The Rich Young Man

So as we begin, let's pray.

Lord, may the words we've just heard fall on good soil.

! May we hear them, understand, and respond in whatever way we need to this morning,

so that we may bear fruit and that we may be participants in the kingdom of God,

following Jesus with hearts unhindered, but open to all that you have from heaven.

In our lives. Amen.

So today we begin this summer series looking at meetings with Jesus,

not kind of ECC meetings with Jesus, but, you know, encounters along the road.

And I hope that we will discover through a sort of diversity of encounters

with the questions that they have, the needs that they had,

and we might find ourselves encountering Jesus and allow him to speak to us and to meet us.

And so today, as we've just heard, Jesus meets a rich man.

And as we go through, just some points to hopefully help you see what we're going to be covering this morning

and the terrain of this.

So first of all, we'll see that he's a good man.

The good man.

We've got the things up, Pauline, sorry.

Perfect.

Just so you know where we're going.

The good man, the heart-searching challenge, the sad response, and the rich heart of God.

And we'll explore that together.

But I hope that gives you a little bit of a framework as I whittle on.

I mean as I talk.

And what I've got to do is find a Bible.

I've got the all-important thing there.

So, it starts.

Firstly, we discover, I think, that he is a good man.

He is a good man.

And that's important.

Just then, a man came up to Jesus and asked,

Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?

And we know from the conversation that follows,

as well as the other accounts of this meeting that are written about in the other Gospels,

that we're dealing with what we would call, I think, a good, respectable young man here.

No doubt a person of influence, good standing in society.

You can imagine if this scene was set today, you would find him to be a law-abiding citizen.

And he's the kind of guy that, when he's on the train and his mobile phone goes off,

he doesn't just take it there.

He gets up and he goes to the end of the carriage and receives his call there.

That kind of gentleman.

Okay?

That's the kind of person we're talking about here.

He's thoughtful.

He's well-behaved.

Hasn't got any skeletons in the closet.

In fact, quite the opposite.

He's reliable and genuine.

And perhaps he works in a respected local trade.

He's a businessman.

And he's made himself a good income and a good business with a good reputation.

He lives in a nice house.

Nothing excessive.

He's got a nice car.

Enjoys good holidays.

And what's more, he gets involved in local charities.

In fact, he's a churchgoer.

And not just a churchgoer.

He's a regular attender.

And he is a member of the church council.

Well respected.

That's the kind of person we're talking about here.

And he comes across Jesus.

And you'll see if you read the verses just before this.

He would have watched Jesus interact with children.

In a way that would have been surprising to people.

As Jesus gets children brought to him.

And he lays hands on them.

And he welcomes them.

And he treasures them.

And I think the guy would have been touched by that.

He was a good guy.

And then he sees an opening to approach Jesus.

And that's what he does.

And he says to him,

Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?

He's respectful.

He's thoughtful.

And I think he genuinely wants to know.

And so Jesus' heart-searching challenge,

through a series of questions that he then puts back to this man,

may be a surprise to all of us.

They certainly were to the first disciples standing around Jesus.

Because there's no doubt that Jesus could see beyond this polite and earnest question.

Polite man and earnest question.

And he sees into the man's heart.

And Jesus really wants to help this guy.

He really wants to help this guy.

And as he often does,

he answers a question with a question.

In fact, a series of questions.

And they become, as I say,

a heart-searching challenge.

How does Jesus respond?

Why do you ask me what is good?

There is only one who is good.

Now, Jesus knew,

and that man knew,

that goodness was the prerogative of God.

That's where all goodness comes from.

Only God is good.

And there's the first challenge.

Does this man really know who he's talking to?

Because if you read on,

or anywhere in the Gospels,

you'll see that when other people come towards Jesus,

they usually have a slightly different response.

For example, in chapter 22 of Matthew,

the blind men come to Jesus,

and they say,

have mercy on me, son of David.

It's as if when they recognize the goodness of Jesus,

the son of God before them,

they, in comparison,

recognize their lack,

and they ask for mercy.

They don't come,

and try and manufacture something on their own.

And that's the first sign,

that Jesus has understood what's going on here.

He asks,

what good thing must I do to eternal life?

And Jesus immediately points and says,

well, only God is good.

If you want to enter life,

keep the commandments, he says.

So,

you can imagine him thinking,

okay,

I'm a good man.

I've got this.

