Brett C. Blair
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 have come to regard him as a moral coward.
But that conclusion is too simple. The fact is there are a lot of good things that can be said of him. I'm impressed with the fact, for example, that having talked with him only a few minutes, Mark tells us that Jesus looked upon him and loved him. That doesn't sound like a scathing criticism to me. And, I think that we also need to remember that to this young boy Jesus was not the Son of God. He was simply a new prophet, with an exciting message, a magnetic personality, and eyes that gripped you when you spoke to him. He was certainly not the Christ of the Apostles' Creed. At this point in his ministry, not even the disciples looked upon Jesus in that regard. The stone of Easter had not yet been rolled away.
And so for a few moments this morning I would like to champion the cause of this underdog and look at the three positives about this young man and the three negatives. First let’s look at the positive. These are things that brought him to the master, qualities that made him interested in Jesus’ teachings.
I
The first positive thing is: he was courageous. Luke describes him as a ruler. That is, he belonged to the upper class. It is this group which brought the most criticism against Jesus. Perhaps it was his youth or maybe it was his willingness to learn but he did not let his social position keep him from Jesus, he did not buy in to his peers’ assessment of Jesus. Nicodemus was another rich man who went to see Jesus. But he by night. Under cover of darkness Nicodemus went to see Jesus for much the same reason. He did not want to be seen consorting with the Nazarene. Why? His peers might ostracize him. Not so the rich young ruler. He was different. He did not come skulking in the night. He came to Christ in broad noonday. Let me suggest that he saw something in Jesus and his teachings that convinced him that Jesus was the real thing.
But how many of us have lowered our head and bit our lip when opportunity arose to defend the church or make Christ known among our peers? I dare say most everyone here. We lose courage and don’t want to be seen as one of his disciples. So, I say this young man had courage.
The second positive thing is: he was humble. When he came to Jesus he came running. Elite people did not run. It was considered undignified. But this young rich ruler ran up to Jesus and knelt before him, in the middle of the road in broad day light for all to see. If his friends saw him, those within his social class there ?would be no end to the ridicule, but he didn’t care. That makes him a man of ?courage in my book.
Now notice what he asked: Good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life? He did not come to Jesus with verbal puzzles, mental gymnastics, and pious theological jargon. That was what the Pharisees did. They would come before him and say: Jesus, what do you think about paying taxes to Caesar? Jesus what do you think about divorce? Jesus what do you think about an afterlife? Why don’t your disciples fast? Wash their hands? Obey the Sabbath? The fact is that they could care less what he thought about any of those issues. The Pharisees thought that they had nothing at all to learn from Jesus. They were asking him these questions simply to trip him up and make him commit that one fatal verbal error that might hang him. They were arrogant. How refreshing then to see someone who came in genuine sincerity. "Good Master," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He was asking the right question; He had gotten down to the fundamentals. He was in effect saying: Jesus, you clearly have the secret to authentic living. Tell me the secret so that I too may be fulfilled.
Let us admit that far too often in the church we are not humble. We spend time on issues that don't amount to a hill of beans while avoiding the eternal questions of life. Far too often our motivation is not sincerity but recognition and advancement of our agenda. But that was not this young man's problem. He ran to Jesus. Knelt before him in the middle of the road. And asked sincere questions. He was humble.
The third positive thing is: he was religious. Now I don’t mean that in a negative way. He was a spiritual man deeply concerned with religious things. When Jesus instructed him to keep the commandments, he answered, “Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy. Now what did he mean? He meant that since the age of 13, the point at which a Jewish boy assumes personal responsibility for keeping the commandments, he had kept the commandments.
?How is that possible? Don’t we as Christians assume that no one has ever kept the commandments? Herein lies the key to this passage of Scripture and the turning point of this young man’s life. This is where the negatives begin to creep into this man’s story but before we get to that let us first recognize that this young man was courageous; he did not hide his interest in Jesus. He was humble; he came running to Jesus and in his nobleman’s clothes he knelt in the dust before Jesus. And he was religious; he had kept the commandments from the age of accountability.
II
And this is the point at which the negatives start adding up in this young man’s life. There are three I want to point out but let’s look at the first for it is foundation for his failure.
The first negative thing is: he was looking for a rule to keep in order to please God. Look at what he says, listen now, “What must I DO to receive eternal life?” What must I DO. It is a pretty telling word, this DO. What rule must I keep in order for God to be pleased with me? You know the commandments Jesus answered him. And then he started naming a few of them: Do not murder, do not commit adultery, and do not steal. And you can hear the frustration in the young mans words. Since I was boy I have kept all these, he answered, what am I doing wrong?
A story is told out of the orient of a young Buddhist monk who sat outside his temple two thousand years ago, hands clasped in prayer. He looked very pious and he chanted 'Amita Buddha' all day. Day after day he intoned these words, believing that he was acquiring grace. One day the head priest of the temple sat next to him and began rubbing a piece of brick against a stone. Day after day he rubbed one against the other. This went on week after week until the young monk could no longer contain his curiosity, and he finally blurted out, "Father, what are you doing?" "I'm trying to make a mirror," said the head priest. "But that's impossible!" said the young monk. "You can't make a mirror from brick." "True," replied the head priest. "Just as it is impossible to acquire grace by a chant."
