Mark 10:17-31
"Five Simple Verbs"

          This Sabbath morning I want you to answer a question.  We will use the format of the television Quiz show "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"  You may have experienced this format in school on tests.  I will give you a question and four possible answers; you pick the correct one.

          Here is the question: What subject did Jesus address more than any other in his teaching?  (a) Sex, (b) Sin, (c) Hell, (d) Money   As I repeat the responses, I invite you to raise your hand to indicate which of the four answers you think is correct. (a) Sex, (b) Sin, (c) Hell, (d) Money

          Those who said "(d) money" are correct.  Jesus talked about money - and its use and abuse - more that any other subject.  In this Sabbath's reading, we encounter an example of this teaching.

          One time a rich man rushed up to Jesus with an important question, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" he asked Jesus.

          "That's easy," Jesus said. "Just keep the commandments."

          "I've done that all my life - I have kept every one of them," the man responded, "but I feel like something is missing."

          Jesus looks at this man, and loves him.  The he responds with five simple imperative verbs: go, sell, give, come, and follow. "Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come follow me" (Mark 10:21).  It seems that each imperative must have stung like a slap in the face.  If only Jesus had given him something different, something easier to do! This rich man had - you know the expression - "worked his tail off" for what he had.  He had made too many sacrifices to just liquidate his assets and give it all away.  Besides, the poor were lazy good-for-nothings.  He depended on his stuff.  It gave him a sense of security for his life at the present and for when he grew old.  How could he live without it?

          Jesus watched the rich man walk away, alone.  Jesus goes on to teach the gathered disciples more about the implications of possessing wealth and following him: "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" (10:25).  Jesus' words surprise and worry his disciples.  Their attitudes toward wealth may have been like ours.  In their society, many believed that God must bless people with lots of money.

          Jesus says just the opposite. Wealth is a stumbling block; it gets in our way, and in the end it trips us up.  The rich need to dispose of their wealth before they gain entry to the kingdom.

          Surprised?  Don't think of yourself as particularly wealthy?  Statistics tell us decisively that compared to the rest of the world we are rich, rich as Croesus, "a fabulously rich Lydian king of the 6th century BC; hence, a rich man"  (Webster's New World Dictionary).

          God's preference and care for the poor is splashed all over the pages of the Bible.  Consider statements like Micah's: "He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8).  It sounds a lot like what we read from Amos (5:6-15).

          Jesus emphasizes that the way we handle our money is the biggest discipleship issue we face in our Christian lives.  How we keep money and the pursuit of money from taking over our lives is an ongoing struggle.  Here are some questions to help us consider where we stand in the struggle.  What do we enjoy more - shopping or worshipping?  Where do we spend more time - at the mall or at the church?   How do we spend Sabbath afternoons - reading the advertisement inserts in the newspaper or reading and studying the Bible?  Which gives us the greater pleasure - writing a check to the church or a charity or cashing our paycheck?

          The values of our culture surrounding money are not the same as the values Jesus teaches.  Our culture has it backwards, mistakenly telling us that happiness is found in surrounding ourselves with things.  The stuff which modern society treasures have little lasting value, and things that really matter are accorded little or no respect.

          In this country, we are taught from an early age to be consumers - and we learn to do it well.  Ever notice how we bombard our children and our grandchildren with so many toys that they are piled around the house - piles and piles of toys!  Could it be that our children and grandchildren are bored because of sensory overload?  How many of us have closets so full that we forget what we have in there?  When our grandchildren come to our house the first two things that they head for are our piano and our swivel office chair, which, of course, they fight over.  As they are getting older it is getting better.

          We swallow the line that the products we buy will make our lives full and complete, when in fact the more we spend the more we want; the more we have the more we feel that we need.  There is a hole in each of our lives that we try to fill with things, but it is a bottomless pit, forever empty.  God alone has what we really need.  God alone can fill the longings of our heart.

          Nature abhors a vacuum.  Think how water fills holes and cracks.  Our chronic need for things to fill our lives we may give a made-up name: "affluenza" (like influenza) related to affluence and affluent "a flowing toward; influx, great plenty; abundance, riches; wealth; opulence" (Webster's New World Dictionary).  I believe that it is an addiction that pervades our whole lives.

          Jesus' sentiments would be something like: "Money is a drug."

          How do we find our way out of the "affluenza" mess we are in and find the path that leads to God?  At the end of our Sabbath reading, Jesus tells the disciples, and us, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible" (10:27).  There it is.  By leaning on God, we will find our way. God, through Jesus Christ, promises to lead us back.

          I believe what we need can be summarized in a single word - balance.  We need to keep things in perspective, so that our money does not own us, but we exercise complete, absolute control over it.  It does not belong to us anyway; it is the Creator's - on loan to us.

          Jesus makes clear that entrance into the kingdom is not a sure thing.  Camels go through the eyes of needles more easily that the wealthy enter heaven, but we can be assured that there is a place for us.  With God making the impossible possible, entrance into the kingdom comes as a wonderfully unexpected and undeserved gift.

          In response to God's great gifts, we joyfully embrace those five verbs - would you say them with me? Go, sell, give, come, and follow!  Amen!

          PRAYER:  God of power and might, we confess that our spirits are crowded by possessions to which we cling.  Come into our lives with love that is so transforming it brings the gift of perspective to our lives.  Strengthen us to love as we have been first loved by you, reaching out in care, concern and support as you first reached out to us.  Hearing the words of Jesus and celebrating the gifts he brings, we invite Christ into the center of our lives, and pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us to make that invitation.  We pray in Jesus' Name.  Amen.