I know I've been a law-abiding citizen all my life.

Which one is Jesus?

And notice the list that Jesus gives him.

You might have noticed that as Hen read it.

They are all the laws that demand something from us

in relation to others.

So,

you shall not murder,

you shall not commit adultery,

you shall not steal,

honour your father and mother,

love your neighbour as yourself.

What does he miss out?

I mean,

it's an interesting selection of laws

that Jesus puts there.

Jesus misses out,

perhaps,

two of the big ten.

The first two.

Have no other gods before me,

and do not worship other gods of your own making.

Misses that one.

And even,

he doesn't say

what's normally his favourite summary of the law,

which is,

love the Lord your God

with all your heart,

all your mind,

and all your soul.

He's only mentioned,

love your neighbour as yourself.

Why?

Because he understands

how this man's heart works.

All these I have kept,

the young man said.

What do I still lack?

You see,

throughout the whole of his life,

this young man

has been performing

to get what he needs in life.

And he has the same mentality

about achieving eternal life

by doing another good thing.

And he has come to Jesus thinking,

well,

if I just get that little bit of guidance from him,

I will get those extra brownie points.

I will make the grade

that I need to

to enter eternal life.

And it's almost as if

Jesus plays him

at his own game.

Because he says to him,

if you want to be perfect,

if we're playing the

perfect performance game,

if you want to be perfect,

young man,

do something,

do another thing.

Sell your possessions

and give to the poor.

Then you'll have treasure in heaven.

Then come,

follow me.

So is it that he does

just have to do one more thing

and then he would have

ticked that off his list?

Giving away his money

in order to get eternal life?

I don't think so.

It's because Jesus knows

this man's heart

and he knows

where this man's treasure

really is.

And it's revealed

by the man's sad response.

Verse 22,

when the young man heard this,

he went away sad

because he had

great wealth.

So is Jesus anti-money?

Is he against

having personal wealth?

He talks about money

a lot, Jesus.

I mean, scholars tell us

that one out of every

ten verses in the gospel,

that's about 288 verses,

deals directly with money

or riches or wealth.

And nearly 42%

of his parables

are about money

or using wealth

as something to teach us

spiritual lessons.

Because Jesus understands

that wealth

is one of the biggest traps

in not trusting

in God's goodness

and grace.

So it wasn't that Jesus

was prescribing

to this young man

just one more commandment

to do

and then you've got it.

by giving this

heart-searching challenge,

he was revealing to the man

where his heart really was.

It wasn't by doing

something else

that we gave him

the last points

on the board.

But Jesus understands

that it's our doings

that reveal

our heart's desire.

And this young man

could not do

what Jesus

was asking him to do.

He was not prepared

to let go of his wealth

and follow Jesus

and follow Jesus

who is the way,

the truth

and the life.

Instead,

he had clearly

grown dependent

on his own wealth

and his own resources

to get him through life

and thought that this

would help him

in the kingdom of God.

And despite

whatever religious

or societal

good behaviour

and good things

he was doing,

it was actually

his possessions

that he was living for

and perhaps even

he was using

his religious devotion

as a means

of making sure

he was doing alright.

Actually,

if I can get God's blessing

and receive

the things

that I really want,

that seems to be

a good way

to go about it.

And so what he possessed,

and we don't know

what his bank account

was like

or where his holdings were,

but it was clearly

too important

as part of his identity

to believe

that he might be able

to give them away.

To lose them,

as it were,

would be to lose

his life.

And just chapters

before this,

Jesus famously said,

what good is it

if someone gains

the whole world

but loses his soul?

Or what can anyone

trade

for their soul?

And so Jesus,

seeing into this man's heart,

seeing really

what he was living for,

in some sense

what he was worshipping,

gave him this

heart-searching challenge.

and the man

walked away

sad.

And as he walks away,

Jesus says to his disciples,

truly I tell you,

it is hard for someone

who is rich

to enter the kingdom

of heaven.

Again,

I tell you,

it's easier for a camel

to go through the eye

of a needle

than someone who is rich

to enter the kingdom

of God.

Now this was surprising

to those around Jesus.

In fact,

they were astonished,

shocked

by what Jesus

was saying.

Because surely

the man who just

walked away

was a man

who was blessed

by God.

Surely

wealth

and influence

are a sign

of God's blessing.

You know,

Jesus,

haven't you read

some of the Proverbs?

