The Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost

October 13, 2024

Ephesians 5:21-6:4

How’s Your Followership?

Followers of Christ Maintain Proper Priorities!

17As 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. 19You 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.’”

20“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

21Jesus 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.”

22At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

24The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

26The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

27Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” (NIV1984)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Recently Isaac and I went to see the movie Reagan. We both enjoyed it very much! Throughout the movie Isaac would lean over and ask, “Papa, do you remember this?” I would whisper, “Yes, I do!” We both enjoyed the President’s sense of humor. For example, after President Reagan was shot and as they were preparing him for surgery he looked up at the doctor and said, “I hope you are all Republicans!” Both Isaac and I laughed out loud. We also enjoyed the “one-liners” that have gone down in history. There was his famous challenge: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” And then there was the one-liner that I had forgotten, “You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans.”

Since I wasn’t exactly sure what President Reagen meant by that, I Googled it. This is what I found, “Through a simple act like eating jellybeans, Reagan suggests that one’s behavior can provide valuable insight into their character. While enjoying a handful of jellybeans may seem inconsequential, the way in which a person approaches this act can be indicative of their broader behavioral tendencies. Are they methodical, carefully selecting and savoring each jellybean? Or are they impulsive, devouring the entire handful without much thought? Perhaps they share their jellybeans freely with others, displaying a generous and selfless character.”

“You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans.” While the way in which a person eats jellybeans may indeed seem inconsequential, that quote kept going through my mind as I was preparing this sermon. For that reason I decided to adopt and adapt that quote in an effort to help us understand and remember what the Holy Spirit is teaching us in this portion of Mark chapter ten. My “adapted” version of that quote from President Reagan is this: You can tell a lot about a follower of Christ by watching how they set their priorities in life. With that adapted quote in mind let’s see that: Followers of Christ Maintain Proper Priorities!

In the verses preceding our text Mark tell us that people were bringing “little children” to Jesus to have Him place His hand on them. When the disciples started to “rebuke” the people for doing this, Jesus became “indignant” with His disciples and reminded everyone, “I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Apparently there was a young man in the crowd who had been taking in everything that Jesus was doing and everything that Jesus was saying. That explains why Mark says to us in the opening verse of our text, “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?’”

I would be surprised if this were the first time this young man had asked that question. Questions like this don’t usually just come out of the blue. This was a young man on a quest! We can envision him searching out respected teachers of the faith and asking them questions about life’s deepest concerns. If he had gone to one of the Pharisees or one of the Teachers of the Law and asked them the same question he asked Jesus, the Pharisee or the Teacher of the Law would have undoubtedly answered by saying, “Son, if you want to have eternal life, if you want to be blessed by God and enjoy His favor then follow His teachings! Dedicate yourself to doing His will and keeping His commands! If you do this, you will have everything you desire— a happy life, a meaningful existence and when you die, eternal life!”

Evidently this young man had been striving his best to do just that. It appears as though he had been consciously striving to do good things and to help others in his quest to improve himself. Evidently he was admired and respected by those who knew him. That’s the conclusion we easily come to when we hear his conversation with Jesus continue. Mark writes, “’Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No one is good— except God alone. 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.”’ ‘Teacher,’ he declared, ‘all these I have kept since I was a boy.’”

This was a young man that you would have loved to have as your neighbor. He was honest. He was helpful. He was trustworthy. This was a young man that you would have loved to have dating your daughter. He was honorable. He was moral. He was hard-working. He was openly dedicated to following the Law that the Lord God had given to His people through Moses. And as we’ll see in a moment, Jesus did not challenge him when he said, “Teacher, all this I have kept since I was a boy.” Even though Jesus knew that no one, not even this young man, could keep God’s Law the way God expects us to keep it— which is perfectly!— Jesus did not point out any of the sinful thoughts that had gone through this young man’s mind. Jesus did not point out any of the sinful attitudes this young man had harbored in his heart.

“Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Even though this young man was undoubtedly very sincere when he spoke these words, deep down inside he knew. Deep down inside he knew that something was not right. Deep down inside his conscience was ruthlessly reminding him that no matter how “good” his life appeared to be in the eyes of others, no matter how hard he tried to keep God’s Law— he hadn’t done enough! He was still missing something! If he had been truly satisfied in his quest for eternal life, he would not have gone running to Jesus, fallen on his knees in front of Him and asked, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

This young man is typical of many people today. As mortal sinful human beings our natural default setting is that our eternal life depends on something we do! This young man is typical of many people who consciously strive to live a decent, moral, upright life, they strive to be kind and helpful to others, they strive to be the kind of person you would love to have as your neighbor, the kind of person you would love to have dating your daughter— because Satan has deceived them into thinking that this is what you have to do in order to “inherit eternal life”!

