Sermons for the Month
With God All Things Are Possible
DATE: October 10th 2003
SERVICE: 18th Sunday After Pentecost
TEXT: Mark 10:17-31“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
It wasn't that long ago that some members of our congregation paraded down Market Street with the words of Jesus in full view. It happens, though, that these particular words of Jesus are also the motto for the state of Ohio and they were the focus of our float in the July 4 parade.
The theme of the event was Ohio's bicentennial. So, our artist penned these words in large letters, "Remember the motto: with God all things are possible." I recall that before the parade began I jokingly quizzed some of the walkers concerning where in scripture the motto could be found. I believe someone got it right - the words are from today's Gospel lesson in which Jesus reflects on the impossibility of a rich person entering the Kingdom of God.
I can't help but wonder if in 1959 when the Ohio legislature adopted these words as a motto anyone put them in their context. After all, the previous motto had been "an empire within an empire" which had such a pretentious sound that it was repealed in 1867, just two years after it was adopted.
So, it could be that the intention in selecting, "With God all things are possible", was to be more humble and to acknowledge that only with God's help could people accomplish great things in this great state. And, while that's true, it's not the point being made when Jesus first spoke these words.
Instead, Jesus is making it abundantly clear that a decent, God-fearing, law-abiding man with whom God has blessed with riches has no eternal home apart from God's grace. This isn't a passage about the great things that one can accomplish with God's help. Instead it's a reminder that whatever we may accomplish or posses in this world is meaningless when it comes to gaining eternity.
Entering the kingdom of God is impossible for mortals without God's grace. And, Jesus says, it's especially difficult for those who have lots of stuff because they tend to trust in it rather than in God.
I've always felt a twinge of sympathy for the man described in today's Gospel lesson. He's so sure of himself, and yet so vulnerable. He understands how inheritance works, that an heir could jeopardize his inheritance by unacceptable behavior. No doubt he has lived a proper life in the eyes of his earthly father, and thus his inheritance here is assured.
But, he wants to make sure that the same is true of his heavenly father and of life that extends beyond this one. So, he asks Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" You'll notice that the focus in on the "I" and the "do". And, when Jesus lists the things that he has done - not murdering, not committing adultery, not stealing or slandering or defrauding and honoring his parents - he thinks he has it made in the shade. "Yes!" we can imagine him proclaiming, "I've done all that I need to do!!"
The problem is, though, that he's done these things for the wrong reasons. His behavior was good out of self-interest, out of his desire to earn God's favor, NOT because he loved God and his fellow human beings.
Jesus understands this. In fact, it says in the text that Jesus loves him. I've always taken that as meaning that Jesus really does have compassion for him because he knows how far he is from truly living out his faith. His motivation is wrong and he trusts in himself and his stuff rather than in God.
So, Jesus offers him a way out, "…go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and then you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." He needs to let go of the security of material possessions. He needs to follow rather than lead. He must come face to face with his own powerlessness, admit his need for God, and learn to trust God above all else.
He can't do it; it's too much to ask and he departs in grief, perhaps with some idea of what he has given up.
Jesus watches him go and says that it's easier for a large animal to go through the smallest of openings than it is for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. These words shock the disciples. Perhaps they are uncomfortable for us to hear as well because we number among those about whom Jesus is talking.
Oh, it's not necessarily that we are materially wealthy, although by the standards of most of the world we are, but it's that we struggle with the very same attitude and issues of the man in the Gospel lesson. Basically there are two issues. One is that we trust in a lot of things - our abilities, our possessions, our intelligence, and other people - more than we trust in God. And, the second issue is that it's very difficult for us to grasp the reality that what I do, or who I am, does not earn me salvation.
I may, like the man in the Gospel lesson, have kept a bunch of the commandments. But, if I believe that by doing so I'm good enough to be saved then I have broken other commandments about loving God first and having no other God's in my life because I have made my actions my God, the source of my salvation.
This is the human dilemma. We say we want to love and trust God above all else, but our actions betray us. We are like the man who came to talk to his pastor. He was depressed. His life seemed meaningless. He had been quite successful, but his money did not seem to be buying him happiness. Something seemed to be missing. His life felt flat. He thought he should be getting more pleasure out of his success, and he was trying to figure out what to do.
The pastor remembered something that Karl Menninger, the famous psychiatrist, had said. Menninger said that, when you are feeling blue, you should get out of the house, go across the tracks, find someone in need, and help them. The pastor told the man about that and said, "Perhaps you should use your money to help others - give some of it away."
The man thought for a moment, and with a wry smile on his face said, "Preacher, I'm not sure that I'm that desperate to be happy."
Well, we're not sure that we are that desperate to trust God. We say we are, but when it comes right down to it we waffle. That's why Jesus says that salvation is impossible for mortals, we can't earn our salvation and we can't trust God enough. But, with God all things are possible.
Through Jesus we are forgiven in spite of our self-centeredness; through the Holy Spirit we receive the gift of faith and are empowered to at least try to surrender our will and our lives over to God and to allow God to transform us. In God alone there is hope for us.
That's what we were saying when we paraded down Market street on July 4. Some observers might have thought we were applauding the 6th Circuit Court's recent decision that Ohio's motto is constitutional, and not a violation of the separation of church and state. While some folks may hold that opinion, that is not what we as a church were announcing as we displayed the words, "with God all things are possible." Instead, we were proclaiming that in God alone … in God alone… there is hope for us.
AMEN