When Jesus Met The Rich Young Ruler

Amen.

Amen.

I am so grateful for those of you, the few and the faithful at 815 this morning.

Um, it's so good to see you.

My name's Russ.

I know I I probably most uh know most of you at this hour, uh, but in case I don't, my name is Russ.

Uh this is the uh this is the service that we will broadcast broadcast online, and so we're uh broadcasting online and welcome those that are watching right now with us and watching this morning, maybe watching this afternoon.

Welcome to Church at the Grove.

Um can I just pray for us right now?

Can I just pray?

Let me let me pray.

Father, we we ask that you would come and that you would meet with us.

And that, God, that you would lead us to a place of clear obedience to what it means to follow Jesus.

And God, I'm not talking about an hour.

I'm not talking about even another hour for Bible study.

I'm talking about the 167, the 167 hours outside of Sunday morning that you call us to walk in your spirit, to walk with Jesus, to apprentice under him, to learn his way, to walk in his will.

And God, as we look at this story, this is a difficult truth that we are going to be faced with this morning.

God, would you speak through your word?

Would you work in our hearts?

Would you stir up something that is so uncommon that it can't go unnoticed as people walk outside these walls into a community that is desperate for something that will give them true meaning and significance?

And that's the love of Jesus.

So would you speak?

In Jesus' name we pray.

And everybody said together.

Amen.

Now, this story I'm gonna be sharing and talking about this morning, and we're in this series called When Jesus Met.

And we're looking at specific encounters that Jesus had with individuals.

Um, next week we'll be talking about how Jesus had an encounter, a post-resurrection encounter with his disciples.

And so that one will be with how Jesus encountered a group.

All the others are individuals, how Jesus encounters and confronts individuals.

And if you've grown up in church culture, you've probably heard this story about the rich young ruler.

And it's found in Mark chapter 10.

Mark 10 · chapter mention

If you want to look in your Bibles or pull it up on your phones, and it's the story of when Jesus met the rich young ruler.

Now, this a lot of stories that we have in scripture have happy endings.

They have these beautiful, wonderful, happy endings.

Most of us love happy endings.

If we watch a movie, we read a good book, there's a bow that's on top of the ending, and it's wrapped up and it's beautiful, and it's wonderful, and emotionally you are put at ease.

But this story is a confrontation that you feel the tension, and you think there is going to come this point where there's this happy, wonderful ending, and it's not there.

Nobody goes home happy in this in this story.

There's no bow on top of the ending.

It's no Hollywood story.

It's a story of heartbreak.

And it's a story of a character that remains nameless.

We don't even know his name.

There is no name to this broken individual that comes and confronts and approaches Jesus to ask about how he can gain eternal life.

No one is able to name their child after this man.

Listen, we go through life, right?

We name, there are names.

And some of them are named after characters that have followed Jesus.

Anybody in the room named Matthew?

Matthew's in the booth.

Anybody?

There's Abigail?

That comes from the Bible.

My son's name is Caleb.

I've got a Josiah.

Is there is there somebody anybody named John in here?

Mary?

Any biblical names?

Raise your anybody?

What is it?

Nathan?

David.

You're not Nathan, you're David.

Who else?

Say it loud.

Daniel.

You should see, see, you can't, there's no, you can't name your child after this man.

What name would we give him?

What's a good rich guy name?

I mean, listen, is it Elon?

Richie?

Warren?

How about we go with Arthur?

Arthur.

This is we laugh, but it's sad.

He is so infatuated with his riches and his wealth and his status, that he remains nameless, and there is no legacy to be passed down because of uncommon obedience to the Lord.

Maybe one takeaway this morning is to learn that if you want your name to have significant legacy, significance in legacy, to live on after you are gone, then make sure that your life is not all about just you and your stuff.

This story ends in heartbreak, but it ends with clarity for this man that walked away from Jesus.

And for those of us that have grown up with religion or have grown up around church life, and for many of us, it's what I call the Bible belt faith.

There's really three ways to respond to when Jesus speaks to you, when the Holy Spirit works in your heart, when there is a crossroads of faith in your life.

One is submission.

It's just true obedience.

It's saying yes to Jesus.

Whatever it is, it's yes to salvation.

It's yes to where you want me to go.

Yes to my vocation.

Yes to my calling.

Yes to sharing my faith with a neighbor.

Yes to praying for a friend.

It's just yes to Jesus and whatever it is, it's true obedience.

The second option for response is just a plain rejection.

It's no.

Nope.

Nope.

That's not for me right now.

And I'm gonna tell you something, that's a bit sad, but I can respect the nope.

I've got a lot of nopes.

I I've I've I've had lots of people that I've talked to about Jesus, invited them to church, and I get nope, that's not for me.

That's not for me.

