BS101109

TENSION!
First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa
October 11, 2009
Rev. Barry W. Szymanski, J.D.

The title to this morning's sermon is 'Tension!' It is titled 'Tension!' because an unnamed man approached Jesus expecting to be happier through his meeting Jesus, but instead walked away from that encounter saddened because of the stress of that conversation. Let's take a closer look at what happened.

For this reading, let's call that man by a name; I picked Alfred. Jesus was on the street of a village with children around him and Alfred just heard Jesus tell his disciples to let the children come to him. Then Alfred heard Jesus say, 'Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." Seeing a chance to meet Jesus, Alfred approached Jesus and greeted him with reverence by kneeling before him. Knowing about Jesus, and a little about what he taught, Alfred asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Alfred must have been very surprised when Jesus asked him, ‘Why do you call me good?' Alfred had to have looked at him with some astonishment, because Jesus then looked at Alfred as he explained, 'No one is good but God alone.'

I think Jesus anticipated what was in Alfred's mind, because Jesus then added, 'You know the commandments: The fifth Commandment is: 'Honor your father and your mother.' The sixth is: 'You shall not murder.' The seventh is: 'You shall not commit adultery.' The eighth is: 'You shall not steal. The ninth is: 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.' And the tenth is: 'You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, house, servants, nor anything that is your neighbor's.'

At this point Alfred was probably the happiest he had been in some time, for Jesus had just confirmed what Alfred already knew: he was living a good moral life, he was obeying the commandments. What Alfred was looking for was a pat-on-his-back from this good moral teacher who was also a miracle worker and that pat on the back would be, he expected, some words to the effect of, 'you-have-already-achieved-heaven-during-your-life.'

But then Alfred pushed ahead, and he told Jesus, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these and I have kept them from my youth until now.’ Notice, Alfred did not call Jesus a 'good teacher' this time, only teacher – he was a fast learner. Jesus looked at Alfred with love. Then Jesus said to Alfred, "There is one thing left: Go, sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me." You can picture the shock on Alfred's face when he heard Jesus tell him this.

This was the last thing that he expected to hear; for what he expected was that he was as close to heaven as a person on this earth could possibly be. Jesus had just burst the bubble that Alfred had built around himself. Jesus' invitation was the last thing he anticipated being called to. Alfred went away grieving. His heart was sad – heavy. He probably had many possessions. Alfred apparently owned a lot of things. And Jesus must have been saddened also, for we were told that he had looked upon Alfred with love, most likely because Alfred was so eager and upstanding.

After Alfred left, Jesus looked around and asked his disciples, 'Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who 'have it all' to enter God's Kingdom?' Remember that among Jesus' disciples at that time were Peter and others who had been fishermen. They owned boats and fishing equipment. They hired sailors and fishermen to take care of those boats. And another apostle, Matthew, was a tax collector. He was a man of money.

So the disciples were confounded, and their faces must have shown their confusion, for Jesus then explained himself further and told them that it is hard “ . . . to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

Mark's Gospel reports that the disciples "were greatly astounded" and I would like to add that they seemed to be baffled. It was reported that they were asking each other who had any chance at all of being saved? Jesus overheard them, looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’ What Jesus was telling them was that they had no chance at all of being saved if they thought that they could pull it off by themselves – but if they let God do it, then they had every chance in the world to be saved. You can imagine the wheels turning in Peter's head, for he had left his family, and his fishing boat and his fishing business behind.

So Peter spoke up and reminded Jesus that he and the others had “ . . . left everything and followed Jesus.’ Jesus told them that, ‘There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for His sake and for the sake of the message of good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age —houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with troubles and persecutions —and, in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will end up last, and the last will be first.’ There is a lot of tension in this passage. There is the tension of the man I just named Alfred who had been living a righteous life. There is the tension of Peter and the other disciples who had given up their families and their trades and their stuff to follow Jesus. And there is our tension – yours and mine – in middle class America, for how do we fit into this Gospel?

Do we dare to ask Jesus the same question? Because, if we do, are we to be given the same answer? So let us back up a bit to some history and some ideas on culture. First of all, at that time in history, there was the idea that a person was blessed by God as shown by his or her wealth – the wealthier the person, the more blessed they were – and the more blessed they were, then the closer to being saved.

By the way, for some people, including during the reformation, that idea persisted – and it persists over and over again, to this day. The converse was true: if a person was poor, they must have done something wrong in God's eyes, and that is why they were being punished. Or, even if it wasn't them, then it must have been their mother or father, or grandmother or grandfather, or even a prior generation. Jesus countered this when he announced his ministry.

Luke's Gospel [4.18] records that when Jesus was in the Synagogue as he began His 3 year active ministry, he opened the scroll and began to read the following passage and announced that it applied to him: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, . . .' Then, later Jesus taught the beatitude that, 'Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.' Luke 6.20.

The second point that is to be made is that when Jesus had his encounter with the man I am calling Alfred, Jesus recited the basics of the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth commandments to him. Jesus did not recite the two essential summary commandments. And Jesus did not recount the first four commandments, which are these: The first commandment is: 'You shall have no other gods before Me.' The second is: 'You shall not make for yourself any idol. The third commandment is: 'You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. And the fourth is: 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.'

The first commandment is pretty simple in its statement in the Book of Exodus, for it states, "You shall have no other gods before me." But the second commandment is quite long as it is written in the Book of Exodus. This is what it says, "You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments." Exodus 20:3-6

With that in mind let us go back to Mark's Gospel this morning, and look at what Jesus said to the man, Alfred. Alfred, you have kept all of the commandments I have listed for you; you have not murdered, committed adultery, didn't steal, don't lie, don't cheat, and you honor your mother and father. What Jesus did not ask Alfred was: Did you ever put any god in front of me?