Another young man by the name of Martin Luther was just as confused as our rich young ruler. He had no peace in his life. He was a monk who wanted to please God but he felt like an awful sinner. On a trip to Rome he encountered the church’s corrupt practice of selling indulgences--the belief that financial contributions to the church could release loved ones from purgatory. He paid the fee to climb Pilate’s stairs—the supposed staircase that Jesus climbed the day He was sentenced to death. There where 28 steps. You were to crawl on your hands and knees up all 28, stop on each step and say the Pater Noster—the Lord’s Prayer—on each. Luther kissed each step for good measure. At the 28th the loved one you named was released from purgatory. When Luther got to the top of the steps he said, “Who knows whether it is so?”
He doubted the effectiveness of such an action and his conscious still bothered him. It’s like our rich young ruler. I have kept the commandments since childhood what I am still doing wrong? Do you know what the fault is in these three examples? The fatal flaw these three young men shared? They were performing outward exercises to arrive at internal truths. They were conforming outwardly instead of obeying inwardly. They were living by law rather then by grace. That’s what they were doing wrong.
The second negative thing is: he loved his money. It is interesting that Jesus, after being pressed by this young man, actually does give him something to do. Jesus say, “You want something to do? All right. Since you have great wealth, sell all that you have, give it to the poor, and come follow me.” I must admit that this is a little confusing because Jesus is trying to teach this young man that it is not outward acts that bring life but inward obedience. So why does he tell him to DO. If you look closely Jesus is conveying the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Here, in this text, is another teaching of the great commandment: Love God and love your neighbor. Sell what you have to help the poor and come follow me.
Many of you may remember Flip Wilson’s TV comedy show back in the 70s. 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 plate. It came back empty. So he passed it 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, its gonna need money, its gonna take money for this church to run!" And the people yelled back, "Let it crawl, Reverend. Let it crawl!"
I know how Brother Leroy feels. It is sad as a pastor to watch as a church crawls in the dust when it could be running with the champions. The love of money prevents the love of God. You know what Jesus said, “Where your treasure is there is your heart also.”
The third negative thing is: he walked away. He could not handle the truth when he heard it. He could not reshape his priorities. To love God and love your neighbor in such a sacrificial and self-effacing way was beyond him. I think he knew all along what was missing. He knew where his heart was. He did not want to give up his life style. He did not want to part with his wealth. And when he retained his wealth he relinquished eternity. Amen.
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 have come to regard him as a moral coward.
But that conclusion is too simple. The fact is there are a lot of good things that can be said of him. I'm impressed with the fact, for example, that having talked with him only a few minutes, Mark tells us that Jesus looked upon him and loved him. That doesn't sound like a scathing criticism to me. And, I think that we also need to remember that to this young boy Jesus was not the Son of God. He was simply a new prophet, with an exciting message, a magnetic personality, and eyes that gripped you when you spoke to him. He was certainly not the Christ of the Apostles' Creed. At this point in his ministry, not even the disciples looked upon Jesus in that regard. The stone of Easter had not yet been rolled away.
And so for a few moments this morning I would like to champion the cause of this underdog and look at the three positives about this young man and the three negatives. First let’s look at the positive. These are things that brought him to the master, qualities that made him interested in Jesus’ teachings.
I
The first positive thing is: he was courageous. Luke describes him as a ruler. That is, he belonged to the upper class. It is this group which brought the most criticism against Jesus. Perhaps it was his youth or maybe it was his willingness to learn but he did not let his social position keep him from Jesus, he did not buy in to his peers’ assessment of Jesus. Nicodemus was another rich man who went to see Jesus. But he by night. Under cover of darkness Nicodemus went to see Jesus for much the same reason. He did not want to be seen consorting with the Nazarene. Why? His peers might ostracize him. Not so the rich young ruler. He was different. He did not come skulking in the night. He came to Christ in broad noonday. Let me suggest that he saw something in Jesus and his teachings that convinced him that Jesus was the real thing.
But how many of us have lowered our head and bit our lip when opportunity arose to defend the church or make Christ known among our peers? I dare say most everyone here. We lose courage and don’t want to be seen as one of his disciples. So, I say this young man had courage.
The second positive thing is: he was humble. When he came to Jesus he came running. Elite people did not run. It was considered undignified. But this young rich ruler ran up to Jesus and knelt before him, in the middle of the road in broad day light for all to see. If his friends saw him, those within his social class there ?would be no end to the ridicule, but he didn’t care. That makes him a man of ?courage in my book.
Now notice what he asked: Good teacher what must I do to inherit eternal life? He did not come to Jesus with verbal puzzles, mental gymnastics, and pious theological jargon. That was what the Pharisees did. They would come before him and say: Jesus, what do you think about paying taxes to Caesar? Jesus what do you think about divorce? Jesus what do you think about an afterlife? Why don’t your disciples fast? Wash their hands? Obey the Sabbath? The fact is that they could care less what he thought about any of those issues. The Pharisees thought that they had nothing at all to learn from Jesus. They were asking him these questions simply to trip him up and make him commit that one fatal verbal error that might hang him. They were arrogant. How refreshing then to see someone who came in genuine sincerity. "Good Master," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" He was asking the right question; He had gotten down to the fundamentals. He was in effect saying: Jesus, you clearly have the secret to authentic living. Tell me the secret so that I too may be fulfilled.
