Mark 10: Hoping in That Which Lasts

So last Monday, Christy left early for work.

She works on Mondays, and so she left early for work, super, super early, like before anybody else in the house wakes up.

And so I'm in charge on Monday mornings of the girls getting to school.

And so I'm in wake up dad strategy mode.

I have pre-packed the lunches.

They're already the night before, pre-filled the water bottles, they're in the fridge, everything is ready so that I can just sort of progress them through the morning.

Because some of y'all know what I'm talking about.

If you have kids, you progress them through.

And it's a great morning.

Everything's strategized and worked out.

I got everything in place.

I'm waking them up.

I'm progressing them through.

I'm singing worship songs.

Everything's wonderful, right?

I mean, it's a wonderful, blessed be the name of the Lord.

You know, everything's so great.

And then eventually, one child comes into the kitchen as I'm doing my pre-packed lunches into the backpacks.

Everything's working so well.

I'm so pleased with myself.

And she comes in to get her medicine.

And I know the deal in the medicine.

5 ml three times a day.

It's on the bottle.

I know about it.

I've known about it for a week.

I know the deal.

And so I'm doing the little suction thing out of the bottle, the 5 ml, and I'm ready for it.

And she says, no, no, Dad, it's 7.5 ml.

I said, no, I know it's 5 ml.

Don't try to tell me what it is.

I know what it is.

It's three times a day, 5 ml.

But but dad, dad is no like, no, no, like I'm in charge, I'm progressing you through the morning, and it's 5 ml, and we're not gonna talk about it.

So, you know, keep your mouth shut.

No, I need your need your mouth open so I can give you the medicine.

Open your mouth, I'm gonna give you the medicine, and that's it.

And she says, but dad, but dad, and I'm like, no, that no, no.

And so she takes off down the hall, crying, of course.

Because this is actually what I do in the mornings, is I crush the hearts of little girls.

And so I decide, you know, I'm gonna let that play out down there, and I'm gonna finish stuff in here, I'll let that play out, see if she recovers, uh, because that's all it's of me, you know, holding my line, I'm gonna hold the line here, hold my ground, and then I hear her yell at a sister, which is not normal.

She yells at a sister, and I go, okay, here we go.

So now I walk down the hall to handle this part, and she's under her covers, right?

Like maybe you remember this with a sibling, or maybe you have a kid.

She's under the covers and she's she's crying and she's upset, and I finally get her out of there, and of course she's not mad at sister, right?

We know who she's mad at.

Do you know who she's mad at?

It's me, right?

It's me, right?

That was very clear.

And really, it wasn't even the 7.5 ml versus the 5 ml controversy as big of a deal as it was that 2.5 ml, like a really big deal to me at least.

It wasn't even that.

And she says, Daddy, you just wouldn't listen to me.

And mom had to switch the dosage to two times at 7.5 ml, right?

And not three times 5 ml.

And dad didn't know, but dad wouldn't listen.

And she knew, right?

Like she knew something I didn't know, and I wouldn't hear it.

So now we're at a point, right?

Like in the morning, like what is clear, what has happened, is very clear.

I have caused all of this.

There's no way around this.

This is actually what happened.

I caused all of this.

And by the grace of God, and I say grace of God, I would say by the grace of God, and also uh making these mistakes many times over with the older children, right?

Like that's the good thing about the younger children.

You've kind of like learned some things.

I've learned the only way out of this is confession.

It's the only way out, it's the quickest and cleanest way out of this situation.

And so I apologize to her and I hug her and I say, you know what, babe, you you were right, which she loved that moment, right?

Like that's quite an empowering moment for a kid.

And we will never have a problem again.

That's a wonderful thing.

No, that won't happen.

But that's our text this morning.

Our text is this.

Our text is there's this moment when you're called out by a greater truth, and it's so abundantly clear.

And will your heart yield to that, or are you just gonna hold your ground?

Like, will you hear it?

Like in the moment in the kitchen where the person who actually holds the truth is trying to tell you the truth, like, will you hear it?

