March 4, 2007
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on the Journey: During this Lenten season, we are traveling with Jesus as he makes his way toward Jerusalem. As we go, we are joined by companions along the way. Some men and women who will encounter Jesus will be eager to travel the whole way with him, and some will be reluctant. All will hear a call to discipleship and to changed lives. We will hear Jesus say to them what Jesus says to us, "come follow me." Today we are joined by the person we know as the rich young ruler and we overhear their conversation that begins with an ageless question. My seminary professors would say that the young man is asking Jesus a question that is both soteriological and ontological. That is his question is about salvation and being, "what do I need to do to inherit eternal life? What can I do to make sure I exist beyond this life?" Jesus answers him by reminding him of the ways the law, especially as they come to us in the ten commandments, is to be kept. Easy enough, he says, "I have kept the law all my life. I have honored God with my worship, and I have honored people by dealing with them ethically and honestly. Not once have I committed adultery, or murder, or perjury, or theft; I have never neglected my parents." Then Jesus says, "Well then, there is one more thing. Go and sell all of your stuff, and give the money to the most needy in the community." Luke doesn’t say, but I think the ruler must have said something like this: "Is this a test? You are kidding right? Look, maybe you don’t know me, but my family is wealthy, we have a lot of possessions: stock, prime real estate, a sports team, radio and television stations. We travel and raise money for charity, we are good people, I am a good person. You really want me to sell everything?" When Matthew tells this story, he says the man goes away, and that he is grieving. Luke just calls him sad. The problem is not that the man is rich; there is no inherent sin in being wealthy, just as there is no salvation in being poor. The problem is that he loves his possessions, his stuff more than he loves God, and more than he wants to follow Jesus. What he owns is keeping him from giving himself totally to being a disciple of Jesus. He is sad because he knows there is no shortcut to discipleship and salvation. He cannot buy it, or have it handed down to him, it cannot be passed down from one family member to another. It is a gift from God. But there are some expectations for him and for us. "Go sell all that you have, and give the proceeds to the poor. Then come and follow me, and gain riches in heaven." But the young man could not say an immediate yes, and I do not doubt that many of us would not be able to either. Fred Craddock says that "he has lain too long in silken ease, fared too well at banquet tables, rested too comfortably on the security of his surplus, moved too far from the cries of the hungry, enjoyed too obviously the envy of those less prosperous, assumed too much that he could buy everything he needed. He depends on his money" (Interpretation series. Luke. Fred Craddock, Louisville. John Knox Press, p. 214). If you watch shows like "Clean Sweep", "Mission Organization", and "What Not to Wear", or if you have ever moved from one house to another, you know the trauma of sorting and throwing away things that you have had for a long time. "Sell it all." "Really?" "Yes, really. Let go of all that gets between you and your desire to be a faithful disciple." We would have trouble deciding what to sell or what to give away and what little if anything to keep. The truth is that we can acquire more things. But we cannot buy our way into eternal life. We can be faithful enough that heaven is where God invites us to spend eternity. If we can get over some barriers. Listen as James Moore whose study booklet inspired this sermon series describes these obstacles to discipleship faced by the young ruler. Listen and see if they impede your desire to be on the journey with Jesus. First, there was an inability to get his priorities straight. "He was so wrapped up in his material possessions that he couldn’t see Jesus was offering him something better. Jesus was not fussing at wealth that day. He was saying, ‘hey, look! Following me is better than riches; it is the greatest treasure in the world. It is wealth beyond counting…Sometimes we look at the story of the rich young ruler and emphasize the cost of discipleship, in other words what we have to give up to follow Christ. But Jesus is not talking about the cost of discipleship here, but the riches of discipleship, and he is saying, in effect, ‘Discipleship is better than dollars! It’s the top priority, the most important, the most worthwhile, the valuable thing in the world" (On the Road Again: A Faith Journey. James W. Moore. Nashville. Abingdon Press, 2006, p.18). Second, "the young ruler could not bring himself to reach out to the needy. He could not, according to Moore, "find it in his heart to love, and that is why he was going through life feeling empty." Then James Moore tells the story of two prisoners of war. As World War Two was ending, one prisoner of war camp decided to let half the prisoner go free. Each freed prisoner was told to take only what could be put in a duffel bag. One soldier upon