Don’t kid yourself

Mark 10:17-27 As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" ¹⁸ "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good-- except God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'" ²⁰ "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy." ²¹ Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." ²² At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. ²³ Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" ²⁴ The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." ²⁶ The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?" ²⁷ Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."

 

It’s fun to play peek-a-boo with a baby. You put your hands in front of your face and it’s like you’ve disappeared. You pull your hands away and she starts giggling because it’s like you just reappeared. It’s easy to convince a three-year-old that there’s a monster under the bed. Children will believe just about anything. Whether it is playing with Legos or dress-up or make-believe, kids have a lot of fun kidding around.

In our Gospel lesson, Jesus met a man who was kidding himself. The big problem was that he didn’t realize it, and he wasn’t having fun, either. This man runs up to Jesus and kneels before Him – maybe that’s how we can tell he was a young man, he can still run and kneel. He asks Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Apparently, he has a gnawing feeling that something isn’t right – he’s not sure if he’s done enough to gain eternal life. But he figures that Jesus is the hot, young rabbi everybody is talking about, so maybe he might have the answer.

But there are a few problems with the young man’s question. First, he addresses Jesus as “Good Teacher,” as though He’s just another rabbi – maybe a really good rabbi, an insightful rabbi, but that’s it. He doesn’t realize that Jesus is, in fact, the very Son of God in human flesh.

The other problem is that he asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” He saw salvation as something he must do, something he must earn or work towards. And we can assume that he was a man that people respected. He is financially successful. He is a man of moral integrity, honoring his parents, speaking truthfully, dealing honestly. He’s a religious person who takes the Ten Commandments seriously. He talks the talk and walks the walk. You would be happy to have this man dating your daughter – I wouldn’t – but you would.

The rich young man had fooled himself into thinking he had led a good enough life to get into heaven on his own merits. The problem was not with his works. He is “spiritual.” He is sincere. He truly wants to be saved. But works, spirituality and sincerity save no one. The road to hell is full of very pious, spiritual and sincere people.

The problem for the rich man lies in the question itself. “What must I do to inherit eternal salvation?” So Jesus gives him a lists of God’s do’s and don’ts. “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

Like this rich young man, how often don’t we kid ourselves into thinking that we are better than we are? That we deserve health because we’ve taken care of our bodies from youth? That we are entitled to a comfortable life because we’re pretty faithful at worship? That we shouldn’t have trouble with our teenagers or in our marriage or at work because we’re such good parents and spouses and employees? That we have earned a comfortable suite in God’s heavenly mansion because we’re such good Christian people?

Friends, don’t kid yourselves. Look deeply at yourself in the mirror of God’s Law. “Honor your father and mother.” Have you always obeyed your parents? Have you always been respectful to other authorities God has placed over you – government, teachers, pastors?

“Do not murder.” OK, you may score pretty well on the 5^th Commandment. You haven’t killed anybody, literally. But what about hurting or harming your neighbor in his body? Or tearing down her reputation with your words? Or seeking revenge with your thoughts?

“Do not commit adultery.” Well, there’s divorce, living together outside of marriage, lustful thoughts, sexual images, course humor. You’ve failed again. It gets kind of frustrating, doesn’t it?

And that’s the point! You and I fail the test. The rich young man failed the test, even though in his uber-spirituality, he didn’t think so. Jesus wants him and us to realize our sin, to come to grips with our lack of righteousness, and thus the realization that we cannot do anything to inherit eternal salvation on our own.

Jesus attempts to shine the light of His Law even more brightly upon the man’s sin-darkened heart by essentially asking him, “Have you also kept the 1^st Commandment by not having any gods before the true God?” And the man did. It was his money. The rich young man’s wealth ultimately was his god. He loved and trusted in his money more than the Lord God Himself. “One thing you lack,” Jesus said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”  At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.  He was kidding himself about how good he really was. And he realized that it wasn’t funny. He went away sad.

What about you? Are you going to walk away from Jesus? What do you fear, love and trust above Jesus? What hinders you from trusting God’s promise to take care of everything both now and forever? What idol forbids you from following Jesus? Have your gifts become gods? Has what God has given you actually become more important that the One who gives it? So important that you will not let go of it … or maybe you cannot let go, because you cannot imagine life without it?

You may think you’re fine, like the rich young man, and that money is not a problem for you. But how stressed do you become when you have emergency bills? How anxious are you when you are laid off from work? How does your mood change with the constant fluctuation of food and gas prices? You feel stress and anxiety because these things have trumped your trust in God.

