All Things Are Possible With God

Mark 10:23-31 Last week in our Gospel lesson we met a young man that any of us would be proud to call our son.  He was an honorable, upright, respectful, decent person.  His wealth was a testimony to his diligence and intelligence.

He was even concerned about things that really, eternally matter and came to Jesus with a question:  “What must I do to be saved?”  And Jesus answered his question in the way he asked it:  what the young man had to do, Jesus said, was to keep the commandments—and Jesus went on to list the commandments.  The young man assured Jesus that he had kept all of them from his youth.

Now we may raise our eyebrows at this statement—it’s difficult for us to imagine that the young man had never, not once, failed to keep some small detail of the law—but Jesus seemed to accept it—for the moment.  He said:  “There is still just one small thing that you lack:  If you would be perfect, go and sell all that you have and give it to the poor and come and follow me and you will have treasures in heaven”.  But the young man went away sorrowful for he had many possessions.

It was just one small thing that he lacked—but of course, it was everything-- because it kept him from eternal life. 

What Jesus wanted the young man to know- and the disciples to know- and what he wants us to know sitting here this morning, is that when it comes to our salvation, what we cannot do—God CAN do—for nothing is impossible with God.  After the young man left in sorrow, the Bible says that:

Jesus looked around and said to his 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.

            The Jews of that day, like so much of the false Christianity of our day, had the mistaken view that if someone had been materially blessed by God—the same would be true of their spiritual condition.  But the truth of the matter, Jesus said, was that wealth made it more difficult for folks to enter the kingdom of God.

Maybe you’re saying to yourself, “Whew!  Today’s the first day that I can honestly say that I’m glad I’m not wealthy”!  But of course you are!  That you know where your next meal is coming from makes you far wealthier than the vast majority of people in our world today.  We certainly have much, more wealth than food for our next meal.  In fact, we are vastly wealthier than our parents and grandparents who could not have imagined the luxuries that we regard as necessities.

But the material blessings that God intends for our good, these same blessings-- the world, our flesh, and the devil twist and distort and misuse and shape into an idol that we look to for our comfort and security and confidence and peace—all of the things that we should find in God alone. 

And that idolatry in our hearts that looks to the gift rather than the Giver—that idolatry that turns our attention to ourselves and what we do--is the greatest impediment to entering the kingdom of heaven—not just for the young man—not just for the disciples--not just for the very wealthy—but for all of us here today.  Jesus said:   

“Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

            On occasion I have tried to thread a needle and my eyesight is such that I can’t even do that.  And then to think about trying to get a piece of yarn through the eye of a needle or a rope through the eye of a needle is simply not possible.  But Jesus goes even farther than that:  it is more difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven that for a camel to go through the eye of the needle.

But that’s impossible!  Exactly!  That is the spiritual place that Jesus was trying to bring the rich young man to when he told him to be perfect-- and that is where he is trying to bring us to this morning—to get us to see the impossibility of anything that we possess or do-- making a place for us in the kingdom of God. 

That spiritual impossibility is where we need to be BEFORE we can hear and rejoice in the Good News that what is impossible for us when it comes to our salvation—is possible with God.  The Bible says that the disciples:

…were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

            Seeing the impossibility of making a place in God’s kingdom on the basis of what they had or what they did, the disciples’ question was no longer:  “what must I do”?  The question was no longer “what do I possess”?  But now the question was:  “who can be saved”?

It was necessary for the young man-- and it was necessary for the disciples --and it is necessary for us-- to recognize that what we need for salvation:  is not stricter obedience to the law-- or more charity to our neighbor.  What we need for salvation is a Savior.

            What we could not do on our own if we had a thousand lifetimes to do it—God has done for us in sending us his Son.  What we could not buy if we were the wealthiest person in the world—God gives to us as a free gift of his gracious love.  God did the impossible for our salvation when he sent Jesus to be our Savior.

            The One who cannot be contained by the universe, made his home in a Virgin’s Womb.  The One who is from everlasting to everlasting, entered into human history and lived a life like ours.  The One who is the source and sustainer of all life—died on a cross.

Jesus really was the one—the only one—who perfectly fulfilled the words that he spoke to the young man when he commanded him to give way all that he had for that is exactly what he did as he made himself nothing and laid down his life for us on the cross: 1. for all the times that we have thought that our life with God is about what we have done or what we possess—2. for all those times that we have not recognized Jesus as good—3. for all the times we turned a blind eye to our neighbor’s need. 

Jesus’ resurrection is the proof that our Savior is not only the God of possibilities—but he is the God of promise-- who does the impossible when it comes to our salvation.

