Sermons for the Month
The Success That Looked Like Failure
DATE: October 15th, 2006
SERVICE: 19th Sunday After Pentecost
TEXT: Mark 10:17-31 and Hebrews 4:12-19To 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 I wonder how often I've given a sermon on today's Gospel lesson? There have been many of them, yet, in spite of the frequency, every time I preach on this text I feel sorry for the man who ran up and knelt before Jesus. And, I have to deal with an uncomfortable feeling about our Lord's response to him. I guess I'm not the only one. This week I read an article written by Pastor Stacey Simpson and this is the story she tells about this text. "I remember the first time I read this story. I was seven years old, reading Mark's Gospel in bed. When I got to verse 25, I was so alarmed that I slammed the Bible shut, jumped out of bed, and went running down the hall. I shook my mother out of a sound sleep. 'Mom,' I whispered urgently, 'Jesus says that rich people don't go to heaven.' 'We are not rich. Go back to bed,' came my mother's response. But, I knew better. I knew I had all I needed plus plenty more." (1) She concluded that in spite of later study of all that this text implies, the words of Jesus have continued to be clear and hard and scary. I'm reminded, then, of this morning's reading from Hebrews telling us that the word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword, and that it judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart, and that nothing is hidden from God's eyes. Before him we are laid bare. For the man in today's account the thing that was laid bare was his mistaken belief that it was possible for him to earn his eternal reward. He operated under the illusion that acquiring it was his doing, not God's doing. One of the articles I read about this text described this man as someone who, since childhood, had striven for perfection. As a good Jew he did this by obeying the law. Remember, doing so was no small thing given how detailed and complicated the rules and regulations of the Jewish faith could be. But, he seemed to have mastered it. Still, he was not satisfied. He wondered what would make him a better person, and how he could guarantee his eternal inheritance. Maybe this teacher Jesus who had recently appeared, and was astounding people with his teaching and actions, could give him the inside scoop. (2) Like many 21st century people he was looking for a way to me more successful and more complete. And, he probably was confident that he could accomplish whatever was required. Now, let's pause for a moment. Does that sound like anyone we know? Instead of pointing fingers, I'll confess that it sounds like me. I am a product of this culture and of family circumstances that value self-sufficiency and achievement. So, this word of God is living and active in my life, just as the writer of Hebrews says is the case. And, looking at the story from that perspective, here is what I think happened. It is as if Jesus, who loved the man, said to him, "So, my friend, you think you can acquire eternal life on your own? OK, then, this is what you should do. Sell what you own and give the money to the poor then come, follow me." Even as he said this Jesus knew the man could not manage such a thing. Doing so would be impossible for him - and for us too - and that was the point. You see, I always thought that in this encounter Jesus was offering to save the man from his addiction to possessions, and he turned down the treatment. But now it seems to me that Jesus is saying, "Do you see how impossible this is?" Think about it to say that we must give up all our wealth in order to be saved put the burden on us to save ourselves. And that's futile. Jesus might have said to the man, "What can you DO to inherit eternal life? You can do nothing. Of course, you'll never be able to grasp that until you get rid of your security blanket of stuff. But, since you are unable to do that, what can you do? The answer is nothing. For people it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible." Remember what Jesus said about the camel and the eye of the needle? There is lots of conjecture about how that phrase should be translated; some say the word is camel, some say it is rope. In either case I think the point is the futility of putting something BIG through a TINY space. Jesus is saying, "It's more likely that this (a camel, a rope) can go through there (a hardly visible needle's eye) than it is that a self-reliant person could earn his or her way into the Kingdom of God." It cannot be done by people; only God can pave the way for us. So, Jesus passed through the realities of sin and death to resurrection and the Kingdom of God. And, he pulls us through too, making us a part of that Kingdom, both now and in eternity. Having, then, inherited eternal life through Jesus we become his followers, his disciples. That's what the closing verses of the Gospel lesson are about. And, as has been clear in every Gospel lesson we've read since September began, doing so requires us to walk the way of the cross, to make sacrifices. Today's text even mentions persecution. In other words, being a part of the Kingdom of God is free, but it also costs. Yet, there are rewards, even in the here and now. Keep in mind, though, that those rewards may come in unexpected ways. There are two good reasons for this. First, they are not a direct result of personal, measurable success. It's not like doing a bang up job on a project at work and receiving a raise as a result. Instead, the reward may come because you were faithful, yet by human standards unsuccessful. And, the reward may not be something tangible or measurable that comes directly to you. Instead, it may be a feeling of fulfillment that is difficult to describe, or it may be a gift (what did Jesus say about fields or houses) that comes to the ministry of which you are a part. Remember, Jesus redefines what it means to be successful. It's like this. A man described two paintings that he had at his home. One was of the person in Jesus' story about the rich man whose crops produced so abundantly that he decided to pull down his barns and build bigger ones. He said, "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die." The caption under that painting said, "The Failure That Looked Like Success." The other painting, the companion painting, was of Jesus dying on the cross, crown of thorns on his head, his chin drooping to his check, the crude nails in his hands, and all his friends off somewhere in hiding. The caption under this painting said, "The Success That Looked Like Failure." (3) That's the success - life lived in the Kingdom of God - that is passed on to us, of which we are a part, but which we did not, indeed cannot earn on our own. Thankfully, though, while doing so is impossible for us, for God all things are possible. AMEN (1) "Who Can Be Saved? (Mark 10:17-31) by Stacey Elizabeth Simpson, "The Christian Century", September 27-October 4, 2000, p. 951, www.religion-online.org
(2) "The Real Way to Personal Fulfillment" by John Killinger, 30 Good Minutes, Program #4022, March 9, 1997, www.csec.org
(3) Same as above.
AMEN