And I I a lot of times there's a conversation that starts.

I've got some conversations going right now with some people.

And and pretty much it's a nope.

It's a no, I know where I stand.

The third option, what what's the third option when Jesus confronts us, like he confronts the rich young ruler?

This is what we get most in the religious culture, the Bible belt response is polite indifference.

Polite indifference.

Man, yeah, yeah, hey, yeah, good sermon, Pastor.

Just walk out.

Carry on with the rest of the hundred and sixty-seven hours in the week as if nothing happened.

Yeah, I like that song.

That closing song was really good.

That vocalist was great.

You get me?

You get the drift?

That's most of us.

That's most of us.

That's that's that's majority.

When I say most of us, I'm talking about the church in religion in the South.

It might be the most of us in church at the Grove, week after week.

And so as we continue this series, I don't want you to give in to the lie that your polite indifference is an okay response to Jesus.

Because this story gives us clarity, it gives us what it means to say yes and the difference in that from the nope.

And John, I'm sorry, in Mark chapter 10, if you want to turn to there, I want you to notice something.

Mark 10 · chapter mention

This story, right before this story, in chapter 10, verse 14.

I'm just gonna read this verse.

This has really nothing to do with this confrontation that Jesus has with the rich young ruler, but I love, I love how there's a contrast here.

He said to them, Let the little children, let the children come to me.

Don't stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.

And so Jesus juxtaposes the story with the rich young ruler right next to Jesus' interaction.

Mark puts it right next to how Jesus interacts with children.

And I love this.

The beauty of this is, especially in ancient culture, children were not valued.

They couldn't contribute.

Jesus spent time with the children.

He loved on them.

And he says, hey, if you're gonna become part of the kingdom of God, you've got to have simple childlike faith.

And so Mark organizes his gospel this way so that we will see the contrast between the children and the rich young ruler, the simplicity of childlike faith versus the complexity of many pursuits.

In verse 17, he goes into the story with the rich young ruler.

He says, as Jesus was starting out on his way to Jerusalem, a man came running up to him, knelt down, and asked, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

That is a great question to ask, isn't it?

That is a great question.

What must that I do to live forever?

What must I do to have God in my life?

Not just here, but eternally.

What must I do to be able to join God in eternal life?

It's a great question.

How do we get in?

The Sharon Wheeler says, here's the problem with the question with this question.

He's like, what's the least I have to do to get with you and get my ticket to heaven?

And so Jesus, so so such a master.

Because the rich young ruler says, good teacher.

And in verse 18, Jesus doesn't even really address the question.

He says, Why do you call me good?

Why do you call me good?

He says, only God is truly good.

Have you ever had a conversation with somebody?

And and and the conversation comes back to, well, I I've lived a pretty good life.

Well, they're really a good person.

Why does God allow good people to suffer?

And I love how Jesus responds, what is good?

Only God is good.

Only God is good.

Verse 19, but to answer your question, Jesus is addressing the question, how do I get eternal life?

You know the commandments.

You must not murder, you must not commit adultery, you must not steal, you must not testify falsely, you must not cheat anyone.

Honor your father and mother and mother.

Now, I'm gonna ask you a question.

How many of you think that the rich young ruler had kept all these commandments?

How many of you think that he had probably broken or failed at least somewhere in keeping all the commandments?

So how many of you in this room have kept all the commandments?

How many of you in this room have told a lie before?

Let's be honest.

How many of you have have stolen something or taken something that didn't belong to you?

Some of you are lying, you're not answering the question.

And so Jesus, Jesus is really beginning to lead him down this path to understand that if you really want eternal life, the question is not whether or not you're good.

The question is, have you had an encounter with the one who can save you and make you good?

Do you follow me?

See, see, the law, the commandments are given to us to show us the path of life, of what it means to walk with God, to journey with God.

The law, the Ten Commandments, and the law, as it expands into the Torah and the whole Bible, it shows us the way and the pathway to follow God, which also allows us to see where we have failed.

And when we realize we have failed, we can reach out to something transcendent outside of ourselves that can fulfill us and give us what the rich young ruler is asking about.

And so this rich young ruler has been a faithful Jewish follower.

He has been religious enough to have a false sense of security.

But even in his false sense of security, he realizes he is missing something in his life.

Verse 20 says, Teacher, I've obeyed all these commandments since I was young.

Jesus doesn't argue with him.

I love this next verse.

Because Jesus looks at the man.

Here's Mark, here's what Mark says about it.

Mark says, looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him.

Can I tell you that Jesus loves broken people?

Jesus loves rich people.

Jesus loves poor people.

Jesus loves all people from all nations, from all ethnicities.

Jesus just loves people.

And so he looks at him with genuine love and he says, There's still one thing you haven't done.

He told him, Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.

