FOR THE Twenty First Sunday after
Pentecost, we hear from the Gospel According to Saint Mark concerning our justification
before God. Using the example of a man who asks about his potential for gaining
eternal life, Jesus teaches his Church about justification and discipleship.
And
as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and
asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me
good? No one is good but God alone.
You know the commandments: ‘Do not kill. Do
not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud.
Honor your father and mother.’”
And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have
observed from my youth.”
And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said
to him, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and
you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
At that saying his countenance fell, and he
went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked around and
said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter
the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at his 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 a
rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished,
and said to him, “Then who can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is
impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”
Peter began to say to him, “Lo, we have left
everything and followed you.”
Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no
one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children
or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundred fold
now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and
lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many that
are first will be last, and the last first.” (Mark 10:17-31)
Doing
Right…?
A man approached, and put a question
to Jesus as our Lord was traveling toward Jerusalem. In reading, we find that several
items stand out for us in this account from Mark. The first is that the
man was typically oriented toward worldly success as a measure of his value before
God. This idea was common at that time among the Jews, just as it is now
with many of us in modern times. We see that he called Jesus a “good” teacher,
or rabbi. A bit of “buttering up” it seems? Thus Jesus caught him deeply immersed in his earthly
measurement system.
We consider, “Just how good is Good? In
Genesis, when creating all things, God declared all things good. However,
we hear from Jesus that since that time of that fall from grace only God is the
source of good... and only God brings good into the world. By this we know that Jesus,
as God’s only begotten Son, regarded all human beings as “sinful” and “fallen”.
However, God has loved us with infinite love and came to be with us anyhow. This fact
reminds us of the very reason that Jesus Christ was born into the world. God loved us and came to save us since we cannot buy or work in thought or deed to justify
ourselves.
We notice that the man wanted to know if his
success would be an advantage or detriment when at last he would be judged. We
note that Jesus provided him with an abbreviated listing of the Ten Commandments
as a measure. The man responded readily that he had done all things well from his youth, once again
leaning on his works righteousness to gain eternal life. But yet Jesus still loved him
and looked kindly upon him, listening to his answer that from his youth he had done all
these things. However, Jesus responded by further testing the man’s bounds
of loyalty. Jesus asked if he would give up all that he had... and follow him. As
Mark related, the man sadly walked away.
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The Master Plan of Evangelism, 2nd edition, abridged By Dr. Robert E. Coleman |
Grace
Not Works!
The lesson often falls hard
upon our egos and wallets. We need ask, “Could we toss aside all that we think
we have so to follow Jesus?” Now, we must remember a very important fact!
Mark wrote this episode to an infant church that knew growing persecutions at the time
of relating this conversation. Mark just reminded them that Jesus was walking toward
Jerusalem. He told that Jesus would be killed in a horrid way. We may wonder now, “Was
Mark asking whether his readers were willing to consider all earthly things as
meager in regards to the privilege of following Jesus, even following him to the cross? I do
think so. I believe that Mark stressed that following Jesus often means that we must
be willing, if needed, to cast aside all earthly possessions and go
straight to our cross.
However, additional undercurrents confront us in
this lesson. Quickly following this conversation, Jesus used a familiar
metaphor to teach his disciples. He talked about the difficulty for a camel to
go through the eye of a needle. Our lesson thus blatantly tells us that we
cannot work hard doing good deeds enough to bribe God through power, position, or accomplishments... so to get into the
kingdom. We cannot get to heaven based on human wealth or accomplishments.
Now consider that if that same camel… the largest common animal in the
geographical area… could have just as easily have represented God coming into
the world through his only begotten Beloved Son. Was not God going through the
eye of a needle to work wonders upon the earth and carry us to eternal life? I
would say, in the kingdom of God, “Indeed a camel can go through the eye of a needle.” The miracle
being highlighted is that a finite human being can miraculously contain the
Infinite. Jesus was born as a human child, and the Spirit was with him like a camel through the eye of a needle... and he grew to be the man who was
crucified, died... and rose again on the third day. Jesus Christ was and yet is our infinite
God. Thus God has done what some people still consider as impossible!
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Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians By Paul Marshall, Lela Gilbert & Nina Shea |
The topic here was not salvation accomplished in
the morrow by our works, so that when we shall die and stand at the gate to heaven and be judged... we shall earn a
place in the kingdom. Rather the message as Mark tells it, is that salvation
is already accomplished for those of us who believe and follow Jesus Christ. In
a time of trial and persecution then, we need not worry about… nor cling
selfishly to… worldly possessions. We are to cling to the cross of Jesus Christ.
We are called to use our richness and works only as tools to
forward the message of salvation. We need not worry about whether we have
eternal life. We need not worry about earning worldly position, for God has
already accepted us. We who are sinful and should be last… are put first only
through the work of his Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Consequently, let us then not strive to earn heaven, but
rather work in thankfulness for our heavenly inheritance. Let us strive to tell
the “GOOD NEWS”, through Church evangelism and outreach. Let us proclaim that grace which has been already given to us. Yes indeed, please know that persecutions will come by our
doing so.., but our rewards are already great in heaven. Have faith! This is the
Word and the promise of God.
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