Sell Everything
Sell Everything
Mark 10:17-31
Deal or No Deal (after highlights)
( Trade a nickel for one of three envelopes. Inside the envelopes have a $5 bill, $5 Starbucks gift card and $5 gift cert to The Well useable only in the future.)
This is definitely true for the thing that he told our central figure today in Mark 10. Before we get to that, I want to make a deal. A little deal or no deal. I am only going to make this deal one time and only to the person who can get to me first. Here’s the deal: Inside of one of these envelopes is a $5 bill. I will give the envelope of your choosing to the first person to bring me a nickel. So just in case you are a little slow on the math. You have the potential to increase the money in your pocket by 100 times. Ready, set, go.
With person up front have them pick the envelope and ask:
· Is this really very hard to make this trade? Even if you get nothing?
· What if I asked you to give up a $20 bill? Would you do it? Would it be hard?
· What if I told you that in one of these envelopes was 100x as much as a $20 bill? Would that make you more inclined to compete?
· What if I told you that no matter what envelope you picked you were guaranteed to multiply your $20 bill by 100? Would you do it?
· No matter what envelope you pick, you are guaranteed to multiply what you are giving up by 100x.
(After the competition) Okay, what let’s open up the envelope. What did you get?
Awesome. So, let me just point out. You multiplied what you gave up 100x. Would you say that is a good deal?
We are going to come back to that illustration at the end because it is at the heart of what Jesus is going to say to us today. For now though, as we receive our offering we have a little video clip to show you.
· Ferris Bueller Video
Intro
In this classic scene from Ferris Bueller’s day we learn about Cameron’s father’s love of his life. His car. I kind of picture the central figure in the story we are going to explore today somewhat like this guy. I think we can all relate if we think about it. We all have something in our life that we love…something we love more than life. Okay, maybe not really more than life…but we can probably identify something that consumes our life, our time, our energy our focus. Maybe it’s a car…maybe it’s our wardrobe…maybe it’s our hair…maybe it’s a relationship. It could be something good or maybe not so good. The key in identifying this one thing is that it is something we would find tremendously hard to give up.
Now I imagine some of you will say, “Nah, not really.” But think about the thing in your life that you just couldn’t live without. Well, you could live without it, but you really don’t want to. Life is easier with this thing. Even though may not be better.
There’s a distinction there. There are some conveniences we have or own that really do make life easier, but I am not always sure they make life better.
Jesus said some things that really don’t make our life easier. In fact, we may say that they are things we wish Jesus never said because they don’t make our life easy. But when we get right down to it, even though they don’t make our life easier. They do make our life better.
Text
Let’s jump into our text today. It will be on the screen or you can follow along in the notes or of course I would encourage you to use your Bible.
Mark 10:17
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?”
There are a couple things I want you to notice about this section.
1. This man has come to be referred to as the Rich Young Ruler. The reason for this is that this particular story appears in Matthew, Mark and Luke. From those three accounts we find that he was young, wealthy and a ruler of some sort. Probably meant he was some kind of political leader.
2. This man was running. In Jesus day, this was unheard of. Men did not run. Wealthy rulers never ran. They didn’t have to. I think we compare this guy to someone like Bill Gates or the President. These guys don’t run after anything. They have people run to them and for them, but they don’t run. Furthermore, in Jesus day this would have been so demeaning. To run means you would have had to hike up your robes and expose your ankles which was very humiliating.
3. This man apparently had a burning desire to have his question answered. He probably had heard Jesus speak. He apparently thought a lot of Jesus and looked to Jesus as an authority.
4. His question was not something you look up on Wikipedia. It was the mac daddy of them all. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Notice he says “inherit.” He used a financial term there to describe a spiritual reality. He was very comfortable in the financial world.
It was an important enough question that he ran to find the answer.
Vs. 18-20
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’ “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
1. Jesus is basically telling him, “You do not have to flatter me. I’m listening.
2. Jesus responds with a list that most teachers would have given. In some ways, he is testing the guy to see if he wants more than just the standard answer.
a. If this guy would have been satisfied with the standard answer, he would have went away feeling pretty justified.
b. But this guy wanted more. He tried living by the standard and he recognized that it didn’t work.
c. He tried living his life by the accepted standard.
i. Many try to live this way. I can always tell when someone really has an interest in the Gospel. An interest in really following Jesus versus joining a church.
ii. This guy had joined the church, but he wasn’t following.
iii. Jesus wants to know if this guy wants more than a set of rules he can follow to make himself feel better.