Haven't you seen

Abraham,

Isaac,

Jacob?

How did they get

blessed?

Because they were

righteous.

What's going on,

Jesus?

You just sent him away.

He would have been

really good

in the kingdom of God

and he's just

gone away.

But I can almost

imagine Jesus

going on a little bit

of a sort of

Bible journey

with them,

saying,

well,

look at those

characters.

Look at when

it goes wrong

for them.

When by acquiring

stuff,

be it land,

cattle,

women,

it becomes

the over-desire

of their hearts

and each time

it leads them

away from God

rather than

towards them.

To have money

is not a bad

thing,

but for money

to have you

is a very bad

thing.

So,

folks,

this morning,

if you are rich,

and I'd have to say

that if you have

food in your fridge,

clothes on your body,

a roof over your head

and a place to sleep,

you are richer

than 75%

of the world's

population,

that makes most

of us here rich,

we must be

aware

of the dangers

Jesus is laying

out here.

Are we in danger

of living

for something

other than God,

even when our

churchgoing

and our activities

seem to suggest

otherwise?

How do we know,

how might we know,

if we're trusting

more in our riches,

and I include

that our comforts,

our lifestyle,

and the associated

status that comes

with it,

how do we know

that we're relying

on those things

to the extent

which is endangering

our souls?

Well,

the test is this,

folks,

how generous

are you

in giving it away?

How generous

are you

in giving it away?

Let's start

with 10%.

Are you willing

to give that

back to God?

To give it away,

to entrust it

to others,

to be used

on other people's

benefits?

Now,

you might want

to quibble

with the percentage

because you may

feel that's an

inappropriate use

of the Levitical law.

Okay,

try 12%,

try 15%.

Go,

you know,

you pick a figure.

But what's really

holding you back

from giving away

your money?

Is it the maths

or is it your heart?

Does it make you sad

to think about

what that might mean?

If it makes you sad,

then just like this

rich young ruler here,

we need to check

our hearts.

Now,

I recognise

that

life is complicated.

We've already prayed

this morning

about those

who hit the summer

thinking about

the difficulties

of finances.

And I certainly

don't want to be

coming away

legalistic

about kind of amounts.

But this,

we can't miss

what Jesus is saying here.

This is about

our hearts

and this is about

our involvement

in the kingdom of God

and being part

of eternal life.

And it's certainly

not about amounts

because if you remember

when Jesus enters

the temple,

he sees a widow

who gave

a little amount

but generously

in comparison

to all she had.

And when he saw

a richer person

give

a large amount

but in comparison

to what he had

it cost him

very little.

Jesus was quick

to honour

and praise

that poor widow.

In fact,

the most generous

people are quite

often the poorest

because their hearts

have not come

to rely on money

to give them

the security

and the comfort

that money seems

to offer us.

So question,

Christchurch,

do you trust

in the goodness,

the security,

the provision

of God

that you don't feel

you need to protect

yourself

with

or sustain

yourself

with those things

by your lifestyle

or by

your income

or what you have,

your possessions?

Can you give it away?

Can you give it away

freely?

Does your bank balance

worship the Lord

or does it worship

your self,

your ego even?

Uncomfortable,

isn't it?

I bet you're thinking,

I wish the vicar

would talk about sex again.

This is really uncomfortable

because we're also

not familiar

talking about money

very often.

But Jesus was uncomfortable.

This was deeply

uncomfortable then.

but he cared enough

about people's souls

and their belonging

to the kingdom

of eternal life

than he did

about upsetting them.

So in the spirit

of Jesus,

I challenge you today.

The more we trust

in our riches,

the less we trust

in God

and the less,

you know,

the less our appetite

is for him

and the things

of his kingdom,

they diminish

by the day.

There is that

absolute risk

as we accumulate wealth.

So how can we do

something about this?

I've laid down

a pretty big challenge.

What would motivate us

to give generously

and more importantly,

joyfully?

This man went away sad.

The Lord loves

a cheerful giver.

How do we become cheerful

in giving away

abundantly?

What might a heart

that is dependent

on God

look like

and that is able

to be released

from being dependent

on stuff

and our possessions?

What would enable us

to follow Jesus

unhindered

by the burden

of a money-needing heart?

Well, the answer

on one level

is very simple.

You need to receive

the riches of God

from the rich heart

of God.

