Sermon from February 18, 2024 by the Rev. Dr. Tara W. Bulger

Mark 10:17-31

As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 

Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’”

The man said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 

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 the man heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”

Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

Just reading this passage makes me think of the old adage that some sermons go from preaching to meddling. This passage from Mark's Gospel about the rich man steps on all of our toes, I would imagine. I know it certainly does mine. I have wealth, as we all do compared to most of the world, and I like nice things. And I, too, have in my heart the same question the man has, "What do I have to do to be enough?"

The question from the text, of course, is, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Another way to ask that question is, what must I do to be enough in the eyes of Jesus? To be a part of the kingdom of God now, and at the end of my life, and when Christ comes again. What must I do to be enough for all of that?

When the man asks the question of Jesus, certain sects of Judaism had different laws to follow to have eternal life—to be counted as righteousness, as enough. You had to listen to that sect's teachers give you all the direction of the law. It was not just the Ten Commandments that were quoted, but so many other things, too. After all, the Ten Commandments were given to all Jews. Each particular sect added to that.

But Jesus answers the man by reminding him, simply, of the laws given by Moses. No embellishments or other laws are needed. Jesus begins by alluding to the third commandment when the man calls him good—reminding that only God can be called good. He then references commandments 5 through 9 in the list he gives: honoring father and mother, no lying, stealing, killing, no adultery. The man, I imagine, is delighted to report that he has kept all of these.

But there is one more thing, Jesus tells him—go sell all you have and come and follow me. This is a rich man with many possessions, and though he has tried to be faithful to the commandments, this is one thing he cannot do. The man goes away saddened.

Jesus' injunction on the man selling what he has is partly because this is the kind of ministry that Jesus is running. Remember Jesus telling his disciples to go out, two by two, with no money, bag, or extra clothes. Jesus is trying to share the Gospel with the world, which means his disciples need not be tied to place and things but rather to the Gospel.

But I think the real issue with this passage is the first commandment, from which all the others flow. That we are to have no other Gods. When it comes to wondering how we can be enough, God reminds us that our answer can be found only in him. Possessions and wealth can make us feel, for a fleeting time, that we are enough, but it is just an idol that cannot lead us to eternal life—a life with Christ.

I have a very wealthy friend who once said, "You know what the one thing that wealthy people have that other people do not? The knowledge that money cannot make you happy." In the same way, Jesus knows that true happiness and peace can only be found in God. We can only learn we are enough in our relationship with Jesus.

Jesus' teaching floors the disciples. At that time, possessions and wealth were thought to be a sure sign of God's favor. If they couldn't get into the kingdom, then who could? When Jesus tells them how difficult it will be for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven, it is not really about the wealth. It's about idols. All those many things we use to fill ourselves up, to make us feel like we are ok, all those many things are not God. Jesus could have said, "How hard it will be for the educated, the successful, the busy person to enter the kingdom of God—because all those are things we use to make ourselves feel like we are enough. Those are things we use to feel good about ourselves and to find our self-worth. They are all fleeting.

Today is the first Sunday of Lent. Lent is a time of self-examination and repentance from everything we have used to make ourselves feel like we are enough. Take a long, hard look at those things that make you feel good enough and ask yourself if you are worshipping them. Are they your idols? We all have an impulse to give ourselves to something—are we doing that with things or ideals that are not God?

Author David Zahl wrote, "It is easier to rebrand the religious impulse than extinguish it." It is easier to shift our worship to a million other things than not to worship altogether. You know you are worshiping idols when you order your life around them, when they dictate your choices, and when you focus your time and energy on them more than God.

I have my idols. I can identify them most clearly with how I use my time. The things I give my time to because I want people to think well of me because I want to feel like I'm enough—those are often my idols. I forget that it is God alone who gives me my worth and God alone who gives me eternal life.

So, as a community, let's take a close look at ourselves. Let's remember two important parts of this passage: the first is that when Jesus first meets the rich man, the text tells us that Jesus loved him. Jesus loves us even when we are trapped by our possessions and even amid our idolatry. Jesus loves you, too, even when you are busy trying to be enough in many different ways.

The second thing the text tells us in the promise that Jesus gives his disciples is that the way of Jesus may look difficult, but it is a richer life with community and the presence of God. So much is impossible with human beings, the text tells us, but not with God. All things are possible for God.

Thanks be to God. Amen.