These illustrations are based on Mark 10:17-31
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Sermon Opener - What Must I DO to Receive Life?

I heard about an expert in diamonds who happened to be seated on an airplane beside a woman with a huge diamond on her finger. Finally, the man introduced himself and said, "I couldn't help but notice your beautiful diamond. I am an expert in precious stones. Please tell me about that stone." She replied, "That is the famous Klopman diamond, one of the largest in the world. But there is a strange curse that comes with it." Now the man was really interested. He asked, "What is the curse?" As he waited with bated breath, she replied, “It's Mr. Klopman.”

Some of you may wish to re-evaluate your diamonds on that basis. But seriously the true curse of any kind of valuable possession is its capacity to steal our hearts and souls. The rich young ruler is one of those unique characters from the Bible that have come to represent greed. So unwilling was he to part with earthly wealth that he sold his soul in order to keep his money. He wanted to be saved but not at the expense of losing his possessions. The first thing that impresses me when I read this story is that the rich young ruler was so near to the Kingdom. He asked all the right questions. He understood the Law and he understood Jesus’ teaching. But in the end love of money kept him out. We see him as a moral coward.

But that conclusion is too simple…

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Jesus' No-Nonsense Guide to Being Rich – Mark 10:17-31

How would you like to be rich?

The Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol has offered a $10,000,000 Prize.

A recent email read, "Want a six-figure second income? Get rich now!"

A local financial institution was giving away copies of the international bestseller by David Bach: The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-Step Plan to Live and Finish Rich. Many of these offers go straight to my recycling bin or get automatically trashed by my spam filter. But The Automatic Millionaire -- in spite of its rather over-blown title -- actually offered a lot of basic common sense advice. Surprisingly, it even included a chapter on giving. To his credit, author David Bach recognized that to be rich is about much more than dollars and cents -- to be rich means also to be rich in giving.

The man in our scripture reading today also seemed to realize that being rich was about more than money. His story appears here in the gospel of Mark and in two other gospel accounts. Each time he is described as a man with many possessions, a man who was wealthy. The gospel of Matthew adds the detail that he was a young man. The gospel of Luke calls him a ruler. But even with all his riches, with all his vigor and youth, with all his good standing as a leader in the community, this man wanted more. He wanted to be rich also in eternal life. He came to Jesus with his question: "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

It was a very awkward meeting -- Jesus was just starting out on another journey, when this stranger ran up, knelt down at his feet, and blurted out his question. There was no proper introduction. There was too much flattery that Jesus tried to dismiss: "Why did you call me good? No one is good but God alone." Besides, in the first century, for one devout Jew talking to another, the answer would have been obvious. If you're interested in eternal life, then you need to start with the commandments….

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The Freedom to Sing

The French have a story about a millionaire in his palace who spent his days counting his gold. Beside the palace was a poor cobbler who spent his days singing as he repaired people's shoes. The joyful singing irritated the rich man. One day he decided to give some gold coins to the cobbler. At first the cobbler was overjoyed, and he took the coins and hid them. But then he would be worried and go back to check if the coins were still there. Then he would be worried in case someone had seen him, and he would move the coins and hide them in another place. During all this, he ceased to sing. Then one day he realized that he had ceased to sing because of the gold coins. He took them back to the rich man and said, "take back your coins and give me back my songs."

Gerry Pierse, Detachment and Freedom

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Shot in the Wallet

The devil was on the prowl one day out to get the Christian. When he saw the Christian he shot one of his fiery darts and it struck the Christian in the chest. The Christian had on the breastplate of righteousness so he wasn't harmed. The devil shot at the Christian's head but that was protected by the helmet of salvation. The devil figured everyone has an Achilles' heel, so he shot at the Christian's feet that were shod with the gospel of peace so no harm was done. The Christian smirked and turned around to walk away. The devil fired an arrow into the Christian's wallet and killed him.

Beth Quick, Mission: Impossible

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Do All the Good

Henry Thoreau said, "Be not merely good; be good for something." That was Jesus' challenge to the man who wanted to know what he could do to inherit eternal life. He had been good at making money, in being morally upright and keeping the commandments; but that is not the ultimate good: he must also give of himself and what he has in behalf of others. He needed to also realize that, "The gift without the giver is bare." John Wesley proposed an excellent guide to goodness. He said, and he practiced what he preached:

Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, At all the times you can, As long as ever you can.

