“That’s Where I Keep All My Stuff”
Sermon on Mark 10:17-31
Pentecost +19-B
October 15, 2006
Rev. J. Curtis Goforth, O.S.L.
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said,
"You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving,
for he had many possessions.
-Mark 10:21-22
I remember when I heard that we had been given an appointment in the British Methodist Church. I was sitting in my apartment one night and I checked my email and saw where someone from England had written me something. The subject line was “Welcome to the London Northeast District!” I opened it as quick as my finger could click it and found out that my first appointment as a minister was going to be as the pastor of five churches in England. The next line of the email told me to be on the lookout for a packet of information in “the post” to accept the call officially that I was to send back in to Methodist Church House immediately. This all sounded wonderful and exciting. I couldn’t believe what a wonderful opportunity I had in front of me.
You can imagine all the thoughts that go into planning for a move across the world. As the day approached when we were to fly out, we had to plan even more furiously than before. We had to decide what to do with our American lives for a year. We had to decide if we were going to keep our cars and pay on them while we were in England or if we were going to sell them. We had to decide if the dog could come with us or not (which my wife told me was going to happen or else she wasn’t coming with me). We had to decide if we could afford the airplane tickets and if we could still pay the minimum towards all our student loans. But most of all we had to decide what we were going to do with all our stuff while we were over there and if we had enough money to pay for storing it for a year or more. Contemplate a move to a different land and you will quickly realize just how much the stuff you possess rules your life.
“Stuff.” A cartoon that I was watching once dealt with the perennial problem facing most superheroes. The villain had plans to destroy the world and the superhero had to figure out a way to stop him. When the superhero heard of the villain’s plans to destroy the world, he said, “But you can’t destroy the world, that’s where I keep all my stuff!”
The apartment Jennifer and I lived in when we first got married we chose because of the huge closet in the master bedroom that we could use to store all her…uh, I mean “our” stuff. You don’t realize just how much stuff you have until you have to pack it up and carry it up some stairs and store it. And why is it that no matter how much you seem to donate to the Goodwill store or sell at a yard sale, you never seem to even make a dent in it all. You quickly learn how much stuff you own…or rather how much stuff owns you.
Well, the man in today’s story usually gets known as the rich young ruler. That is because in Matthew’s version of this story he says he was a young man and Luke’s version says that he was a ruler that was very rich. So, the stories often get combined and the man becomes known as the rich, young ruler. However, I want you to pay attention to what Mark tells us about this man. Mark simply tells us that he was a man much like you and me, who “had many possessions.”
Jesus redefines wealth here. We tend to think of riches differently than those during Jesus’ time. We think of riches as having the best quality of something, owning a Rolls Royce instead of a Dodge Caravan; an expensive home in the elite section of town instead of a typical home with central heating and air and indoor plumbing. But the gospel lesson redefines wealth. Notice the story doesn’t say that the man went away grieving because he had luxurious possessions—but because he had many possessions. The man in today’s story is more like us than we would like to admit. It isn’t that he’s filthy rich, but he is certainly attached to what he has.
The dangerous thing about money is that you don’t have to even have it to be possessed by it. Frequently those who idolize money the most are not the rich but the poor who try their best to be the rich. Jesus isn’t speaking here to some guy who has his own money bin to swim around in; who feasts on caviar and drives an Italian sportscar. Jesus is talking to a man who has made it his aim in life to obey the commandments who just happens to enjoy his possessions. Jesus called the man to be his disciple but the man couldn’t let go of his stuff.
I often wonder what I would have done if Jesus asked the same of me. I’m afraid I would have told Jesus to let me think about it a while. I don’t know that this passage is telling us to sell all our possessions, but I do know that it is telling us to reassess the way we let our possessions control us and the way we let money and stuff take precedence over other true life. We are far too much like the man in today’s lesson and far too little like the one who called him to turn loose of his possessions and follow him.
When Jennifer and I were living abroad, I guarded our money very tightly. One of the great things about living in England was all the travel we got to do around Europe. It was so much cheaper to travel over there. But nonetheless I didn’t want to part with my money unless I wanted to. So, I began wearing a money pouch around my neck and underneath my clothes to make sure that nobody could touch it but me.
But I started to realize something one day. A man in Paris asked me if I could spare enough change for him to buy a cup of coffee. I told him that I didn’t have any money on me, because I was weary of being robbed. But in reality I may have actually been telling the truth. My money was not in my back pocket anymore but right next to my heart. It is a very short distance between your pocket and your heart. I didn’t have money on me that day. I had let my money get in me, right by my heart.
I remember growing up wanting to spend my money as soon as I got some. My parents would say that the money was burning a hole in my pocket. Money can certainly have a burning effect on ones pocket, but it is far more dangerous when it burns into your heart. I stopped wearing this money pouch that day, and I bought this cross. I vowed then and there not to let anything but the cross get that close to my heart.
Stuff. I like stuff just as much, if not more, than the next person. I always want more of it because I am never satisfied despite all the stuff I have. I am always wanting better and more digital stuff, thinking that I actually need certain luxury items. We could all stand to learn something from today’s lesson about stuff. We need to demolish our current way of thinking about money and how to hold on to it so tightly. We need to annihilate so many ways of acting on the basis of money and stuff. Don’t spend your life in pursuit of more stuff! The man in our story was told that if he parted with his stuff that he would have treasure in heaven. The New Testament frequently mentions heavenly treasure.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
That little statement by Jesus about heavenly treasure is enough to destroy the way the world operates in its desire to always keep and acquire more stuff. “What, you can’t destroy the world, Jesus. That’s where I keep all my stuff.”
