Sunday, October 17, 2021

Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost
Ecclesiastes 5:10-20
Psalm 119:9-16
Hebrews 4:1-13 (14-16)
Mark 10:23-31

For we don’t have a high priest who can’t be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but one who has been in all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. Let’s therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace for help in time of need.

God created the world in six days, and then He rested. He did not rest because He was tired, but because His work was done. The gift of the Sabbath, given from God to mankind, is a moment in time when we can stop and rest, knowing our work is done. But it seems like our work is never done. We take time on the weekends from whatever job pays our bills, but then we must mow the lawn or do the laundry. We have to go grocery shopping or change the oil in the car. We need to do our work at church, preparing the things for worship, singing in the choir or teaching Sunday School. The rest of Sunday is spent doing the work that didn’t get done on Saturday. By Monday morning, we begin again without ever really finishing.

So many of our commitments are good things; we volunteer at church or in our neighborhoods, giving ourselves sacrificially to other people. At times, however, these responsibilities become burdens. We no longer “want to” do these tasks, we believe we “have to” do them. We grumble and moan when we need to attend yet another meeting. Our work is never done, and we get very tired of it all. Too often, we fear that if we don’t do everything that comes our way, we will disappoint our Father. We think we are righteous by what we do, so we feel we need to do more and more to be right with God. We never enter His rest.

Moms never get any rest. She has her hands full of the usual paraphernalia that moms carry - diaper bag, purse, carrier, and baby. She also carries a phone. Each item has its place on her shoulder or under her arm. She is burdened with so much baggage and yet she somehow manages to take care of everything. Moms just seem to gain a few hands during those early days of childhood; they become Octopus Mom. But there are times when even a mom needs help.

Doors provide a difficult obstacle, particularly when the need to be pulled open. At times it is necessary to put down the burdens we carry to be able to get through the door. It really is a joy when there is someone who will help us by opening the door, although we sometimes think we have to do all it all ourselves, as if we are Supermom defeating the door with our own strength. Unfortunately, that attitude appears in other aspects of life. Even as Christians, we tend to carry our own pain, unwilling to burden our family or friends. We try to be Superchristians, defeating the greatest evil with our own power.

Today’s Gospel lesson is a continuation of the story that began last week of the rich young man’s visit to Jesus. “What must I do to be saved? I have observed all the commandments since my youth.” Jesus looked at him and loved him, “One thing you lack...” Jesus said. The obstacle Jesus placed in front of the young man was his stuff.

The young man was heartbroken because he had a lot of stuff. How do you get rid of everything you own?

I often ask this question when I see stories of those people who have chosen to live in tiny houses. My art supplies would never fit into such a small space, let alone my whole life. As a matter of fact, my husband and I did not downsize when we bought our latest house, as many do when they become empty nesters. We bought a larger house so that I would have room for a studio. This is the first house we’ve had since we were married that doesn’t have furniture pushed against every wall. There is room to move, a place for cats to run, storage space for my junk. I can’t imagine every getting rid of everything to move into a house that is just two hundred square feet.

I make it sound like I am a hoarder, but I know how to purge. We moved regularly as a military family, and while we probably moved too much, we always let go of things we knew we would not need. Well, almost always. Our tour in England required some storage, but when we returned to the United States, I ended up getting rid of almost everything that we did not have for four years. Our latest move nine and a half years ago was an incredible undertaking. We had lived in that house eight years and it is so easy to let things pile up. The kids were on the verge of adulthood, so we donated truckloads of things we didn’t want to move to another house.

When the pandemic hit, I joined millions of others in the quest to simplify life. We did some redecorating, which meant moving furniture, including a desk. The desk drawers will filled with junk from the last house, so I emptied each one, separated the good from the bad. I threw out useless items and filled many boxes to donate. After the desk, I began cleaning the other junk drawers in our house. I cleaned bookshelves and purged hundreds of books from my collection. I gave kitchen items to my children who are both establishing their own homes. I even got rid of some furniture. Even after all this purging, I know I cold get rid of more.

While I still have too much stuff, I have also learned to limit my collecting. I celebrated a birthday this week and my husband repeatedly asked me what I wanted. I know he means well and that he wants to show me his love in tangible ways, but I really didn’t want anything. Do I really need another tchotchke to clutter my shelves? Do I really need the latest kitchen gadget? He’s going to ask the same question in a month or two as we prepare for Christmas, but the answer will be the same. It isn’t that I want to be difficult, I am just content. That said, I still don’t think I could get rid of everything for Jesus’ sake.

