For many there are some very familiar passages today - sadly I'm going to shoot an old favourite sermon illustration and bury it and ask the question, "What did the rich man do in the end?"
But let's start with our reading from Amos, a man who lived in the eight century (750 BC) in one of the most happy and prosperous times Israel had under King Jeroboam. Jeroboam regained all the territories his predecessors had lost, subdued Moab and much of Aram, taking Damascus) and even made peace with Judah (he did hold them hostage first but that's families for you).
But let's start with our reading from Amos, a man who lived in the eight century (750 BC) in one of the most happy and prosperous times Israel had under King Jeroboam. Jeroboam regained all the territories his predecessors had lost, subdued Moab and much of Aram, taking Damascus) and even made peace with Judah (he did hold them hostage first but that's families for you).
The passage finds Amos speaking to a nation that seem to have it all. Money, power and might. The problem was that the King was a bit like many of the clergy in that he favoured those who had money, status and power. God, seeing past the prosperity and possession only saw death, unless they turned things around: "Seek the LORD and live," he cries out.
Deuteronomy 10 tells us that God cannot be bought. He cannot be bribed. He brings justice to the poor, the widow, the orphan, the stranger in the land. He is just. His word is ever sure. Live for Him and live like Him. Hate that which is evil and the destruction that corruption surely brings and perhaps God will turn his judgement from the people.
Seek Good – seek God –And live! Can the message be any simpler?
The answer to this must be, “No!” Looking at our Hebrews passage we find the reminder that God’s word is like a scalpel: It cuts through and cuts out. Have you ever thought about scalpels? They are an instrument of judgement. The person wielding it looks at the object before them, makes a judgement (is this good or bad) and acts accordingly. This is what the word of God (the written word and Jesus, the living word) does: Informs, challenges and acts.
But if we leave the wrong parts to flourish the local area becomes tainted and this causes, in the extreme cases, for the body to die. Jesus, as our High Priest. As one who wields the scalpel and shows love, brings Grace, and is mercy – he is the one Amos calls the fallen people of Israel to turn to then (for Jesus, the Christ, is also the Godhead).
Do you have something wrong in you today?
The answer is simple: “Cut it out! – throw it away – stop it!
The answer is simple: “Cut it out! – throw it away – stop it!
With these thoughts and examples in mind we find ourselves encountering Jesus and someone with power, possessions, a proclaimed faith, and eternal life.
The man comes up to Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus responds with, “Why do you call me good No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honour your father and mother.’”
Jesus, fully man, hits the first ball by pointing out that He is there to point to God and doesn’t want to be put on the throne of empty praise. He wants true love of God not the praise of humans. Isn’t this what Amos called for in the people of Israel? That they hate evil and seek Good – “Only God is good.,” says Jesus. Isn’t this what the scalpel that is the word of God does> Cutting out what is wrong and keeping what is good that there might be life in all the fullness there can be?
So the man tells Jesus that he’s kept the commandments since he was a boy. But Jesus, scalpel-like, acts by telling the man that keeping the commandments is great, but without love of the author of them, they merely regulate what we do. What God wants is our hearts also and so the answer is simple:
The first part is “To ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second part is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19 respectively)
Now many sermons have been given about the man sadly walking off because he can’t give up everything. They tell us how the man forfeited eternal life and kept loving money and possessions. The reality is that we just don’t know what he did. We know he was challenged and went off to think, moan, reject, accept – or at least respond in some way – but we won’t know until the Christ returns. (One of my first questions will be, “Lord, where’s the rich bloke from Mark ten? Did he give away the money and choose you? – assuming I’m there that is ;-) ).
Jesus tells the disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
And preachers across the world seize the opportunity to talk about camels and holes in the walls of Jerusalem and greedy merchants dragging the camels through it to avoid taxation. But the sadness is that there I can find no such hole – it’s another Biblical urban myth (like Mary Magdalene being a hooker).
The Jews had a theology that said those who had wealth, possessions, were healthy we blessed by God and those who weren’t were under a curse because they had something wrong in their lives. This caused them to ask: “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus answers, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” How were true and what a clean cut the scalpel makes. We can’t do it, we need God to do it in us and with us. Rather than ask (or tell) God what we need and what He needs to do to make it happen, the reality is that we have a God who will strengthen us and stand with us in our dark and distressing moments. Our prayer should be, “God give me strength,” rather than “God, give me this, that and that too!”
Peter says to Jesus, “We have left everything to follow you.” He’s wondering what that means in the light of Jesus’ words – perhaps he’s hoping to hear the words, “Relax mate, you’re all in!”
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “No one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
The problem with this last quote is that we think of it in terms of money, power, possessions – have we heard nothing. It’s the things of the heart, not the pocket or the blind obedience that bring eternal life. I have seen people give up all and be richer than the richest people I know. We don’t have a prosperity ministry – we have a love of God ministry!
And the first last and last first? The Gentiles came into the kingdom after the Jews. Perhaps this tells us something about following God rather than keeping the law. But Jew and Gentile make it don’t they? Regarding the ‘eye of the needle’, the gate many point to was created in the 16thcentury!
A common expression in the ancient near east, when wanting to convey how difficult something was, pointed to how hard it was for an elephant or camel to pass through a needle’s eye. We find it in the teachings of the rabbis (In the Talmud) and other places. We don’t swing cats to check out room size either!
The Collect
God, the giver of life, whose Holy Spirit wells up within your Church: by the Spirit’s gifts equip us to live the gospel of Christ and make us eager to do your will, that we may share with the whole creation the joys of eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Amos 5.6-7,10-15
Seek the Lord and live, or he will sweep through the tribes of Joseph like a fire; it will devour them, and Bethel will have no one to quench it. There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground.
There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth. You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. For I know how many are your offences and how great your sins.
There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts. Therefore the prudent keep quiet in such times, for the times are evil.
Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.
Psalm 90.12-17
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Relent, Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants.
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble.
May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendour to their children.
May the favour of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.
Hebrews 4.12-16
For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then 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.
Mark 10.17-31
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?”
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honour your father and mother.’”
“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
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.”
At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Post Communion Prayer
God our Father, whose Son, the light unfailing, has come from heaven to deliver the world from the darkness of ignorance: let these holy mysteries open the eyes of our understanding that we may know the way of life, and walk in it without stumbling; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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