One Thing You Lack...
Mark 10:17-31
Georgetown Presbyterian Church
October 15, 2006
Rev. Stephen H. Wilkins
A man who was an expert in precious gems was traveling to a convention. On the airplane he happened to be sitting next to a woman with an enormous diamond on her finger. After stealing some glances at the ring, the man finally introduced himself to the woman and said, "I couldn’t help but notice your beautiful diamond. I am an expert in precious stones. Please tell me about that diamond."
The woman replied, "This is the famous Klopman diamond, one of the largest in the world. It was discovered in South Africa. But there is a strange curse that comes with the diamond."
Now the man was really interested. He asked, "What is the curse?"
There was a pause before the woman replied, "It’s Mr. Klopman."
Hopefully none of your precious jewels carries that kind of curse! But seriously, the true curse of any kind of valuable possession is its capacity to steal our hearts and souls.
Jesus encounters a man who comes eagerly to him and asks, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" After Jesus discusses with the man the requirements of the law, he says to the man, "One thing you lack: Go and sell all your possessions and give your money to the poor. Then come, and follow me."
And Mark tells us that the man was astounded, and he walked away dejected, because the man had great wealth.
One thing you lack...
A lot of ink has been spilt over the main focus of this passage. Certainly it is not to be interpreted as a universal command for all Christians to denounce all their possessions. But it is about the things that take priority in our lives, and how those priorities hinder our ability to follow Jesus. And it is difficult, if not impossible, to separate a discussion of priorities from a discussion of money and possessions, for how we view money and possessions is an indication of what takes priority in our lives.
Back in Midland, there was a lot of wealth, as one would expect in an oil town. Jerry Hilton, the former senior pastor at First Presbyterian in Midland, used to tell the congregation that we don’t need to apologize for wealth; we do, however, stand accountable for how we use it. It’s a matter of priorities.
It has to do with the locus of our trust.
You see, if you trust in money, then your priorities revolve around money: You love money and you use people. If you trust in God, then your priorities revolve around God: You love people, and you use money to that end. Our priorities are an indication of the locus of our trust.
Jesus said to the man on the road, "One thing you lack..."
There’s always something, isn’t there? There’s always something that stands between us and our acceptance of the invitation to follow Jesus. For the young man on the road to Jerusalem, it was his wealth and possessions. What is it for you? What stands between you and your acceptance of the invitation to follow Jesus? Not believe in Jesus, but follow Jesus. What is your one thing?
I think it ultimately boils down to the same thing for all of us: the self. The one thing that is impossible for us to fully let go is the self. All the other things--money, job, relationships, possessions--all the other things are just ways that we choose to define our selves. Ultimately, it all boils down to the self.
One thing you lack, says Jesus: Are you willing to give up your self, and follow me? If you want to follow me, says Jesus in another place, you must deny your self and take up your cross daily...
This one thing is no small thing. It goes straight to the heart of the matter, and that is our deep-seeded individualism. In our world today, we hear a lot about self-help, self-fulfillment. They sound like great things, but in fact they are the root of our deepest spiritual problem.
In our world, we are obsessed with the self. As I was studying for this sermon, I came across an article by John Killinger, who was quoting Robert Bellah, the author of Habits of the Heart. In the article, Killinger remarks that "the desire to get the most out of one’s life, to be the best or achieve the highest, is a hallmark of our time. We are so intent on fulfilling ourselves and our destiny, says [Bellah], that we put our own lives and careers above everything else. Our individualism matters more to us than the success of any larger entity or institution. Organizations are suffering today because we no longer value sacrifice and service above personal success and enjoyment."
One thing you lack, says Jesus. One thing you still need to give to me: your self.
I’ll have to admit, I’ve always had a nagging concern about the question that the man asks Jesus: What must I do to inherit eternal life? I’ve had a nagging concern, because the question is asked out of selfish motive. To ask that question is to say, "What’s in it for me, Jesus?"
Don’t get me wrong: I want to go to heaven. I want to spend eternity in the presence of God.
But personal salvation is not to be the motivating factor. Personal salvation is not to be my goal. It might be a by-product of the decision to give my self to Jesus, but it is not the end in and of itself.
Selfless obedience to Christ ought to be my goal.
The glory of God ought to be my goal.
I have a problem with many of the modern-day evangelists, because they prey upon our selfish motives. Rarely do they share the gospel with the glory of God in mind. It’s always an appeal to whether or not you want to go to heaven. Do you want to go to heaven? Of course you do! But that’s not the point! The gospel is not about me, me, me! The gospel is about God, and his glory and his majesty and his compassion and his steadfast love!
The Westminster Catechism asks the question, What is the chief end of man?
The chief end of man--or to put it in modern terms, the main purpose of the human race--is to glorify God and enjoy God forever. Don’t you see--the main goal in life is to glorify God, not personal salvation. Personal salvation may come, but that’s not our goal. Coming to God and worshiping God--that’s our purpose.
Are you willing to give over your self for the glory of God?
There’s a strand of reformed theology that has its roots in Calvin’s doctrine of predestination. To paraphrase John Calvin, the doctrine of God’s sovereign election by grace is such a beautiful thing to consider that even if one is not among the elect, God is nevertheless worthy of praise. Some of the students of Jonathan Edwards, an American theologian during the Great Awakening of the 19th century, took this thought even a bit farther and said that the doctrine of God’s sovereign election and grace is so wonderful that, if the glory of God is truly our goal in life, then we ought to be willing to be damned for the glory of God. In other words, God is worthy of our praise regardless of our eternal destiny.
I won’t ask you if you’re willing to be damned for the glory of God. But I will ask if you are willing to live for the glory of God. Let salvation come as God grants it. Are you willing to dedicate your self to the glory of God?
One thing you lack...
I don’t know about you, but for me the struggle with selfishness is the greatest spiritual struggle I face. I’m not talking about the hoarding-of-money kind of selfishness, or the reluctance-to-share kind of selfishness. I’m talking about the selfishness that drowns out the needs of others because I want to lay back on my couch and take it easy. I’m talking about the selfishness that wonders what kind of reward I will get when I do something nice. I’m talking about the selfishness that prevents me from putting Jesus first in my life.
But my friends, that is the one thing. The key to the abundant life is to lose your life in following Jesus.
I was deeply humbled last week when we heard about the different mission projects and work going on through the resources of this congregation. To hear the testimonies of Cody Watson, and Jack and Celesta Rae, and Barbara Hughes and Dale Marine, is to hear how people have given of themselves to follow Christ’s lead. They have given Jesus their "one thing." And Jesus is doing amazing things through them.
On Wednesday night Dale and Barbara were telling about their work among the orphans in Zambia. They told of a man who is currently serving as a pastor in one of the slums surrounding Lusaka. This pastor had been a successful business man, and he was a Christian. There was a point, though, when he and his wife heard clearly the call of Christ for him to serve as a pastor among the poor. So dedicated was he to following that call, that he sold his house and moved his family into their new home--an empty cargo container in the slum.
One thing you lack...
What stands between you and your acceptance of the invitation of Jesus to follow him? What part of your self have you yet to surrender?
If anybody would follow me, says Jesus, you must deny yourself, and take up your cross daily and follow me.
Are you willing to give Jesus that one thing you lack? Or will you walk away, because it’s just too much to give up?