Someone else has expressed the ideal of goodness in a wonderful way, saying, "I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore, that I can do, or any goodness that I can show to my fellow creatures, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."

Clement E. Lewis, When It’s Twilight Time, CSS Publishing Company

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Real Wealth - Priorities

God creates us with a variety of needs, desires, interests, talents, and opportunities. But these things don't define what we'll be. They're like the bricks, lumber, wallboard, shingles, and tiles we might see piled on the road near a construction site. It's what we make from the raw elements of our personalities that defines who we are; and this is where priorities and choices are crucial.

Jimmy Carter, Sources of Strength, Random House, p. 230.

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The Failure that Looked Like Success

More than forty years ago, I heard a man describe two paintings he said he had at his home. I have never forgotten them even though I never saw them. One was of the figure in Jesus' story of the rich man whose crops produced so abundantly that he decided to pull down his barns and build bigger ones, and he said to his soul, "Soul, eat, drink, and have a great time, for tomorrow you die." The caption under this painting said: "The Failure that Looked Like Success." The other painting, the companion painting, was of Jesus dying on the cross, the crown of thorns on his head, his chin drooping against his chest, the crude nails in his hands, and all his friends off somewhere in hiding. The caption under this picture said: "The Success that Looked Like Failure."

We would all like to be successful and fulfilled as persons; it is one of the dreams with which our culture imbues us. But when we listen to Jesus, we realize that success and fulfillment don't really come the way we often expect them to. They aren't the direct result of anything we can do to attain them. Instead, they're a gift from God and they simply happen when we are doing the right things with our lives. In God's eyes it is a whole lot better to be a success that looks like failure than a failure that looks like success.

John Killinger, The Real Way to Personal Fulfillment

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The Success Syndrome

Harvard Medical School psychologist Steven Berglas wrote a book called The Success Syndrome. He has found that individuals who in his word "suffer" from success have arrogance and a sense of aloneness. Insider trader Dennis Levine was asked by his wife why he needed the money from insider trading and he really had no answer. Levine says that when his income was $100,000, he hungered for $200,000, and when he was making $1 million, he hungered for $3 million. Berglas says that oddly enough people who find that $200,000 did not make them happy never asked themselves why they thought $300,000 would make them happy. Asked to prescribe a cure for the success syndrome, Berglas said, "What's missing in these people (Ivan Boesky, Michael Milken, Leona Helmsley) is deep commitment or religious activity that goes far beyond just writing a check to a charity."

King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com

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We Want It Our Way

The story of Faust by Goethe has become part of our heritage. Faust was a man who longed for romance, academic success, and wealth. Unable to find these on his own, he made a pact with the devil. If he could be granted his wishes, have his true worth made public and enjoy its fruits, then he would give his soul to the devil. Sure enough, he enjoyed marvelous romances, fabulous successes, and much wealth. Oddly enough, when the time came, he was unwilling to keep his part of the bargain. I wonder if there is a parallel here. We put Jesus off, promising, “Just one more of this and one more of that -- then I will be willing to go with you, Jesus.” Are we not like little Fausts, wanting to have it our way? After all, we say, we deserve it! And what do we say to Jesus when he comes to claim us?

Thomas Peterson, The Needle's Eye, CSS Publishing Company.

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Four Questions for Church Membership

A seminary professor named Stanley Hauerwas has a novel idea about how churches should receive new members. A teacher of Christian ethics at Duke University, he has written about the church's need for honesty and has called us to tell the truth as a "community of character."

To this end, he has a modest proposal. Whenever people join the church, Hauerwas thinks they should stand and answer four questions: * Who is your Lord and Savior? The response: "Jesus Christ." * Do you trust in him and seek to be his disciple? "I do." * Will you be a faithful member of this congregation? The answer: "I will." * Finally, one last question: What is your annual income?

You heard me correctly. When people join the church, Dr. Hauerwas thinks they ought to name their Lord and Savior and tell fellow church members how much money they make. It is obvious Hauerwas does not serve as a pastor of a congregation. His idea just wouldn't work, especially in the American church. Most church members believe salary figures are more sacred than prayer, and would quickly tell an inquisitive minister to snoop around somewhere else. What's more, parish experience tempers the questions a minister asks of church members. Most pastors quickly learn how to dance around the issue of money without ever naming it.

William G. Carter, No Box Seats in the Kingdom, CSS Publishing.

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Are We Rich?

