Pastor Cal Lord's Recent Sermons
Who Is Really Number One?
Mark 10:17-22 October 15, 2006
Are you living for Jesus? Do you even know what that means? We say it so often in church, as
if it needed no explanation.
Yesterday at the ABCCONN Discipleship Fair, we got into a discussion on this very topic. In one
of the workshops a woman pointed out that she didn’t really agree with the concept of dieing to
self. She felt that God created her with unique gifts and talents and that she shouldn’t have to
give them up to become a disciple. Is that what it means?
Do I have to squash my enthusiasm for the World Series bound Detroit Tigers to faithfully
follow Jesus Christ? Do you have to give up your passion for gardening or line dancing, or
antique cars or reading mystery novels to declare your allegiance to our Lord? Can we be a
faithful believer and still be who we are? I think the answer to that is yes and no.
The important part of that equation is where you put Jesus in your formula. You see, some
people factor him in at 14%. They give Jesus Sunday or at least a part of the day. Then they
claim the rest of the week as their own. How about you? Are you living for Jesus or simply
trying to fit him into your schedule?
Now I know you have heard our scripture reading many times before. The truth is that we need
to hear it over and over again. It calls us back. It draws us to look at our relationship with Jesus.
At the same time it tries to hold us accountable.
This passage about the rich young ruler raises some tough questions for us. A young man comes
to Jesus and asks what he has to do, what are the requirements, what is it that Jesus expects,
from a person who wants to receive what he has to offer.
In other words, what is it going to cost? Jesus offers his followers an abundant life style. He
offers his disciples acceptance, forgiveness and reconciliation to God. Today we talk about
heaven and eternal life. Well that was important then too. This young man was concerned about
his soul. You can tell that because he was a good and faithful Jew. He was living under the old
covenant. He told Jesus that he was keeping the commandments.
And if you kept the commandments, if you lived without sin, the Jewish leaders taught that you
would find favor with God. For those who believed in an after life, and that was a minority, it
was pretty much assumed that a blameless life open the gates of heaven for you. So this young
man was simply asking Jesus if he agreed with that theology.
When we get into a discussion about religion today, a lot of people will lift up their ethical
behavior as grounds for justification. I’m a good person. I do what is right. They claim it as
though that was the end all of faithfulness. Even our more conservative church traditions, the
religious right and moral majority, point out all the evils in society and seem to say that if only we
stopped doing these things we would earn God’s favor again. Keep the commandments… earn
God’s favor.
I’m not saying that living a moral life is not important, and that is not what Jesus was saying here
in this story. The fact is that when the young man told Jesus that he kept the commandments,
Jesus didn’t scold him, the text says, he looked at him and loved him. There was admiration
there. This man had a heart that was shaped to accept God’s love.
Can he say that about you and me? Do we love Jesus? Do we want to please him? Isn’t that
why we are here today? Of course it is. We are so much like this young man that it is scary.
There isn’t one of us who doesn’t try to keep the commandments. We try to live faithfully. We
worship and honor God and walk with him into the week. But the story doesn’t end there. Jesus
looked at the man and his love for him was evident. Then he gave him one more thing to do.
The text says he saw that the man had many possessions. So he told him to go and sell it all and
give it to the poor. Now there’s the rub. That’s the catch. You’ve heard the old saying “if it
sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” We talk about the grace of God being free but right
here in our text Jesus points out that there is a cost. Later on he tells his “would be” disciples that
to follow him, they need to pick up a cross. There is going to be sacrifice required. He lays it out
for them on more than one occasion.
Billy Graham once said that if you want to know what a man or woman puts first in life, look at
their checkbook. I think he got that thought from reading this text. We live in a society where
wealth and material goods are in the spot light. We all want to have a nice car, live in a nice
home, dress in fashionable clothes, get away on memorable vacations. We want our children to
have more than we did and we are willing to sacrifice and pay for it. We live in two income
families and are willing to work overtime to get what we want. And that often comes with a
price that takes away from other things. It takes our focus off of Christ.
That is what Jesus was getting at in this story. The young man had a heart for God, but God
was always going to get second place unless he addressed the issue of his wealth. The one thing
this young man had to give up in order to follow Christ with all his heart, was the money. And
he couldn’t do it. The text says he went away sorrowful. Jesus had asked too much.
Well let me ask you this: What is it that gets in the way of your following Jesus? Is it the
pursuit of wealth? Is it a desire that your children should have the best in life.
Now let me tell you something you won’t want to hear. When we let our children have
everything they want and take them every where they want to go and let them participate in
things that take them away from a growing relationship with Christ and the church, we are
setting them up for a lifetime of frustration. They may have great memories of childhood music
programs and sports activities, but when life gets real, those memories won’t be able to help
them cope with the trials that come. Only Jesus can do that and they may have failed to connect
with him because they were busy with other things.
