What Are You Keeping That Is Keeping You From God?

 

Money, Power, Prestige? What are you keeping that is keeping you from following Jesus?

This sermon was preached on the 20^th Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 23B) at All Saints Church in Homewood, AL. A video of the sermon may be seen here. The readings for this Sunday were the following:

Job 23:1-9, 16-17
Psalm 22:1-15
Hebrews 4:12-16
Mark 10:17-31

 

Holy God, let my words be your words and when my words are not your words, let your people be wise enough to know the same. Amen.

A man approached Jesus. He was well dressed and well kempt. The type of man whom others admired. Surprisingly he forced his way through the crowds to get to Jesus—stopping the teacher and his disciples from leaving on a journey in the process. Once the man had Jesus’ attention, he knelt down in front of the one people were calling the Messiah. Then, came the question.

“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” On the surface the question appeared innocent enough. The query had no thorns, no trap at least on the outside, but something underneath his words felt uncomfortable, hiding in plain sight, or sound, as it were. Inherit. What must I do to inherit eternal life? Not, “What must I do to enter eternal life?” nor “What must I do to have eternal life?” nor even “What must I do to earn eternal life?” This successful man wanted something else added to his portfolio. “So, what’s it going to cost me?” he might as well have said.

Jesus’ initial response pierced the surface—was this someone who just looked polished or was there depth beneath the façade? Jesus yearned to know this man’s soul. The teacher began to explore with his new student, “You know the commandments. You shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and mother.” Six of the ten big ones—over half of the Ten Commandments.

If this were the initial test, the rich young man seemingly passed, as he explained “I have kept all these since my youth.” Again, on the surface all appears put together. Listen deeper though, “I have kept all these since my youth.”

Kept, like one might keep a bond certificate, guard one’s fine china, or hide away a prized possession? Jesus did not directly pounce on this word, instead he did something else odd.

Countless times Jesus showed God’s transforming love to rich and poor, old and young, Jew and Gentile, male and female, but only here with this rich man did this Gospel writer say that Jesus loved someone. Jesus agaped him. Without limit he loved this man who had almost everything, sought to inherit eternal life, and kept the rules precisely. Jesus loved him, then he challenged him.

To use poker language, Jesus had let the man call and raise his way to this point, such that he was “all in” with everything sitting at the center of the table—maybe even the watch his father had given him. Now though, Jesus was going to call the man’s bluff. “You lack one thing,” Jesus said cutting through the man’s defenses with his tough and limitless love, “Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” That was it. The man folded. He walked away, like he lost more than his favorite watch. But why?

Did he not want to give up a certain standard of living? Was it that all those things made him feel important? Could he not let go of material stuff? Whatever it was, the rich man was too attached to, too enamored by, or too invested in something that kept him from selling it all and walking with Jesus. Maybe the man was shocked and heartbroken because he could not invest his way into inheriting the Kingdom. “You cannot buy your way in here. The only way in,” Jesus seemed to say, “is to sell it all.” What about us?

Life eternal awaits us now and always. Through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism we are outwardly marking this everlasting life, as Joseph Ryan Self is engrafted in the Body of Christ today at this service! As everlasting life beckons for us to enjoy, there are those things that we keep—whether they be material goods, social status, friend’s praise, family’s adoration, or whether our team won—those things that can keep us too. Don’t we get tangled up in them? We hang onto those things.

Think about what happens when we clutch onto something. As our hands grasp onto money, power, or prestige our clinched fingers do not allow us to be open to taking hold of anything else. “The things we possess, they possess us too.” Put another way it’s hard to follow the crowd and to follow Jesus too. Or, as Jesus himself put it, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). In this season when we discern our commitment to God in time, talent, and treasure, it takes courage to truly address those things that we hold onto that prevent us from receiving the gifts of God. So, I wonder for myself and for us, what happens when the things we keep are the things keeping us from following Jesus? What happens when the things you keep are the things keeping you from following Jesus?

For the rich man long ago, he wanted to keep things exactly the same (eat his cake and have it too). Even when he had eternal life right there in front of him asking him to follow, he wanted to make like Frank Sinatra, and do it “Myyyyyy WAY!!!” This sort of controlling though does not only derive from the love of power or control.

Denying Christ’s invitation to follow could result from holding onto anything that prevents us from receiving and giving the transforming love of God. Even when we keep good things or great things instead of God, we find ourselves living a limited life. With God though, all things are possible even relinquishing power and control; affection, esteem, approval, and pleasure; survival and security that we long to keep but that can keep us from following Jesus. The good news though is that we love God by loving neighbors, loving strangers, and loving ourselves—it’s a both/and not an either/or. Again I wonder, what happens when the things we keep are the things keeping us from following Jesus? What happens when the things you keep are the things keeping you from following Jesus?

There is a helpful parable by Paulo Coelho (Quail-o) about how we often seek to keep things, such that we miss Christ’s invitation to open our eyes, arms, and hearts to see, receive, and give God’s love. Here it is:

There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian village.

As he sat, he saw a Brazilian fisherman rowing a small boat towards the shore having caught quite [a] few big fish.

The businessman was impressed and asked the fisherman, “How long does it take you to catch so many fish?”

The fisherman replied, “Oh, just a short while.”

“Then why don’t you stay longer at sea and catch even more?” The businessman was astonished.

“This is enough to feed my whole family [and then some],” the fisherman said.

The businessman then asked, “So, what do you do for the rest of the day?”

The fisherman replied, “Well, I usually wake up early in the morning, go out to sea and catch a few fish, then go back and play with my kids. In the afternoon, I take a nap with my wife, and when evening comes, I join my buddies in the village for a drink — we play guitar, sing and dance throughout the night.”

The businessman offered a suggestion to the fisherman.

“I am a PhD in business management. I could help you to become a more successful person. From now on, you should spend more time at sea and try to catch as many fish as possible. When you have saved enough money, you could buy a bigger boat and catch even more fish. Soon you will be able to afford to buy more boats, set up your own company, your own production plant for canned food and a distribution network. By then, you will have moved out of this village and to Sao Paulo, where you can set up HQ to manage your other branches.”

The fisherman continued, “And after that?”

The businessman laughed heartily, “After that, you can live like a king in your own house, and when the time is right, you can go public and float your shares in the Stock Exchange, and you will be rich.”

The fisherman asked, “And after that?”

The businessman said, “After that, you can finally retire, you can move to a house by the fishing village, wake up early in the morning, catch a few fish, then return home to play with kids, have a nice afternoon nap with your wife, and when evening comes, you can join your buddies for a drink, play the guitar, sing and dance throughout the night!”

The fisherman was puzzled, “Isn’t that what I am doing now?”[1]

Christ Jesus invites you right now to follow him in eternal life. You cannot buy your way into this inheritance. You can’t earn it. You can’t keep everything perfect so you make it in. The only way into this now and forever life is to release all that you are keeping that keeps you from God. The way in is to let go of everything you are keeping, so you may be with Christ on this eternal journey. Is it scary? Bold? Requiring courage? YES! And, it is your invitation as a beloved child of God. So, let everything go—everything you are keeping that is keeping you from God—let it go, then come and follow Christ into everlasting life. Amen.

 

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[1] “The Fisherman and the Businessman,” Paulo Coelho. Written September 4, 2015. Accessed October 9, 2021. http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2015/09/04/the-fisherman-and-the-businessman/.