That is what Jesus wanted the young man and the disciples to know and it’s what he wants us to know—so that believing in the God who does the impossible when it comes to our salvation—we can let loose of all those things that have a hold on us (whether it is our possessions or our self-righteousness) and open our hand of faith to receive the blessings of salvation that Jesus has earned on the cross.  The Bible says that:

Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.”  Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house 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.

            Peter and the disciples witnessed the entire episode with the rich young man.  They heard the words of Jesus to sell all that he had and give it to the poor and then come and follow him.  They saw him walk away in sorrow with his head hung low, knowing that he loved wealth more than God.

 But the disciples had done the very thing Jesus asked of them.  What did this mean for their lives as his disciples?  What does it mean for us?  Jesus promises gain—not loss.

And so what is Jesus talking about when he tells Peter that he will receive a hundredfold of everything he has given up for the kingdom of God?  Are the TV preachers of wealth and health really right and Christianity is really just a fail-proof get rich scheme?  Of course not! 

The point is this:  when it comes to our life as Jesus’ disciples, letting go of everything that has a hold of us does not impoverish us—but enriches us.  Life in the kingdom of God is forgiveness and peace and eternal life.  But it is also something that begins right now in the church-- in the relationships we share and the care we extend to one another.

            Those sitting around you in these pews-- and in the Church throughout the world-- are your brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers in Christ.  This church is your home.  You are not alone in the hardships that come with being a Christian.

When we open our hand to our fellow believer we don’t have to be afraid that the Lord won’t fill it up again.  And in this way we learn to trust God and serve our neighbor.

            What the young man did not realize-- and what he did not have the faith to discover-- is that if he had given up everything for Jesus—he would have still lacked nothing with Jesus. 

Jesus promised that he has come to give life and give it to the full and that seeking his kingdom first, all other things would be provided unto us.  He said that when it came to his kingdom the first would be last and the last would be first. 

By every measure but one, the rich young man who came to Jesus was first.  He had plenty of possessions and a prominent place in society.  He was the envy of his peers.  But he was last in what really matters.

There were others around Jesus who were the last in that society—the poor and the broken and those who had been notorious sinners—and yet in all that really mattered (in eternal things) they were first because they believed that in Jesus they had a God who could do the impossible for their salvation:  a Savior who would make a place for them in his kingdom that they could not earn or buy for themselves.

May God grant us the same faith:  that when it comes to our salvation—God does the impossible in Jesus!  Amen.

Man Must Not Separate What God Has Joined Together

Mark 10:2-16 When we still lived in Ft. Worth, Caroline taught at Trinity Lutheran School.  I remember one year after the school’s Christmas program all of the parents and children in her class gathered in her room for pictures.  Everyone was dressed in their Christmas finery and Caroline was taking their pictures around the class Christmas tree.

But one little girl sat off to the side with this pitiful look on her face.  Caroline and I had talked about her at home.  Her parents were getting a divorce and it was a bitter, ugly mess.  After everyone else had taken their picture Caroline asked this little girl’s parents (who were standing on opposite sides of the classroom) if they wouldn’t like to stand together by the tree with their daughter and have their picture taken too.

I was watching that little girl’s face the whole time and for one brief moment, thinking about that picture around the tree, there was a spark of light in her eyes, but at Caroline’s question, both of the parents answered the same way “We most certainly DO NOT want to stand together for a picture”!  I wish you could have seen that little girl’s face—because that is the face of divorce.  That is why God says:  I hate divorce.

In our sermon today we are going to hear what Jesus has to say about divorce.  But before we do that I want to warn you about two different attitudes that people have when they hear sermons on divorce. 

The first is self-righteousness on the part of those who have never suffered through a divorce, believing that somehow, someway this puts them a little bit higher in God’s sight than those who have. 

And the second attitude is despair on the part of those who have been divorced, believing that somehow, some way they are marked with a scarlet letter in permanent ink that no amount of repentance will ever take away. 

Neither attitude is right.  Both of them cast the grace of God underfoot.  Every one of us—whether divorced or still married-- has a life with God only because Jesus opens wide his arms of grace and says:  Come to me.  The Bible says:

The Pharisees came up and in order to test Jesus asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.”

            Among the religious leaders of Israel there were two main schools of thought when it came to divorce.  The first one said that a man could divorce his wife for any reason whatsoever.  The second one said no, a man could only divorce his wife for some sexual sin. 

Despite being poles apart when it came to acceptable reasons for divorce, there was no question in their mind that divorce itself was fine in God’s sight—after all Moses himself had regulated divorce in the law.  But divorce isn’t fine in God’s sight—it is the sad result of sin.  Jesus said to them, “It was because of your hardness of heart Moses wrote you this commandment.