You see, it is important to put first things first. St Augustine serving in the eighth century
offered this as his continual prayer, “Order in me my loves ,Oh Lord” In other words, help me
get my priorities straight. Help me to do as it says in scriptures, to put the Lord first and then all
other things will fall in place. You see, once we decide to put Christ first in our lives, everything
else will fall into place and be much better.
Shortly after I came here in 1985, Doris Royce learned that I was a Detroit Tiger fan, and she
gave me a gift. It was a ball signed the players on the team that year. Over the years I have
received many such gifts. The cabbage patch doll, a bat signed by Al Kaline, a ball signed by
members of the 1958 team, a luch box from the 1984 season… Wonderful gifts, but you know
something? I wouldn’t have received one of these gifts if Christ wasn’t first in my life. The gifts
came as a result of my relationship with Christ.
You see that is what the scriptures mean when they say put Christ first and all other things will
fall into place. That’s why Jesus will hear no excuses. You remember the passage when he calls
people to follow him and there are all kinds of excuses raised up. Each time Jesus says if you
are going to make excuses, don’t plan on following me. I want you to give me your all, the same
thing he said to the rich young ruler in our text here.
Jesus does not call us to a life of poverty and pain. He calls us to follow him in an exciting
adventure. He wants us to work with him to transform the world, to reach out and touch lives
and bring the love and grace of Jesus with us. He warns us we will be rejected, but that he will
be with us to get us through them.
He calls us and ask us to use the unique gifts he has given us, our own personality and life
experience, our own likes and dislikes. He can use these peculiarities to reach others who share
our interests. The key, though, is to put him first in our life. That is what the young man could
not submit too. He wanted to do it his way and Jesus said no. When he talks with his disciples
afterwards, he tells them that if you put him first, you will get back a hundred fold everything
you thought you were giving up and then some.
So what is it you have to rearrange in your order of priorities to put Jesus first? Who or what is
number one in your life? What do you have to sell, get rid of, displace to make Jesus number
one? Don’t waste the opportunity this man did and go away sorrowful. Answer the call and
then let Jesus bless you. He will not only give you more than you ever dreamed of, he will bless
the other things in your life like family, home and work. And just maybe, every twenty years or
so, he’ll smile on your favorite team too!
But it begins by making him number one. I pray you will do just that.
Let us pray:
Mark 10:17-22 October 15, 2006
Are you living for Jesus? Do you even know what that means? We say it so often in church, as
if it needed no explanation.
Yesterday at the ABCCONN Discipleship Fair, we got into a discussion on this very topic. In one
of the workshops a woman pointed out that she didn’t really agree with the concept of dieing to
self. She felt that God created her with unique gifts and talents and that she shouldn’t have to
give them up to become a disciple. Is that what it means?
Do I have to squash my enthusiasm for the World Series bound Detroit Tigers to faithfully
follow Jesus Christ? Do you have to give up your passion for gardening or line dancing, or
antique cars or reading mystery novels to declare your allegiance to our Lord? Can we be a
faithful believer and still be who we are? I think the answer to that is yes and no.
The important part of that equation is where you put Jesus in your formula. You see, some
people factor him in at 14%. They give Jesus Sunday or at least a part of the day. Then they
claim the rest of the week as their own. How about you? Are you living for Jesus or simply
trying to fit him into your schedule?
Now I know you have heard our scripture reading many times before. The truth is that we need
to hear it over and over again. It calls us back. It draws us to look at our relationship with Jesus.
At the same time it tries to hold us accountable.
This passage about the rich young ruler raises some tough questions for us. A young man comes
to Jesus and asks what he has to do, what are the requirements, what is it that Jesus expects,
from a person who wants to receive what he has to offer.
In other words, what is it going to cost? Jesus offers his followers an abundant life style. He
offers his disciples acceptance, forgiveness and reconciliation to God. Today we talk about
heaven and eternal life. Well that was important then too. This young man was concerned about
his soul. You can tell that because he was a good and faithful Jew. He was living under the old
covenant. He told Jesus that he was keeping the commandments.
And if you kept the commandments, if you lived without sin, the Jewish leaders taught that you
would find favor with God. For those who believed in an after life, and that was a minority, it
was pretty much assumed that a blameless life open the gates of heaven for you. So this young
man was simply asking Jesus if he agreed with that theology.
When we get into a discussion about religion today, a lot of people will lift up their ethical
behavior as grounds for justification. I’m a good person. I do what is right. They claim it as
though that was the end all of faithfulness. Even our more conservative church traditions, the
religious right and moral majority, point out all the evils in society and seem to say that if only we
stopped doing these things we would earn God’s favor again. Keep the commandments… earn
God’s favor.
