Pentecost 19

Suppose you are Jesus. How would you have handled this situation?
A man runs up to you as you are on your way out of town and he wants to come with you. He is well dressed, apparently wealthy. He kneels down in front of you and tells you he wants to be a disciple. His way of asking is a bit unorthodox. “What must I do to be saved?” says the man. He wants to do something. Salvation doesn't come by doing, not by your doing anyways. So the man has some lessons to learn. How would you have handled the situation?
I would do exactly the way Jesus did? Isn't that the obvious answer?
Look at what Jesus did and do that. He was Jesus. He always did the right thing so all we have to do is what He did. Right?
But look what Jesus did. Jesus turned the man away. Ironically, he looked at him, loved him, and then made choose. Jesus and only Jesus. Not Jesus and loving myself. Not Jesus and loving my money. Jesus and only Jesus. The man chose himself and his money and he went away sad.
Is that what you would have done?
Our modern sensitivities tell us there can never be just one way. There always has to be a choice. There always has to be a middle of the road. We don't ever want to say somebody is out, that they are wrong, that there is only one way. Jesus has no problems with it. He pulls no punches. Allows no middle ground. Accepts no substitutes. It is Jesus and only Jesus. Nothing else will do.
The man was wealthy. Jesus did not have to be told that he was rich. We usually assume Jesus knew the man was rich because he was Jesus. He always knew the whole story; he could tell you what you were thinking (as in the case of the Pharisees), what you were doing before he saw you (Bartholomew), what you were going to do after he saw you (Peter)... We figure this was another one of those situations. But the man was rich. If a rich man walks comes to church, usually we can size him up pretty quickly. We know the difference. We can tell the difference between Wal-Mart and Abercrombie. Between Kia and Cadillac. Between Ford and John Deer. We are all very in touch with labels and their status. We know, and so did they. It was apparent to everyone in the crowd that this young man bending Jesus' ear was wealthy. He wore it on his back.
Not only was the man rich, he was religiously devoted. He was committed. These days we would say that He was on fire for the Lord. He committed himself to obeying the commandments. He honored his parents. He did not kill. Did not covet. Never had an affair. Never even stole – which is unusual for a business man these days. He had held up under the pressures of the busy and stressful corporate lifestyle. He was a winner at business. He was a winner at life. He was a winner at church.
Funny, isn't that usually what we are looking for? Isn't that usually what we look up to? These are the guys who write books about the right way to live. And we go out and buy them. We put them on our bookshelves, on our coffee tables. We even go to the seminar and buy the dvd. This guy did life the right way! He did it God's way! And he's rich! Maybe I can be too.
But that wasn't enough for Jesus. Jesus wouldn't accept any self made men. There was no room among the followers of Jesus for any do-it-yourself disciples. Jesus didn't come to build a winning team. Jesus didn't come to attract life's winners. Jesus came to save sinners. Jesus came to heal the sick, care for the poor, bind up the broken hearted. Jesus came, not for the healthy, not for life's winners. Jesus came for the loosers.
So the man came to Jesus, wanting to join his team, wanting to sign up and climb on board. He came with all his success and his long and impressive list of credentials. He won at life. He won at religion. He was ready to conquer the next challenge. He was ready to be one of Jesus' disciples. And his attitude was reflected in his question. “Good teacher. What must I do to be saved?” What must I do... Salvation doesn't come by doing. Not your anyway. Oh it does come by doing. It doesn't' just happen. But it is not, it is never, it could never be your doing. It is God's doing. God's doing for you!
Jesus' answer was appropriate to the question. If you want to get to heaven by doing, then there is a way. You can get to heaven by good works. (That sounds off to us. Doesn't it? We believe we are saved by grace.) But the man asks the question – what must I do to be saved. Jesus gives the answer to the question that he asked. If you want run your salvation according to doing, according to achievement, then here it is – obey the commandments. If you want a religion of good works God has given a list of things for you to accomplish. 10 things, 10 commands follow those and you will be saved. The man asked the question, Jesus gave the answer.
The man should have heard the answer and understood that the game was up, it was over before it started. He didn't have a chance. That was too tall an order. He had already broken the commandments. He was already guilty.
But he didn't. He kept going. He didn't understand the point.
“I have kept the commandments, all of them, from my youth.”
And that is what so often gets us into trouble. The man was convinced that he had already accomplished God's list of commands. He thought he was already doing all those things. He thought that because he had worked hard and disciplined himself and succeeded at everything he had ever done that salvation was going to work the exact same way.
He was wrong.
Jesus looked at him and Jesus loved him. And because Jesus loved him he showed him just how wrong he was.
“There is one thing you lack.” said Jesus. “Go and sell everything you have and give it to the poor and then come and follow me.”
The man couldn't do it. His money, all that he had worked for, the symbol of his success, give it all away? What would you do?
What is that thing that you hold on to? That you prize above all else? Is it your money? Your reputation? Your place in the community? Your intelligence? Your independence? Your will? We all have something... what's yours?
Whatever it is, lay it at the feet of Jesus. Whatever it is take it and use it not for your own glory – that is nothing but vanity. Use it instead for the service of your neighbor. Use it to show the love of Jesus to the world.
Because that is what Jesus has done for us.
Jesus has seen all of our accomplishment and he has seen the sin that lies behind each one of them. He has seen the sickness of sin that lives beneath the surface. And Jesus has come to die for that sin.
For all the accomplishments, for all the things that people have done, there is only one thing that matters, there is only one accomplishment that is worth anything and that is the one thing that Jesus accomplished on the cross. What Jesus accomplished for you.
Jesus was the only one who has truly obeyed the commandments. When the man went away sad he revealed the true condition of his heart. He couldn't give up his wealth. We all have similar idols that we insist on holding on to. Jesus did not have any idols, no other gods that he had hidden away in his heart. He had kept the commandment perfectly.
And then Jesus, the only true commandment achiever not just before men, but before God died for our lack of achievement. For our failures. For the times that we have not lived up to the mark, that we have fallen short. Jesus has taken all of our sin and he has died for it on the cross. He has even paid for that sin of pride that wants so badly to be convinced that we have actually pulled it off.
The only way to salvation is the gospel. The only way to salvation is forgiveness, not by your own merit, not by your won hard work, not by your own bootstraps, not by the purity of your own heart. It's by Jesus. Jesus on the cross for you and only Jesus. There is no other way.
Jesus sent the man away sad, poured out and dejected because he couldn't' do it. There is another way. There is Jesus. Confess yours sin to him, lay your treasures at his feet. Serve him serve your neighbor. Be forgiven.
Amen.