            At the center of every divorce is the sin that Jesus called “hardness of heart.”  He’s talking about the hardness of heart that leads a man to abandon the wife of his youth for a newer model.  He’s talking about the hardness of heart of a woman who is never satisfied with her husband, makes sure everyone knows it, and destroys his spirit.  He’s talking about the hardness of heart of a couple where neither one is willing to put the other first or serve the other in love. 

            Harness of heart is why we (who have never been divorced) ought not sprain our arm patting ourselves on the back!  Hard-heartedness in marriage doesn’t just exist between those who get divorced—it exists in every marriage to one degree or another. 

It’s there when a husband doesn’t love his wife like Christ loves the Church-- and it is there when a wife doesn’t respect and submit to her husband as to the Lord.

These failings are not new to us or unique to our time and place—it’s as old as sin—and Moses tried to limit the damage of divorce on everyone concerned (especially women) by regulating it in the law.  But divorce was never part of God’s will for marriage.  Jesus said that:

From the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.

            When you attend a Lutheran wedding service you will hear these words three different times:  the first time from Moses in the Old Testament reading, the second time from Jesus in the Gospel, and the third from the Apostle Paul in the epistle lesson. 

These words are God’s institution of marriage and his holy will has never changed despite what our culture and the courts of the land have to say: one man, one woman united in a lifetime marriage.  This is God’s design, God’s order, and God’s will.

Marriage is not a social construct that can change with the times.  Marriage is not a private arrangement between two people.  Marriage is not a legal contract that can be dismissed if the terms of agreement are breached.  Instead…

Marriage is the work of God where he takes one man and joins him to one woman for a lifetime.  Marriage is the union between one man and one women made one flesh by God himself.  Marriage is a relationship that takes precedence over every other earthly loyalty and love. Marriage is a gift of God that must not be destroyed by man.  The Bible says:  What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 

In this one verse is both encouragement and warning for those who are married.  There is going to be conflict in our marriage—how can there not be when two sinners live together under one roof?!  There is going to be disappointment.  How can there not be when God has designed us to find our ultimate fulfillment in him alone—not our spouse?! 

And so then, when there is conflict and when there is disappointment, what a blessing it is to know that it is God himself who joined us together!  What an encouragement to know that this is the one who God has given me!  How it changes things for the better in our marriage to see our spouse that way, as God’s gift to us!

But there is also a warning here.  We are not permitted to separate what God has joined together or abandon the one whom God has given us.  And Jesus is not just talking about the final act of divorce-- but every sinful act that undermines God’s good gift of marriage and drives a wedge between husband and wife.  The Bible says that:

In the house the disciples asked Jesus again about this matter. And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” 

            When Martin Luther explained the sixth commandment (Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery) in the Small Catechism, he explained it this way:  “We should fear and love God that we may lead a chaste and decent life in word and deed, and each love and honor his spouse.”  He was exactly right. 

Divorce is a sixth commandment sin because it destroys God’s gift of marriage and that destruction doesn’t just affect the husband and wife—it affects their children-- and it undermines every new marriage they enter into.  That is why God says:  I hate divorce.

When we began our meditation on God’s Word I warned you about two different attitudes that people often have when they hear sermons on divorce—the first being self-righteousness that says “Lord, look at me, I’ve never been divorced.  Surely I’m better than my friend or fellow church member who has.” 

But there is another attitude to guard against and that is a kind of despair in those who have been divorced that says, “Lord, I know I’ve done wrong and there is nothing I can do to fix it, no way to go back.  Will I have to bear this burden forever?!”  The cure for our self-righteousness and the cure for our despair is found in what happens next.  The Bible says that:

They were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

            These words of Jesus serve us today as a beautiful reminder about the breadth of God’s kingdom and the love of Christ that welcomes every person and embraces them in love and forgiveness.

Those who were wanting to keep the children away from Jesus had a mistaken view of life in God’s kingdom.  They thought that it was necessary to bring something to the Lord so that he would make a place for you.  Children couldn’t do that and so they were excluded.

But that’s not how the Kingdom of God works!  There is a place for us with God because Jesus has made a place for us by his death and resurrection.  There is a place for rich and poor—for men and women—for young and old.  There is a place for the divorced and a place for those of us still plugging along with the same guy or gal thirty, forty, fifty years later.

There is a place for us in God’s kingdom for all of us because Jesus’ shed blood has paid for all of our sins—including divorce and the self-righteousness that looks down on the divorced.  There is a place in God’s kingdom for all of us because Jesus’ resurrection is the promise of a fresh start and a new life for us-- even when divorce has been part of our past.

When husbands and wives respect and love one another they become living, breathing examples of Christ’s redeeming work and the love that he has for all of us and so I pray that God would strengthen the marriages of his people in this place so that our enduring love for another would be a sign to those around us of God’s enduring love for all people!  Amen.