First Reading: Ecclesiastes 5:10-20
10He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. 11When goods increase, they increase who eat them, and what advantage has their owner but to see them with his eyes? 12Sweet is the sleep of a laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep. 13There is a grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches were kept by their owner to his hurt, 14and those riches were lost in a bad venture. And he is father of a son, but he has nothing in his hand. 15As he came from his mother’s womb he shall go again, naked as he came, and shall take nothing for his toil that he may carry away in his hand. 16This also is a grievous evil: just as he came, so shall he go, and what gain is there to him who toils for the wind? 17Moreover, all his days he eats in darkness in much vexation and sickness and anger. 18Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. 19Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil — this is the gift of God. 20For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.
Psalm 119:9-16
9How shall a young man cleanse his way? By keeping to your words. 10With my whole heart I seek you; let me not stray from your commandments. 11I treasure your promise in my heart, that I may not sin against you. 12Blessed are you, O Lord; instruct me in your statutes. 13With my lips will I recite all the judgments of your mouth. 14I have taken greater delight in the way of your decrees than in all manner of riches. 15I will meditate on your commandments and give attention to your ways. 16My delight is in your statutes; I will not forget your word.
Second Reading: Hebrews 4:1-16
1Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. 2For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. 3For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said, “As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter my rest,’” although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” 5And again in this passage he said, “They shall not enter my rest.” 6Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, 7again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. 11Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. 14Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Gospel: Mark 10:23-31
23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Claiming One’s Inheritance
A salesman, making house calls, walks to the front door, and sees a little boy sitting on the steps, so he askes, “Is your mother home?” The boy said “Yes,” so the salesman rings the doorbell. After several rings and no response, he turned to the boy and said, “I thought you said that your mother was home.” To which the boy replied, “She is, but this isn’t my house.” Sometimes we get the wrong answers because we don’t ask the right questions. In order to see our Gospel reading for today in context, we need to back up to last week’s Gospel reading, to verse 17 which reads: “And as [Jesus] was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, What must I do, to inherit eternal life?’” (Mark 10:17)
As good confessional Lutherans, we know, deep down in our theological bones, this is the wrong question to ask. Each of you, I’m sure, have already keyed in on the one word in this man’s question that leads him in the wrong direction. When it comes to us entering into heaven, the word “do” represents one of the greatest misunderstandings about the Christian Faith. Most Christian church goers today, and in the past for that matter, are susceptible to this misunderstanding. People like to do, so people want a list of accomplishments they can point to when it comes to securing their eternal safety, but you and I know better. We cannot “do” anything to earn God’s grace. Yet, people will try to find a good cause to be supported, and dive in so they can add to their list of accomplishments as a Christian.
Now please don’t misunderstand, I’m not knocking our desire to do good things for others. After the service we’ll meet in the Fellowship Hall to assemble Hygiene kits for our neighbors in need. Our work in God’s kingdom is the evidence, the fruit of our faith. It’s our joyful response to all God has already done for us. St. James teaches us that faith without works is dead (James 2:17). Our Christian Faith must be put into practice. Our God given faith must be practiced, not only when we pray, but where we play, not only where we worship, but also where we work. But first we must have forgiveness and faith, in order to practice it. Neither can be demanded; we must receive them as a gift.
Truthfully, far too many people see our walk of faith as a burden, something which must be done on top of all of the other things we must do. The rich man in last week’s Gospel lesson understood religion as something to be done. Now to be fair, this man was a product of his Jewish upbringing and teaching. Like many today, he felt that if he did all the right works, if he followed the checklist of dos and don’ts, he could then rest content in his spiritual security. But a whole Reformation was fought over this one fact: salvation isn’t something we earn, it’s the unmerited free gift from a loving God who gave His only Son to redeem us.
By the 16th century, an elaborate theological system had developed which made our relationship to God one of doing good deeds, or of buying them. If we did enough good deeds, or paid enough money, then God would accept us; if we didn’t, then we were consigned to eternal punishment. Against all this reward-and-punishment theology Martin Luther said “no!” Luther famously said, “Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works.” Luther based this statement on Jesus’ words found in Luke 6:43-44: “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its fruit.”
Luther commented: “It is clear that the fruits do not bear the tree, nor does the tree grow on the fruits, but, on the contrary, the trees bear fruits and the fruits grow on the trees…. the trees must exist before their fruits.” He mockingly described the trees in the pope’s garden which, he said, are very strange: “they first have the leaves, and then the tree springs forth from the leaves. But this is to get everything upside-down. The tree comes first: then the fruits. Faith, another gift of God [given in Baptism], comes first, then the good deeds. One does not do good deeds in order to be saved; but one does good deeds because one is saved.”