The curse of any kind of valuable possession is its capacity to steal our hearts and souls. The heavier the purse, the tighter the strings. Is it fair to call most of us rich? According to our Methodist founder John Wesley, it is. He said that the word "rich" in the Bible means to have the necessities of life (food, shelter, and clothing) and then something left over. But here is part of the problem of us rich folks. We have increased the number of things we regard as necessities. We want three cars, two DVD players, four computers, a house at the lake, country club membership, and private school education. There are hundreds of things that we call necessities that our parents referred to as luxuries. The Bible says that shelter, food, and clothing are necessities. To have these and something left over, as almost all of us do, is to be rich.

Bill Bouknight, Collected Sermons, www.eSermons.com

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ADDITIONAL ILLUSTRATIONS NOT IN OUR EMAIL

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L4G -- Live For God - Mark 10:17-31

The front of local markets have been crammed full of candy for the past two weeks. [Get someone to take pictures of your specific local markets.] Halloween “Trick or Treat” might not be until the end of this month. But candy creators want us to stock-up and stock-pile.

As a kid it was such a rush to come home after “making the rounds” of the trick-or-treat neighborhood and ceremoniously dump out all that candy crammed into our paper bag. Every piece would be inspected. Perhaps some cautious trades made with siblings. Then each of us got our own bowl to keep our “cavity central” separate from everyone else.

Halloween candy is consumed according to two very different philosophies. There are the “hogs” and there are the “hoarders.”

The “hogs” dive right into the bowl, scarf down all their favorites the first night, eat until queasy, and then finish it up during lunchtime at school the next day.

The “hoarders” not only stretch out the life-span of their goodies until Thanksgiving. They also allow themselves only one or two “favorites” per day, mixing in the less desired goodies to fill out the daily ration.

There are obvious problems with both of these strategies. The “hogs” either get horrible stomach aches, or suffer an out-of-control sugar rush that leads them to harass little sister, drive the dog crazy, and get grounded by a frustrated parent.

The ”hoarder” lords their “I still have candy” status over others for a month. But eventually they end up with stale, rock-hard, break-your-teeth “goodies” that really are not good (although they would never admit it).

For both kids and adults it is hard to know how to deal with “wealth,” with “stuff” we have that others may not…

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When Too Much Can Be Too Little – Mark 10:17-31 by Leonard Sweet

Our parents complained that "the world is going to hell in a hand basket."
It's closer to the truth to say that "the world is going to hell in a shopping cart."

Your soul not to mention your budget is in mortal danger as you approach the grocery store checkout lane. You say, "How?"

You've carefully filled your cart with the needed items outlined on your list. You patiently wait in line, always seeming to pick the one that's slowest. Yet somehow, by the time the checker begins tallying up the items in your cart, it has suddenly filled up with a pack of gum, a box of Tic-Tacs, a new TV Guide, a four-pack of AA batteries, three candy bars and a magazine for enquiring minds.

If your 5-year-old is along, you may also have accumulated a new Pez dispenser, a mylar balloon with a Disney character on it and a plastic "cellular" telephone filled with tiny bubble-gum pieces. Stores purposefully pack this kind of junky, funky, consumer gunk into the narrow gauntlet we must run to get to the checkout counter. Things we would never intentionally have gone in search of now languish under our fingertips inviting, no insisting, that we grab them.

Although impulsively buying a pack of gum or a candy bar hardly seems earth-shattering or soul-threatening, the truth is that the increasingly voracious appetites of this consumer culture are being methodically nurtured and stimulated by a crass and crushing consumerism. The worldwide ramifications of such little things as a checkout gauntlet are ominous.

After a bad day, our parents sighed, "The world is going to hell in a hand basket." Today we can sigh even more deeply on a daily basis that the whole world is "going to hell in a shopping cart." For an increasing number of people, self-identity and life-purpose are summed up by the mantra "I shop, therefore I am." Raging consumerism has left Descartes' "I think, therefore I am" far behind. Consumer culture has never even heard of, much less considered, God's revelation to Moses, "I am who I am; therefore, you are."

