Oct. 6^th, 2024 Mark 10:17-22

For a lot of us, shopping can be a wonderful experience, especially if you are shopping for stuff you like. We then travel to the store or the mall with great anticipation. Once we get there, We look at something that wasn’t on our list and think “hmm…I already have one of those at home, but I could sure use a new one with all the latest features on it!”

If you’re like me, sometimes you end up picking up a few things that are not on the list as well. It’s a lot of fun….until you get to the checkout stand. The cashier runs your items through the scanner, and then, presents you with your total amount due. That joy and excitement suddenly vanishes. “Wait a minute…how did the bill get to be THAT big? Surely there has to be some mistake!” But nope, it’s right. All those extras added up, turning your wonderful shopping experience a bit sour.

Or, for others of you, it happens when you get your monthly phone, cable, or satellite TV bills. You see the total is more than you expect, and then go through each itemized charge, to find all sorts of extra charges, don’t you just love those hidden charges. There just always seems to be more than we bargained for in life, isn’t there?

The young man who approaches Jesus in our Gospel reading for this morning has a similar experience. When this man comes to Jesus, he’s very excited at first. In fact, he runs up to Jesus and kneels before him. He addresses Jesus “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Seems like a simple enough question, that deserves a simple answer.

So, Jesus starts His response by saying “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” Jesus, being God in flesh, the 2nd person of the Trinity, can see beyond this guy’s question. He sees what is in this man’s heart. What prompts Jesus’ response. “You know the commandments: Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, do not bear false witness, Do not covet, Honor your father and mother.” What Jesus is saying, is “Okay, you want to talk about Good and eternal life? Well, we have to use God’s definition of Good. Are you good according to God’s standards? Have you perfectly kept the commandments?” Jesus gives this young man a brief review of the commandments.

And this young man’s response is telling. He says “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” He’s what we would consider a “good person.” I can just picture this guy treating this like a checklist as Jesus is reciting these commandments. He’s looking at the list of commandments Jesus is reciting, and treating it as a shopping list, and now, here he is at the check out counter. He’s ready to find out that all his law keeping has earned him eternal life.

But remember when we talked about that surprise in that analogy? Well, here’s where it comes into play in our text. Jesus looks at this young man, and says “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,” And what happens? We’re told “Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” Right here, Jesus gives this young man his “sticker shock” if you will. It turns out, the total is more than this man is willing to pay. It’s as if he’s saying you can’t expect me to sell everything I have, give the proceeds away, and then just go follow you! That’s too high! I’m sorry, but I have to walk away at this point.”

What Jesus is reminding this young man of, is the 1st Commandment. Up to this point, Jesus was asking this guy if he had kept commandments 4-10, the ones that deal with our relationships with each other. Now, Jesus is asking him “okay, so since you think you’re such a good person according to the world, let’s find out if you’re good the way I define it. Do you have any other gods before Me?” Jesus’ response here in saying this man lacks one thing reveals to him that the young man has indeed broken a commandment, the first one.

In the Small Catechism, Martin Luther gives us the following definition of the first commandment. “You shall have no other gods. What does this mean? We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” This young man indeed lacks one thing. He hasn’t put his trust in God. Instead, he’s put his trust in his material things. His god is his wealth. That’s why he walks away from Jesus sorrowful, because he’s not willing to give up his false god of worldly goods, in order that he may inherit eternal life.

            In today’s world many face the same questions. Look God I am good in 80% of what you expect. You do not really expect me to give everything up, do you? I want you all to think about this for a minute. Can we really expect to be able to pick and choose what God expects of us. We live in a society where The Word of God and God Himself is only relevant in certain areas of our lives and not in other. Come on the Word of God and God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. Do not be deceived into believing that although the world and its proclivities would like to think that God and the Word of God changes to meet the expectations of the world. Satan has a way of deceiving people.

In the end, Jesus saw what this young man was up to. While he outwardly asked the right question, inwardly, he was asking something completely different. Go back to verse 17 for a moment. He asks Jesus “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” In the end, it appears this young man was really asking “What must I do to earn eternal life?”

Now there is a big difference in the two questions. We have to start out by asking the question of what is the difference between earning something or inheriting something? An inheritance is something you receive simply because it’s given to you. You don’t do anything to earn it or to get it. It’s all done for you. For example, I recently served as Trustee and Executor to my Aunt Helen’s estate. My 4 Cousins and I all inherited sum of money. It was a free gift given to each one of us. Now if you were to earn something, that would imply that you have to put forth some money, effort, time, or a of those, in order to get what you want. An example of that is your paycheck. Your paycheck is a perfect example of something that you earn because you have certain things you have to do at your place of employment to earn it.

The answer Jesus gives this young man, and the reason the young man leaves sorrowful is because Jesus is answering the question “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus, in saying this young man was lacking one thing, was trying to strip this young man of any ideas that he could earn his way into heaven. Eternal life was an inheritance, not something that you earn by being good. In other words, Jesus’ ultimate answer to the question “What must I do to inherit eternal life” is “Young man, you are really asking ‘what must I do to earn eternal life?’ The answer to that question is: Nothing, because I’m going to the cross to do it all. You can’t afford the price, because if you had to earn it, you’d have to fulfill all the commandments, and you can’t do that. You haven’t even kept the first one.”

Even your own personal piety can easily become a false god. 1 John 1:8 tells us “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”  We’re not honest. We’ve broken the first commandment. We’ve made ourselves or our actions or our piety or our money into our god.

God wants us to see how impossible it is for earn eternal life. He wants us to see that Christ has done it all for us at the cross. He wants us to come and confess our sins, including the times where we have put our trust in our own possessions and actions instead of on what Christ has done for us. Because of what Jesus has done for us, we are forgiven of our sins, and we will inherit eternal life. When we get to the checkout counter, we see that the debt has already been paid, in full. Eternal life is ours! 1 John 1:8-9 tells us “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

We have come to Jesus, asking the question “What must we do to earn eternal life?” And we have heard Him respond to us “You can’t do anything to earn it. That’s why I have done it all. It’s a free gift. So let go of all of those worldly possessions, thoughts, words, and deeds that you are clinging to, and follow me. Let me forgive you, cleanse you, and pay the price for your salvation by My suffering and death.” We realize when God speaks His word of law, it’s spoken to us in love. It’s spoken so we can truly hear the Gospel, that Jesus Christ has done it all for us. Let us go from here into our daily lives this week, telling everyone the good news of the answer to the question “What has Jesus done so we may inherit eternal life? He’s done it all for us! Thanks be to God!” Amen!