Let us admit that far too often in the church we are not humble. We spend time on issues that don't amount to a hill of beans while avoiding the eternal questions of life. Far too often our motivation is not sincerity but recognition and advancement of our agenda. But that was not this young man's problem. He ran to Jesus. Knelt before him in the middle of the road. And asked sincere questions. He was humble.
The third positive thing is: he was religious. Now I don’t mean that in a negative way. He was a spiritual man deeply concerned with religious things. When Jesus instructed him to keep the commandments, he answered, “Teacher, all these I have kept since I was a boy. Now what did he mean? He meant that since the age of 13, the point at which a Jewish boy assumes personal responsibility for keeping the commandments, he had kept the commandments.
?How is that possible? Don’t we as Christians assume that no one has ever kept the commandments? Herein lies the key to this passage of Scripture and the turning point of this young man’s life. This is where the negatives begin to creep into this man’s story but before we get to that let us first recognize that this young man was courageous; he did not hide his interest in Jesus. He was humble; he came running to Jesus and in his nobleman’s clothes he knelt in the dust before Jesus. And he was religious; he had kept the commandments from the age of accountability.
II
And this is the point at which the negatives start adding up in this young man’s life. There are three I want to point out but let’s look at the first for it is foundation for his failure.
The first negative thing is: he was looking for a rule to keep in order to please God. Look at what he says, listen now, “What must I DO to receive eternal life?” What must I DO. It is a pretty telling word, this DO. What rule must I keep in order for God to be pleased with me? You know the commandments Jesus answered him. And then he started naming a few of them: Do not murder, do not commit adultery, and do not steal. And you can hear the frustration in the young mans words. Since I was boy I have kept all these, he answered, what am I doing wrong?
A story is told out of the orient of a young Buddhist monk who sat outside his temple two thousand years ago, hands clasped in prayer. He looked very pious and he chanted 'Amita Buddha' all day. Day after day he intoned these words, believing that he was acquiring grace. One day the head priest of the temple sat next to him and began rubbing a piece of brick against a stone. Day after day he rubbed one against the other. This went on week after week until the young monk could no longer contain his curiosity, and he finally blurted out, "Father, what are you doing?" "I'm trying to make a mirror," said the head priest. "But that's impossible!" said the young monk. "You can't make a mirror from brick." "True," replied the head priest. "Just as it is impossible to acquire grace by a chant."
Another young man by the name of Martin Luther was just as confused as our rich young ruler. He had no peace in his life. He was a monk who wanted to please God but he felt like an awful sinner. On a trip to Rome he encountered the church’s corrupt practice of selling indulgences--the belief that financial contributions to the church could release loved ones from purgatory. He paid the fee to climb Pilate’s stairs—the supposed staircase that Jesus climbed the day He was sentenced to death. There where 28 steps. You were to crawl on your hands and knees up all 28, stop on each step and say the Pater Noster—the Lord’s Prayer—on each. Luther kissed each step for good measure. At the 28th the loved one you named was released from purgatory. When Luther got to the top of the steps he said, “Who knows whether it is so?”
He doubted the effectiveness of such an action and his conscious still bothered him. It’s like our rich young ruler. I have kept the commandments since childhood what I am still doing wrong? Do you know what the fault is in these three examples? The fatal flaw these three young men shared? They were performing outward exercises to arrive at internal truths. They were conforming outwardly instead of obeying inwardly. They were living by law rather then by grace. That’s what they were doing wrong.
The second negative thing is: he loved his money. It is interesting that Jesus, after being pressed by this young man, actually does give him something to do. Jesus say, “You want something to do? All right. Since you have great wealth, sell all that you have, give it to the poor, and come follow me.” I must admit that this is a little confusing because Jesus is trying to teach this young man that it is not outward acts that bring life but inward obedience. So why does he tell him to DO. If you look closely Jesus is conveying the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Here, in this text, is another teaching of the great commandment: Love God and love your neighbor. Sell what you have to help the poor and come follow me.
Many of you may remember Flip Wilson’s TV comedy show back in the 70s. 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 plate. It came back empty. So he passed it 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, its gonna need money, its gonna take money for this church to run!" And the people yelled back, "Let it crawl, Reverend. Let it crawl!"
I know how Brother Leroy feels. It is sad as a pastor to watch as a church crawls in the dust when it could be running with the champions. The love of money prevents the love of God. You know what Jesus said, “Where your treasure is there is your heart also.”
The third negative thing is: he walked away. He could not handle the truth when he heard it. He could not reshape his priorities. To love God and love your neighbor in such a sacrificial and self-effacing way was beyond him. I think he knew all along what was missing. He knew where his heart was. He did not want to give up his life style. He did not want to part with his wealth. And when he retained his wealth he relinquished eternity. Amen.
