If it takes the place of God, sell it, give it away, or cast it off. Just do it.

 

Read Mark 10:13-22

 

So, let’s get to it.

Jesus did not say that the wise man puts his words into conversation. He did not say that the one who put his words into the most posts gets the most points.  He said that the one who puts his words into practice is the one who builds his house on solid rock.

I realize that sometimes my assessments are unique and not shared by many others. I am glad I made the Spring Presbytery in Fort Worth this year.

A theme among the denominational representatives prevailed through many reports. It was to repent.

Repent for what?  I repented. I’m saved. So, repent for what?  Repent for talk without action. Across so many functional areas, the message at the last meeting of the Red River Presbytery was the same.

We as Christians in general, and I can talk specifically as Cumberland Presbyterians talk a lot but do little. We need to repent of that, and repentance requires action.

Repentance is more than just turning away from the ways of the world. It is turning away and leaving all of the worldly junk behind, without getting a claim ticket to come back for it later.

The denomination is on the precipice of fully embracing that faith without works is dead.

We are at what could be the tipping point of the next great awakening. But to embrace that faith without works is dead requires some action from us, from us all, or it’s just more talk.

The rich young man went away sad because Jesus told him to sell all that he had, give the proceeds to the poor, pick up his cross, and follow him.

To which we often retreat to the position that this was just about this one rich man. It doesn’t apply to everyone, not to us regular folks in any case.

You would be correct. It does not apply to everyone, but it very much applies to you and just about everyone who lives in this country.

You may not have a lot of money in the bank, but you are richer than the young man in this account in so many ways. The first and perhaps most important way is comfort.

For all the money this young man had, he couldn’t turn on the bathroom light with the flick of a switch.

He couldn’t turn on a faucet and step into a hot shower whenever he wanted.

He couldn’t kill the afternoon watching Netflix or reels on his phone.

He never knew the thrills of Taco Tuesday or Throwback Thursday, or watching a grandchild smack a ball into the outfield on his phone while the kid is in another town.

Make no mistake that we who live in this country are as rich as this young man who had many possessions. We are rich and the words of Jesus that we find in Mark 10 apply to us.

Before Jesus told this rich young man to sell everything he owned and give the proceeds to the poor, we find these words. They are among my favorite words, and we see them in verse 21.

Jesus looked at him and loved him.

Jesus saw that the man practiced the big-ticket items of the Law but that something was in the way of him being complete—perfected if you will.

In modern vernacular, this young man made it to services, even stayed awake for the message, only got up to go to the bathroom twice and once was during a song he didn’t like, and surely made the required trips to the temple with the required offering or sacrifice. He checked the blocks but never knew the heart of the God of love who was behind his directives.

Something was in his way. That something was his possessions—his stuff—and evidently, he had a bunch of it.

Do we need to sell everything we own? Yes! If our possessions, our comfort, our anything has equal status with God in our lives, it’s got to go.

More than likely, it is not money or stuff that is in our way, but our reluctance, complacency, or hesitation to put God’s words into practice.  What we need to get rid of in our lives is our complacency and desire to live unchanged by the gospel—our desires to make the words of Jesus fit into our comfort zones.

I was blessed to watch the movie, “A Great Awakening.” It is the story of George Whitfield coming to America and spiritually awakening its people—our forefathers—a few decades before our independence and the writing of our Constitution.

Just over 47 years ago I received my degree in Political Science from the Oklahoma State University, but I learned a couple of things about Benjamin Franklin that I didn’t know before, trusting the film was faithful to the facts in most matters.

I also took to heart this story related by Whitfield as his own, but there was a little license with that as the historical documents note that Whitfield attributed it to someone else.

I'll tell you a story. The Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 1675 was acquainted with Mr. Butterton the actor. One day the Archbishop . . . said to Butterton . . . 'pray inform me Mr. Butterton, what is the reason you actors on stage can affect your congregations with speaking of things imaginary, as if they were real, while we in church speak of things real, which our congregations only receive as if they were imaginary?'

'Why my Lord,' says Butterton, 'the reason is very plain. We actors on stage speak of things imaginary, as if they were real and you in the pulpit speak of things real as if they were imaginary.'

 

On our 90^th anniversary of Fake News—Google George Orwell and the Spanish Civil War—let’s commit to speaking the truth. That truth resides in God’s word.

We need to quit acting like God’s word is just one proposal among many to consider or that it might be true.

We need to repent of knowing what God tells us to do and doing nothing.

We need to repent of thinking if we build it, they will come—not to knock that movie—and embrace, go and make disciples.

We need to speak the truth as if it were the truth for it is the truth. We speak the truth in a spirit of love, not worried that the truth might offend someone. It’s the truth.