Like the rich young man in today's gospel text, we know ourselves, we identify ourselves, we define ourselves, by our possessions, our things, our "stuff." This young man was so possessed by his "stuff" that he could unstuff himself neither for the sake of the poor, nor for his own sake and his quest for eternal life. Faced with the choice between his old secure, in-control, in-charge self and the unknown possibilities of life as a disciple of Jesus, the rich man clung to his human illusions of power and control…

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Humor: Losing Ourselves in our Possessions

There was a man who loved gold. Then he inherited a fortune. With joy he redecorated his bedroom. He put gold parchment wallpaper up, hung yellow curtains, had a golden colored rug and a yellow bedspread. He even bought some yellow pajamas. But then he got sick and came down with, of all things, yellow jaundice. His wife called the doctor who made a house call and went up to that bedroom for an examination. The doctor stayed up there a long while. When he came down, the wife asked, "How is he?"

"Don't know," said the doctor. "I couldn't find him."

Indeed many people today are absolutely absorbed in and lost in a world of greed and materialism.

Adrian Rogers

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Marketing Gone Mad

At the Coca-Cola Company, we have built and grown for more than 110 years. Remaining disciplined to our mission has brought us to remarkable places. Not long ago, we did some research and came up with an interesting set of facts.

A billion hours ago, human life appeared on Earth.

A billion minutes ago, Christianity emerged.

A billion seconds ago, the Beatles performed on The Ed Sullivan Show.

A billion Coca-Colas ago was yesterday morning.

And the question we are asking ourselves now is: What must we do to make a billion Coca-Colas ago be this morning?

Address by Roberto C. Goizueta, Chairman, CEO, Coca-Cola, delivered to the Executive Club of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, November 20, 1996. Taken from Vital Speeches of the Day, January 15, 1997, p. 201.

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Remember, no one is worthless. Any person can always be held up as a bad example.

Anonymous

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Freedom from Worry

Tony Compolo tells a story about a friend of his who had to take a bus trip across central India. He was in an old model bus which was packed with people, packages, furniture and even animals. Sitting across from Tony’s friend was a tired man whose neatly wrapped packaged was sitting on the luggage rack over his head. The man kept dozing off and each time he would wake up in a panic fearing that his package had been stolen. This went on for hours. But then eventually he fell asleep. When he awoke his package was gone. Momentarily he panicked as he realized he had been robbed. But, being relieved that the thing that caused him constant worry was now gone, he settled back in his seat, totally relaxed and with a sense of joy he fell into a prolonged, wonderful sleep.

The man was now free of the one thing he was holding on to. I believe that is what Jesus is attempting to illustrate in this story. By letting go of the things that worry us, the things that obsess us, or the things that consume us, we discover we are free.

Keith Wagner, What We Really Lack

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The 300th American

You may have seen a few years ago that America welcomed her 300 millionth citizen to arrive. To put this in perspective, we hit the 100 million citizen mark around 1915. Current estimates are that every seven seconds, a child is born in this country. Every 31 seconds we gain an immigrant citizen. We should each take a few moments this month to give thanks for the comfort we enjoy in this country that makes such amazing growth possible. It is our privilege to be a place where people aspire to live, work, and raise families.

In light of this week’s Gospel reading, it is also a time to reflect on what our obligations are as individuals blessed with the ability to feed and clothe ourselves. Many of us live in cities and towns which include neighbors who need help to make ends meet. Are we doing everything we can to offer support where it is necessary? What are our obligations to our own nation’s poor and to the world’s? Are we living up to these obligations?

These are daunting questions and we can feel sympathy for the young rich ruler in Mark’s Gospel, but we should remember that each of us has the power to make the world a better place, and multiplied by 300 million, that should be a powerful change indeed.

www.Sermons.com, statistics from the New York Times Week in Review, October 8, 2006.

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The Trouble with Money

Guys, just remember, if you get lucky, if you make a lot of money, if you get out and buy a lot of stuff--it's gonna break. You got your biggest, fanciest mansion in the world. It has air conditioning. It's got a pool. Just think of all the pumps that are going to go out. Or go to a yacht basin any place in the world. Nobody is smiling, and I'll tell you why. Something broke that morning. The generator's out; the microwave oven doesn't work…Things just don't mean happiness.