Are you like, no, no, no, no, like I know, I already know, I know how it's done, I know, and this is the way I'm gonna do it, or will you hear the truth?

So a rich young man shows up, he's talking to Jesus, he says, Hey, uh, let me know what I can do to inherit eternal life.

So right away, Jesus goes, like, I the guy doesn't get it.

Like, I'm gonna have to break this guy apart to hope he can get the understanding of this.

And Jesus starts listing a bunch of things.

He says, Well, okay, well, here's some stuff to do, like uh uh don't do this and don't do that, and don't steal, and don't murder, and honor your father and mother, like a whole bunch of really good things.

And the guy replies, he says, Hey, I've done them.

Like, I've done all these things, all these things.

I'm a well-resourced, wealthy guy, and I've done these things.

And Jesus goes, Okay, all right, let's let's see if I can let's see if I can get into his heart in some other way.

And that's where we get Mark 10, 21, and Jesus looking at him, and I love this, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, You lack one thing.

Go sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow me.

Right?

Like this is the moment where Jesus is saying, Hey, like, I know it's true.

Will you will you hear it or not?

And verse 22, disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Point number one is this God's always after the heart.

Right?

Like if he's if he's in his kindness, he's he's pursuing you, in his kindness, he wants to try to lead you to repentance for you to be more healed and more whole and understanding of your belovedness.

And in that kindness, he's not just coming to your at your sin behaviorally, he will and he wants to, but also the sin underneath.

Right?

Like for this guy, the greed in his heart.

Like this guy didn't own his money.

His money owned him, right?

Like that's very clear, and that's why he can't be released.

He's actually a prisoner of the very thing he thinks will deliver him.

And this sets Jesus up for a teaching moment with his disciples in verse 23.

And Jesus looked around and said to disciples, how difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.

And the disciples were amazed at his words, but Jesus said to them again, children, how difficult 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 person to enter the kingdom of God.

So the disciples heard this and reacted.

A rich man can't earn the kingdom of God?

Like the rich guy, like rich in monetary means, but also like just well resourced and morally elite, like that guy, the guy who has it together, if that person can't earn the kingdom, then who can who can do this?

And the disciples reacted to this.

Like if anybody could figure it out, it would have been that that rich young guy who had just come.

Right?

Like, where's my hope?

Like, if truett Cathy couldn't get in, right?

Like let's put it modern, if truett didn't get in by his means, like, like how am I?

How do I have hope?

I mean, I don't have that wealth.

I don't have that monetary wealth, I don't have that wealth of good deeds and ability to build foundations and give, you know, I like so if he can't get in by his own means, like where, like, where does that leave me?

And this is where that good news of verse 27 comes in.

It is Jesus' whole point is to just kind of like level everybody off of this paradigm of merit and get us over to the truth of grace.

Verse 27, with man it is impossible, but not with God.

For all things are possible with God.

Point number two is this eternal life is not reserved, eternal life is not reserved or granted to the wealthy, the well-positioned, or the morally elite.

And that is really great if you're not wealthy, not well positioned, or not morally elite.

So that covers all of us, right?

Like all of us, okay, that's me.

I'm with you.

And the good news is it's not reserved for those people.

And it means your relationship with God has no base in what you do for Him.

Now, it doesn't mean it has no role, it has no base, right?

Like, so my mentor Scotty Smith was here a few weeks ago, and what did he say?

He said, Grace is not the end of effort, it's the end of earning.

So the base of our relationship with God is not in what we do, it's in what he did.

That's why with man it's impossible.

We sort of know this by romantic love.

So you remember this, right?

You're in philosophy 101 and you meet Kenny.

And Kenny was a senior, and he took philosophy as an elective.

And I mean, as soon as you learned that, he sat next to you, and as soon as he dropped that little, he kind of like slid that in on you, and you're, oh, that's impressive.

He could have taken tennis, and he's in here taking philosophy.

I mean, that's amazing, and you could tell he was wonderful as y'all started to talk about different philosophers.

You were so impressed by the way he could talk and he would share his views.

I mean, it was unbelievable.

His heart, he would just share his heart, and then y'all became study partners.