And let’s be honest with ourselves. This young man is typical of how we sometimes think and act. It’s very easy for us to think that God has to let us into heaven because we have lived the very best life we could, or because we were in church as often as we possibly could, or we did everything we were supposed to do! And yet, there are times when our conscience simply won’t be quiet! There are times when our conscience pesters us with questions like: Were you sincere in what you were doing or were you doing it just to look good in the eyes of others? Did you do it well enough? Why didn’t you do it better or more often? Why didn’t you do this too? Why did you say that? Why did you think that? Why?

“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” While that is a critically important question, it is a question that is critically important to answer correctly! That’s why Mark goes on to say in our text, “Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ he said. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give it 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.”

“Jesus looked at him and loved him.” What a beautiful moment for us to witness! With these words the Holy Spirit has Mark tenderly reveal to us the breadth and the depth of Jesus’ wonderful agape love for this young man. Even though this young man was confused— at best!— about how he could “inherit eternal life” Jesus dearly wanted to help him. That’s why His agape love for this young man led Jesus to say to him, “One thing you lack.” Very literally, Jesus said to him, “In one thing you are falling short.” That “one thing” was: This young man’s #1 priority in life centered on— money!

In reality Jesus was using the power of His holy Law to call on this young man to change his priorities in life. Change his priorities by selling everything he had accumulated and giving it to the poor. Change his priorities by shifting his focus from earthly treasures to heavenly treasures. Change his priorities by taking the dedication and the commitment he had place on what he thought was his ticket to eternal life— doing all the things he was supposed to do— and put that same level of dedication and that same level of commitment into “following” Jesus! Mark then takes us from the lofty heights of Jesus’ agape love for this young man to the desolate depths of self-reliance: “At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.” A more literal translation here would be: “He was shocked by this, and he went away distressed because he had many possessions.” We can only hope and pray that Jesus’ words to this young man eventually led him to focus on having proper priorities in his life and dedicate himself to following Jesus.

The ”shock” and the “distress” of this young man led Jesus to say to His disciples, “’How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!’ The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said 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.’ The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, ‘Who then can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.’”

This young man’s problem was not his wealth. This young man’s problem was having improper priorities! In and of itself money is morally neutral. In and of itself there is nothing wrong with having worldly wealth. The problem arises when someone prioritizes making money over pretty much everything else in their life. The “wrong,” the “sin,” that can prevent a person from “inheriting eternal life” is when they deceive themselves into thinking that worldly wealth is a “sign” that God is pleased with them! Think of the man who had such a banner year on the farm that he decided to tear down his old barns and build bigger barns so that he could, “Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” Do you remember what God said to him? He said, “You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?” (Luke 12:13-21) Think of what the Holy Spirit had Paul write to Timothy, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10).

Whether it’s the rich young man who tried his very best to do everything he needed to do in order to “inherit eternal life” on his own or the disciples here in our text who were so “amazed” at Jesus saying, “It is easier for camel to go though the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God,” that they asked Jesus, “Who then can be saved?”— as followers of Christ we need to strive with His help to make sure that we maintain proper priorities in our own hearts and in our own lives.

How can we do this? It starts with asking yourself, “Is there any reason that Jesus might look at me and with a heart that is overflowing with agape love for me say, “One thing you lack,” or “In this you are falling short”? Compare the thank offerings that you place on the altar of your Savior with what you spend on yourself and your wants. Do your offerings to your Lord reflect that you have proper priorities? Compare the time that you dedicate to your Lord, compare the time that you dedicate to the family your Lord has given to you to the time that you dedicate to your hobbies or to your preferred mode of recreation. Does your dedication of time reflect that you have proper priorities? At your baptism Jesus called you to be His “follower,” through His holy Word and His holy Sacraments Jesus continues to say to you, “Come, follow me.” Do you consciously strive to make sure that the priorities of your heart and the priorities of your life line up with that powerful calling?

Ronald Reagan used to say, “You can tell a lot about a fellow’s character by his way of eating jellybeans.” Today we have adopted and adapted those words by saying, “You can tell a lot about a follower of Christ by watching how they prioritize their life.” “Come, follow me.” That is the glorious invitation that the One who was willing to live and to die and to rise again for you extends to you each and every day. May God grant that as followers of Christ we will indeed prioritize our life in a way that openly reveals to everyone who we are — we are followers of Christ! (Pointing to the cross)

To God be the glory!

Amen