Then come and follow me.

So Jesus gives him a recipe to move beyond the religion and to truly embrace what it means to follow the way of Jesus.

But rich young ruler, Arthur, I'm gonna tell you something.

You're gonna have to let go of something to follow me.

You're gonna have to disconnect from something to follow me.

And here's the danger of a message like this is here goes the pastor.

He's gonna start talking about money.

And so I just want you to know I'm talking about money.

And so Jesus loves this man, genuinely loves this man.

Jesus is not after his money, Jesus is going after his monster.

The dragon that is holding his heart captive.

You want to follow me?

You want to have eternal life?

You know the commandments, you've had a taste of religion, but you really want me, then you let go of what you have attained, and you come and follow me.

You let go of your identity, let go of your wealth, let go of your status, and you come follow me.

That's what Jesus is wanting for all of us.

That's what Jesus is asking for us, not just something from us, but something for us.

It's a way of life, it's apprenticing and following Him.

My whole family is full of electricians.

My dad was an electrician.

My brother was an electrician before he went into the ministry.

My brother Eddie, that I speak of, that now is in heaven.

He was an electrician.

I have cousins that are and were electricians.

Now my nephew is an electrician.

And so to become an electrician, and this is the same in other types of trades, you have to learn the knowledge.

But what they do is they partner you up with someone who is already in their identity, an electrician, a welder, or whatever trade, a carpenter, and they follow them and they learn the way.

They first watch and then they do it together.

And then the journeyman says, hey, it's your turn.

And so the journeyman watches, and the apprentice does the work alone.

And then there is this time that comes where the apprentice is released to go and to truly be what he is called to be.

And so it's the same in following the way of Jesus.

He's saying, You've got to let go, you've got to follow, you've got apprentice, you've got to give your life to this.

And he says, You've got to let go of your identity, you've got to let go of your money, and it's not about the money, it's about the monster, it's about the dragon.

So, how does Arthur respond?

How does the rich young ruler respond?

Verse 22.

At this, the man's face fell, and he went away sad.

For he had many possessions.

He had many possessions.

Let's just look at that for a second.

His face fell.

What does it mean?

He's looking at Jesus, he's asking Jesus, I've got to have eternal life.

I know there's something missing.

I've done this religion thing.

I've kept all the commandments.

There's still a hole.

There's still something missing.

Yeah, I know what's missing.

You're holding on to some things that keep you from following me fully.

Go sell it.

Give the money to the poor.

And come follow me.

And you no longer will have a hole.

You'll no longer have anything that's missing.

Your face will not fall.

The word in the Greek is translated, could be more accurately translated as he left grieving.

Grieving.

Grieving.

I mean, can you imagine it?

Sobbing.

He's sobbing.

And Jesus says the disciples are going to be walking away from him.

And he is grieving.

But Jesus uses this as an opportunity to teach.

And so you can imagine there's people around him, at least his disciples, at least those that are following him as he's doing ministry.

And so he looks around and he said to his disciples, How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.

This amazed them.

But Jesus said again, dear children, it is very hard to enter the kingdom of God.

In fact, 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.

Now, let me make sure you understand this.

How many rich people do we have in the room?

I'll just give you a couple minutes.

All of you.

Let's try that again.

How many rich people do we have in the room?

You're all rich.

We're rich.

I mean, just we I I was born here, I grew up here.

I'm rich.

I mean, I got a car.

I got a house for my car.

I have a house where I park my car.

It's called a garage.

We're all rich.

You need to know that.

We that live in this American culture, we're all wealthy.

And so I'm telling you, the problem in our culture and our American life is that we don't understand the truth of Scripture.

And those of us that have gotten a little taste of religion, we have been inoculated with a dose of false security.

We've signed the card, we've walked an aisle, we've repeated a prayer.

But we are so far from following Jesus.

When I'm talking about this, I'm talking about 167, 167 hours a week outside of that one hour that we say we go to church.

167 obedience.

I'm gonna write a book.

167 Obedience.

That's the title of it, Larry.

167 Obedience.

Following Jesus outside of the one hour that we gather.

How do we understand poor and rich?

Jesus is teaching this lesson.

For those of you that have all this wealth, it's just harder.

It's harder.

He said, Dear children, it's harder for you to enter the kingdom of God.

And so in verse 26, the disciples were astounded.

Then who in the world can be saved?

They asked.

Jesus looked at them intently instead.

Humanly speaking, it is impossible.

But not with God.

Everything is possible with God.

So here's what he's saying: rich people can get saved.

That's what he's saying.

It's possible.

This story is sad.

Arthur walked away, but he could have gotten saved.

He could have had eternal life.

Jesus made it as clear as possible.

Crystal clear.

And so most of us say yes to Jesus, but we hold on.