Know it.

Speak it.

Live it.

Your measure of faith was sufficient to receive the gift of salvation. It’s all from God. You just had to receive it by faith.

We like that part, and we should, because we could never receive salvation by the way we live, yet having received grace by faith, so many have parked their faith on the shelf.

Faith is not a one-and-done deal. Salvation is a done deal, and if you are content in having received grace by faith and having your faith parked on the shelf for the rest of this life, why are you listening today?

If you are listening today and have no intention of putting our Lord’s words into practice, what’s the point?  It’s just a placebo. Well, it felt good.

I am preaching mostly to the saints—to the saved. I’m not trying to get most of you to the radio or internet altar to profess your faith. You have been there. I am talking about picking up your cross daily and following Jesus.

That’s a whole ‘nuther deal.

I’m not talking about doing all the right things so you can get into heaven. I’m talking about doing things—the right things--the right way because heaven has already been gifted to you.

I’m not talking about talking about the words of Jesus—thought they are worth discussing when you awaken, go to sleep, go to work, or in anything else you do. I’m talking about putting his words into practice.

In so doing, you never have to worry about:

·       Integrity

·       Fidelity

·       Speaking the truth in a spirit of love

·       Living in the light

I am talking about never thinking, I’m doing too much church stuff. I’m doing too much for the Lord.

I’m not talking about getting sucked into every activity on the church calendar—though for some, that's their daily bread. I’m talking about feeling the gentle nudge from the Spirit or the still small voice of the Lord leading you, and you saying, I’m already doing enough. I hear you, Lord, but would you recheck your metrics? I think you will see that I’ve done my fair share and more.

If that’s your situation, go buy a cross, a crucifix like the Roman Catholics have with Jesus hanging on the cross. I love our cross without Jesus nailed to it.

He is not there. He is risen. He is risen indeed. He is not on the cross or in the tomb. He is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for you and for me.

Amen! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

But go get you one of those crosses and keep it handy for those times you are ready to dismiss the calling of the Lord upon your life, and you want to say, I think I’m doing enough already.

When that time comes, say those words to Jesus hanging on the cross and tell him how much you are doing for him and how that surely must be enough. I want you to devalue what Jesus did for you on the cross in your conversation with the image of him hanging there. See if that doesn’t change your perspective.

You might be doing a lot to bring glory to God’s name, but do you remember the precondition to the directions of Jesus to this rich young man? If you want to be perfect, if you want to be complete, if you really want some life out of life, then…

If the saints are too busy or burdened to put our Master’s words into practice, how do we expect the lost to hear our words, or believe them because our lives belie the words of our Master?

Remember these words quoted earlier.

We actors on stage speak of things imaginary, as if they were real and you in the pulpit speak of things real as if they were imaginary.

It’s not just the preachers that need to treat the truth as the truth, but every disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.

How do we do that? We put his words into practice.

How do we do that? We sell everything that we own—or discard everything that supplants the place of God.

We cast off everything that hinders and run our race of faith fully for him.

We pick up our cross daily and follow Jesus.

Do we act like Jesus Christ is the most important person, relationship, and entity in our lives? No!

I say emphatically, no! Do not act like Jesus is at the very top of the list of what matters in your life.

Live like it! There is no acting, just fidelity, for he is the One who is most important in your life. Everything else that we love must be no closer to the number one spot in our lives than a distant, a very distant second.

But, but, but we know this. So, what do we do?

I go to the words of Jesus to the church at Sardis and to the church universal.

Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.

The church that we know in our time has unfinished work. You have unfinish work. We have unfinished work.

What do we do?

“Wake up, sleeper,

    rise from the dead,

    and Christ will shine on you.”

Go all the way back to Isaiah and see how long God has been calling his people to awaken.

Arise, shine;

For your light has come!

And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.

For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

And deep darkness the people;

But the Lord will arise over you,

And His glory will be seen upon you.

And Paul has something to say on the matter as well.

And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

Take all these commands to awaken in the context of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”

Do not go through life with a business-as-usual attitude. You know the truth. Now is the time to live it.

Cast off everything that hinders, and complacency needs to go first.

Sell everything that is taking the place of God.

Discharge your doubt.

Wake up! The time of his coming draws near.

And one last thing, for now…

Remind your pastors that you don’t need to be coddled. Tell your shepherd to:

1.    Preach the word. Don’t try to see what we like. Just preach the truth. Don’t sugar coat it. If I need to sell all my stuff, then tell me.

2.    Disciple us. Don’t coddle us. Don’t find the lowest common denominator. Don’t lower the bar. We might have to put more steps in a dicipling process but don’t forsake it. Disciple us. Challenge us to be complete.

