Kempsey Baptist - The rich Person and the Kingdom of God

Kempsey Baptist Church

Sunday 11 October 2015

The Rich Person and the Kingdom of God

Good morning, let us come to God in Prayer.

Heavenly Father and maker of us all - bless the words of my lips and the meditations of our hearts - help us to grow, show us your ways and inspire us to live by your truth.  Amen

Bible Reading: Mark 10:17-31

Introduction
The story of the rich person and the Kingdom of God as recorded no less than three times in the New Testament, Matthew, Mark and Luke and has tremendous lesson for us to take note, sit up and listen. The commandments Jesus listed makes up our duty to our neighbours. There are three lessons we can glean from this passage.

·        The self-ignorance of man (our heart and mind attitude)

·        The love of Christ towards sinners

·        The immerse danger of the love of money

Mark’s passage speaks more than about a rich person; it talks about the treatment in carrying the commandments towards others. It is about our social compassion towards others but let us go on a journey back in time and how fourth century CE Christians view of this passage. Then we will look at the passage and view the concept of self-sufficient, security and self-assurance. The end of the passage deals with what we are doing now will determine our hope and future assurances. Is it us or Jesus?
I am taking you on a journey back in time to when a form of Christian religious saintliness existed as desert monasticism in Palestine around the fourth through the seventh centuries CE. We no longer say “AD” but “CE” which stands for Common Era – reference to Jesus is no longer seem valid, only that we live in the common era after the Jesus event.
You are part of the group and drawing on stories of Elijah, John the Baptist, and Jesus. You are one of many people in the thousands of devoted Christians journeying into the wilderness to seek the presence of God in solitude.
This journey into the wilderness occur when the Roman Empire declare that Christianity become the official religion. No longer are the need to hide because of your faith in God, no need to struggle for survival to live your faith but you are now worrying because of the suffocation brought about by the commonplace of an official, politicised religion.
Through the monasticism lifestyle, among your fellow Christian held that you could engage in the imitation of the life of Christ. The literal acceptances of the Scriptures underscore some of Jesus’ teaching and the reading we had plays a role; to abandoned all their possessions and families to live a life of chastity, fasting and self-denial in the desert. Our time was spent in prayer, meditation, ritual worship and study, eking out a sparse existence in the desolate wastelands. It was all about self-existence within the confines of the community and some of our Christian travelers formed communities that had castle like fortresses for protection. Not all communities sever ties with civilisation and actively engage in discussion about religious and political issues that was facing us in our living. Some of our communities established hospitals for the sick and motels for pilgrims. These are positive developments of journeying into the desert.
Everything was okay then an invasion occurred by the Arab Muslim in the conquest of our country Palestine from the Roman Empire in the 7^th Century CE. Some of our desert monasticism decline under the pressure which saw people converting to Islam.
Certainly in the minds of the people who choose to live as desert monasticism that verse in the Gospel of Matthew 5:3 rang like a bell in the tower.

God blesses those who are poor and realise their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. (NLT)

Some translation renders the beginning as “poor in spirit”.
The perils of the poor are well established and so are the riches have their perils. It is more easily to have a false sense of security, self-assurance and self-sufficient. In our capitalist society we do go after these things to ensure our survival as a member of the community. Our government and its politics is promoting self-sufficient against dependence. The early Church in Acts 4 see part of their obligation as a community to look after the needy and in Acts 6 the Apostles established social services towards those who were neglected. The church was growing and commission leaders for the care of the people while they focus on the preaching the Word of God.
In the story of the reading, we have a rich person going to Jesus, questioning how he could inherit eternal life, to have an authentic life. This person is an example of one in the community eking a lifestyle, does all the right things, pay his dues, a good role model and the community looks up to him. He doesn’t have problems with the assumption of needs to live and has a peace of mind. Who doesn’t want that lifestyle, no worrying about the next meal or to get through today?  
The passage of Scripture in Mark is an incredible “passage which stresses the importance of the commandments and their relationship to a concern for social justice, a view rooted in Scripture”. (Crossley. 2005)
Jesus replies to this rich person in a way that he wasn’t expecting.

Looking at the person, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is 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, follow me. Mark 10:21 NLT

This person had put his life together, to be told to “go and sell, give away”.

Treating life as grace-as a gift to be given away, a gift available without price-threatened the essence of his being. So he turned away. After all, if it is all a gift, there is no entitlement. Sharing, passing on to others, humility and thanksgiving replace hoarding, self-sufficient arrogance and smug pride, wrote a commentator.  (Carder. 1997)

The story doesn’t stop there with the person turning away sad. Jesus continues to teach his disciples.

