Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost 2006
Dr. Paul G. Humphrey
Back in the fifteenth century, in a tiny village near Nuremberg, lived a family with eighteen children. Eighteen!
In order merely to keep food on the table for this big family, the father and head of the household, a goldsmith by profession, worked almost eighteen hours a day at his trade and any other paying chore he could find in the neighborhood.
Despite their seemingly hopeless condition, two of Albrecht Durer the Elder’s children had a dream. They both wanted to pursue their talent for art, but they knew full well that their father would never be financially able to send either of them to Nuremberg to study at the Academy.
After many long discussions at night in their crowded bed, the two boys finally worked out a pact. They would toss a coin. The loser would go down into the nearby mines and, with his earnings, support his brother while he attended the academy. Then, when that brother who won the toss completed his studies, in four years, he would support the other brother at the academy, either with sales of his artwork or, if necessary, also by laboring in the mines.
They tossed a coin on a Sunday morning after church. Albrecht Durer won the toss and went off to Nuremberg.
Albert went down into the dangerous mines and, for the next four years, financed his brother, whose work at the academy was almost an immediate sensation. Albrecht’s etchings, his woodcuts, and his oils were far better than those of most of his professors, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning to earn considerable fees for his commissioned works.
When the young artist returned to his village, the Durer family held a festive dinner on their lawn to celebrate Albrecht’s triumphant homecoming. After a long and memorable meal, punctuated with music and laughter, Albrecht rose from his honored position at the head of the table to drink a toast to his beloved brother for the years of sacrifice that had enabled Albrecht to fulfill his ambition. His closing words were, "And now, Albert, blessed brother of mine, now it is your turn. Now you can go to Nuremberg to pursue your dream, and I will take care of you."
All heads turned in eager expectation to the far end of the table where Albert sat, tears streaming down his pale face, shaking his lowered head from side to side while he sobbed and repeated, over and over, "No ...no ...no ...no."
Finally, Albert rose and wiped the tears from his cheeks. He glanced down the long table at the faces he loved, and then, holding his hands close to his right cheek, he said softly, "No, brother. I cannot go to Nuremberg. It is too late for me. Look ... look what four years in the mines have done to my hands! The bones in every finger have been smashed at least once, and lately I have been suffering from arthritis so badly in my right hand that I cannot even hold a glass to return your toast, much less make delicate lines on parchment or canvas with a pen or a brush. No, brother ... for me it is too late."
More than 450 years have passed. By now, Albrecht Durer’s hundreds of masterful portraits, pen and silver point sketches, water-colors, charcoals, woodcuts, and copper engravings hang in every great museum in the world, but the odds are great that you, like most people, are familiar with only one of Albrecht Durer’s works. More than merely being familiar with it, you very well may have a reproduction hanging in your home or office.
One day, to pay homage to Albert for all that he had sacrificed, Albrecht Durer painstakingly drew his brother’s abused hands with palms together and thin fingers stretched skyward. He called his powerful drawing simply "Hands," but the entire world almost immediately opened their hearts to his great masterpiece and renamed his tribute of love "The Praying Hands."
The next time you see a copy of that touching creation, take a second look. Let it be your reminder, if you still need one, that no one - no one - - ever makes it alone! [Revised from, SermonCentral, also forwarded email.]
Look at the picture on your bulletin. Notice anything strange about it? (Our bulletin for today has a picture of the “Praying Hands.”) If you look closely the index finger is longer than the ring finger. This is not normal. A man’s index finger should be shorter than their ring finger. This may be why this picture of the praying hands stands out to us in such a wonderful way. I hope that as you see this picture you will be reminded of the sacrificial love that these hands symbolize. The sacrificial love that so damaged these hands. These hands symbolize the sacrifice that one man made for another.
Our Scripture passage today speaks of our own inability to go it alone. Let’s go to Mark 10:17.
MK 10:17 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
What can I do to be saved? Theoretically, if we could live perfect lives, then we would have no need of a savior. In essence, the answer is, to the man’s question is “be good!” And, being good is following the law perfectly (which is impossible). Jesus will show us as much in the passages that we are about to look at, and in doing so, Jesus says something about his own identity. Look at the next verse.
MK 10:18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone.
Why do you call me good? Notice that Jesus did not say that he was not good. As a matter of fact, Scripture tells us that Jesus was sinless). He says no one is good except God alone. If Jesus is good and no one is good except for God, then who is Jesus? Yep . . . God in flesh! This is a word puzzle that Jesus throws into the mix in answering the man’s question.
And, in one sense, Jesus answered the man’s question in this statement. If we can enter into heaven by being good, i.e., following the law perfectly, then Jesus says that no one is good, then how can the man enter heaven? Right off the bat, Jesus answer to the man is that it is impossible. And yet, he has given the man a hint as to who stands before him!
What “I” can do for salvation is nothing, but what Jesus can do is everything. You can’t be self-sufficient in the arena of salvation. And, Jesus is talking to a man who is self-sufficient. First and foremost the man has to be able to understand that he does not follow all of the commandments. Jesus shows him this.
