September 11 2016 Sermon
Luke 18:18-30
“A certain ruler asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honour your father and mother.” ’ He replied, ‘I have kept all these since my youth.’ When Jesus heard this, he said to him, ‘There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ But when he heard this, he became sad; for he was very rich. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, 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.’
Those who heard it said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ He replied, ‘What is impossible for mortals is possible for God.’
Then Peter said, ‘Look, we have left our homes and followed you.’ And he said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not get back very much more in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.’”
Let us pray: God of all grace, mercy, and compassion, pour out your Holy Spirit on us gathered here that our hearts may open to hear a fresh word this morning. May the meditations of all our hearts and minds be pleasing to you O God, our rock and redeemer. Amen.
Today we are entering into the second week of our preaching series that I’ve called ‘Your Money: Living Life Abundantly.’ Last week our gospel lesson focused on the story of a very effective farmer who was ready to tear down his barns and build bigger ones after a great harvest. We noticed that in his desire to store up and hoard, his greed cut him off from every other possible human relationship. He had no one to love him and no one to love. But he had a barn full of goodies.
I asked you to consider how we as a community of faith, and as family units and individuals are rich toward God and our neighbors? How did that go for you? Are we valuing all that God values? Do we have room to grow in faith, dependence on God’s grace, and generosity?
Is our wealth an obstacle to our experience of salvation and redemption or is our use of it a response to God’s grace at work in this community?
Did you know that if you make $25,000 annually, then you out earn 98.5% of people on Earth? If you make $50,000 annually, then you out earn 99.7% of people on Earth? If you make $80,000 annually, then you out earn 99.9% of people on Earth? For most working Americans I know and that you probably know as well, annual earnings fall somewhere between $25,000 and $80,000. That puts us squarely in the top 2% of wage earners anywhere on God’s green Earth. The percentages change a little bit if we start talking about total assets versus annual income, but even if we split hairs over this, we’re still some of the wealthiest people on Earth. I think that’s a helpful recognition as we listen for Jesus’ instructions to this man who inquires about the nature of eternal life with God.
You may already be familiar with this story. It’s told in Matthew, Mark, and Luke with some variation though it is only Mark’s version that regularly shows up in the lectionary preaching cycle. In Luke’s telling, Jesus is among the crowds teaching about the kingdom of God and the life of discipleship. He is blessing and commending very unlikely persons into the presence of God: a widow, a tax collector, and a man who is blind. Each of these individuals represents entire societal classes that would have been situated on the margins. Right before this morning’s episode, Jesus just insisted that his closest disciples allow the children in the crowd to come to him for the kingdom of God is theirs. For a society that viewed children as property of the family patriarch with far less personhood than an adult, it is an unexpected move for Jesus to call the children into his presence. Jesus has this way of reaching for those whom everyone else seems to ignore or despise.
Then a powerful man who seems to be on good terms with Jesus asks about the inheritance of eternal life. What is life with God like? What does it take to live in the fullness of God’s grace? Jesus, what do you demand of me? Jesus calls his attention to some of the commandments given to Moses. Don’t commit adultery. Do not murder. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Honor your parents. There are a few that are not included but the man insists he has been on his best behavior for a very long time. But I think there is something deep inside of him that knows that is not all that is required of him. A hollowness rings inside his heart and he’s become restless with the rhythm of life. He’s following the commandments but he still yearns for meaning and purpose beyond acquiring, earning, exercising power, and storing up. Perhaps he keenly senses that all his riches are not going to secure his life in a community of salvation.
Jesus points out that despite his obedience to the Mosaic commandments, there is one thing that remains an obstacle in the man’s life with God. He is not rich toward God for his primary devotion and loyalty is to the number of possessions he has. Jesus gives him a clear directive and an answer to his question about how he might enter into life with God. ‘Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, then come, follow me.’