Today’s Old Testament reading from Ecclesiastes is a little uncomfortable for us who love our stuff. The writer writes, “He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity.” Have you ever noticed that when you satisfy one desire, you soon have another? We start with a little, but we always want more. Who can eat just one potato chip? It is hard to collect just one porcelain figurine. No one has just one pair of sneakers, but I confess that I have shoes of every color so that I can match my shoes to my clothes. I also have socks to match. I rarely leave the kitty store without yet another toy for our baby, even though there are so many in the house he can’t possibly play with them all.

The writer of Ecclesiastes talks about the vanity of collecting stuff, after all, we can’t take it with us. We labor for everything we have. We not only chase after that next piece to our collection, but we labor to earn the money to purchase, labor to keep the dust from it. We even labor at holding on to it against those who want to take it from us. Our focus is on our stuff, and we lose sight of other things. Too many men pay more attention to their car than their girlfriend. Too many women are more concerned about which shoes to wear. Children don’t like to share because they are afraid someone will break it. We lose sight of joy because we are too worried about what will happen to our stuff.

As the writer says, “As he came out of his mother’s womb, naked shall he go again as he came, and shall take nothing for his labor, which he may carry away in his hand.” There is a joke about a man who was near death. He had spent his life working hard for his possessions and he prayed that he might take some of it with him to heaven. An angel heard him, and though the angel told him that he could not take anything, the man implored the angel to ask God. After a time, the angel reappeared and told him he was allowed to take one suitcase. He died and went to heaven. At the pearly gates, St. Peter stopped him and said that he couldn’t bring the suitcase. He retold the story of the angel’s visit and after St. Peter checked it out, he returned and said, “Ok, but I have to see what is in there.” St. Peter opened the suitcase to find bricks of pure gold stacked neatly inside. He said, “Pavement? Why did you bring pavement?” We love our things, but we have to remember the value of anything of this world is miniscule compared to what we will experience in eternity. We don’t need to take gold to heaven because the sidewalks are paved with gold. Everything in heaven will be better than anything we have on earth.

The message of Ecclesiastes isn’t all bad news. The writer goes on to say, “Behold, that which I have seen to be good and proper is for one to eat and to drink, and to enjoy good in all his labor, in which he labors under the sun, all the days of his life which God has given him; for this is his portion.” God wants us to enjoy our life on this earth, not to the point that our possessions are our focus, but in thanksgiving for the God who has made all good things possible. “Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor - this is the gift of God.” We are called to a life in which God is our focus. Our stuff is meaningless in terms of eternal destiny, but they are blessings to be enjoyed.

The key here is to remember the priorities of life. The Ecclesiastes passage for today ends, “For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life; because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.” We don’t need to worry about today or about our stuff because our hearts are filled with real joy in knowing that our God is gracious.

When we put down our burdens, we find it much easier to accomplish the work God is calling us to do. In the Gospel story, Jesus referenced a gate called “the eye of the needle,” which was a tiny gate that led into Jerusalem. It was convenient to the trading routes but was so small that a fully loaded camel could not fit through. It was not impossible - but the merchant needed to unload the camel, lead him through, and then reload the things onto his back.

Jesus invites us to unburden ourselves of everything that keeps us from walking through the gate. For the rich young man, it was his wealth. Our burdens are our own, but none are so great for God to carry. We just need to give everything to Him, the good things as well as the pain. We need to give Him our families, our wealth, our bodies, and most of all our hearts. Jesus tells His disciples in the following verses that because they have given up their very lives for Him, they will receive blessings far greater than they left behind. The same is true for us, we will be blessed for our submission. Our treasure will be in heaven.

The rich young man was distraught over the command of Jesus because his focus was on the stuff rather than the One by whom He was blessed. The one thing he lacked was not poverty. It was the joy of knowing that God is the center of blessedness. Joy, true joy, does not come with stuff that sits around getting dusty but is found in our relationship with our Creator and Redeemer God.

The rich young man missed what was important in the encounter with Jesus: that Jesus loved him. Jesus knows that the world tries to distract us with shiny bobbles. “It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom.” His words were shocking to the disciples because they did not see who could be saved. Jesus answered, “With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.” Then Jesus promised that those who are willing to set aside the things of this world for the sake of the Gospel will be blessed beyond measure with even more. However, it will come with a price: persecution. We have reason to rejoice because the promise of eternity is greater than the wealth of this world, and even if we suffer now we can do so with joy because the day will come when the promise will be fulfilled.