You couldn't believe that you got grouped up with him to be study partners, and you ran home to all your roommates, and you said, Oh, I'm I'm you know, I'm study partners with Kenny.

They already knew about Kenny, you've been sending secret pictures of him to your text group with your roommates, of his hair and his, you know, his muscles.

I mean, you were so imperial.

You had this leather bag from Italy when he did study abroad.

I mean, he was perfect.

Kenny was wonderful, and you all start studying, and then he actually was this great.

Like he's getting better and better.

Like, you're and he writes poetry, right?

I mean, he's amazing.

And and then you sort of start falling in love with him.

Work with me here, guys, okay?

Just kind of reverse some things, okay?

You're in love with them.

You're in love with Kenny.

I mean, who wouldn't be, right?

And there's one problem Kenny doesn't love you.

And you know it because after you had been great friends for a while and y'all had been going to different things, and he knew about he knew about all sorts of stuff.

He was taking you to like coffee shops you didn't know and bands you didn't know.

I mean, I mean, he's getting so great.

You oh, you just love him, and finally you go, like, okay, he's not making a move.

I'm gonna make a move.

And you're like, you, you, you tell him, go for it.

You tell him you love him.

And he was gracious, but he declined.

And now you have sorrow.

Right?

Now you have a you have a real problem.

And you know what the problem is you can't cause someone to love you.

It doesn't work.

The person has to choose to love you.

Love always has to be given.

It's why the most remarkable statement in the passage is that Jesus loved the guy as he began to talk to him, right?

He didn't even know the guy's response, and it says he saw him, he loved him while he was a mess.

The only problem here is that the man didn't realize Jesus' love was greater than the illusion of the love that he thinks he's gonna be able to pull out of his wealth.

So the point is, the point is, is salvation is by gift.

It has to be by gift.

It is not by man, it's how love works.

God himself, love himself, incarnated into history by Jesus, taking on the cross our sin, given to us his righteousness, so we are forever the beloved.

This week I heard preacher Paul Zall say, this means we are separate but universal.

We're separate but universal.

And let me explain what he means by those two words, because the more I read, the more I liked it.

We are separate, meaning because we believe in the spirit of the world, which says, you need a little more, you need a little more.

You need to have more, get more, look better, and then if you get all that together and get a little more moral and get a little more good deeds piled up, and if you get all that together, if you get all that together, and you've positioned yourself just right, like then you've made it, then you'll be accepted by God, you'll be accepted by people.

But what we know, what we know is that it's the spirit of the world telling us that message of what we know by experience is the nearer we get to the places that we think will deliver us, they never deliver us.

They just keep moving.

Where does your heart go to when you feel anxious?

Like, what do you rest in?

What do you hope in?

When you feel guilty.

When you feel ashamed.

Like, what do you use to relieve yourself?

And I don't say that to say shame on you or shame on me.

It's to say his kindness is calling us to repentance that we might know the salvation we already have in Jesus.

And to find rest and find peace, that we could find our hope and contentment in the Lord and not actually somewhere else where that target just keeps moving.

This is why Jesus says in Matthew 7, 19 through 21, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rush destroy and where thieves break in and steal.

He's just saying, stuff that last.

Like, let's just be real and see it as it is.

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rush destroy, where thieves do not break in and steal, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

So point number three is this we have a hope.

This is such good news, you've heard it before.

We have a hope greater than that which rusts and fades.

And I'm just starting to pray, I'm just starting to pray for myself and us that we would become people that own things to live, not live to own things.

Right?

That's a big difference.

And we we can catch our heart, like where's our heart in that?

Is our heart living to own things, or is our heart owning things to live?

And one way is very freeing, and the other way, the other way is slavery.

This is why in Romans 12, after 11 chapters of Paul laying out how Jesus is supreme, that for our acceptance and absolution, he writes this in Romans 12.

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

To say, like, like this is your worship is to be doing this ongoing, day to day.

And then verse 2 says, Do not be conformed to this world.

Right?

