All Things Are Possible With God

Mark 10:23-31 Last week in our Gospel lesson we met a young man that any of us would be proud to call our son.  He was an honorable, upright, respectful, decent person.  His wealth was a testimony to his diligence and intelligence.

He was even concerned about things that really, eternally matter and came to Jesus with a question:  “What must I do to be saved?”  And Jesus answered his question in the way he asked it:  what the young man had to do, Jesus said, was to keep the commandments—and Jesus went on to list the commandments.  The young man assured Jesus that he had kept all of them from his youth.

Now we may raise our eyebrows at this statement—it’s difficult for us to imagine that the young man had never, not once, failed to keep some small detail of the law—but Jesus seemed to accept it—for the moment.  He said:  “There is still just one small thing that you lack:  If you would be perfect, go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor and come and follow me and you will have treasures in heaven”.  But the young man went away sorrowful for he had many possessions.

It was just one small thing that he lacked—but of course, it was everything-- because it kept him from eternal life. 

What Jesus wanted the young man to know- and the disciples to know- and what he wants us to know sitting here this morning, is that when it comes to our salvation, what we cannot do—God CAN do—for nothing is impossible with God.  After the young man left in sorrow, the Bible says that:

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”  And the disciples were amazed at his words.

            The Jews of that day, like so much of the false Christianity of our day, had the mistaken view that if someone had been materially blessed by God—the same would be true of their spiritual condition.  But the truth of the matter, Jesus said, was that wealth made it more difficult for folks to enter the kingdom of God.

Maybe you’re saying to yourself, “Whew!  Today’s the first day that I can honestly say that I’m glad I’m not wealthy”!  But of course you are!  That you know where your next meal is coming from makes you far wealthier than the vast majority of people in our world today.  We certainly have much, more wealth than food for our next meal.  In fact, we are vastly wealthier than our parents and grandparents who could not have imagined the luxuries that we regard as necessities.

But the material blessings that God intends for our good, these same blessings-- the world, our flesh, and the devil twist and distort and misuse and shape into an idol that we look to for our comfort and security and confidence and peace—all of the things that we should find in God alone. 

And that idolatry in our hearts that looks to the gift rather than the Giver—that idolatry that turns our attention to ourselves and what we do--is the greatest impediment to entering the kingdom of heaven—not just for the young man—not just for the disciples--not just for the very wealthy—but for all of us here today.  Jesus said:   

“Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 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.”

            On occasion I have tried to thread a needle and my eyesight is such that I can’t even do that.  And then to think about trying to get a piece of yarn through the eye of a needle or a rope through the eye of a needle is simply not possible.  But Jesus goes even farther than that:  it is more difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven that for a camel to go through the eye of the needle.

But that’s impossible!  Exactly!  That is the spiritual place that Jesus was trying to bring the rich young man to when he told him to be perfect-- and that is where he is trying to bring us to this morning—to get us to see the impossibility of anything that we possess or do-- making a place for us in the kingdom of God. 

That spiritual impossibility is where we need to be BEFORE we can hear and rejoice in the Good News that what is impossible for us when it comes to our salvation—is possible with God.  The Bible says that the disciples:

…were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

            Seeing the impossibility of making a place in God’s kingdom on the basis of what they had or what they did, the disciples’ question was no longer:  “what must I do”?  The question was no longer “what do I possess”?  But now the question was:  “who can be saved”?

It was necessary for the young man-- and it was necessary for the disciples --and it is necessary for us-- to recognize that what we need for salvation:  is not stricter obedience to the law-- or more charity to our neighbor.  What we need for salvation is a Savior.

            What we could not do on our own if we had a thousand lifetimes to do it—God has done for us in sending us his Son.  What we could not buy if we were the wealthiest person in the world—God gives to us as a free gift of his gracious love.  God did the impossible for our salvation when he sent Jesus to be our Savior.

            The One who cannot be contained by the universe, made his home in a Virgin’s Womb.  The One who is from everlasting to everlasting, entered into human history and lived a life like ours.  The One who is the source and sustainer of all life—died on a cross.

Jesus really was the one—the only one—who perfectly fulfilled the words that he spoke to the young man when he commanded him to give way all that he had for that is exactly what he did as he made himself nothing and laid down his life for us on the cross: 1. for all the times that we have thought that our life with God is about what we have done or what we possess—2. for all those times that we have not recognized Jesus as good—3. for all the times we turned a blind eye to our neighbor’s need. 

Jesus’ resurrection is the proof that our Savior is not only the God of possibilities—but he is the God of promise-- who does the impossible when it comes to our salvation.

That is what Jesus wanted the young man and the disciples to know and it’s what he wants us to know—so that believing in the God who does the impossible when it comes to our salvation—we can let loose of all those things that have a hold on us (whether it is our possessions or our self-righteousness) and open our hand of faith to receive the blessings of salvation that Jesus has earned on the cross.  The Bible says that:

Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.”  Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.

            Peter and the disciples witnessed the entire episode with the rich young man.  They heard the words of Jesus to sell all that he had and give it to the poor and then come and follow him.  They saw him walk away in sorrow with his head hung low, knowing that he loved wealth more than God.

 But the disciples had done the very thing Jesus asked of them.  What did this mean for their lives as his disciples?  What does it mean for us?  Jesus promises gain—not loss.

And so what is Jesus talking about when he tells Peter that he will receive a hundredfold of everything he has given up for the kingdom of God?  Are the TV preachers of wealth and health really right and Christianity is really just a fail-proof get rich scheme?  Of course not! 

The point is this:  when it comes to our life as Jesus’ disciples, letting go of everything that has a hold of us does not impoverish us—but enriches us.  Life in the kingdom of God is forgiveness and peace and eternal life.  But it is also something that begins right now in the church-- in the relationships we share and the care we extend to one another.

            Those sitting around you in these pews-- and in the Church throughout the world-- are your brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers in Christ.  This church is your home.  You are not alone in the hardships that come with being a Christian.

When we open our hand to our fellow believer we don’t have to be afraid that the Lord won’t fill it up again.  And in this way we learn to trust God and serve our neighbor.

            What the young man did not realize-- and what he did not have the faith to discover-- is that if he had given up everything for Jesus—he would have still lacked nothing with Jesus. 

Jesus promised that he has come to give life and give it to the full and that seeking his kingdom first, all other things would be provided unto us.  He said that when it came to his kingdom the first would be last and the last would be first. 

By every measure but one, the rich young man who came to Jesus was first.  He had plenty of possessions and a prominent place in society.  He was the envy of his peers.  But he was last in what really matters.

There were others around Jesus who were the last in that society—the poor and the broken and those who had been notorious sinners—and yet in all that really mattered (in eternal things) they were first because they believed that in Jesus they had a God who could do the impossible for their salvation:  a Savior who would make a place for them in his kingdom that they could not earn or buy for themselves.

May God grant us the same faith:  that when it comes to our salvation—God does the impossible in Jesus!  Amen.