He did not ask Alfred, Are you making idols for yourself in this world? And, Alfred, if you have made idols for yourself, do you worship those idols? -- do you bow down to them? Alfred, do you venerate your idols more than God? -- so that God is jealous of your devotion to your idols?

What Jesus may have known is what was in Alfred's heart – that what he owned, owned him. Let's explore poverty for a bit. On one hand there is the joy of intentional poverty: - the poverty of following Christ; - the poverty of living very green, that is very environmental; - the poverty of living as simply as one can.

On the other hand there is the sorrow of unintentional poverty: - the poverty before and after a bankruptcy; - the poverty of living under mounting bills; - the poverty of loss of a job; - the poverty of just not being able to make enough money to live properly. We are aware that culture dictates what we believe to be necessary. We – I – have become used to microwave ovens, cook tops, dishwashers, showers, air conditioning, central heat, one or more TV's of different sizes, surround sound, cell phones, instant internet access, clothes washers and dryers, clean clothes every day, and the list goes on, and we can add hobby equipment, boats, ATV's, and more ----- and more.

Those of us who are vintage cannot imagine that today's 12 year olds must have a cell phone and a laptop computer – in order to be part of society. Yet when we look at the recent images of disasters around the world, for example in American Samoa, and Malaysia, we see that many people have not just a lot less- they really have almost nothing in comparison to our culture.

And when we look at the statistics recently published in the U.S. we learned that the City of Milwaukee ranks 11th poorest of cities in the U.S. Poverty is not only in third world countries – but also in the U.S. – and very, very close to us!

So, let us take Jesus first message, that is, the poor are blessed by God also. Riches do not necessarily mean that the first shall be the first; and being poor does not inevitably mean that the last shall be last. In fact, the poor may be first in the kingdom. But then let us look at those first two commandments again, and the questions that beg to be answered, but not by someone else, but by each of us.

What idols do we put in front of God Himself? What idols are we making for ourselves in this world? Is money an idol – a deity? Is any revered possession of ours an idol? If you had a firebreak out in the home next to yours, and if you had 15 minutes to remove possessions in order to save them, which would they be? Is there something, which you own, that if it were destroyed you would feel crushed? What amount of money could you lose so much that you would feel that life is not worth living any more? Is there anything that you venerate more than God? -- so that God is jealous of your devotion to that idol? Is there anything that owns you? That owns you so much that you are a slave to it? And if that anything is not a thing, is it an emotion? - anger? - jealousy? - pride?

- overeating? - under-eating? - laziness? When we get done with whatever list we have, then I think that we will have the same perplexed attitude that the disciples had when they began to ask each other who had any chance at all of being saved? This is why we must rely on what Jesus said when he looked at them and told them that, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’

What Jesus is telling us is that we have no chance at all of being saved if we think that we can pull it off by ourselves – but if we let God do it, then we have every chance in the world to be saved. So, what is money? In Matthew's Gospel [5.3] it is recorded that Jesus teaches that: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' The question of money, simply put, is: Where are our priorities? Is money something to be hoarded for ourselves only? - or is it a tool to help others also? Is money to be shared? In other words, once we are comfortable ourselves, is there a call to help others?

At the beginning of this message I spoke of tension. There is a tension with money. That man I named Alfred experienced a lot of tension in his encounter with Jesus. We experience tension in just thinking about what we need to make us comfortable financially in this life. How much is enough? For some people, there is never enough. For other people, they give until it hurts. The matters raised in this Gospel reading and in this sermon give rise to tension. There are no easy answers. We can only look within ourselves.

The reading from the Book of Hebrews does not help much either! The passage does not give comfort. This is what the author tells us: “ . . . the word of God is living and active, [the word of God is] sharper than any surgeon’s scalpel or sword, [the word of God] pierces until it divides soul from spirit, as a knife cuts joints from marrow; [the word of God] is able to see our doubts and to judge the thoughts and intentions of our heart." In short, God knows everything; including our attitude toward possessions and money.

The author continues, "Before God no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account." Just as Jesus tells us that with God all is possible, the author of Hebrews reminds us that Jesus is our great High Priest who has ready access to God. We do not have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. Jesus has been through weakness and testing, he has experienced it all—all but the sin.

Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." The final question is: When is that time of need? Jesus slipped one in on all of us when he answered Peter's question with his response that ‘there is no one who has left house or family 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, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.'

Notice that slipped in phrase, ‘ . . . with persecutions . . .' We almost miss it. Yet there it is: as the author of Hebrews says, it is naked before us: ‘ . . . with persecutions . . .' Jesus does not paint an easy canvas for us. He makes it very clear: follow me and there will be blessings in abundance, but mixed with those blessings will be, ‘ . . . persecutions . . .'

What we live with in earth is tension. There is tension as we receive both blessings and persecutions. There is tension in both having riches and knowing we must share. There is tension in both leaning toward the joy of simplicity in poverty and our culture of material things. There is tension in our often wanting more, yet in knowing that who we are is of more importance that what we own and that how we share is more important than how much we have.

Let us pray,

Lord God, your son, Jesus, has reminded us through the man with possessions, that what we own will not lead us into your kingdom, and that what we own will not give us the power or the prestige to buy our way into the heart of your Son. Lord, Jesus taught us that the riches of our very being are in who we are, which is shown by how we love you, and how we love those around us. Lord, may we not be trapped by idols, but may we be blessed by being poor in spirit, so that we own stuff, but that stuff does not own us. And, Lord, give us the grace and strength to endure whatever persecutions may come our way. Amen.

Hebrews 4:12-16

Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before God no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account. Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

READINGS

Mark 10:17-31

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.” ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’

Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ 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 good news, 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.’

Hebrews 4:12-16

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.