Mark 10: 17-31 “Journey to the Cross Pt 1” Mid Week Lent 1

There is a popular Christian chorus that declares. “At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life - I give it all to you.” Such commitment to surrender our lives to Christ is a journey - not a one time choice. It is a path that we choose to tread day in and day out. This Lenten season for our mid-week services we are going to dive into what that looks like in our daily lives, based on the gospel of Mark.

We open up this evenings text with an interruption. Jesus is on his way to the next town, but before he could leave a man ran up to him and begged him for the answer to just one question - what must I do to inherit eternal life? 

Is that not a question that many of us have asked and heard over the years in its various forms: how can I be certain that I am saved? How do I get into heaven? 

I remember a Bible study I was teaching a few years ago about evangelism - sharing our faith. One of the women in the room with the deepest spirituality I had ever encountered shared with the group that she wasn’t sure she was saved because she didn’t have an earth shattering moment where Jesus entered her life in such a way that she had what she dubbed “a salvation story to share”. Its one of the questions I hear most often from church folks, who like this woman, have grown up in the church hearing about Christ and growing closer to him each day, but wondering if that is truly enough.

This man is wondering the same thing. How does one know for sure that they are going to have eternal life? But Jesus took his question and turned it on its head. First, he took time to instruct the man about God - directing that man back to the source of all that is good - God alone. Even before he could get to his question, the man seemed to get confused  - referring to Jesus as the good teacher, not because he recognized him as Messiah and Lord, as Peter did in another passage of scripture, but because he noticed that Jesus seemed to have something special about his teachings and healings. 

What about us? Are we just as confused as the man in this scripture lesson? Are we confused about who and what is good in our lives? Good isn’t just keeping the letter of the law, like the man said he did, good is keeping in the spirit of the law - which means doing that which honors God. Are we doing what we do because we think we should or because it is the law of scripture or are we responding to God’s goodness, power and love? Are we doing what we ought to do or are we lead to do as a response to God’s saving grace in our lives? 

For the man, Jesus’s next response, next teaching for him was a hard truth - he may be keeping the letter of the law, but his wealth was getting in the way of knowing the goodness of God and responding freely to that goodness in his life. Before we start to chastise this man I think we need to examine our own hearts this evening and ask what is keeping our own hearts from receiving and responding freely to the goodness of God. Our judgment of others? Our need to accumulate wealth or possession? Our need to follow God on our own terms, instead of responding to the call of God on our lives? What could potentially block us from God’s goodness is going to be different for each of us. For this man it was his wealth. For us it could be something entirely different - but we need to stop and examine our hearts before we can renounce it.

This man was probably expecting from Jesus’s first question and response to hear that he was all good - that he was guaranteed an in for eternity - but once again Jesus didn’t give his second answer in terms of eternal life, but instead spoke about having treasure in heaven. It is as if Jesus is asking the man where is your heart? What’s most important to you?

The man’s face fell and he went away. He was confronted by hard questions and even harder truths and it was more than he could bear. Sometimes when we look into our hearts and start to really ask what is most important to us, we may become shocked and disappointed with the answer. Perhaps you have been traveling along your journey with Christ and think that you have it all together - you go to worship, serve the Lord, and are feeling good about everything - only to hear the question of Christ - where is your treasure? And you start to look deep into your heart and realize that things aren’t as they seem. That you are following Christ but only the way you want to, only the extent you want to, instead of giving your very all to God. 

The man couldn’t give up his wealth, because there as power, presteige, and privilege in his wealth and he was looking for that same power, preseitiege, and privilege from Christ telling him that it was all good, he was all set, and that he was on his way to inheriting eternal life. But Jesus, in the Gospel of Mark, teaches not about eternal life, but about the Kingdom of God - which is both ever present and yet to come. Christ teaches that the Kingdom comes from God’s very self, God’s goodness, and as he teaches about it more and more it starts to hit closer to home, becoming relevant and challenging. For in the Gospel of Mark, the Kingdom of God was much bigger than getting to heaven when you die - its the issue of surrendering your heart to the work of God here and now. And the man just couldn’t bring himself to do it. The harder question is can we? Are we more concerned with where we are going to go when we die than honoring God with our lives here and now? Are we more about doing things within our own power, or doing the impossible for the sake of God’s kingdom? Can we surrender our lives for the sake of God’s Kingdom?

Let us take time this evening to reflect on our own hearts asking God if we are truly surrendering our very selves for the sake of the Kingdom and if there is anything that is blocking us from God’s goodness. Amen.