Pastor Thanael Certa-Werner
Scripture | Mark 10:17-31 (NIV)
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?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” 20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” 21 Jesus looked at him and 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.” 22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. 23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 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.” 26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” 28 Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” 29 “Truly I tell you,” 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—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Today we’re tackling a hard problem – one which I have been thinking about for months now. It’s all to do with one hard question: If you had to make a choice between life or death, what would you choose? What if this was your choice – for real. Not just a hypothetical, not just an example, but if this was your real choice right now. If someone who was well-informed and well-trusted, like your doctor, came in right now and said that you have a choice between the two – between your life and your death – what would your choice be?
I would assume that the answer which has come up immediately is, life! Am I right? What if choosing life means making a change to the way you’re living right now. Not just a small thing like not wearing jeans anymore but giving up a regular part of your life. Would you still choose life? What if it meant giving up smoking, permanently? What if it meant changing your diet and giving up sweets, complex-carbohydrates, and most meat? What if it meant giving up drinking? Or giving up your job? What if it meant giving up watching TV or your phone? The reality is that most of us cannot say yes to these changes. Well, we can say yes, but we don’t mean it.
Research from multiple studies done by various research groups have come up with the odds. When someone is given a life-or-death choice in which they must change their lives, 9 out of 10 cannot do it. That means that for every ten people, only one person is statistically able to say they choose life. What’s even more shocking is the proof which is hidden in the everyday parts of our society’s life. At the Global Medical Forum, Dr. Raphael Levey stated that “A relatively small percentage of the population consumes the vast majority of the health-care budget for diseases that are very well known and by and larger behavioral… As far back as when I was in medical school – 1955 – many articles demonstrated that 80% of the health-care budget was consumed by five behavioral issues” (Change or Die, Alan Deutschman). They are: smoking, drinking, eating, stress, and not enough exercise.
The Problem – I Don’t Want to Give “It” Up
The reality is that there are things in life that we just don’t want to give up. They give us comfort. They make us happy or feel connected to others. They help us through stress and we love them. To get by in life without them, try as we might, seems impossible. In our scripture for today, we find that this part of the human condition is nothing new, but over two-thousand years old. In Mark, chapter 10, we find a young man who is interested in what Jesus has to offer. The Gospel says, “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?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
Right off the bat, we find out that this young man sees Jesus as someone who knows what it means to live a good life – not just on earth but in heaven too. And Jesus gives him the basics: He basically says, follow the ten commandments and the law of Moses. The story continues, “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and 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.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.”
So we find out that this young man is on top of the Law – he’s been following the scriptures since he was a young boy. He knows what the Bible teaches, he has heard the teachings of Moses. What’s left? At this, the Gospel says Jesus looks on him with love and tells him that the thing which is holding him back is his money. If he gives all this up, then he will be able to follow Jesus and the way to a good life.
Notice, though, how the Gospel is intentional to describe how Jesus interacts with this young man. Mark says that Jesus looks on him with love – why? Because Jesus knows how difficult his answer is going to be for the man. And just as Jesus thought, the young man goes away with his heart in his stomach because his wealth isn’t something he can give up. Jesus now turns to his disciples and says, “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.’ The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?’”
I think that the disciples ask the real essential question here, who then can be saved? To me, this question is more than amazement over the fact that rich people have such a struggle living holy lives. Rather, it’s a response to the deeper point Jesus is getting at. Here, Jesus isn’t just talking about those who are rich with money – in the Greek, He is saying that those who trust in money struggle. In other words, those who put all their trust in the world struggle to live holy and complete lives.
The Real Problem – Fear and Grief
This leads us to the real problem. Each of us, either now or in the future, has something which God will call us to give up. And the real question is, how do we give up something we don’t want to give up? When there is some aspect of our lives which is so regular to them – when there is something which makes us feel happy, or less stressed, or helps us forget the problems of our lives and God calls us to give it up – how can we possibly say yes?
In these moments, we need to first understand what is at stake and what the problem really is. What is at stake is life and death. And this life and death is not the one which is meant to scare you into obeying out of fear. This life and death is the simple choice we are presented with every day of our lives. It’s the same choice which comes before us at the doctor’s office. It’s the choice of living our lives in a way which continues them – gives our lives strength, wisdom, health, and peace – or do we live them in a way which ultimately sucks them of their abilities and leads to their end. Even more, what we’re talking about here is not just for the realm of religion, or faith, or spirituality – it has an effect on every aspect of our lives from our health, to our ability to think, to our outlook on life.
The real problem here is our fear and our grief. In seasons where we are called to consider loss in our lives, often all we can focus on is what we stand to lose. In the case of the young man, he could only see the wealth he would lose. This is the reality of death and loss. The end of a dream, idea, hope, or way of life brings grief and that has to be acknowledged. There is no sense in pretending that we are always happy about God’s calls upon our lives or the timings of those calls.
In these seasons of grief, looking at even the possibility of loss can well up fear in us. This is the fear of what life will be like without whatever God is call us to give up. This very fear is what Jesus says makes it more possible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than giving something up for God. He says, when we place our trust in the world so entirely, we leave no space for trusting in what God has in store for us.
The Solution – Trust and Weakness
So the question still remains, who then can be saved? Jesus’ answer is this, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” This means that first and foremost, the solution to our problems of fear and grief is trust and weakness. In our grief, we often focus on our life not going the way we planned or wanted it to go. What we lose sight of is the reality of God’s vision for us. This vision is not something which is just a goal for us, rather it is God’s ability to see all reality at once and know what is the best life possible for us. In these moments, we are reminded that God loves us and is working for our benefit. Philippians 1:6 says, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion…”
This brings us to our fear. To address this, we must really understand what it means to give something up for God. It means acknowledging that we cannot deal with our own worries and problems – that we cannot figure out how to live our lives best and are turning everything over to God. It is a literal giving up. In this surrender to our weakness, we are allowing for God to become our strength – a strength which is great enough to see us through the hard work of trust.
How can we do this, though? How can we know that we can trust God? Because we have people all around us and in scripture who testify to God’s faithfulness and strength. The Holy Scriptures are full of proof that God does not abandon us and that His ways are the best ways. Even in our scripture for today, Jesus says, “Truly I tell you no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the Gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.”
We have a promise that no matter what we lose, or what we give up – what we gain is a hundred times better. We have a problem, as Christians and as a society, of not being able to make the changes our lives demand. But when we exchange our fear and grief for trust and an acknowledgment of weakness, we can defy the odds and be the ones who change and truly choose life. The question is before us – the real question: Will we trust God? Let this be the day, let this be the moment we say yes. Amen!