Sermon 10th October 2021 – 20th Sunday after Pentecost
Text: Mark 10:17-31 – Heart surgery
I find the question put to Jesus
today rather strange. A man ran up and knelt before Jesus, and asked him, “Good
Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? I find Jesus’ response even
stranger that he did not correct him. There is nothing we can do to inherit
anything. An inheritance is not earned it is received. It is given to us by
someone. It is not a case of what we “do” to earn an inheritance; it is a
matter of who we are that entitles us to receive an inheritance.
I’m not a lawyer but as I understand
it there are 2 ways that can happen. First, that a person names you in their
last will and testament to receive an amount from their estate when they die. Or,
secondly, that you are a descendant or dependant with a right to claim from an
estate in case there is no last will and testament or you believe you have been
unfairly left out. So an inheritance is not about what we DO but about who we
are.
Now Jesus knows this but as usual he
tries to turn this person away from this “doing” to looking at their heart. He’s
done that many times – whether it be the Canaanite woman who claimed her rights
as a dog to the crumbs that fall from
the masters table or the accusers of the adulterous woman – look at your heart.
And so Jesus does the same today. Jesus says to him – well, if it’s about doing
- 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. But the man could not find the answer
or the comfort of eternal life despite having “done” all these things since his
youth. NOW Jesus is able to challenge this man to look at his heart: 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.
Now, on the surface this looks like
another “doing” but it’s not. Because Jesus knows this is something he cannot
do. Jesus has worked out where his heart is truly focused – on his possessions.
So he says – get rid of those possessions, follow me and you’ll have treasures
in heaven. Now we know that this is not about “doing” by getting rid of his
possessions but about his heart because this is what Jesus says in his sermon
on the mount – Do not store up for
yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where
thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and
steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
So while this man was so focused on
his possessions for earthly assurance, he was stopping himself from having
eternal assurance.
Our reading from the book of Hebrews
points out the same need for heart surgery by the Word of God: 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. The Word of God, acts like a surgeon’s scalpel
cutting through all that is blocking the beating of the heart. Cutting through
the outer shell to get to the inside; It divides soul from spirit – joints from
marrow.
Sometimes our hearts are so blocked,
like the man in our Gospel reading, that the 2 edge sword is needed to cut away
whatever it is that is preventing us from living in and appreciating God’s
Kingdom in our lives. In each person it’s different. In the man in our Gospel
reading it was his possessions that were controlling his life. For some it can
be their anger at the moment about the way life is going in this pandemic. For
some it may be an inability to forgive someone for the hurt they have done to
them.
At the moment I believe it is fear
that is diverting a lot of people away from their faith and trust in God and
causing much spiritual damage – like the man in our Gospel reading. Remember a
few weeks ago when Jesus spoke about our eyes, hands and feet causing us to
stumble by the things we participate with in our lives.
This is similar but it looks at the
heart to see what blockages there are to prevent us from letting go of our
fears and trusting God with our lives. It is daunting to let go of those things
that we hang on to.
And at the moment fear is sapping
many people of their faith and trust in God. We look at the numbers. We look at
the statistics. We look at the exposure sites. We listen to the grim outlooks. This
is not denying their reality but we are called to not look away from God.
Remember Peter – when he looked away
from Jesus and focused on the wind and the waves he began to sink.
Were the wind and the waves real – of
course they were. But when he focused on them he lost his faith in Jesus. It’s
the same with the disciples in the boat. Peter denying Jesus. Peter drawing his
sword when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus. Focusing away from Jesus and
focusing on the surrounds. That was the man in the Gospel readings problem. He
was so focused on his possessions that he didn’t realise that the one giving
him eternal life was standing there in front of him and he didn’t need to do
anything.
Jesus assures us that by letting go
of our fears and the earthly things we cling to to help us that we can
experience immeasurable blessings – much more than the blessings that our
possessions or whatever else it is we are hanging on to. St Paul says a similar
thing in Colossians Chapter 3: Since you have been raised with Christ, set your
hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set
your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life
is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then
you also will appear with him in glory. Notice the present tense of our eternal
assurance: You HAVE been raised with Christ. So set your HEARTS on things above
where Christ IS.
Listen to what Jesus tells Peter
about how our earthly focus prevents eternal blessings now: Peter said: “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 Gospel, 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. Notice that
Jesus is not just saying that the blessings are only in Heaven. No, he says
that our rewards will be hundredfold in this life – and in the age to come it
will be eternal life. And neither did he say that there isn’t suffering when we
give up our earthly assurances – no, they come with persecutions.
But let us remember that when we let
go of our earthly fears and earthly assurances that we see Jesus more clearly
and we see – We have a high priest who is able to sympathize with our
weaknesses, who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. And
because we now see Jesus more clearly we are able to approach the throne of
grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in
time of need. And that time of need is now so let us find those things that are
preventing our focus on Jesus and allow the double edged sword of God’s word to
cut them from our lives. The double edged sword, like a doctor’s scalpel may
need to cut deep but it cuts in order to heal. Both now and in eternity.
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