Mark adds a little commentary in the middle of this account. It’s a little verse you may miss, but it is so important. “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” That’s the crux of it all right there! Standing in front of the rich young man was someone giving exactly what he needed and craved. It is the difference between all of our false gods and the one true God. There is only one God who loves you. All of our idols cannot handle our fears, our concerns, our guilt. They may promise us a good time, a heaven on earth, but they can only deliver hell. Our other gods take; the One true God gives. Our other gods leave us empty; the One true God fills us with His comfort and forgiveness. Our other gods give us sorrow and death; only the One true God delivers us the joy and eternal life He promises.

Stop kidding yourself. Let go of all your idols and all your stuff. Because, unless and until you can put your big, sinful, camel-self through the eye of a needle, you will never get yourself into the kingdom of heaven.  The disciples understood that and that’s why they immediately asked, “Then who can be saved?

Jesus answered, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Salvation is possible with God, because what has God done so that we might inherit – not gain — eternal life? He didn’t fit a camel through the eye of a needle. He did something much greater. In love, He put His almighty and infinite Son through a virgin’s womb. This was done so that His Son, now clothed in our flesh and blood, could love us to death – His death. So that we, who are dead in our trespasses and sins and clinging to our false gods, might be loved to life. Jesus comes to give us what no one and nothing else can – love. True love. Divine love. Eternal love.

In love, Jesus does the impossible. He is born of a virgin so He is without the taint of original sin. Impossible. He heals the blind, the deaf, the mute, the demon-possessed. Impossible. He raises a little girl, an only son and a brother from the dead. Impossible. He was without sin, yet judged as a criminal. Impossible. He came to save His own, but His own would not receive Him. Impossible. He was crucified, died and buried for the sins of the world. Impossible. And on the third day His tomb was empty. Impossible. Jesus does the impossible because you and I can’t. His impossible deeds make it possible for us to inherit eternal salvation.

Jesus is the Good Teacher, the Great God, who became human flesh to live the perfect life and keep the Ten Commandments that we, in our sinful human flesh cannot keep perfectly. For all the times we have dishonored our parents, while He was dying, Jesus took care of His mother. For the times we have hated and killed with our thoughts and words, Jesus forgave even those who were murdering Him. Jesus took our adultery and gave us His righteousness. He was divorced from the Triune God while on the cross for our divorces. He is the One true God who crushes all our other false gods under His righteous feet.

As I said in the beginning of the sermon, children can have fun kidding themselves. But adults, too, have funny ways of kidding themselves. Last month, I ran a few times with our WLS cross country team. I felt like I was in pretty good shape – I was right in the middle of the pack … of grade schoolers. I told Mr. Patterson, “Anytime you need a pace runner for the 4^th grade girls, I’m your guy.” Or what about you? You still have that pair of pants in your closet that you plan to fit into again … someday.

Sadly, we kid ourselves about something far more serious than the shape of our health or our waistline. We kid ourselves about our own righteousness and salvation. But that’s where Jesus comes along in His great love. In love, Jesus told the rich young man, not what he wanted to hear, but what he needed to hear. The man needed to learn the hopelessness of his situation. He needed to stop kidding himself. He had to understand that he needed a Savior outside of himself. That’s how Jesus showed His love to this man – even if it meant that the man walked away sorrowful.

Jesus loves us the same way. He teaches, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!” He wants us to stop kidding ourselves about how good and righteous we are. Stop kidding ourselves about how well we keep His Commandments and always put Him first in our lives. Stop kidding ourselves about how we can enter the kingdom of God on our own. In love, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to work through the mirror of God’s Law and show us the depths of hell we have earned for ourselves. He shows us the true hopelessness of our good works. It is at the lowest point that the Holy Spirit brings us the soothing message of the Gospel in Jesus Christ. When we realize that there is no hope in ourselves, then the Holy Spirit can show us the only hope that is found in God. When you put your head down because you can’t do the impossible, then you can lift up your head and behold the One who can!

Jesus is the almighty and infinite Son of God who does something much greater than putting a camel through the eye of a needle – He puts His body into your mouth and His blood over your parched lips; He constantly absolves your continual sins; He daily washes you in your baptismal waters. He wants you to stop kidding yourself by clinging to your righteousness and all your stuff. Instead, let go of the things of this world and cling only to Jesus. He will make you into a child of God who can then enter into the kingdom of God. Amen.