When Jill and I got married in 19, we we decided to do all of our pictures before the wedding.

All of them.

And it was just, you know, it was our decision.

I know the the the cultural understanding of waiting for that moment.

I don't think there's a right or wrong.

It's whatever your personal choice is.

We just didn't believe, you know, that there's any bad luck or anything like that.

And so we just said, hey, instead of making people wait, and and we, you know, and even ourselves, let's get that done.

We'll be fresh.

We won't be tired.

It was in the summer.

Our pictures will look better.

And we would have that out of the way.

And so what we did is we said, we're going to create this opportunity where I walk into the room and see you for the first time.

I see Jill for the first time.

In all of her glory, in her wedding dress, all the beauty.

And I walk in, and I am absolutely just captivated.

She was breathtakingly beautiful.

And so we had a moment.

I mean, we just had a moment, you know, we're we're we prayed together.

We shared some things, some personal things, some private things.

And I told her, I looked at her, I said, I said, you're you're the only one for me.

And because you were so breathtakingly beautiful, I am going to put you at the top of my list.

And I am only going to keep two names of other women in my little black book.

Only two.

Because you are so wonderful.

You are beautiful.

You are breathtaking.

Because of your who you are, and and and just this, I'm I am gonna I'm gonna wipe the whole black book clean and just have only two, two backups.

Now what do you think?

How do you think that my wife to be would respond to that?

Now you don't even have to know her.

But if you know her, there's a whole nother level to that.

I think that is how many of us approach our relationship with Jesus.

He is at the top of the list.

But I've just got a few backups.

I mean, you know, gotta have status, job, circle of friends.

I mean, think of whatever it is that you just simply might add on.

And my challenge for us as followers of Jesus is just to understand that if we could just simply release, let go, surrender.

Repent.

So, what does this story mean for us?

What is the response for us at the end of this story?

Remember, I said there's three.

There's true submission, obedience, yes, to Jesus.

Yes, yes, Jesus.

And see, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit, we have the gift of God's word.

So those two things together is you don't need a priest, you don't need me to tell you what you need to break away from, what you need to turn away from.

I will tell you, like I said last week, for most of us in our culture, our idols are time and money.

Time and money.

If you want to follow Jesus, let me look at your calendar.

Are you making time for him?

Are you making time to walk in the Spirit?

Are you making time to Sabbath?

Are you making time to pray for the people around you?

Are you making time for conversations that really have eternal significance?

The second response is nope, that's not for me.

And I respect that.

I respect it.

I know where you stand.

The third response that's so, so troubling is polite indifference.

Eh?

Eh.

Great song, great sermon.

Let's go to the early service so we can have a great brunch.

Eh.

And so I'm asking you, church, I'm gonna ask you to consider that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field, and his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

It's a parable, it's a story, it's this picture.

You want this, then you've got to say no to this.

He went and in his excitement, he hid what he discovered, and he ran away and he sold everything he had so he could come back and buy the treasure.

That's salvation, that's following Jesus.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls.

When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and he bought it.

You want the kingdom?

You want the kingdom of God to come and to be a part of our life?

You've got to slay the dragon.

So let's spend a few moments this morning.

Let's slay some dragons.

Let's slay some dragons this morning.

We're gonna close in worship, close in a time of reflection in a time where we just say, hold on, let's let's listen to the Holy Spirit.

Can we do that?

Can we do that?

Let's just listen to the Holy Spirit.

What is it?

I can say for most of us, it has something to do with time.

And it has something to do with our pursuit of stuff or status.

How do you view, how do you view people when you walk into a room?

Would you just bow your heads with me for a moment?

Let's let the Lord speak to us.

When you walk into a room, how do you see the people in the room?

Who are you drawn to and why?

Do we value poor people?

Do we value people that come from any other ethnicity?

Do we value all people, all nations?

Do we value the people that Jesus looks at and he loves them?

He loves them.

So what is it this morning that you need to let go of?

Most of us in this room would say that we have put our faith in Jesus.

If you haven't put your faith in Jesus, that is your first step to say yes to Jesus.

Jesus said the kingdom of God is now, it's come.

Repent and believe.

And so if that's you, you've never stepped into a relationship with Jesus, you simply turn and put your faith in him.

It's not cheap, but it's simple.

He demands all.

He's here to slay the dragons, the monsters.

So what's your monster?

And are you willing to lay it at the altar?

Can we have a moment where we close in song?

And I'm just gonna ask you to pray.

I'm gonna ask you possibly to come and get out of your seat.

There's something about the physical response of coming and kneeling.

There's something about lifting our holy hands before the Lord and saying, Yes, Lord, whatever you say, whatever you desire, whatever you want.

I want you so much.

I'm gonna give you a chance to respond as we close.