H. Ross Perot (Billionaire and former Presidential candidate) in Fortune magazine.

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Sell the Church

The Rev. Will Campbell is a Baptist prophet from the hills of North Carolina. A few years ago he was invited to preach at the prestigious Riverside Church in New York City. That church has long been noted for its activist preachers and liberal, politically correct agenda. Will Campbell was asked to preach on this subject: "What Riverside Church Can Do to Help the Future of Race Relations in America." Campbell took for his text the same one I am using today, the story of the rich young ruler. At the beginning of his sermon he asked, "What can Riverside Church do to help race relations? What can this church do to relate to its next-door neighbors in Harlem? "Nothing," said Campbell, "nothing...unless you sell your big building and give it to the poor. Let's go out on the street and see what you can get for this big building." Needless to say, the host preacher and congregation were not amused. They wanted an answer that was reasonable, practical, and fashionable; not some shocking, outrageous answer. A liberal congregation had been out-liberaled. You can see why I wasn't about to invite Will Campbell to speak here during our recent Capital Funds campaign.

Will Campbell and Jesus have at least this in common: they shocked people often. Obviously, Jesus allowed no committee of political handlers to edit his material. He said things like, "I have not come to bring peace but a sword." "If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out." When Jesus met the Rich Young Ruler, he lobbed another spiritual hand grenade. Jesus had the gall to tell a wealthy person to go and sell all that he owned, without even checking with his accountant, and to give it all to the poor, and then to come and follow him. Whoever heard of such a thing?!

Bill Bouknight, Collected Sermons, www.eSermons.com

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The Gospel According to the Hebrews

There is an apocryphal gospel called "The Gospel According to the Hebrews" most of which is lost; in one of the fragments which remain there is an account of this incident which sheds a little light on its meaning. Here is how that ancient text records this story:

The rich man said to Jesus, "Master, what good thing must I do really to live?" Jesus said to him, "Man, obey the law and the prophets." He said, "I have done so." Jesus said to him, "Go, sell all that you possess, distribute it among the poor, and come, follow me!" The rich man began to scratch his head because he did not like this command. The Lord said to him, Why do you say that you have obeyed the law and the prophets? For it is written in the law, "You must love your neighbor as yourself," and look you--there are many brothers of yours, sons of Abraham, who are dying of hunger, and your house is full of many good things, and not one single thing goes out of it to them." And he turned and said to Simon, his Disciple, who was sitting beside him, "Simon, son of Jonas, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven."

There we have the secret and the tragedy of the rich young ruler. He was living utterly selfishly. He was rich, and yet he gave nothing away. His real God was comfort, and what he really worshipped were his own possessions and his wealth. That is why Jesus told him to give it all away.

William Barclay, Luke, Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975, p. 228.

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We Will Not Deny Ourselves

I think of a young couple I know. They're in their early thirties, and both work hard at their respective careers. When they get around little children, their hands go out to pick them up and love them. Sometimes they talk about having children of their own. But the young woman is on a career track and isn't sure she will ever be as successful as she wants if she stops to have children. Her husband is sympathetic. He has been well schooled in feminist thought. It isn't right for his wife to give up anything in her career to have children, he says, even if in her heart she desires to be a mother. Her success is more important than having children. She has got to fulfill her manifest destiny!

And then there's the man in later middle-age, a successful engineer who chairs a large department in his company, who is leaving his wife for a young surfer with tight "abs", as abdominal muscles are now called. His friends have argued with him about the decision. His children tell him he is throwing over years of relationship with a wonderful woman for a mere biological attraction. But he counters by saying he has only one life to live and he cannot deny himself the pleasure of this young woman with the taut body.

You see? Just like the man in the biblical story. Thinking about the self and how to fulfill it, how to help it realize all its potential before decline and death. It has become a mania in our time.

John Killinger, The Real Way to Personal Fulfillment

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You Can Be My Husband

Communication. It's difficult. Of course, the perennial complaint of women is that men don't communicate their feelings. A little girl and a little boy were at day care one day. The girl approached the boy and said, "Hey Billy, want to play house?" He said, "Sure! What do you want me to do?" Sally replied, "I want you to communicate your feelings." "Communicate my feelings?" said a bewildered Billy. "I have no idea what that means." The little girl nods and says, "Perfect. You can be the husband."

Staff

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The Curse of the Klopman Diamond

I heard about an expert in diamonds who happened to be seated on an airplane beside a woman with a huge diamond on her finger. Finally, the man introduced himself and said, "I couldn't help but notice your beautiful diamond. I am an expert in precious stones. Please tell me about that stone." She replied, "That is the famous Klopman diamond, one of the largest in the world. But there is a strange curse that comes with it." Now the man was really interested. He asked "What is the curse?" As he waited with bated breath, she replied, "It's Mr. Klopman."

Some of you may wish to re-evaluate your diamonds on that basis. The curse of any kind of valuable possession is its capacity to steal our hearts and souls.