Jesus looked around and 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 hard (for those who trust in riches) 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!” (Mark 10:23-25 NLT)

The use of terminology “a camel to go through the eye of the needle” by Jesus suggest three possible scenario.
First scenario there is a “wicket gate or other entrance into Jerusalem that was commonly known as the Needle’s Eye for it narrowness,” as Matthew Henry write in his commentary, (Henry.1662-1714) the camel would need to be unloaded to pass through. So the idea of being unloaded with no package are left behind to enter through the Needle’s Eye and the second scenario is the translation of the word “a camel” sometimes refers to a strong, thick rope or that John the Baptist vestment of clothing, made from camel hair. The idea is the rich is like a thick rope trying to be threaded through the eye of the needle while the poor are a single thread, easy to go through. If the camel hair is entwined and twisted will be difficulty in trying to go through the eye of the needle. A third scenario is simply accepted what one reads, a camel and a needle as a comparison for “some who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God” (v25). The picture of the needle’s eye and the camel, there is nothing we can do to make it happen, no matter what programs we run to support the camel to go through, it will not happened by us.
The imagery of whichever view we adopt, requires us to be unloaded of our cares and concerns, our luggage need to be left at the cross of Jesus. Jesus is the only person who has made it possible for us to enter the Kingdom of God.
This teaching that Jesus was implying shook the disciples in amazement and stirred Peter to asked a question, “Then who in the world can be saved?’ (Mark 10:26 NLT)
Can we save ourselves or others? We would like to think that it was our involvement in presenting the Gospel message but we are reminded that it is the Holy Spirit who stir and convict a person to repentance and not us. All glory belongs to God through Jesus.  Clearly Jesus answered them and to a certain intention of Mark was the future hope for mankind through the works of Jesus on the cross, where he bored our sins, to provide a way forward, to be restored to the Kingdom of God.

Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But not with God, Everything is possible with God.” (Mark 10:27 NLT)

Life is a gift to be humbly and joyfully received, not a commodity to be purchased or a prize to be earned. (Carder.1997)

That is our assurance; with God nothing is impossible, for he is the Creator. There is nothing in the disciples’ hand that they can do; it is only God who can bring us into the Kingdom of God, to have eternal life.
There is a contrast here, when Peter pipes up and says to Jesus, “We’ve given up everything to follow you.” (v28)
Let us hear the words that Jesus answered;

Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age – houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions – and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” (Mark 10:29-31. NRSV)

If we are fulfilling our duty to Jesus and the Gospel message being central, we will receive a hundredfold now, and in the world to come eternal life. Jesus doesn’t dispute the disciples have given up everything “but his statement in verses 29-31 contains both the assurances of God’s favour for those who make such a sacrifice and warnings that there is more testing ahead to be faced before  a final judgement is given by God.” (Hurtado. 2011)
The needs of the disciples now and the future will be supplied by God but persecutions will happen now.
This story about the rich person is not about having wealth but the attitude towards wealth and the use of wealth to alleviate the poor but let us think about wealth.

Wealth becomes additive, luxuries becomes necessities. As one who remembers; life without indoor plumbing, no television, no computers, no telephones, no VCR’s (video cassette recorders) and no microwaves. I know how easily things once considered luxuries of the few became necessities for the masses…. Satisfying our appetite for more has devastating consequences for those who have less. It depletes their resources and relegates them to life’s margins.” (Carder. 1997)

Another commentator reminds us:

Let us watch against the love of money. It is a snare to the poor as well as to the rich. It is not so much the having money, as the trusting in it, which ruins the soul. Let us pray for contentment with such things as we have. The highest wisdom is to be of one mind with Paul, “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” Philippians 4:11 (Ryle. 1977. Pp210-211)

Conclusion
As I said at the beginning, this passage of Mark teaches us a lot more than the rich person walking away after being called to follow Jesus. It goes on and lays the foundation upon which to enter the kingdom of God, to have eternal life. The early Christian choose to live in the desert to enable to have fellowship with God in a solitude lifestyle but communities grew and began to be a social service unit in providing care through hospitals for the sick and motels for the travelers. The passage teaches about the kingdom of God and what we should be doing for Jesus and the Gospel’s message with the assurance that with God all things are possible. Jesus must be centre, the focus of our life and to bring others into a relationship with him. We must entertain the sick and the traveler in a caring, compassionate relationship and in doing so, we will receive our reward in the life to come.  Through this, Mark shares with us the valuable lesson of receiving eternal life and who is the giver.
Let me pray:

Resources

Crossley, James G. The Damned Rich (Mark 10:17-31). The Expository Times (2005): 397-401, doi: 10.1177/0014524605056801

Kenneth, L. Carder. 1997. "The Perils of Riches." The Christian Century, (Sep 24-Oct 1): http://0search.proquest.com.prospero.murdoch.edu.au/docview/217208773?accountid=12629.

Hamblin, William and Daniel Peterson. 2012. “Monastic Life in the Judean Wilderness.” Deseret News, (Jun 30): http://0-search.proquest.com.prospero.murdoch.edu.au/docview/1022695148?accountid=12629

Hurtado, Larry W. 2011. Mark: Understanding the Bible Commentary Series. Grand Rapids: Bakers Books. Pp 159-169.
Ryle, J.C. 1977. Ryle’s Expository Thought on the Gospel: Matthew – Mark. Volume One. England: Evangelical Press.