Luther continued, “Receiving God’s grace comes first; and then, afterward, the individual tries to do all that he or she can to reflect that grace…just as a lover cannot help but try to do things which please the beloved.” Can you imagine anyone who professed to be in love saying, “I don’t really care what my loved one wants. I don’t care if I ever do anything to please the one I love. But don’t get me wrong-I really am in love?” Really?! Sounds a lot like the way many Christians act, doesn’t it? They profess their love for Christ, but rarely spend much time focused on pleasing Him. Justification isn’t something we earn or can demand, it’s God’s free gift to those who believe. Our Christian works are merely our joyful response to what God has already done for us in Jesus. It’s our way of saying thanks and giving glory to God.
Our salvation never demands that we must “Do this, go here, do that.” Forgiveness of our sins says: “Here is God’s gift to you in Jesus Christ.” Its first words are not “Do” or “Go,” but rather: “Come” and “Receive.” In the waters of Baptism, Jesus says, come. Come claim your inheritance as children of God. In the famous words of theologian Paul Tillich, “You are accepted. You are accepted, accepted by that which is greater than you, and the name of which you do not know. Do not ask for the name now; perhaps you will find it later. Do not try to do anything now; perhaps later you will do much. Do not seek for anything; do not perform anything; do not intend anything. Simply accept the fact that you are accepted!” God’s grace is an unmerited free gift. Our doing is in response to this gift and only comes after we have received the gift.
Another one of the rich man’s words we need to focus on is the word “inherit”. The word inherit gives us another clue since we cannot “do” anything to inherit, a gift. Have you ever tried getting yourself included in somebody’s will? Many here today live on land inherited from your parents. What did you “do” to merit such a gift? An inheritance isn’t an award for outstanding merit. It isn’t payment for a job well done. It isn’t something we earn or deserve by our own merit. An inheritance is a gift—a gift that’s dependent upon someone else’s efforts. Salvation is, first of all, a gift, not something we can earn, have a right to, nor can we demand it. With that made clear, let’s move onto another misunderstanding. We need to understand what the New Testament means by “eternal Life,” life being the operative word here.
Eternal Life is another of those tricky phrases in the Bible which requires some study. St. John defines it succinctly: “This is eternal life, (present tense,) that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). “Eternal Life” is a life lived in the knowledge of and for God. It isn’t simply life stretched out forever and forever. For many, that wouldn’t be heaven. George Bernard Shaw once said that he couldn’t bear the thought of an eternity of George Bernard Shaw. Crusty old curmudgeon that he was, I can understand that! To say that one will go on living forever could be an intolerable idea…especially if the person isn’t all that happy living now. That’s why the Bible speaks of “eternal life,” not “immortality.”
The Dictionary definition of “immortality” is: “exemption from annihilation,” and “unending existence.” This is emphatically not the goal of Christian Faith. That would not necessarily be a happy prospect. Some years ago, there was a news item which noted that the governor of New York signed a bill outlawing capital punishment in that state…a seemingly enlightened thing to do. The news report said that when the news flashed over the television, the inmates on death row at Sing Sing, seemed more interested in watching the football game. A chaplain at Sing Sing said that most of the prisoners would prefer death to life imprisonment. My point is, that mere existence isn’t enough. There must be some meaning to our life, some purpose to our existence. Simply exchanging CO2 for O2 isn’t life.
Can you think of anything worse than mere duration, the sort of existence suggested by a famous epitaph on a tombstone: “Don’t bother me now; don’t bother me never, I’m going to do nothing forever and ever.” We must draw a distinction between “living” and merely “existing,” don’t we? The New Testament word “eternal” refers to a quality of life lived in love and fellowship with God, (depth), and not merely a quantity of life stretched out forever, (length). “Eternal Life” in Biblical terms is not a reward at the end of an arduous journey, like the America’s Cup, or Olympic Gold Medal…it’s the journey itself, it’s the road we take. It’s not a tootsie pop we get for being good, but the relationship we have with our Lord all along the way. This too is a gift of God. “Fear not, little flock,” Jesus once said to His disciples, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom” (Luke 12:32). We must, at this point, acknowledge that Jesus did give the man something to do, actually several somethings.
