Your Possessions and the Kingdom, Pt. 2

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We’ve built an entire self-storage industry devoted to holding onto things we don’t have room for. While we may think we own our possessions, somewhere along the way, the arrangement has been quietly reversed. Pastor Nick Gatzke takes a closer look at The Rich Young Ruler––a man who had more in common with us than we’d like to admit

Follow with me as we pick up in Mark chapter 10, starting at verse 17. This is what it says. It says, “he being Jesus was setting out on his journey. A man ran up and knelt before him and asked, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. Do you know the commandments or you know the commandments do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and your mother.” And he said to him, “teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus looking at him, loved him and said to him, you lack one thing, go sell all that you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked around and said to the disciples, “how difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.””

“And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, And they were exceedingly astonished and said to him, Jesus looked at them and said, “For all things are possible with God.” Peter began to say to him, “see, we left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “truly I say to you, there is no one who has left houses or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time. Houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands. with persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.””

For the man, materialism was his idol. His money possessions had a higher value to him than God. They had taken the place of God in his life. And Jesus always demands that we put away the things of competing value in our hearts when we call him Lord. Let me say that again because it’s so important. Jesus always demands that we put away the things of competing value when we call him Lord. And the man was sad because he wanted it both ways. He wanted the benefit of the most valuable thing, Jesus in the kingdom, but he didn’t want to recognize them as the most valuable. And so he chose his possessions. That danger is ever before me. And it is ever before you.

In his autobiography, Billy Graham recalls a story about demonstrating that true greatness is not defined by wealth or fame, but by character. He writes that “some years ago, Ruth and I had a vivid illustration of this on the island in the Caribbean. One of the wealthiest men in the world had asked us to come to his lavish home for lunch. He was 75 years old, and throughout the entire meal, he seemed close to tears. Until he finally said, I am the most miserable man in the world. Out there is a yacht, my yacht. I can go anywhere I want to. I have my private plane, my helicopters. I have everything I want to make my life happy. And yet I am as miserable as hell. And we talked to him and prayed with him and tried to point him to Christ who alone gives lasting meaning to life. And then we went down the hill to the small cottage that we were staying in. And that afternoon, the pastor of a local Baptist church came to call. He was an Englishman and he too was a widower and spent most of his time taking care of two invalid sisters. He was full of enthusiasm and love for Christ and for others. And he said, I don’t have two pounds sterling to my name. And with a smile, he proclaimed, but I am the happiest man on this island.” And Billy relates to how he asked his wife, Ruth, after they left, who do you think is the richer man?” And she didn’t have to answer because they both knew the answer.

Certainly those who had witnessed Jesus’s interaction with the man were now left with a pit in their stomach. It actually says the disciples were astonished and then exceedingly astonished at the words that would follow. Jesus loved the man, the man left sad, but his competing values kept him from the king and from the kingdom. And then Jesus looks around and he says to his disciples in verse 23, “how difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.” And the disciples were amazed, it says at his words, but Jesus said to them again, “children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God. It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished and said to him, “then who can be saved?” And Jesus said to them, “with man, it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” It’s impossible.

Jesus says to enter the kingdom of God for the wealthy. The illustration of the camel through an eye of the needle, you’ve probably heard it a million times in a million different contexts. This was not an illustration of difficulty. And it was not an illustration of mere exaggeration. It is impossible for a camel to get through the eye of a needle. And Jesus speaks to that level of severity to say, By way of analogy, it is impossible for those who are wealthy to inherit the kingdom of God.

Now that should give you and me great pause. Because by the standards of the world, every person in this room has a high relative wealth. By the standards of history, we all have high relative wealth. Even if you don’t feel like it. I mean, the fact that you aren’t worrying about food and shelter and basic provision puts you in the top percentage points of all the wealthiest people in the history of the world. But beyond that, we know, of course, that some of us are wealthier than others.

Some of us don’t just have wealth relative to history. We have wealth relative to our own culture. Jesus indicates that it’s impossible for you to inherit the kingdom. The disciples are astonished. The rabbis taught that God’s blessing was equated with wealth. We tend to think all the time that God blesses us through wealth. So why, why is the thing that we think is the greatest advantage in life, wealth, why is it actually the greatest disadvantage in the kingdom? Well, in the previous section in Mark 10, Jesus had just explained that whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.

And as we explained last week, how does a child receive the kingdom? They receive it as one who is helpless. Children have a helpless dependence in being provided for. And that helpless dependence is the nature of true faith. A helpless dependence upon God. for his provision. And so what is the disadvantage of wealth then? Well, it can lure us. It can lure us not into helpless dependence, but rather into self-sufficient independence. With wealth, we can buy comfort. With wealth, we can buy enjoyment. With wealth, we can buy experiences.

With wealth, we can buy luxury. With wealth, we can buy control. With wealth, we can buy our way out of difficulty. With wealth, we can buy our way out of discomfort. With wealth, we perceive that we can function as those who can control our reality toward the things we like and away from the things that we dislike. And this is the definition of self-sufficiency. And self-sufficiency is the opposite of helpless dependence, which is required to have true faith. The danger with wealth is that it binds us.