Bill Bouknight, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com

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Humor: Knowing but Not Really Understanding

A shepherd was tending his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand-new Jeep Cherokee appeared out of a dust cloud, advanced toward him and stopped. The driver, a 20 something fellow wearing a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and a YSL tie, leaned out of the window and asked the shepherd, "If I can tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?"

The shepherd looked at the young guy, then at his peacefully grazing flock, and calmly answered, "Sure."

The young man parked his car, whipped out his notebook computer, connected it to a cell phone, surfed to a NASA page on the Internet where he called up a GPS satellite navigation system, scanned the area, then opened up a database and some Excel spreadsheets with complex formulas.

He finally printed out a 150-page report on his hi-tech miniaturized printer, turned around to our shepherd and said, "You have here exactly 1,586 sheep!"

"Amazing! That's correct! Like I agreed, you can take one of my sheep," said the shepherd.

The shepherd watched the man make a selection and bundle it into his Cherokee. When he was finished the sheepherder said, "If I can tell you exactly what your political persuasion is, where you're from and who you work for, will you give me my sheep back?"

"Okay, why not," answered the young man.

"You're a Republican from Palm Beach and you're working for Arnold Schwarzenegger," said the shepherd.

"Wow! That's correct," said the young man. "How did you ever guess that?

"Easy," answered the shepherd. "Nobody called you, but you showed up here anyway. You want to be paid for providing a solution to a question I already knew the answer to. And you clearly don't know squat about what you're doing. Now ... can I have my dog back?"

Staff

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Take and Eat

Author Max Lucado once put it this way in envisioning what Jesus might say to this rich young man: "What you want costs far more than what you can pay. You don't need a system, you need a Savior. You don't need a resume, you need a Redeemer . . . God does not save us because of what we've done. Only a puny god could be bought with tithes. Only an egotistical god would be impressed with our pain. Only a temperamental god could be satisfied by sacrifices. Only a heartless god would sell salvation to the highest bidders. And only a great God does for his children what they can't do for themselves." This man's wealth could not buy him a place at the table of God. But the banquet was already spread. All he had to do was take and eat.

Max Lucado quoted by King Duncan, www.Sermons.com

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Life's Little Instructions

H. Jackson Brown, the author of "Life's Little Instruction Book" also wrote a book filled with wit and wisdom from kids. It's titled: "When You Lick a Slug, Your Tongue Goes Numb." The title is what caught my eye. And it's filled with some hilarious bits of "Kid Wisdom".

"When your mother is mad and asks, "Do I look stupid?" it's best not to answer her.

You should never laugh at your dad if he's mad or screaming at you.

You should never pick on your sister when she has a baseball bat in her hands.

It's no fun to stay up all night if your parents don't care.

You should not be the first one to fall asleep at a slumber party.

You can't hide mashed potatoes in your hat.

No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.

Of course they do offer some really good advice and insight as well:

"Making a good grade on a test you studied hard for is a glorious feeling.

The greatest teacher is not the one who talks all the time, but the one who listens.

When you pray, you get a happy feeling inside like God just walked into your heart and is warming Himself at a cozy fire.

It's funny how God uses simple people to do great things.

Nothing hurts more than guilt.

My three favorites from the book are:

You will never be happy if all you do is think about all the things you don't have.

It's OK to fail, but it's not OK to give up.

It does not matter how much money a family has. If there is a lot of love in a home, that family is richer than any millionaire could be.

That last one is something that the rich young ruler in today's passage didn't quite get, isn't it.

Billy D. Strayhorn, Like Threading a Needle with a Camel

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Individual Success over All

Robert Bellah and his associates, the sociologists who wrote Habits of the Heart and The Good Society, two of the most distinguished books about American life in the last decade, say 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, say these scholars, 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.

John Killinger, The Real Way to Personal Fulfillment

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The Danger of Holding on to Wealth

The story of a butterfly named "Maculinea Arion" is most instructive. The creature lays its eggs on a plant, and after feeding on the plant for several weeks the young caterpillar makes its way to the ground. In order to complete its development, it must meet a certain kind of ant. When such an ant meets the caterpillar, the ant strokes it with its antennae, and the caterpillar exudes a sweet fluid from a special gland on its tenth segment. Apparently the ant likes this substance, because it then carries the caterpillar home to its nest. There the ants drink the sweet fluid exuded by the caterpillar. And, what does the caterpillar eat? The baby ants. The ants show their appreciation to the caterpillar by letting him spend the winter in a special cavity of their nest. It continues to eat the young ants until spring. Eventually it emerges as an adult butterfly and flies away to establish more of its kind. And the cycle starts all over again

Some people are not much different form the ants. For you see, they cherish a luxury item to the injury of themselves.

