HURTING IN THE RIGHT WAY

Dr. Richard J. Henderson October 12, 2003

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Psalm 90: 12-17
Mark 10:17-31

Introduction

A few years back I had a conversation with a businessman in his forties. He told me how much he loved his devotional time in the mornings. He got up very early so he would have time to read his Bible and pray. He said, "I just love that time in the morning. It starts my day off right, and I feel better all day long." I know what he means and I agree.

I can be cynical, but I wasn't quite cynical enough to say, "But don't you find that sometimes it just ruins your day?"

Don't you sometimes read a part of scripture that is very disturbing? It upsets you as you think about it because it's a hard saying. It can not only ruin your day, but, if you keep thinking about it, it can bother you for a long time."

Remember a couple of weeks ago when we talked about words we wished Jesus had never said. Don't these words today fit in that category?

I

A wealthy man comes to Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit the Kingdom of God. Jesus starts with the Ten Commandments. "I have kept all these since my youth."

Then Jesus says one thing you lack, go, sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come follow me. The man left Jesus grieving, because he had many possessions.

In case we missed the idea, Jesus says, "It is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a camel than for a wealthy person to enter the Kingdom of God."

The response of the disciples is interesting. "Then who can be saved?" Did the disciples know a lot of wealthy people? Were some of the disciples wealthy? They seem to be saying, if the wealthy aren't saved who can be? Jesus responds, "What is impossible for people is possible for God. Everything is possible for God."

II

All of us know people who are wealthier than we are, and people who are poorer than we are. So when Jesus talks about the wealthy here maybe we find ourselves saying, "Even in our own community there are people who live in four to five million dollar houses, those are the wealthy. The people in those houses might say, "It's the people in the twenty million dollar houses who are really wealthy. Until some people are so wealthy they say, "Donald Trump, that's someone who really wealthy, or Bill Gates."

I don't know, maybe Donald Trump looks at some billionaire sheik and says he's one who's really wealthy. There always seem to be people who are wealthier than we are and poorer than we are. If we look at the world as a whole, and all the people of the world, truth is, if we live in an industrialized, Western nation we are the wealthy people of the world. These words of Jesus are very difficult to hear.

III

There were times when I hated Miss King, my eighth grade teacher. She made us do the most horrible, and unreasonable things. We had to diagram sentences to show how the subject, verb, object, adjectives and adverbs fit together in a sentence. (Did any of you ever have to diagram sentences?) We had to study grammar and know it cold. She taught us that the word isn't pronounced mis-chiev-i-ous, but mis-chiev-ous. And worst of all she made us memorize a poem every single Friday! Isn't that ridiculous! When are you ever going to know how to memorize something!! SHE WAS AWFUL!

She was one of the best teachers I ever had in school. A good teacher isn't always - isn't usually - the easiest one. A good teacher is the one helps you learn what's important. The best teacher may not be the most popular one, but will be the one who demands your best from you.

IV

Jesus is saying wealth can be a significant barrier to faith. The reason for that is not in money itself, but in the way it can cause us to put ultimate trust in that which isn't ultimately trustworthy. We begin to believe we can trust in money. We believe we have the ability to get what we want, to do what we want, through the money we have.

The real danger is that we move from trust in God to trust in money, influence, and power. So we begin to rely on our wealth and ourselves. Jesus is saying be willing to set me above all else. Love me more than money.

The old saying - which comes from the Bible - is not "Money is the root of all evil," but, "The love of money is the root of all evil." It is the inordinate love of money, the dependence on money that causes us problems.

Money is such a powerful force that it can take over a life, and keep it from more important things. When we took mission trips to Honduras and Brazil we found the people in both places to be much more content with their lives than most Americans. They didn't have much - many lived near the poverty level by our standards - but they enjoyed what they had. They didn't spend their lives racing around, trying to do everything, and trying to make money wherever they could; they didn't lead these hectic lives without time for their families. There is a certain grace in contentment.

Did you hear about the survey of who are the happiest people around the world? The British publication, New Scientist, published a survey of sixty-five countries in the world to see who were the happiest people. The happiest people were the people of Nigeria. They aren't the wealthiest people in the world, far from it, they are among the poorest countries. Wealth does not equal happiness. On the contrary, the researchers labeled the desire for material goods as a "happiness suppressant." Does that surprise you?

V

It's important to note that the final word in this exchange with Jesus is a positive one. When Jesus has said these words about giving up everything to follow him, Peter says, "Look, we have left everything and followed you."

Jesus affirms their choice and applauds them for their commitment. They have been faithful and dedicated, and Jesus shows his approval. Now, usually in Mark the disciples don't come off so well. They usually don't get what Jesus is saying, they jockey for position, and they say the wrong things. Sometimes they are downright bungling. But here they are praised. We can look at them as role models. They have found that which is of ultimate value and given themselves to it. Jesus tells them they will receive much more.

Conclusion

The best teachers are the one who can teach us what is important. They are the ones who can open our eyes to the ultimate value that stands behind the surface. That kind of teaching is difficult because it often hurts in the process.

Aristotle said you can only learn from a friend. Why? Because, only a friend can hurt you in the right way.

In this passage Jesus is hurting us in the right way.

Amen.

©Richard J. Henderson 2003