3.    Try to keep up. That’s right, challenge your pastor, whom you love dearly, to keep up. You are on your way to being overcomers. Look around you. We are on our way to another Great Awakening. Don’t give that up for anything, especially comfort or complacency.

If it is in the way of your discipleship and evangelism, get it out of the way. Sell it. Discard it. Give it away.

What might be in your way of keeping God in first place in your lives might just help someone else make it through the day or week.

Probably more than our money and stuff is our comfort. We so value our comfort in this nation.

Paul said that he could be content in all circumstances, and so can we. That’s not the same as being comfortable or complacent in every situation. We are content if we have a little or a lot, but we don’t do complacency. We don’t do slothfulness.

When the Spirit moves us or we hear that still small voice leading us, failure to act in the way God is leading us is sin for us.

Pick up your cross every day and do the things that we know God wants us to do. No excuses.

You can’t do too much for God.  You can’t out give God. And when he prompts us to act, we don’t go away sad because we might have to give up something in this world—of this temporary lodging facility—to give up something that is not eternal.

We respond with great joy in putting his words into practice.

When you next talk to your pastor, tell him or her to challenge you because you want to be a part—a big part in a small Oklahoma town—of the next Great Awakening.

If we will get off of our behinds and put his words into action, we might see this next Great Awakening in our time.

The times ahead may look dark but light is coming. Help bring that light, the truth, and faith in God through Christ Jesus to everyone you know.

Whatever you have to give up—money, things, comfort, status, or anything else that is encroaching on that number one spot—will seem like nothing compared to what is in store for us.

I’m going to add one thing here at the end. Let’s give up our self-pity.

Get in the fight!

Amen.  

Even when I don't want to...

 Read Mark 10:17-31

At last, we get to a person of status in the world coming to Jesus and falling down before him. How do we know the man had status.? If you read the full pericope, we find that the man had great wealth.

And here he was before Jesus, giving proper reverence. Finally!

The man begins the conversation with the words good teacher. It sounds like an appropriate greeting. It least acknowledges that Jesus was a teacher—a rabbi.

But Jesus focused on the word good. Why do you call me good? Only God is good.

Now Jesus had told many that he and his Father were one. Did this man know that talking with Jesus was the same as talking with God?

Jesus did not send the man packing because he called him good. In fact, he heard the man’s question and answered it. What was the question?

It was “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

That question bears some exploration. Let’s consider the infinitive in the sentence: to inherit. He didn’t say earn. It didn’t say win. He didn’t say achieve. He didn’t say to discover.

He said, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

What must I do to inherit eternal life? Inherit is different from earning or winning or achieving. Typically, the inheritance goes to an heir.

Was this man asking to be an heir in God’s kingdom? It is an interesting question, which Jesus goes on to answer.

Don’t murder. No side chicks If it’s not yours, don’t take it. Don’t lie or defraud. Treat your parents right. The list sounded very familiar to this young man.

He said, probably with a mix of relief and excitement, “I’ve done all of those!”

 Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, I’m in for sure! Yes!

Compliance is good. Obedience is good. Following directions is good and they all put you on a good path to having a relationship with God, but they are not everything.

Jesus said to go sell everything you have and give the proceeds to the poor.  Jesus said that following the rules is good. It is important, but it is not everything.

In Mark’s gospel, we find these words before Jesus told this rich young man—some say ruler—to go sell all that he had, we are told that Jesus looked at the man and loved him.

Ouch! What kind of love is that?

It’s the kind that says you are playing by the rules but missing the relationship.

It’s the kind of love that says God is a jealous God and you can’t have another god on the side. Your wealth is your god.  My Father in Heaven is coming in second place or lower in your life and that dog don’t hunt.

You need to value your relationship with my Father in heaven over the rules for good living. They are not in conflict with each other. In fact, you can’t really understand most of what they are all about if you are not in good relationship with the one true God.

If you want to understand what God is telling you in his word, you need the Sprit of God to guide you.

The rich young man verified the assessment of the Lord. The young man went away sad because he had a big stake in this world. He had much wealth. He had a lot of stuff.

The young man went away sad.  We don’t know if he did what he was told or not. Put that on the list of things to find out in the age to come.

I’ve been working on a proposal for an orientation package in heaven. It would include excursions. One to them would be to talk with this young man to see if he did what he was told.

Did he put the words of his Master into practice? It sounds like he knew that Jesus was from God. He may not have known he was the Messiah, maybe he did, but he knew this man was from God.

And Jesus had told him to do something that he really didn’t want to do. God told him to do something that he really didn’t want to do.

We don’t all need to sell everything we have. This is not a universal call to poverty. We are not taking a vow of poverty in lieu of the hymn of invitation this morning.

We don’t all need to sell everything, but you can bet we all need to do some things that Jesus told us to do that we don’t really want to do.

Such as?

Forgive. How many of us have a person or people that we have not forgiven. Why? Because we don’t want to! Forgive.

Don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing when we give.  Sometimes, we want a little acknowledgment when we give or give something extra. God says, that’s something personal between us.

God tells us to keep this between us. You want a personal relationship, this is personal.

How about love your enemy? That one is always going to be tough. It’s easier if you pray for your enemies while you are at it.

I don’t know what it is for you, but God is likely calling you to do something outside of your comfort zone. He is calling you to do something that you don’t want to do.

Do you know what it’s called when you do something outside of your comfort zone? It’s called growth, at least 95% of the time.

What about the other 5%?  Those are hold-my-beer moments that usually come with their own lessons learned.

If we are to truly grow, we need to put the words of our Master into practice, and that includes the things that we really don’t want to do.

Let me put it this way. Are you a Christian or a Christian Tourist?

What?

Do you live the words of Jesus or do you just know what he said and like to observe what people do without being on the playing field? The tourist is free to comment and advise but never gets any dirt under his fingernails from being a Christian.

Let me try it this way.  If you were accused of being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you?

What sort of evidence?  The kind that affirms you have put the words of your Master into practice—that evidence.  It’s hard evidence if it includes you doing what Jesus told you to do even if you don’t like it.

The disciples focused on the money and wealth part of this story which we discussed in the first service.  Today, I ask you to focus on doing those things that God told us to do with a special emphasis on those that we don’t like or don’t want to do or just those things we have been able to ignore before.

Maybe a false god is taking a prominent place in our lives and we need to kick him to the curb in favor of the one true God.

Your charge is to do the things that Jesus told you to do and don’t skip the hard ones. Don’t ignore his commands because you just don’t want to do that.

Your challenge is to put the words of our Master into practice, even those that we have been fighting hard for some time.  We must even do those things where our own understanding says, you get an exemption on that one.

No, we don’t!

The man went away sad because he had great wealth and it had taken the place of the one true God. The man still followed the rules but he was short on relationship with his Creator. He went through his Live the Good Life Checklist but missed the get to know the One who spoke it all into existence experience.

The man was only cheating himself out of abundant life. You have heard the quotes that the good keeps us from our best. There's a variation on this that works both ways, but for now, consider this.

This young man had it good—very good but he was missing out on abundant life in Christ—life in good relationship with God.

The question today is not so much what this rich young man did when he left, maybe he did what Jesus told him, and maybe not. The question is will we walk away sad when God calls us to do something that we don’t want to do?

The question is what will we do when Jesus calls us to do something that we just don’t want to do. Will we too be sad?

I have hated that person for a year now or is it two or ten. I can’t forgive them now.

I give what I give. Don’t be asking me for more, Jesus.

And this whole love your enemy business, that’s just too out there for me.

Let’s go back to the young man just for a moment. Before Jesus commanded him to sell everything, we read: Jesus looked at him and loved him.

Jesus told him to sell everything not as a test or evaluation but out of love.

The man wanted eternal life when he died. Jesus offered eternal life now.  Trade in your god of this world for the real God and follow me.  You have to kick the false god to the curb first—in your case that is your wealth—but then come follow me.

Do we not understand that God has good plans for us?  God has the very best in mind for us and in store for us. When will we let go of our own understanding and take on the yoke of our Master?

God has good plans for you.

God loves you.

If God tells you to do it and you don’t want to, you are fighting against your own best outcomes.  Father really does know best.

And when God calls us to something that we don’t like, we don’t go away sad. We do it with a smile on our faces knowing that God loves us and God has good plans for us.

We don’t go away sad. We step into whatever God has called us to do and we do it knowing it is for our own good and that the God who told us to do this thing also loves us very much.

Jesus looked at him and loved him, and then told him the thing he needed to hear and do the most—get rid of your false god and get to know the real God.

We will all have those moments when Jesus looks at us and loves us and tells us exactly what we need to hear and what we need to do.

Can we say these words with joy in our hearts and a smile on our faces?

Thy will be done!

God desires a wholesale exchange of everything that we seek before him for seeking him first. We can have no other gods that approach the one true God.

Do we not understand that God has good plans for us?  God has the very best in mind for us and in store for us. When will we let go of our own understanding and take on the yoke of our Master?

God has good plans for you.

God loves you.

Let us put his words into practice even when we don’t want to, with joy in our hearts and smiles on our faces for God loves us and has good plans for us.

Amen.