Michael Green, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching, Grand Rapids: Baker, p. 238. Adapted.

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Let It Crawl, Reverend!

Flip Wilson had a weekly TV comedy show back in the 70s, and one of his favorite characters to portray was Brother Leroy. In one skit, Brother Leroy was leading services one Sunday morning. It wasn't going very well. People weren't very responsive. It came time to receive the offering and so Brother Leroy passed the collection plates. They came back empty. So he passed them again. Same thing. Empty. Brother Leroy then went before the people and said, "Now, I know that you all want this church to progress. This church must progress." No response from the congregation. Brother Leroy shouted a bit louder: "Now, before this church can progress it has to crawl, this church has got to crawl." And the congregation started getting excited and they yelled back, "Make it crawl, Reverend. Make it crawl!" Brother Leroy continued, "After this church has crawled, it's got to pick itself up and start to walk, this church has got to walk!" And the people yelled back at him, "Make it walk, Reverend. Make it walk!" "And after this church has walked, this church has got to get up and run, this church has got to run." And the people were worked up into a terrible frenzy, and they hollered back: "Make it run, Reverend. Make it run!" And then Brother Leroy said, "Now, brothers and sisters, in order for this church to run, it’s gonna need money, its gonna take money for this church to run!" And the people yelled back, "Let it crawl, Reverend. Let it crawl!"

Mickey Anders, The Opposite of Rich, Adapted from Wayne C. Dureck

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The Doomed Wasp

George Orwell, writing during the Second World War, tells of a rather cruel trick he once played on a wasp. The wasp was sucking jam on his plate and he cut him in half. The wasp paid no attention to what had happened to him, but just went on with his meal, while a tiny, stream of jam trickled out of his severed esophagus. Only when he tried to fly did he realize the terrible thing that happened to him.

What a picture of a solely consumer-oriented humanity, gorging itself, earthbound, and oblivious to its plight.

Adapted from Orwell, The Collected Essays, Journals and Letters Vol. II New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1968, p. 15.

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Kings for a Little While

Sigmund Freud's favorite story was about the sailor shipwrecked on one of the South Sea Islands. He was seized by the natives, hoisted to their shoulders, carried to the village, and set on a rude throne. Little by little, he learned that it was their custom once each year to make some man a king, king for a year. He liked it until he began to wonder what happened to all the former kings. Soon he discovered that every year when his kingship was ended, the king was banished to an island, where he starved to death. The sailor did not like that, but he was smart and he was king, king for a year. So he put his carpenters to work making boats, his farmers to work transplanting fruit trees to the island, farmers growing crops, masons building houses. So when his kingship was over, he was banished, not to a barren island, but to an island of abundance. It is a good parable of life: We're all kings here, kings for a little while, able to choose what we shall do with the stuff of life. (see Matthew 6:19-20 "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth...")

James S. Hewett, Illustrations Unlimited, Wheaton: Tyndale, 1988, p. 339.

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Buying Grace?

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear this Gospel? Do you wonder if you are one of the rich people whose wealth will make it next to impossible to get into heaven? Have you ever heard this Gospel used in stewardship campaigns in which the prescribed fix or remedy for wealth is to give it to the church, ensuring that God would look favorably on you? Does this sound familiar?

As far back as the early Church, there have been suggestions that good graces and favor with God are obtained by sharing our wealth with the church. The burden of wealth is lifted, paving the way to heaven by the simple transfer of money or possessions. In fact, there was a time when it wasn’t even a suggestion – you could purchase the indulgences you needed. If you were wealthy, you were blessed in many ways. If you were poor, you were out of luck. It is no wonder that people living on the margins may hear hope in the words “many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” It suggests a certain promise of justice.

Debbie Royals

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Humor: I Want to Live Forever

There was a commercial where a man rummaging through garbage finds a lamp and rubs it, and a genie pops up. And the genie says, "You have three wishes." And the man said, "OK, I want all the money in the world." And, BOOM, all the money appears. The man is covered with money. He said, "OK, you have two more wishes." The man said, "OK, now I want all the women in the world." And, BOOM, all of the women in the world are there around the man. So he has all of the money and all of the women. And, finally, the genie says, "You have one more wish. What do you want?" The man said, "I want to live forever." And, BOOM, he turns him into the Energizer bunny!