I’m not saying that living a moral life is not important, and that is not what Jesus was saying here
in this story. The fact is that when the young man told Jesus that he kept the commandments,
Jesus didn’t scold him, the text says, he looked at him and loved him. There was admiration
there. This man had a heart that was shaped to accept God’s love.
Can he say that about you and me? Do we love Jesus? Do we want to please him? Isn’t that
why we are here today? Of course it is. We are so much like this young man that it is scary.
There isn’t one of us who doesn’t try to keep the commandments. We try to live faithfully. We
worship and honor God and walk with him into the week. But the story doesn’t end there. Jesus
looked at the man and his love for him was evident. Then he gave him one more thing to do.
The text says he saw that the man had many possessions. So he told him to go and sell it all and
give it to the poor. Now there’s the rub. That’s the catch. You’ve heard the old saying “if it
sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” We talk about the grace of God being free but right
here in our text Jesus points out that there is a cost. Later on he tells his “would be” disciples that
to follow him, they need to pick up a cross. There is going to be sacrifice required. He lays it out
for them on more than one occasion.
Billy Graham once said that if you want to know what a man or woman puts first in life, look at
their checkbook. I think he got that thought from reading this text. We live in a society where
wealth and material goods are in the spot light. We all want to have a nice car, live in a nice
home, dress in fashionable clothes, get away on memorable vacations. We want our children to
have more than we did and we are willing to sacrifice and pay for it. We live in two income
families and are willing to work overtime to get what we want. And that often comes with a
price that takes away from other things. It takes our focus off of Christ.
That is what Jesus was getting at in this story. The young man had a heart for God, but God
was always going to get second place unless he addressed the issue of his wealth. The one thing
this young man had to give up in order to follow Christ with all his heart, was the money. And
he couldn’t do it. The text says he went away sorrowful. Jesus had asked too much.
Well let me ask you this: What is it that gets in the way of your following Jesus? Is it the
pursuit of wealth? Is it a desire that your children should have the best in life.
Now let me tell you something you won’t want to hear. When we let our children have
everything they want and take them every where they want to go and let them participate in
things that take them away from a growing relationship with Christ and the church, we are
setting them up for a lifetime of frustration. They may have great memories of childhood music
programs and sports activities, but when life gets real, those memories won’t be able to help
them cope with the trials that come. Only Jesus can do that and they may have failed to connect
with him because they were busy with other things.
You see, it is important to put first things first. St Augustine serving in the eighth century
offered this as his continual prayer, “Order in me my loves ,Oh Lord” In other words, help me
get my priorities straight. Help me to do as it says in scriptures, to put the Lord first and then all
other things will fall in place. You see, once we decide to put Christ first in our lives, everything
else will fall into place and be much better.
Shortly after I came here in 1985, Doris Royce learned that I was a Detroit Tiger fan, and she
gave me a gift. It was a ball signed the players on the team that year. Over the years I have
received many such gifts. The cabbage patch doll, a bat signed by Al Kaline, a ball signed by
members of the 1958 team, a luch box from the 1984 season… Wonderful gifts, but you know
something? I wouldn’t have received one of these gifts if Christ wasn’t first in my life. The gifts
came as a result of my relationship with Christ.
You see that is what the scriptures mean when they say put Christ first and all other things will
fall into place. That’s why Jesus will hear no excuses. You remember the passage when he calls
people to follow him and there are all kinds of excuses raised up. Each time Jesus says if you
are going to make excuses, don’t plan on following me. I want you to give me your all, the same
thing he said to the rich young ruler in our text here.
Jesus does not call us to a life of poverty and pain. He calls us to follow him in an exciting
adventure. He wants us to work with him to transform the world, to reach out and touch lives
and bring the love and grace of Jesus with us. He warns us we will be rejected, but that he will
be with us to get us through them.
He calls us and ask us to use the unique gifts he has given us, our own personality and life
experience, our own likes and dislikes. He can use these peculiarities to reach others who share
our interests. The key, though, is to put him first in our life. That is what the young man could
not submit too. He wanted to do it his way and Jesus said no. When he talks with his disciples
afterwards, he tells them that if you put him first, you will get back a hundred fold everything
you thought you were giving up and then some.
So what is it you have to rearrange in your order of priorities to put Jesus first? Who or what is
number one in your life? What do you have to sell, get rid of, displace to make Jesus number
one? Don’t waste the opportunity this man did and go away sorrowful. Answer the call and
then let Jesus bless you. He will not only give you more than you ever dreamed of, he will bless
the other things in your life like family, home and work. And just maybe, every twenty years or
so, he’ll smile on your favorite team too!
But it begins by making him number one. I pray you will do just that.
Let us pray:
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