Day of Pentecost! But we aren’t sure. What we can say with certainty is that it might be fine to be on a spiritual journey if in the end that journey leads to a destination, and that destination is faith in Jesus Christ as the only Savior of men and women.