Here Jesus’ instructions can strike fear into the hearts of the affluent or those on the cusp of retirement and well prepared nest eggs. Many people spend decades stocking away income in pension funds, IRA’s, and 401k’s so that after forty years of hard work, there can be a few good years of retirement, free of work, freedom to travel, freedom to volunteer at the local nonprofit and maybe empty schedules to spend with grandkids. We pay top dollar for advice and direction on how to invest hard earned dollars so that they get a 56% return without the risk of the 2008 economic fallout. Folks stay in unsatisfying and toxic jobs because the specter of life without the security of wealth hold them in bondage. They no longer love their vocation, their hearts harden toward neighbors, but they gruel it out to pad the retirement accounts. They’re stuck on the carousel of wealth accumulation, going round and round, but really going no where at all.
Theologian Shannon Hung gets to the heart of this maddening cycle this way: ‘Consumerism presents the greatest challenge to Christian faith in the United States and affluent countries.’ If we are unwilling to live simply, how can others simply live?
‘Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, then come, follow me.’
Is Jesus really serious? Sell all that you own? Distribute a lifetime of hard earned savings to those who struggle to make ends meet every day? Relinquish every bit of social influence and power in order to associate with the lowly?
Are Jesus’ instructions to the man equally applicable to us or were they solely for this man’s spiritual health? If Jesus expects this high commitment style of discipleship of us, then what obstacles are before us as we seek the kingdom of God? These are concerns of the heart and the inner life, the difficult wrestling matches that are part of discipleship or the life following Jesus.
The story of the Salwen family might help us see if there are obstacles between us and the kingdom of God.
“One day while driving with her father, Hannah Salwen noticed a Mercedes stopped next to a homeless man sitting on the curb.
“I said to my dad, ‘If that guy didn’t have such a nice car, then that guy could have a nice meal,’ ” the 15yearold from Atlanta, Georgia, recalled.
And so began the tale of what the Salwen family calls “Hannah’s Lunchbox.”
It started as family discussions about what they needed versus what was enough. Hannah’s father Kevin, an entrepreneur, is on the board of the Atlanta Habitat for Humanity and is no stranger to community work, but he said this family conversation was lifechanging.
“We stopped and paused and thought about what are the things in the world that could really make a difference, a little bit of difference in the world,” he said.
They talked about selling their cars or other things, but it was Hannah’s mother, Joan, who came up with selling their 6,500squarefoot house, donating half the proceeds and then moving into a house half the size.
For nine years, the family lived in a historic 1912 mansion near downtown Atlanta . It boasts five bedrooms, eight fireplaces, a kitchen that would make any cook jealous and even an elevator.”1
The proceeds from the home were given to an Atlanta based foundation that assisted with sustainable development in Ghana.
“This will underwrite a process in more than 30 villages to enable people to meet all of their basic needs on a sustainable basis. They will be able to grow enough food, to build clinics and schools, and the villagers will be doing the lion’s share of the work.”
Their center of value shifted when young Hannah saw the communal fragmentation that comes from wealth disparity. She understood that homelessness and hunger do not have to exist in the wealthiest country on Earth. Thanks be to God that the Salwen family was able to be rich toward their neighbors and pour out blessings from their abundance on communities they may never meet. So much cannot be said for Jesus’ rich man.
The rich man heard Jesus’ directive and becomes sad. The intensity of his sadness is more like sorrow over the death of loved one, grieved to one’s core. He knows that despite his obedience to the commandments he can’t bring himself to part with his many possessions and wealth. He can see the kingdom of God at hand just out of reach. But he can not imagine himself without all that he has accumulated and will later be a stark contrast to the sacrificial actions of Zaccheaus who sells his possessions and repays anyone he defrauded in his role as chief tax collector.
As I did last week I want to end with a series of questions for you to carry in your heart this week. Consider these questions as families, individuals, and as a community of faith.
What is our center of value? Do we cherish our stuff and wealth more than life and service with our neighbors? Is our daily living defined by the maddening pursuit of wealth? What obstacles remain between us and the life that Jesus expects and wants for those who seek to live in right relationship with God? How will be rich toward God this week?
Bless you in the name of the Everlasting God. Amen.
1 http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/07/02/hunger.house/index.html?iref=newssearch