"Come, Follow Me" (Mark 10:17-22)

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: 

“And Jesus, looking at [the rich young man], loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, see all that you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me’” (Mark 10:21).

 

You may not consider yourself to be rich. But if you have a refrigerator and a car and you can afford to go out to eat ever so often, you are considered “rich” by worldly standards. 

 

You see, an American family at the official poverty line has an income that puts them in the top three percent of the world’s people. If your income is the average household income that would mean that you are not merely a one-percenter compared to the world; an average American household income puts you in the top of the one-quarter of one percent in the world.[1]

 

So, no matter where you are: as a cashier, a factory worker, a banker, a farmer – you are rich. But that is okay. There is no sin in having money. And Jesus loves rich people, including you and me. Rich people need the love of Jesus.

 

One day as Jesus was setting out on His journey, a rich man, like you and me, ran up to Jesus and knelt before Him and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17)

 

It appears that this man has figured out the answer to his own question, but he wants Jesus’ approval. You see, this man assumes that he has the necessary ability to easily reach eternal life.

 

So, Jesus responds to the question saying, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18). Now, Jesus is not arguing with the man or trying to one-up the man. Jesus is getting to the heart of the issue. It was certainly rare in Jewish circles to address a man as “good,” since “good” was reserved for God. 

So, does this indicate that this man believes that Jesus is divine? Or could this be ironic? Or simply flattery? We don’t know. But Jesus continues getting to the heart of the issue.

 

He says, “You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother’” (Mark 10:19).

 

So, why did Jesus choose these commandments? Well, it’s likely that these commandments were the ones that the rich young man was most sure that he has kept. We all have our favorite commandments that we believe we have never broken. We say those things all the time: “I’ve never murdered anybody.” “I’m a faithful husband.” “I’m a faithful wife.” “I pay my bills.” “I have never cheated anyone.” “I don’t gossip.” “I take care of my mom and dad.”

 

Our sinful nature gives us the thought that we can keep God’s Ten Commandments without too much trouble. Our sinful nature believes we are quite sure that we have a good moral record.

 

So, the rich young man says what you might say to Jesus, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth” (Mark 10:20).

 

Without a blinking of an eye, this rich young man says he has fulfilled each of those commandments. He says He has fulfilled the Second Table of the Law. He claims that He has loved his neighbor as himself since his youth. He claims he is perfect. He claims he has not sinned.

 

For this rich young man, God’s Law did not terrify him, since, according to him, he has kept the Law.

 

Then Jesus lovingly looked at the rich young man and said, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Mark 10:21).

 

Like this rich young man, our possessions can weigh us down so that we pay too much attention to the wrong things. Like him, our possessions can get in the way of following Jesus. So often, your possessions, your riches, are standing in the way of embracing Jesus’ friendly, kindly, gracious invitation: “Follow Me.”

 

Now, money and possessions are not evil in themselves. Jesus is not saying that we must give away all that we have to the poor in order to inherit eternal life. That would not be wise, since we need material goods for survival. But Jesus is using this to get to the heart of the issue.

 

Jesus, here, is answering this rich young man’s question by zeroing in on his one great fault: he loved his wealth more than he loved God. He has made his wealth his idol – his false god. He feared, loved, and trusted in his material wealth above all things.

 

So, to inherit eternal life, this rich young man needed to rid himself of his idol – his false god. And after he rid himself of his idol, he was to go and follow Jesus. This rich young man desires eternal life, but in order to have it, he must put God first in his life by following Jesus.

 

So, what are you willing to give up?

 

The triune God is a jealous God as He wants you all to Himself. So, just as Jesus looked up at the rich young man and loved him, He also looks up at you and loves you. 

 

By bringing up the commandments, Jesus is not playing gotcha. He brings up the commandments as a reminder that we fail in keeping them, even if we think we can. But as soon as we put anything as more important than the one true God, the dominoes fall as we break each commandment one by one. So, whoever fears and loves anything else in heaven and upon the earth will not keep any of the commandments. The triune God takes no pleasure in those who have other gods. 

 

You see, everything flows from the First Commandment: “You shall have no other gods” (Exodus 20:3). Flowing from the First Commandment, we do our neighbor no harm, injury or violence, nor in any way oppress our neighbor regarding his body, wife, property, honor, or rights. We honor father and mother, masters, and all in authority, and are subject and obedient to them, not for their own sake, but for God’s sake.

 

God is angry and punishes those who despise Him and His commandments. On the other hand, God abundantly rewards those who love Him and keep His commandments. So, what do we do? We respond to Jesus’ invitation: “Come, follow Me.”

 

So, don’t let anything get in your way, or derail you, or distract you, or point you in another direction. Jesus says this isn’t about what you have or don’t have. It isn’t about what you ought to do or should have done. What matters is following Jesus.

 

You see, Jesus loves you so much that for yours and my sake, though He was rich, He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).

The Son of God had all the riches of heaven, but He lowered Himself by becoming man, taking upon Himself human flesh, so that He could give you your undeserved inheritance: eternal life.

 

Jesus is with us today in His Means of Grace as He forgives yours and my sins and strengthens our faith through His Word and Sacrament.

 

Jesus fulfilled the Law, suffered and died our punishment for not obeying God’s Law upon the cross for you and me. He rose, so that we would also rise from the dead.

 

So, how much would following Jesus cost you? Jesus says: “A person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever does not take His cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds His life will lose it, and whoever loses His life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10:36-39).

 

So, following Jesus means to go His way. And His way may not be easy, according to our sinful nature. For He says, “Enter by the narrow Gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the Gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Matthew 7:13-14).

 

For us rich people, to follow Jesus is to find eternal life by losing everything – but receiving more! How do you think you are following Jesus if you are paying more attention to something else all the time?