We chase after stuff, but God offers us something even better: rest. We exhaust ourselves with the work to pay for our stuff, with the searching for the stuff, with the caring for the stuff, and with the protecting of the stuff. All this for stuff we have to leave behind. But God says, “You don’t have to exhaust yourself over all this; put me first and you’ll have enough. You will have even more in the Promised Land. Rest in me, for in Me is the true blessing.”

Some people, even Christians, never really experience the rest that comes with faith in Christ. This is not a rest that means we do nothing with our lives. God calls us to work. He calls us to produce. He calls us to be witnesses and to serve others. He calls us to be good stewards of all we have been given. He doesn’t even mind that we fill our lives with things that we enjoy. But He might call us to rid ourselves of everything to follow Him completely. This is a call to trust that God is faithful to His promises and the blessings of this world are simply a foretaste of that which is to come in Heaven. One thing they lack is complete trust in God and the joy of knowing that God is the center of our blessedness.

We have talked multiple times about Psalm 119. It reads like a redundant law-filled text and is often ignored. However, there is value in the words of the entire psalm because it turns us toward the One from whom all rest and blessing is received. There are eight different law words used in the psalm, each describing a different aspect of God’s Word. If you understand that each word has a unique meaning, then you see what the psalmist was telling us more clearly. The theme of today’s text is ultimately “staying in God’s Word.” We learn that it is there that we find rest and joy.

The psalmist asks how a young man can be pure. The answer is by obeying God’s divine spoken Word. We can look for Him in our religious obligations. We must keep His promise close to our heart so that we won’t turn from Him and do what is wrong. We can seek God’s teaching on how to live properly and according to His rules. We can accept God’s judgment when we do wrong and rejoice through our worship practices. We can, and must, focus on God’s authority over our life and there we will find rest.

See how each word means something different? Each verse of this stanza of the psalm refers to something different: the spoken Word of God, the obligations of faith, the promise, the teachings, the rules, the judgment, the rituals and the authority each have a place in our life and as we are obedient in all ways we will find a life blessed by God’s graciousness. None of that will earn us eternal life in Heaven, but it will help us to live a life that glorifies God in this world as we wait for the promise Jesus won for us on the cross.

Jesus was so much more than we can expect or desire. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is Redeemer. He is the Great Shepherd. He is our brother, our friend, and our master. He is our teacher. He is the Great High Priest as the writer of Hebrews describes in this week’s epistle lesson.

Human beings are very good at making titles something pompous and extraordinary. We take something simple and make it complicated to give ourselves a boost in ego or a seemingly higher position in this world. Some actual job titles are preceded with words like “great,” “grand,” “chief,” “senior,” or “lord.” Other amplifiers that are used are “honorable,” “prestigious,” “right worshipful,” or “magnificent.” I am sure we could come up with dozens of others. These words might be helpful to know a person’s place in this world, but in most cases these titles simply raise an ordinary person to some extraordinary position. In England, for example, the mayor of a town is addressed “the Right Worshipful, the Mayor.” This seems like an extreme title for any man or woman.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that we have a “Great High Priest” adding an amplifier to the role of the most important leader in the temple. Yet, this title was not given to a man is was given to Jesus Christ. Is it necessary and what does it mean? For some, the titles almost make it seem as though they are beyond humanity, something above the average person.

In the case of Jesus as High Priest, it is not simply a title to make Him greater than others. As a matter of fact, the title itself actually identifies Him more with His human brothers and sisters. A priest is not one who rules over a people, but rather one who serves God and man. A priest is a servant and in the case of Jesus, the perfect servant who though He was tempted He never sinned. Though the human response to such greatness would tend to make such a man unreachable, in the case of Christ this is a title that makes Him even more gracious. He knows what we are experiencing, so He offers mercy. The pompous sounding title does not make Him beyond our reach. Instead, He calls us to approach Him with boldness.

I hope that if the time ever came for me to choose between God and the world that I will make the right decision. I know, however, that Jesus loves me even when I fail. I know that He understands the draw of the world and the bobbles that it promises. I know that He sees my heart and that He sees the flicker of faith that is at the center of my being, the faith that He has given by His grace. Day by day, Today even, I find I can let go more and more as He fills me with Himself. One day I will have to give it all up; one day I'll die and stand at those pearly gates. I don’t have any pavement to take with me, but I hope that I won’t feel the need to beg God to let me take a few of my favorite things. I hope that my little faith will be enough to keep my focus on the Lord now so that I won’t worry day by day what will happen to my stuff because the joy in my heart is from God. For now, I pray that God will help me remember that the meaningless dust-catchers I will have to give up in this world will be replaced with so much more: eternal rest and joy and peace.