19 You know the commandments: `Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’ "
MK 10:20 "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
Notice Jesus left out the first two commandments here didn’t he? You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make some god of our own. And Jesus addresses this in the next verse. There is another left out too. Can anyone remember what it is? You shall not covet.
In seminary my whole Old Testament class got in big trouble one time because our teacher, who ate leather for breakfast asked the class to name off the Ten Commandments. No one was willing to try. We could call out the names of the kings of Judah, and knew that Solomon had 500 porcupines, but no one was willing to risk standing up and missing one of the Ten Commandments. I had heard of a conniption before, but had never actually seen one. Till then! Jesus left out the commandments that applied to the young man on purpose.
MK 10:21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. (I don’t think that it is an understatement when Scripture tells us that Jesus loved him) "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
I always point out that the man’s sin was not that he had money, but rather that money had him. In a sense his god was wealth. He was self sufficient.
MK 10:22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
This man knew the commandments that he had fallen short on. Some how, I doubt that this is the end of the story of this young man. But for now, he walks away downcast, because he was owned by his wealth.
Wealth seems to be the desire of his heart. Wealth is his answer for all problems. Wealth is in a sense his god.
In Matthew 6:24 Jesus said, “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
A businessman was granted one wish by an angel. He wanted to see the stock prices for one in the future. The angel gave him a NY Times. He was gloating over his profound riches when he noticed his obituary on the next page. The money paled in comparison.
In one place in Scripture Jesus asks “what can be compared to the value of a soul?”
MK 10:23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
MK 10:24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! (I want you to notice that Jesus not only says that it is hard for the rich, but hard for all) 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
Some have suggested that the eye of a needle may have been a low gate that a camel would have had great difficulty in going through to enter into Jerusalem. Others suggest, “no, it is a sewing needle.” No, matter, impossibility is the key word here, and we are going to see that in a moment.
MK 10:26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?"
Jesus disciples often seem to miss Jesus’ meaning. Here, they hit it on the nail head. If following all of the commandments perfectly are required for salvation, then who can be saved? The disciples are right to question, “who can enter?”
The answer is no one, not alone anyway.
MK 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."
MK 10:28 Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!"
MK 10:29 "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30 will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
I don’t want you to think that Jesus is saying that because they have done certain things that they have earned the right to salvation, but rather, as we look as Scripture further, we see that such sacrifices are the result of saving faith rather than the means. It is God and God alone who makes salvation possible.
MK 10:27 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."
When it comes to salvation, all we can do is put trust in God.
When you think about it, all that we do, all that we are, and all that we ever will be is in God’s hands.
If we find ourselves to be self sufficient, then we err.
What can we do apart from Jesus?
Jesus answers this question himself saying, “I am the Vine, you are the branches, apart from me you can do nothing.”
On the other hand, another verse says “I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me.”
Nothing is impossible with Jesus.
Get the right perspective. When Goliath came against the Israelites, the soldiers all thought, "He’s so big we can never kill him." David looked at the same giant and though, "He’s so big I can’t miss." (Source Unknown)
"God honors radical, risk-taking faith.
When arks are built, lives are saved. When soldiers march, Jericho’s tumble.
When staffs are raised, seas still open.
When a lunch is shared, thousands are fed.
And when a garment is touched -- whether by the hand of an anemic woman in Galilee or by the prayers of a beggar in Bangladesh -- Jesus stops.
He stops and responds." (Lucado, 69)
[SermonCentral: Contributed by: Mark Beaird]
What can I do to be saved? Take hold of the hand of Jesus.
A young orphaned boy who had been taken to his grandmother’s house. The house caught fire one night. The grandmother tried to rescue the little boy, but was overcome by smoke and died in the disaster. As the fire blazed, a crowd gathered. They could hear the boy crying for help, but nobody could seem to find a way to reach him.
Then, a stranger rushed out of the crowd and climbed a metal pipe that stretched past an upstairs window. the pipe was extremely hot, but the man ignored the pain. He went in, reach the boy and climbed with him back down the hot pipe to safety below.
A few weeks later, a public hearing was held to determine who should have custody of the boy. One by one each person spoke about how they could care for the boy. A farmer, then a teacher, then the town’s richest citizen suggested because of his great wealth he should have the boy.
The judge asked if anyone else had anything to say. Slowly, a man walked to the front of the room. As the man reached the front of the room, he slowly took his hands from his pockets and showed everyone present badly scarred hands.
Suddenly, the little boy cried out with surprise. He recognized his rescuer. The scars were from the hands he had received climbing the hot pipe. The boy fell into the open arms of the man who had saved him. One by one the crowd left, because those scarred hands said more than anything else anyone had to say.
My friends, I began this sermon telling you about a pair of hands. I want to tell you about another. There are a pair of hands with nail scars in them. Those hands were nailed to a cross for our sins, for our salvation. We find those good hands stretched out reaching for us, with a voice behind them saying “come to me, you who are weary and heavy ladened.” Those are the hands that we must reach for if we desire salvation. Those hands are the good and strong hands of Jesus, the hands of God.
Will you reach for them?