Because the spirit of the world and even our natural thinking is molding us to try to convince us to hold on and want and grip everything that is temporary and to try to use it to deliver us, to save us, to make us whole.

And the target keeps moving, and because the target keeps moving, what it means is you just keep hoping and you keep laboring and working, and it never works.

But be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

And this is why we preach to ourselves daily the gospel, and we say, I mean, I need every day, I need truth coming into me because I live in a world that is trying to convince me.

And I am very much convinced often that the temporary is all there is, and it's gonna be the thing that delivers me.

And the good news is you are free.

You are free from the spirit of the world, but our minds need to be transformed.

A few years ago, I saw this documentary called Wasteland.

I don't know if you've seen it.

It was made in 2010.

It was by an artist, an artist in New York, and he'd become very successful in New York, and I mean he had gone from poverty to wealth.

And after he hit wealth and could buy and get whatever he wanted, he decides to make this documentary, and he goes to Mexico and he finds this group of people that every day their lives, the way that they live, is to scavenge in a dump and then take things, live off of them, and sell them.

And he makes a documentary on that group of people.

And here's what he says of what he learned through that process of going from poor to wealthy and then working with that group of people.

He said this, I'm starting to see things in a simpler way.

I don't have as much material ambition as I used to.

When I was poor, I only wanted material things.

I just wanted to have things.

And I had to buy a lot of crap to get rid of that complex.

And I can remember seeing that years ago.

It stuck with me.

It came back, like I haven't seen it since.

It's been like five or six years since I've seen this documentary.

And that one statement, it took me a little bit of Googling to get back to that statement.

That one statement I remember so clearly because I can feel within myself so much of remembering as a child not having stuff and wanting stuff, and then me being able to start to get some stuff, and yet it's not working.

Like I had to buy a lot of crap to get rid of that complex.

But how free we could be if we could just skip having to buy a lot of crap to get rid of the complex and just believe Jesus' words here.

And this is the way that we are universal, meaning we are the rich man.

Like we are the young rich man who we do tight grip.

And we do believe things we shouldn't believe, and we are Vic Muniz, this artist who tries to buy a lot of stuff to find peace.

And it's very hard for us to let go of that which we own and we have and we want.

Or what could I buy?

Or what could I tight grip today to be right with God or to feel accepted?

And what is needed is not more hurry or complexity or stuff.

It's for us to actually slow down and remember what's already true about us.

That you are already God's beloved.

And this is the good news, last point.

Point number four, because you are already loved, you don't have to walk away in sorrow.

The only thing the man lacked was realizing that Jesus' love was greater than the illusion of the love he was trying to get out of his stuff.

I don't even know if Jesus really wanted the guy to get rid of everything.

Maybe he did, maybe he didn't.

I mean, the main point that Jesus was trying to do is to get the guy to realize that his heart was in his stuff.

And my heart has been this week that none of us would walk away sad this morning.

But we would hear this call that's actually unbelievably freeing.

That you are already loved, already absolved, already accepted.

And that God is, in his kindness, he is chasing you and me to repent of all this.

And for us to begin to say, you know what, I'll use that and I'll buy that and I'll save that and I'll invest in that and I'll buy some more of that.

But you know what?

None of it owns me.

You can't have my heart.

My hope is in Jesus, meaning he is my source for deliverance.

And the good news of the gospel is even while, even while we keep clinging to all this other stuff, he's clinging to us because he is sufficient for us.

That's what it means that Christ died for us while we're sinners.

My brothers and sisters, may you rest in the hope which transcends poverty and riches, life and death, God's love for you and Jesus.

Let's pray together.

God, thank you for the good reminder today that you are greater than all that which we desire in the world and all that which we own.

Thank you for the reminder that we are surrounded by illusions.

And we repent in your kindness and in your grace of the way that we hand our hearts over to stuff that promises and it never delivers.

It gives us little tastes, but it never gives us lasting, enduring internal peace.

Help us in greater ways to find our life here, an eternal life, to know it is sealed in the work of Jesus for us, that you are sufficient, you are supreme.

Holy Spirit, we ask that you would both convict and comfort this morning.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.