3. And the man’s response is that he has tried to live them all his life. He isn’t necessarily claiming to be perfect, he is saying, “Is that it? Because I have not experienced life like I thought I would through the commandments alone.”
Vs. 21-22
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.
1. I love the first part of 21. It says he loved him.
2. Seeing that the man is intent on really discovering the answer, Jesus tells him the one thing he lacks. It’s so ironic that Jesus uses the word “lacks.” Jesus says to this guy who has everything in the world’s eyes, “You don’t have everything.” That’s why you are here in front of me. You lack something. Something is standing in your way of truly experiencing life.
3. And here it is: The one thing you lack is a freedom of complication that your money is bringing to your life. Your wealth is such a distraction that it eats up all your time and attention and you can’t focus on the things that really matter.
4. The one thing you need to do is follow me. But in order for you to do that, you need to free yourself of this burden. In his case, his burden was his wealth. It kept him from really experiencing life the way God intended.
5. Jesus makes it so simple for this guy. There is only one thing you lack.
a. It’s like in City Slickers where Billy Crystal’s character asks Jack Palance’s character, Curly, what the secret of life is. His response is “one thing.” Of course, Crystal’s character wants to find out what that one thing is, but Curly says it is different for each person.
b. Jesus gives this guy his one thing. Following me is the most important thing you can do for your life. But it will require you to sacrifice your wealth.
6. This guy can’t do it. He can’t let go of it. Losing his wealth would have been
a. To completely put his trust in Jesus.
b. To humiliate himself. Wealth was a sign of God’s favor.
c. To lose the life he knew. It surely would have meant losing his political office.
7. He can’t give up his money to follow Jesus even though it will mean living his life with that gnawing sensation that comes from not choosing a path that you know is right. You know the direction to go, but you don’t, because you value something else more. For this guy, he valued his comfort, security and prestige more than following Jesus.
8. The reality for us is that we too have a one thing. We have at least one thing that stands in our way of really experiencing life. It’s different for each of us, and yet if we were to talk about it we would find we all have some similar distractions in our life.
9. For this guy it was his wealth. Jesus points out:
Vs. 23-27
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 a rich man 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.”
1. Contrary to belief this wasn’t a real gate in Jesus time. A gate at later time was referred to as the eye of the needle. But in Jesus time it didn’t exist. Jesus was saying that it is literally impossible on your effort for a wealthy person or any person for that matter to enter heaven. Your wealth doesn’t make you more acceptable to God.
2. Jesus says here it is impossible for a person to save themselves, wealthy or not.
3. The point is that God can do it.
4. We each have one thing that stands in our way of really following Jesus, of experiencing life. And we can’t remove it without God’s help.
One thing stands in your way of life.
1. Identify our one thing.
· There’s always something that is getting in the way and we do have to work at getting those things out of our way. I’m asking today to focus on one thing this week. One thing that is distracting.
· What distracts you from Jesus?
· Does something you spend your time or energy on keep you from following Christ in an area of your life?
o Family
o Church
o Community Group
o Serving
- There’s one thing we just can’t give up.
- What is your back up plan? What are you holding onto in case the Jesus thing doesn’t work out?
· What’s the thing you look for satisfaction in?
· It could be something or it could be someone.
2. Release your one thing – 27
o Pray that you can release it.
o Do something about it.
3. Replace your one thing with Jesus - 21
· Jesus says “sell everything” AND “come follow me.” He replaces his everything with himself.
Vs. 28-31
Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!”
“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—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
4. Expect a reward.
· What I don’t want you to miss today is the fact that whatever Jesus asks us to give up, he follows up with a reward.
· I get a little bit uncomfortable to talk in this way because I do not want to paint a picture of a health and wealth gospel. That’s not the gospel.
· But we cannot escape Jesus’ words that bless us for our sacrifice.
· And here’s the huge point of all this sacrifice talk: When Christ is our one thing the benefits far outweigh the sacrifice.
o Remember the nickel trade?
o He got 100x as much in return as he gave up.
· Don’t get hung up the 100x.
· Don’t get hung up on an exact trade: house of house
· But get hung up on the fact that the benefits always the sacrifices.
The band is going to play a song and I want us to use it as a reflection time to consider what is my one thing? What is the one thing I just can’t give up to follow Jesus.