Transforming Church

Jesus, right after the visit from the rich young man asking what he had to do to gain eternal life, says to His apostles, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, family or fields for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundred times what they have now in this life and in the life to come, eternal life" That's quite a promise; isn’t it? Whatever you invest in Jesus, your investment will be returned to you 10,000%. There isn’t anyone who could make that kind of promise except Jesus, and I have to tell you, did He ever pick an interesting context in which to offer it.

This wealthy young man came to Him looking for how to gain eternal life. Jesus answers him, "You know the commandments." “Teacher,” he says, “I’ve kept all those since my youth.” Jesus answers, “Really?” But He likes this young man and He tells him, "Well, there is one thing you lack: go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor. That way you’ll have treasure in heaven, and then come and follow me."

This blew the young man right out of the water. He walked away shocked, with head down, because he had a ton of possessions. After he was gone Jesus said to His apostles, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! It’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than it is for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

By now the apostles were standing there with their mouths open. They were shocked at the harshness of this teaching and asked, “How then, can anyone be saved?” Jesus put it into perspective, “With God all things are possible.” As usual Peter is the one who finally speaks up. “Look,” he says, “We have left everything and followed you." And they had.

But this was the moment in which Jesus made His promise of at least 100 times in return. He didn’t promise them 72 virgins in heaven but He promised a 10,000% return on what they had invested. The reason I keep making the point of the 100 times return is because you have to remember that this is the same Jesus who told the story about the laborers in the vineyard, who worked all different lengths of time, some barely an hour, but still they all got paid the same.

You are not earning any special kind of position or reward by your giving, but-at-least-by-being-willing-to-share you are not turning down Jesus’ gift. The rich young ruler had turned it down. He took himself right out of the picture. For our own sakes, so that we don’t do that, we have to answer the question, “Why would he turn down Jesus?” or “Why did he walk away?”

Could it be that he didn’t really believe Jesus knew what He was talking about? I doubt it. If that were true, why would he come to Jesus with the question to begin with? He was the one who came looking for Jesus. Is it possible he didn’t really believe there was a life beyond this one where benefits could be received? That doesn’t make any sense either because his question was specifically about eternal life. No, I don’t think either of those were the problem.

However, there are in fact three contributing parts to the problem.
First, a huge part is that THIS RICH YOUNG MAN COULD ONLY SEE WHAT HE WAS GIVING UP; he never even got close to seeing what he would gain.

He was used to fine clothes. He drank fine wines with all his meals. He had a lot of expensive things in his house. He was accustomed to the best of everything. In short, he was a first century Yuppie. He’d fit right in today with many young and approaching middle-aged professionals everywhere.

The second contributing part to the problem is that THIS YOUNG MAN OVER-ESTIMATED THE VALUE OF OWNING A PART OF THIS LIFE. Please don’t misunderstand that I am trying to underestimate the value of money in our society.

Neither wealth nor credit buy you status. Andrew Carnegie was one of the richest men who ever lived. He was also very generous, but he grew to detest his wealth to the point that he finally refused to carry any money with him. Then other things happened to him, like getting kicked off a bus in London.

And did money solve the problems of Howard Hughes or Aristotle Onassis? Like more than a proportionate share of the wealthiest, they died two of the world's most miserable men. Why invest the emphasis of your life in something that’s only going rust or rot? Why invest in something you will only have to leave behind? Why invest in something that’s incapable of bringing you either happiness or peace of mind?

The third contribution to the mistake this young man made was that HE WAS NOT ABLE TO APPRECIATE THAT THE ONLY RICH THAT IS GOING TO BE SATISFYING IS BEING RICH TOWARD GOD.

If one is a church member or follower of Jesus and not a full time disciple, any inspiration to give is going to focus on how much they are giving up. When most hear Jesus promise a hundredfold return, a 10,000% return, that says to them that if they are generous some day they are going to be rich -- like a number of the TV evangelists have promised. That is not the way that God’s grace works and that is not the way of discipleship.

Discipleship lives for God and the appreciation that God’s grace was never for His own benefit. Rather it has always for the benefit of others, which just happens to be all of us. Likewise, what disciples share is not for their benefit, but for others, which means that as you open your heart to respond to God’s love, as you give yourself totally to Him 24/7, you are always going to see how blessing others has blessed you at the same time. It’s not a matter of what you gave up. It also means that the benefits to be realized by others will go on and on in ripples, long after you’ve gone, surely approaching and exceeding a 10,000% return. That is what Jesus is offering each of us, and that is the deal of a lifetime. AMEN

Possible Illustrations:
On the first point: During the 1980’s studies showed college students seeing their goal to be very well off financially jump from 53% to 93%. Jesus is saying if you fit this profile your chances of entering the kingdom of God are about equal to that of an eight foot tall hairy creature with a hump on his back, pushing itself through the tiny hole in one end of a needle. I don’t like those odds at all! Why? Because if you are merely a follower of Jesus and forced to decide between Him and your wealth, the only thing you are ever going to see is what you are giving up. You will never begin to see what you might gain.

On the second point: I’m sure most of you remember the story of Midas. According to this Greek myth the god Dionysus offered King Midas whatever his heart desired. Without hesitation he said, "I wish that everything I touch would turn to gold!" So it was.

Midas was beside himself. He picked up a handful of sand and it turned into gold dust. He picked up a stone and it turned into a gold nugget. He touched a leaf and it was gold leaf. He grabbed fifteen carrots and they turned out to be fifteen carot gold. He was convinced he would become the richest, happiest man in the world. He danced all the way home and announced to his servants, "Prepare a banquet. We’re going to celebrate my good fortune."

But as the bread touched his tongue it turned to gold. As the wine touched his lips it turned to gold. The king was getting pretty hungry and he was starting to get nervous. When his daughter became upset he tried to comfort her. As he kissed her she turned into a gold statue and Midas cursed his gift.

On the third point: An old mountaineer on his deathbed called to his wife. "Elviry," he said, "Go to the fireplace and take out that loose stone under the mantle." She went and did it, and behind it was a shoe box crammed full of money. "That's all the money I've saved through the years," he said, "and when I go I'm gonna take it with me. I want you to take that there box up to the attic and set it by the window. I'll get it as I go by on my way to heaven." She did as he asked. Well, that night the old mountaineer died. Several days after the funeral, his wife remembered the shoe box. She climbed back up into the attic and there it was, still full of money, sitting by the window. "I knew it,” she said, “I knew I should have put it in the basement instead."