Sermon 20th October 2024 – 22nd Sunday after Pentecost
Text: Mark 10:35-45 –
Trusting in God
I don’t know about you but I
get annoyed when I’m asked an open question like – what are you doing tomorrow?
Or, are you free on Friday? The problem is, yes I might be free on Friday but I
might not want to commit to something you’re going to ask me to do. Yes, I’m
free on Friday – “Good, can you drive me to the airport”. It’s hard to say NO
if I’ve said I’m free on Friday. It would be better to lead with your request –
“Could you drive me to the airport on Friday” which then gives me an
opportunity to consider the request.
I wonder if Jesus felt that
pressure when James and John come up to him and say: Teacher, we want you to do
for us whatever we ask of you. What’s Jesus supposed to say? If it were me I
would respond by saying – ‘well, it depends on what you ask”. But Jesus, ever
confident of his ability to read the hearts and minds of people isn’t afraid to
reply - What is it you want me to do for you? And then their request comes. They
want positions of power in Jesus’ kingdom. We want to sit – one on your left
and one on your right when you come into your glory. Jesus is so much more
patient that I am but I guess that’s what St Paul discovered in 1 Corinthians
13 – love is patient and kind.
It was not that long ago
when Jesus caught them arguing amongst themselves who was going to be the
greatest. On that occasion Jesus instructs them - “Anyone who wants to be first
must be the very last, and the servant of all. And now he has to go through it
all again - whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and
whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. And this was the
problem of the rich young man last week who came up to Jesus with concerns
about his salvation and asks: What must I do to inherit eternal life. I’ve
tried everything – I’ve kept the commandments since my youth. But notice which
commandments he had been keeping: ‘You
shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall
not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother. These
are what we call the 2nd Table of the Commandments. The commandments on how I
love my neighbour.
Jesus, again, knowing the
hearts and minds of those who come to him knew that he had missed the greatest
of commandments- to love God with all
your heart, soul, mind and strength, This young man had loved his wealth
because it was what he relied on to give him comfort and assurance. And, as
Luther explained in the Large Catechism on the First Commandment: Anything you
set your heart on and rely on is really your god. As a result the rich young
man could find no comfort and assurance when it came to eternal life because it
is a gift of God that is received. That’s why his question was wrong – what
must I do.
But what does trust in God
and reliance on him look like? What does “loving God with all our heart, soul,
mind and strength” look like? It looks like Job and his suffering which we have
in first reading. Job is a sad story. Job is a person who loves God with all
his heart but Satan is convinced that Job only does so because God is good to
him. God says to Satan: “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on
earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns
evil.” Satan replied. “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Have you not
put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have
blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread
throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he
has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” When Job loses everything he
still loves God with all his heart - Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and
naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of
the Lord be praised.” So Satan makes it personal - “Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for
his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and
he will surely curse you to your face.” Job is afflicted with painful sores
from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
His wife even tells him to
curse God and die. To which he replies - You are talking like a foolish woman.
Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?
That’s what it means to
trust and rely on God – in the good times and in the difficult times – in times
of comfort and times of suffering. Job’s friends try to get to the bottom of
his suffering telling him to dig deeper and deeper – surely bad things don’t
happen to good people.
And after all their
ponderings God answers with today’s reading: Where were you when I laid the
foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its
measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were
its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone when the morning stars sang
together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy?
Trust and relying on God is
knowing that God is our creator and that he loves and cares for us. We need
never doubt God’s love for us even in times of great suffering, like Job. And
that’s because we remember that God’s greatest expression of love has come to
us when he sent Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Who came to die for us to
remove any doubt of our assurance of eternal life.So there is nothing we DO to
inherit eternal life – we receive as children of God. And so it doesn’t matter
whether we are sitting at Jesus’ left or right – because God’s love for us is
complete in Jesus wherever we are. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house
of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
And as we heard last week in
our Hebrews reading, Jesus is our great High Priest who empathises with our
suffering because he has gone through all that we have but without sin. And as
we hear today, it was through his suffering that he learned obedience and by
that he received the greatest of honours. The name above all names at which everyone
must confess him as Lord and bow the knee. And that’s what we need to trust –
that when we love God with all our heart that we trust him with everything that
goes on – even if we don’t understand it. And being a Christian means that we
have to drink the cup of suffering which is not easy – even Jesus acknowledged
that in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Father, if You are willing, take this cup
from Me. Yet not My will, but Yours be done.” It will mean being baptised with
the Baptism Jesus underwent who was then thrown into the wilderness where he
was tempted by Satan. But, as Hebrews reminds us – he was tempted but did not
sin which means we can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that
we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Whatever your time of need
is there is comfort available to you not through what the world might deem as
success and achievement but by placing yourself under Christ and trusting him. Peter
couldn’t accept that path of suffering and was rebuked by Jesus – get behind me
Satan. In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications,
with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and
he was heard because of his reverent submission.
And Jesus continues to offer
up prayers and petitions for you. So keep trusting in him whatever your time of
need is and know that you are always under his care.
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