In response to the man’s question Jesus told him several “somethings,” “Go, Sell,” “Give,” “Come,” “Follow.” Someone once said that his French was very good…all except the verbs. For many of us, our faith is good…all except the verbs. Jesus gave this man several verbs, several things to do. But, as we note in today’s Gospel reading, one cannot become a disciple, we cannot begin doing what God asks, until we rearrange our priorities, get over our idolatries, and give our primary loyalty to Christ and not to ourselves.
The man, who approached Jesus, had to understand that he couldn’t open his hand to receive God’s gift of grace, until he first let go of the things he valued more than God. These things can be pride, status, power, wealth, the list goes on. What is it that we place before our service to God? What are the idols in our lives that cause us to look for a list of works to accomplish, so we can earn, or demand, the kingdom of God? The sad lesson here is, the man refused to place God first, and so he was lost to the Kingdom.
“Keep the commandments” Jesus said. Maybe that’s what holds many people back. It’s so much easier to “do” stuff than to keep God’s commandments. Luther said that the first purpose of the “Law” is to bring us to despair of our own inability of ever living up to it. The Commandments are the basic rules of human behavior. They tell us how the game of life is to be lived. And Jesus pushed them into even deeper levels of understanding. He told us that it wasn’t sufficient just to refrain from committing murder; one must not hate. One must not merely refrain from committing adultery; one must root out the evil desire itself.
Luther was right: properly understood, the Commandments can lead us only to despair. We know what’s right, but we can’t quite do it. We see the goal, but we can’t quite reach it – not by ourselves. Then, when we feel most hopeless, God can come and offer us hope. The first use of the Law is to drive us to God, to where we say with the tax collector in Jesus’ parable: “God be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13). And then comes the good news: “But God showed His love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
There’s a cartoon which has appeared in several religious periodicals. It shows a crucifixion scene, and depicts Jesus as saying: “If I’m O.K. and you’re O.K., then what am I doing hanging on this cross?” Because of Jesus, because of His Cross, because of His resurrection, we’re all beneficiaries of a great and wonderful legacy. Because of Him, the doors of heaven are open to us; all we need to “do” is believe and claim our inheritance.
Let me give you an example: As I understand it, in December we will recognize that 234 years ago, this congregation was formally established. You and I didn’t do anything to contribute to the establishment of this congregation, yet we are the inheritors of that gift. Like God’s grace, this gathering of God’s people, the church, is a gift. The question is: what are we going to do with it? Are we going to receive it, support it, and then, out of gratitude, care for it, and share it? Our giving to, and the support of, this church’s ministries shouldn’t be done out of compulsion, but out of love and gratitude.
Tillich was right: The Good News of the Gospel is that God accepts us just as we are. But God isn’t content to leave us there. God calls us to grow and love and give and share what we’ve received. In the waters of Baptism, God accepts us, forgives us, gives us His Holy Spirit and makes us inheritors of His kingdom. As the popular saying goes, “God accepts us just as we are.” A hymn that was popular when I grew up draws its title from this statement, Just as I Am. The author, according to one account, was forty-five years old and an invalid, when she wrote the hymn in 1834. Her name was Charlotte Elliott. The hymn she wrote first appeared in 1836 in The Invalids’ Hymn Book.”
Unable to attend church services, the hymn was born out of her frustration that she was unable to do anything for God. At the time she wrote the hymn, Charlotte was living at Westfield Lodge, in Brighton, England. Her brother, the Rev. H. V. Elliott was arranging a bazaar to raise money to assist in the building of a college where the daughters of poor clergy might be educated at low expense.
Miss Elliott, being ill and unable to assist in the final preparations, lay on her bed, feeling sorry for herself at her seeming uselessness. The next day, when all the other members of the family were at the opening of the bazaar, a feeling of peace and contentment suddenly came over her, and she realized that God had accepted her just as she was. She didn’t have to do anything…except be open to God’s unconditional love for her at that moment. In gratitude, she wrote her famous hymn.
Later, her brother said, “In the course of a long ministry, I hope I have been permitted to see some fruit of my labor, but I feel far more has been done by a single hymn of my sister’s.” As I said it was a favorite hymn of the church I grew up in, especially at altar call time. A favorite question of my Baptist brothers is do Lutheran’s do altar calls. I always say yes, we do. It’s how we begin every service. We call it the Brief Order for Confession and Forgiveness.
In the waters of Baptism, God accepts us as we are, a sinner of His redeeming. In Christ Jesus, God is pleased to accept us, “Just as we are.” The gift of salvation is free, all we must do is accept it. Once we accept God’s gift in faith, then, in thanksgiving for all God’s goodness, we do, to the glory of God.
Amen