 

But Jesus, who loves you, calls you, and invites you saying: “Come, follow Me!” Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

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[1] https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines

"Our Divine Purpose" (Genesis 2:18-25)

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Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

“Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him’” (Genesis 2:18).

 

There are a lot of people these days who are lonely. Do you sometimes feel alone, isolated and disconnected from others?

 

In an era where humanity is “more connected” than ever with phones, mail and the internet, more and more people say that they are isolated, invisible and insignificant. Many people say, “I have to shoulder all of life’s burdens by myself,” and “If I disappear tomorrow, will anyone even notice?”

 

Loneliness is a problem. In fact, about one-in-two adults in America experience loneliness.[1] So, the odds are high that you are experiencing loneliness.

 

Again, “the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him’” (Genesis 2:18).

 

All throughout the six days of creation, God calls everything good. God created light; God created the sky; God created land and plants and gathered waters into seas; God created the sun, moon, and stars to fill the heavens; God created birds to fill the skies and sea creatures to fill the seas; God created land animals and people to fill the land. Good, good, good, good, good, very good.

 

When all seems perfect, God says what you would think is the unexpected: It is not good. “It is not good that the man should be alone.”

 

But for Adam, he had no idea that he needed companionship. Adam had no idea that he was incomplete. So, according to God’s definite plan, God built woman from man.

 

Now, the creation of woman in Genesis 2 was not an afterthought on the part of God. Genesis 1 has already witnessed that humanity is male and female, both and together bearing the very image of God. Genesis 2 is just giving us the details of what happened on that sixth day of creation.

 

Now, it was never God’s intent to have Adam live alone. Recall, it was not Adam, but God who said: “It is not good that the man should be alone.” So, before Adam even realizes that he has no companion, God is having Adam discover the need for a mate.

 

But before God builds a helper for Adam, God gave Adam a task: to name all livestock, to name all the birds of the heavens, and to name every beast of the field. By his voice, Adam was able to compel the lions, tigers, bears, apes, hawks, eagles and every other animal to come to him to be named. As Adam chose the names of each animal, he came to realize that each other creature had a mate. Every other creature had a companion.

 

Now, don’t feel sorry for Adam. For at this time, he was innocent and righteous. So, he perfectly feared, loved, and trusted God for all his needs.

 

“But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:20b).

 

You see, God wanted Adam to discover for himself that no other creature was like him. The Lord was using the process of naming the other creatures as a teaching devise to bring Adam’s loneliness home to him. Every other living creature had a helper fit for them, but Adam had none.

 

And God is not content to leave Adam, and you and me, in loneliness.

 

Now, as Adam longed for a mate, “God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man He made into a woman and brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:21-22).

 

From Adam’s own side, his own rib, his own being, his own flesh, God builds the stuff of which He builds the woman. Shared flesh and shared origin. God’s design of male and female.

Then Adam said: 

“This at last is bone of my bones
    and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called Woman,
    because she was taken out of Man” (Genesis 2:23).

With joy and satisfaction, and with praise to God, Adam found Eve to be just the companion he needed to complete his happiness. God fulfilled Adam’s need for a companion. God provided Eve to be his helper and in doing so, God provided marriage for Adam’s loneliness.

 

Mankind needs belonging. We need someone to share our thoughts and desires. We need mutual help for our mutual work.

 

Now, not everyone will be married, but everyone does need a helper, a friend. We all need a shoulder to cry on. We all need someone we can trust to have your back when times get tough.

 

Today, God gives us His divine purpose. And His purpose is for us to be of help to one another. We are to help and support our neighbor in every physical need.

 

Today, the Church celebrates Lutheran Women in Mission, the Lutheran Women’s Missionary League (LWML). We, as individual members of the Church are not meant to be alone. “For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not the hand, I do not belong to the body,’ that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body” (1 Corinthians 12:14-20).

 

So, just as Adam needed a helper, and we need helpers in mission, the Lord provides. The motto of the LWML is “Serve the Lord with gladness!” as it supports the Church’s mission domestically and internationally.

 

It takes all of us to support the Church’s mission to tell everyone that in the coming kingdom of Christ there will be no more loneliness.

 

Today, because of the Fall into sin, there is so much loneliness. Sin strains our marriages where even marriages can be lonely. And even while in a sea of people, it can be very lonely.

 

It is certainly not good for man to be alone. But just as God created Eve from Adam to provide an end to Adam’s loneliness, God, too, sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. Crowds followed Jesus, but then they all departed. From the crowds to loneliness. Jesus was alone in Gethsemane. He was alone in Caiaphas’ house. He was alone before Herod. He was alone before Pontius Pilate. He was alone before the Roman soldiers. He was alone before the crowds that shook their heads and mocked Him, saying: “He saved others; let Him save Himself, if He is the Christ of God, His Chosen One!” (Luke 23:35). While hanging upon a cross, He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46 & Mark 15:34). Even God the Father abandoned Him. Jesus was the loneliest Man in the world.

 

You see, your Savior knows what it is like to be lonely. Jesus knows your loneliness. But now He is risen from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of God the Father “in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all”(Ephesians 1:20-23).

 

Today, Jesus promises that He is with you always. He will not leave you as an orphan. Even in the shadow of death, He is with you, for His rod and His staff comfort you.

 

The coming kingdom of Christ will have no loneliness. Your loneliness will be swallowed up by togetherness as we will be in God’s presence forever. We will be reunited with those whom death has torn away.

 

In the meantime, God brings us together at this altar as He forgives our sins against Him and our neighbor, so that we can better fulfill our divine purpose in service to our neighbor. Amen.

 

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,

 keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.  

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

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[1] https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf