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David Orendorff        Mark 10:17-31        October 18, 2009

The rich young man has everything and it is not enough.  We know it is not enough because he comes to Jesus asking for more.  He has gotten all that is available with his money.  He has land.  He has servants to stoke the fire and keep him warm, to work his fields, to keep his books, to do his laundry and cook his meals.  His clothes are made for him and he has had a fine education.  But all he has is not enough and so he comes to Jesus and asks for the one thing he cannot buy, he asks for “eternal life” or “life in all times.”

We hold the relentless idea that being rich will give us joy.  But the most casual observation makes this idea a lie.  True joy in life is not the product of wealth.  The lack of correlation between wealth and joy was brought home to me when I had a chance to live among the poor in Mexico.  Though these families were very poor they were very happy, even joyful.  And their generous sharing out of their poverty was very humbling.

In his plea to Jesus the rich young man flatters Jesus by calling him “good.” Jesus first corrects the young man asking why he would call him good when only God is good.  We could, but won’t, spend a lot of time here.  Good implies keeping the laws that God has set and so Jesus, acknowledging that he isn’t good, asks the young man how good he has been, how well he has kept the laws of Moses to not murder to not commit adultery, to not steal, to not bear false witness, to not defraud, to honor your father and mother.

The young man is not as humble as Jesus for he says with a straight face, “Teacher, (note he has dropped the “good”) I have kept all these since my youth.”  And here there is a graceful moment in the story.  In spite of the man’s arrogance and lack of honest self-reflection, Jesus tells him how he might “inherit eternal life.”

Isn’t grace amazing?  Jesus will give to this young man the secret of eternal life even though he doesn’t deserve it.  No one has kept the Ten Commandments in the 3500 years since they were codified.  Only God is truly good.  The gift of eternal life has little to do with being good enough.  The rules are sign posts, guides, paradigms and parameters by which to order life.  They are not the way to heaven in this life or the next.

So what does Jesus tell this rich young man to do?  You know it and if you are like the rich young man, like most folks, it frightens you; it certainly frightens me and so we immediately go to the “yah buts.”

Yah but, if I sell all I own then I will be poor and just add to the misery of the world.  Yah but, if I sell all I own then I won’t have anything with which to help the poor.  Yah but, if I sell all I own then I will be miserable and unhappy.

The “yah buts” overwhelm the rich young man.  He is shocked and goes away grieving for he has many possessions.  We don’t know what happens to him next.  All we know is that this rich young man is in grief over the choice using his wealth for himself or for the poor.  What he eventually will do we don’t know.

What will we do?  We have that same choice, don’t we?  We, even the poorest among us, are rich.  We have so much food that diet books are best sellers.  We have horseless chariots with wheels and wings.  We have slaves that wash and dry our clothes.  We have hundreds of court tutors, actors and musicians that live in a box for our entertainment.  We have everything and we find it not enough.

Our joy is not in our stuff. It is in what we do with our stuff.  When we use it for our own selfish ends there is no joy.  When we use it for the good of others there is great joy.  The challenge to the rich young man and to us is in how we use our wealth.  Do we use the stuff we have to only feed ourselves, or do we use it to serve the hungry that surround us?

Behind Jesus advice to the rich young man is the biblical view of wealth.  We tend to think of our stuff as our stuff.  But in the biblical view everything is God’s.  The wealth we have, the mechanical servants, the toys with which we play, our homes, our clothing, all that we call ours is Gods.  The final evidence for this is that when we die we don’t get to keep any of our stuff.  It goes to the living, to God’s next generation, for their use.

So if the stuff really isn’t ours, but is loaned to us as we pass this way, then we are not owners but caretakers and stewards.  The homes, cars, clothes and food we use are on loan to us and we are its loving stewards.  The beauty of the earth is a gift to us and we are its loving gardeners.  Even the people we love are not ours but gifts of God to us for our joy and care as we pass this way. To see life as a gift to be treasured and cared for is the foundation of eternal life and the way of joy.

There is a simple example of this in my life.  Vickie and I like to cook.  But when Vickie is gone I mostly eat whatever junk is in the fridge.  I do not enjoy eating alone.  I know that I am not alone in this for eating alone is a major health issue for most all those who are single.  What I enjoy is sitting to dine with Vickie.  And my joy is compounded when family and friends join us. Joy comes not in me eating all the sandwiches but in my sharing a meal with others.  In this sense every meal is Holy Communion.

We have been blessed by God with wealth and we enjoy that wealth.  But our lives are the most eternal, the most joyful, when we are able to share God’s gifts to us with others.  This is the most fundamental and consistent teaching we have on eternal life.  Again and again in commandment, story, argument we are told that loving God, neighbor and self is the most joy filled way to be alive.  In another passage Jesus says it this way, “What does it profit someone to gain the whole world and lose their life? (Mark 8:36 and parallels).  Life must be done with others or it is death.  And again when the disciples are arguing about who is greatest Jesus teaches: “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all. (Mark 9:35-37)” Servant compassion is our way to life in all times, to eternal life.  Compassionate generosity is the spirit of God’s heart and hands alive in our hearts and hands.

I confess that even though I know all this I still will not go out, sell all I own, and give it to the poor.  I find no heroism in becoming one of the poor.  I am no Jesus.  I am not St. Francis or Mother Teresa, who though from wealthy families, gave all they had to the poor.  I am no Bill and Melinda Gates who, no matter what else we might think of them, have established a foundation that is tackling some the poor’s most devastating diseases and underwriting many literacy programs.  I am not the Sakuma Brothers in Skagit Valley trying to simultaneously keep a berry business solvent and serve the poor immigrants of Mexico.  I am not Mimi Johnson who takes her skills as a doctor to the street youth of Seattle.  I am not a teacher like several of you who sacrifice income to care for children and youth.  I am not a lot of you who use what wealth you have to compassionately serve a world in need.

But I also confess to you that the stuff I have brings me the most joy when I live frugally and share generously.  Vickie and I have for years set a tithe (10%) of our gross income aside as a minimum for charitable work.  We have never seriously been in want but have always felt the kingdom of heaven close.  I am a rich young man who has been blessed with much, truly everything, and has the opportunity to share what I have with those in need.

This week most of you will be receiving a letter from the Stewardship Committee inviting you to think generously and “Grow One Step” in your financial generosity to Bear Creek and her ministries.  May I, may all of us, make the choice of compassionate generosity over self indulgent accumulation.  It is the way to “eternal life,” to “life in all times.”

Shalom and Amen.