learning that he was free while his best friend would remain, was moved by his love for his friend to somehow manage to get his friend into his duffel and so they were both set free. Moore goes on to say, "only two things really matter in this world – our relationship to God, and our relationships with others. If you want to be happy, if you want to be full of life, then learn how to love! Live in the spirit of Christ! Let the love of God flow through you and out to others! That ‘s what Jesus was trying to teach the rich young ruler. Sadly, that young man missed the message" (Moore, p.20). And third, he was not able to trust. "Jesus called him to discipleship, but the rich young ruler could not trust him enough to make the leap of faith. He felt so secure where he was. His was a pampered and comfortable life. He was bored and unfulfilled, but he was secure; and to walk away from that would take a high level of trust. Sadly, he couldn’t do it. Sadly, he turned away. It takes a lot of trust to make the leap of faith. "If the rich young ruler had trusted Christ and followed him; if he had trusted Christ and if he had become his disciple, without question he would have later said, ‘why was I so afraid of this thing called discipleship, when, as I now know, it is really life – exciting, fulfilling, meaningful, abundant life" (Moore, p.21). Lent is the season of the year during which we come to understand that being a follower of Jesus Christ means going all the way with him. There are no half-measures leading to the cross or the empty tomb. We cannot call ourselves followers of his if we plan on going with him only as long as it is comfortable, not too stressful, will not challenge us to grow in any way, and as long as it doesn’t cost us anything. We are called to the joys of discipleship; to follow Jesus with our whole being and then to take on all that helps us on the journey. We may not be wealthy, but we all have things we love, books, clothes, a house, a car, a prized set of golf clubs, a special set of cooking utensils, a family heirloom, the list goes on. The issue is not that we love nice things or that we want good things in life. Nice things add beauty to our lives, they improve the quality of our surroundings, they are a sign of our caring and our sense of who we are, and of all things bright and beautiful. But they should enhance our gratitude and love for God, not overtake our love for God. They are signs of taste and achievement, they are things to be appreciated, but never to be worshiped. That is idolatry and it was the source of sadness for the young man, who loves his stuff more than he loves God. I have two quilts, one made for me by my mother when I was in high school. It went with me to college and seminary, and Washington, DC, and Indianapolis, and Lincoln, and here in Columbus. The other was made for me as a parting gift when I left an interim pastorate in Lynwood, California. They are prized possessions, they provide warmth and good memories. I appreciate them, I love the women who made them, but not so much that they interfere with my relationship with God. As we become even more faithful disciples, we will know that we are eager companions of Jesus, and we will do all that can as we follow him, let go of every impediment, and take up every attitude that helps us to say yes to him. There is an organization called the Affluenza Project. It acts to educate people about the high cost of being so obsessed with money that everything including our sense of self-worth, and our sense of belonging to God is negatively impacted. The rich young man could have learned a great deal from them, we still can. Their vision statement is one that speaks to me of discipleship and of caring for the least among us: "We envision a world in which money flows freely to those in need, where there is not hunger, no poverty, of body or soul; where greed has been laid to rest, with understanding among people that money is simply a form of energy exchange and that genuine happiness is found in the giving, not the receiving. "We are dedicated to the awareness that true wealth is a result of an abundance of love that can only be found between people and only fully realized when no one among us is hungry or homeless (www.affluenza.com/aboutaff.html). That is the life we are called to, one that is joyful, hope-filled, and loving as we journey with Jesus toward Jerusalem. As we go, the issue is not how little or how much we have. The issue is what will we do with what we have so that we can embrace the life-giving joy of discipleship, so that in this season of sacrifice, we can let go of all that keeps us reluctant travelers and make so sacred this faith journey that at its end on Resurrection morning, we will praise the living God and the risen Christ. In the meantime, we are, like that young ruler called to go with Jesus with our priorities straight, our hearts full of love and trust in our spirits. That is how Jesus approaches us, surely we can offer ourselves back to him as we move toward deeper discipleship with him. He will lead us safely home. Let’s continue the journey now. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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Broad
Street Christian Church
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