Ozzie E. Smith, Jr., It’s Not Always What You Think

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Saying Nothing at All

Most pastors quickly learn how to dance around the issue of money without ever naming it. A young minister went out to serve his first congregation. Early one November, he told the sexton to go out to the bulletin board on the street corner and put up the words, "Stewardship Sunday." He put together a stewardship sermon and preached it to the congregation. Afterwards someone came up and said, "Pastor, thank you for that sermon. When I saw the bulletin board, I was a little anxious. But your sermon calmed my fears." The minister said, "I'm glad to hear it. Did I say something helpful?" "Oh, Reverend, it was better than that," the man said. "Today you said absolutely nothing at all."

It is tempting to keep silent in the church when it comes to money. We dance around the issue with large, general steps. The church talks in generalities about the electric bill, the rising cost of church school curricula, and mission projects worthy of our support. Those are worthy topics of conversation. That's usually where the conversation remains with the list of the good services the church provides. Any actual mention of money seems distasteful.

William G. Carter, No Box Seats in the Kingdom, CSS Publishing, Inc.

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Compared to Eternity

Just suppose that my wife and I took a two-week vacation in beautiful Destin, Florida. And, suppose that after only one day there, we liked it so much that we transferred our bank account down' there, sold our home here and purchased one there, and registered to vote in Florida. You would say, "Bill, that is dumb. You're coming home in two weeks. It makes no sense to act as though you'll be in Florida for years. Two weeks compared to a lifetime is even longer than eighty years on earth compared to eternity. Therefore, it is dumb to tie up most of our assets on earth when we're going to leave so soon.

Bill Bouknight, Collected Sermons, ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc.

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The Image of Perfection

I will never forget June Day. June Day was a girl in our class in Junior High School who was always called upon to stand at the board and take names in case any of us acted up while the teacher went out to that strange, mysterious place called the faculty lounge. Basically, she couldn't take anymore and needed a break. And June Day was called upon to police the room. I must admit that during those days I did not like June Day because June invariably wrote my name on the board. But one day when the teacher went out and June stood, with chalk in hand, eyes scanning the class for any signs of misbehavior, the class could take no more of June. The class erupted into a giant spitball arena. It was absolute anarchy. Suddenly, June got hit-right in the face. There was silence. We wondered what would happen. June put down her chalk, bent over, got the spitball, and threw it back. She was a part of the anarchy! June Day was not perfect! She could not keep up her veneer of perfection. She was a party to the crime. It was then, as June's arm was cocked back ready to sail another projectile through the class, that our teacher returned. "June! What are you doing?" I forgot to tell you that the teacher was her mother. But poor old June Day met her match, and she just couldn't keep up her image of being perfect.

And you know what? Neither can you. None of us can. We cannot come to God based on our righteousness. Do you know what God calls it? He says our righteousness before Him is like filthy rags. So what do we do? We divest ourselves of such an idea. It is unbelief and it is a sin against Christ and His blood shed for sinners. We come to Jesus, just as we are, without one plea and cry out to Him. It's called repentance.

Michael A. Milton, The Sermons of Michael A. Milton, Sermons.com

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Contrarian Christian

I have told you many stories about Pastor Bob (The Rev. Robert E. Baxter). He is a brilliant Hebrew scholar, an engaging preacher, but he is also an extraordinary investor! The secret to his success is (promise not to tell anyone) he is a contrarian. It works like this. When he reads in the paper that Coca Cola stock is soaring, he will not buy Coke because others will. He buys Coke when the news is bad and holds it. He is a true contrarian investor. He doesn't follow the crowd. He leaves them and goes to the back of the line where the investing is good.

Peter and the disciples need to learn about contrarian investing and how it works with the Lord. You see, Peter was upset. Jesus had told the rich young ruler to give it all away and follow Him. The disciples had done that. Peter was asking, What's in it for me? Jesus told him that the first shall be last and the last shall be first. This is the Christian contrarian way to wealth and reward in the kingdom of God. Jesus was teaching that following Christ is not subtraction. It is multiplication. Not just tenfold. Jesus promises a hundredfold.

Michael A. Milton, The Sermons of Michael A. Milton, Sermons.com