Saturday, October 10, 2009

Let God Be Your Ruler

Our scripture this morning is a familiar one. It is the story of the rich young ruler.

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?"

"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."
Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor…. Then come, follow me."

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

Jesus looked around and said 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?"

Evidently Jesus’ disciples thought that eternal life could be purchased if one were rich enough.

But Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." This phrase is believed to have added later.
Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!"

"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

This text addresses two competing life-ruling alternatives: our economy and God’s economy. Our priorities and God’s priorities. Ours is a this-for-that type economy and then there’s God’s economy. We know we cannot earn God’s favor. And of course neither can we buy it. The question is “In whom or in what do we place our allegiance?” When told by Jesus to sell all he had and come follow him, the wealthy young man departed in grief unable to come to terms with the “one thing” he lacked.

Then Jesus goes on to say “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.” Jesus is clearly saying it is impossible to live in the kingdom way as long as we are governed by lesser things. The over arching lesson is that the rich young man did not own his possessions…..they owned him.

Our God is our “the ultimate concern”. In other words whatever claims our ultimate allegiance, becomes our ruler. Even Jesus’ disciples wavered between their economy and that of Jesus. They struggled to keep at bay that which vied for their loyalty. From time to time they would talk about all they had left to follow Jesus. It was as though they were saying, “What do I get out of it?”

We recall another incident when one of the disciples were asking to sit on one side of Jesus in his kingdom and the other wanted to sit on the other side. He had to tell them those positions were not his to give. It sounded as though the entire reason they were following him was for the eventual reward.

Entrance into God’s kingdom demands our best allegiance and is not easy. We will have many crucial decisions to make over our lifetime. “Would we ask, “What will I get out of it?” Who knows, sometime we may be asked to give up everything we own. Could we bring ourselves to do that? Whatever we could not bring ourselves to give away, we do not truly own. Most of us probably could not do any better then the rich young ruler.

But every rich person does not grasp hold of their wealth. Bill Gates, for example, developer of Microsoft, has the largest philanthropic organization in the world. He has spent much of his wealth trying to help those in third world countries develop their skills to make their world easier for them and their children. Being the richest man in the world has also enabled Gates to create one of the world's largest charitable foundations.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation now has an endowment of more than $28 billion, with donations totaling more than $1 billion every year. Their aim is to "bring innovations in health and learning to the global community".

Is it a sacrifice for Bill and Melinda Gates to do this?

Probably not. They have not given it all away. Would they be required to do that?

So let us ask ourselves, why did Jesus challenge the rich young man to sell all that he had in order to be a follower when this prerequisite was not made of the others? What did the others have that they had been asked to give up to follow Jesus? Or was this just a test of the character of this rich young ruler?

So what would be the test for us? What is it in our lives that we would find the hardest to give up or give away?

It may be our time….our money…..our own priorities. But are we prepared to prioritize our lives in God’s economy? That’s what Jesus was asking of the rich young ruler.

Put God’s kingdom before all else. Since we are no longer living in kingdoms, the church calls this dream "building community" We have been asked to be builders of community. Are we prepared to make the necessary sacrifices to do that? Are we prepared to let God be our ruler?

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