You need to receive

the riches of God.

That is the

better replacement

for money,

for the riches,

for the status,

for the comfort,

for the lifestyle,

whatever it is

that we often find

ourselves living for

and those carrots

being dangled around us

that we might try

and follow.

Even our education system

and our society

points us towards,

yes, you must have more,

have more, have more.

No.

Can we live for

and receive

the riches of God?

And can I tell you

what's going to help?

It's when we see Jesus

and we know

what he has done

for us.

Jesus Christ

gave up the infinite

riches of heaven

to come to earth.

He lived on earth

in relative poverty

but he continued

to be rich

in his relationship

with his heavenly father.

But as he

went towards the cross

he became

stripped away

of so many things

and in many ways

he became bankrupt

in order to pay

our debt

of sin

towards God.

He poured out

his life on us.

He generously gave

wiping his account out

and if you like

being subject

to hell's bailiffs.

But the bank of heaven

was still his.

He rose to life

on the third day

and he rose

a spiritual billionaire

heir of all creation

and he offers

to those

who follow him

every spiritual blessing.

That's what it says

in Ephesians.

Every spiritual blessing.

All the riches of heaven

on free credit.

we don't have to earn it.

We're not even

asked to be paying

back our debt.

Jesus has done that.

This is a gift.

Grace

received by faith.

And the riches of God

come to us.

He gives us a deposit

of his spirit.

That's the language

the Bible uses.

A deposit

a down payment

of his spirit

to live inside

our hearts.

Making us hungry

for more

of him.

Placing our treasures

in heaven.

Heaven which

we are able

to inhabit now

and will

onwardly go

for eternal life

as we wait

for the renewal

of all things

when heaven

fully unites

with earth.

Do you see

how God is all about

giving to you?

He gave his only son.

He pours out

his riches to us.

All the time he's abundantly

wanting to give

to you.

He can meet

all your

security,

comfort,

peace,

joy needs

if we just

are able to

open our hearts

to let him.

And if that

is how

rich God is

towards us

will you let him

take control?

Will you surrender

your hearts to him?

Open even

your bank accounts

to him?

Will you treasure

him above all else?

Because I tell you

what,

he's worth it.

I'm going to finish

with these words

that we've already

sung this morning.

Were the whole

realm of nature

mine,

that were a present

far too small.

Love,

so amazing,

so divine,

demands my soul,

my life,

my all.

Let's just have

a moment of

quiet.

Just allowing

the spirit

who's been

speaking to you

perhaps to

highlight something

that's been

important,

to perhaps bring

home that

challenge,

the challenge

of Jesus

here.

I'm aware

from some

that there

will be

people with

financial

difficulties,

real problems

that they're

dealing with,

and can I

ask you

please reach

out for

help,

to chat

to myself,

the wardens,

we want to

stand alongside

you and I

recognise this

isn't easy

and it's a

terrible place

to be stuck

in financial

debt and I

just want to

say to you

please reach

out and

that's not a

thing of shame

and maybe

this invitation

is for you.

There may be

some of you

who say

you know

Lord I

want to

test my

heart,

I want to

see how

generous

I might

be.

I have to

confess folks

I am yet

to transfer

my giving

from my old

church to

the new

one so

there's a

small

backlog,

it won't

be huge

but I am

more than

a widow's

might as

it were

but there

may be

some

practical

things you

think you

need to

do,

you need

to get

your house

in order

in order

to give

back to

God,

the first

fruits God

encourages us

to give,

give back

to him

in thanks,

maybe that's

something you

need to go

away and

think about

to do.

But above

all folks,

and I think

this applies

to every

single one

of us,

will you

receive the

riches of

God this

morning?

Will you

receive,

perhaps for

the first

time,

perhaps for

the

nth time,

the grace

of God

poured out

to you,

his amazing

love,

his love

that makes

us rich,

that makes

us treasure

him above

all else

because he's

so good.

Holy Spirit,

just make

your people

sing with

joy because

of how much

you mean to

us,

because of

how great

you are,

how worthy

you are,

and may

our hearts

and our

lives just

reflect that

truth.

And Holy

Spirit,

help us with

whatever change

we need to

make,

whatever phone

call we need

to make,

whatever friend

we need to

chat to,

would you

not allow

that challenge,

that invitation

to be taken

away from us

by a cup of

coffee and a

Sunday lunch

may may

may

may