To the world, wealth leads us to think that we have found our place in the world. And of course, the reality is that the world has found its place in us. But when Jesus is truly of the highest value in your life, you’re willing to give up anything and even everything to follow him. He warns about the dangers of wealth in other places, of course. Matthew 6:19, “do not lay up treasures for yourself on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up treasures for yourselves in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” So what do we do? None of us can have the kingdom.

What is Jesus trying to get at? Is his goal just for all of you to sell all of your stuff? No. He’s not giving a universal command for you to sell all of your stuff, all of your material resources. How do we know that? Well, we know that because poverty also doesn’t deliver people from the love of money. He’s making a point about the greatest value. And in fact, He’s been systematically dismantling the things that we might hold as the greatest importance and value in this life over himself. Working backwards, here in Mark 10, it’s money and possessions.

In Mark 9, it’s reputation. something we all have a desire to be held in high esteem. In Mark 8 and 9, it’s comfort. We all intuitively desire comfort, and yet Jesus indicates that following him will produce suffering. In Mark 7, it’s purity and cleanliness, which is certainly a motivation for some as they relate to God. In Mark 7, it’s tradition. which provides structure and comfort and a roadmap for so many to know where they stand with God and in the world around them. And in Mark chapter three, all the way back near the beginning, it’s family, the source of relationships and identity that we’re tempted to think, define who we are and who we will become.

And Jesus says, whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother. Family, tradition, Purity, reputation, money and possessions. All of the things in this life that we are tempted to value the greatest, even tempted to value above God and his kingdom. And we see Jesus making the point that when he is of the highest value in your life, you’re willing to give up everything to follow him. And so what are we to do? Well, especially with the impossibility. of the wealthy entering the kingdom, Jesus says, well, with man, it’s impossible, but not with God.

All things are possible with him. That God by his spirit even helps wealthy people to see their need for complete helpless dependence on him. God even helps traditionalists to see their need for him. He even helps those who value image and external purity to see their helpless dependence on him. He even helps the ones who pursue comfort above all things to see their need for him. He even helps those who seek to be defined by their family to see their helpless dependence on him. God does that for them and he can do that for you.

When you see Jesus for who he really is, infinitely glorious, worth more than silver or gold or comfort or experience, and when you meet him and experience forgiveness and grace and mercy, and when you begin to see that his kingdom is… better than the kingdoms of the world, and that his ways are so much better than the practices of mankind. And when you experience true and lasting joy that comes from following him, joy that far supersedes luxury, vacations, or exquisite food, or sex, or the nicest homes, or earthly reputation and fame, what God offers you in Jesus Christ is infinitely more valuable and beneficial to you because he is infinitely more valuable and of the highest worth and fame and the greatest glory.

And he bids you to put aside the things of lesser value and follow him. This is exactly what Paul realizes when he writes in Philippians three, “whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count. everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Jesus, my Lord, for his sake, I’ve suffered the loss of all things and I count them rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him and not have a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. and may share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means I may attain to the resurrection. from the dead.” And so the question is, what is the temptation for you? What is the thing or things that you are tempted to think has a greater value than Christ? Is it your family? Tradition? Maybe a legalistic idea of purity? Is it comfort? Is it reputation? Or is it money? He uses the example of money and possessions because that I think is the most common.

If you identify the temptation in your own heart, then you can fight against that temptation. But when Jesus is truly of the highest value in your life, you are willing to give up anything and everything to follow him. The passage concludes with Peter. saying to him, “we’ve left everything and followed you.” And Jesus says, “truly I say to you, there’s no one who’s left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundredfold. Now, in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come, eternal life. but many who are first will be last and last first.” Jesus says that the trade is worth it. Don’t trade the things of infinite value away for things of lesser value. He offers a trade to you. That’s the other way around.

What if someone offered you a trade? You give them $26 and they’ll give you 26 million. In 2016, we see one of the more recent stories of the discovery of original painting by the Renaissance artist Raphael in an estate in Scotland. It was thought to be a fake. The painting, credited as a copy for years, had been valued at $26 in the year 1899, which is $2,600 today or so. The painting caught an eye of an art expert who was there filming for the BBC, looking at different artwork, and he looked at it and he said, “crikey! That looks like a Raphael.”

He told reporters the fact that it was would bring a value of the painting up to an estimated $26 million. What a trade. Jesus actually offers you a better trade. He offers you all of eternity. He offers you himself. He offers you forgiveness. He offers you everlasting joy. He offers you the things of the… highest value, and what does it cost you? He offers it to you for free, but he wants to know, do you value it for what it actually is?

Because when Jesus is truly of the highest value, everything else gets put down into its place, and you are willing to give up lesser values for the sake of following him. You might have some work to do in your heart on this one. What is the temptation for you? How is it shown in your daily living? How is it displayed in your credit card statement? How is it displayed in your relationships? May God help you and me as we do that work. Let’s pray. Father, we do not want to be so short-sighted as to trade away the things of greatest worth for lesser value.

Help us today. to see the infinite value of our Savior and his kingdom and to continue to follow him at every and any cost. Amen.

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This transcript was generated using AI transcription technology and reviewed for accuracy, but may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for precise wording.