Faith in the Kingdom

Call to Worship

To all who are weary and in need of rest

To all who are mourning and longing for comfort

To all who fail and desire strength

To all who sin and need a Savior

We, Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church, open wide our arms

With a welcome from Jesus Christ.

He is the ally to the guilty and failing

He is the comfort to those who are mourning

He is the joy of our hearts

And He is the friend of sinners

So Come, worship Him with us.

Scripture Reading & Reader

Scripture Reader, John Methvin

Mark 10:13–31 NIV

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them. As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

Post-Scripture Prayer

Pray.

Introduction to Sermon

Good morning, my name is Brandon Morrow and I serve as one of the Pastors here at Moraga Valley! So glad that you’re here with us, — if you haven’t already, please go ahead and open your Bible to the Book of Mark and this week we’re continuing in a series that we’ve called, “The Suffering Servant.” We’ve talked week in and week out that this series is about the courage and sacrifice required to be disciples of Jesus. Jesus has come to bring about God’s Kingdom, and He has come to forgive the sins of the world… last week Ray Witbeck reminded us that Jesus came to free us from the ravages of sin, and to restore all of creation.

There is certainly courage and sacrifice that will come with freedom and redemption, and this morning, Jesus continues in a similar vein, reminding us one primary truth:

We will not be ravaged by sin, and we will see all of creation restored, if we:

Know that we bring nothing into our own redemption

Let’s begin this morning by looking together at Mark 10:13-16

Mark 10:13–16 NIV

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

As Jesus was continuing His journey from Galilee to Jerusalem where His public ministry will end in His death and resurrection, people were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them and bless them — but the text says in verse 13 that “the disciples rebuked them.”

Jesus’ response in verse 14 is one of anger. Jesus is indignant, and rightfully so -- because the disciples have not fully comprehended what He has come to do, who He has come to serve.

The end of Mark 10 will tell us how exactly Jesus will come to forgive the sins of the world, Mark 10:45 says “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

These children are representative of the kind of people that Jesus has come to save, the lengths that He is willing to go to serve us.

Children in the first century were lowly, without honor, and an afterthought in Jesus’ day…

An example of this is Ephesus, the home of a church where the Apostle Paul writes a letter to, in the book we know as Ephesians — in Ephesus, there was a hill outside of the city, where, upon just the thought of not wanting it, I could take my child outside of the city and leave it to be abandoned forever…

It was common practice for those involved in the slave trade to take those babies and raise them as future workers — the early church played a different role, in that they would go to the hill, and adopt these children and give them honor and an inheritance — something they otherwise never would have had.

What’s so unique about children in the first century, is that they have nothing to offer, they have to nothing to contribute to society — they are wholly dependent upon the will of someone else for their survival, for their flourishing.

The disciples have turned away the exact picture of who Jesus has come to rescue: those who have nothing to contribute in their own rescue, who are wholly dependent on God to meet their every need.

Jesus tells them in verse 15, that His Kingdom, will be received by those who bring nothing, offer nothing, contribute nothing in their own redemption.

There’s a picture of faith here that we can’t afford to get wrong:

Jesus has invited His followers into a childlike faith.

A childlike faith is characterized by a never-tiring neediness for Jesus, and it’s combined with the simple trust that He will supply every need.

I think when we hear that Jesus wants to come to Him like children, we make these assumptions of children — one scholar saying that “we have sentimentalized children” (Sam Alberry) — that innocence and purity are the markers for those who can truly come to Jesus. I just have two problems with that:

I know some kids that are anything but innocent

It presupposes that I must somehow become innocent before I come into the Kingdom of God...

But I’m not innocent, so I’m not going to get in.

It isn’t what these kids have that make them such a great model for us, rather… it’s what they lack.

Isn’t this, though, the whole idea of grace?

Grace is what Paul preaches in Ephesians 2:8-9

Ephesians 2:8–9 NIV

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.

Paul says… “and this is not from yourselves,”

The Kingdom of God is for those who offer nothing in terms of their own redemption, and who receive, as a gift of God, what only Jesus can supply to meet our deepest and realest need — and Mark’s gospel has been on repeat for what we really need: the forgiveness of our sins.

The true need of every child of God is grace, and you know what the good news is? God is willing to supply it!

And Jesus says we are to receive this gift, entry into the Kingdom, like a child.

How do children receive gifts?

Oh Christmas morning, my 4 yr old Graham won’t stop and go, “Wow! Brandon and Erica, you guys really out did it this time. You really shouldn’t have. This might be too much for me to accept.”

What will he do? With joy, he will tear into it!

Joy, beauty, wonder — these all are childlike expressions of receiving a gift.

One pastor said, “All we have to do is receive it with empty hands, because empty hands is all that we have when it comes to God.”

Turn with me now to verses 17-22. Jesus will take the story of a rich, young, ruler — someone whose hands are just too full — and contrasts it with the story of childlike faith.

Mark 10:17–22 NIV

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

It needs to be said,... this isn’t an invitation into poverty, this is an invitation into discipleship… and this rich, young, man as we know him did not know the process of discipleship he was being called to.

Let me give you a picture of what a process of discipleship can look like for the believer… this is a definition that was developed here at MVPC by a handful of our leaders.

A process of discipleship is: Boldly inviting others into joyful surrender as we pursue Jesus.

The process of discipleship that Jesus has invited us into is the surrender, the letting go of, everything that separates us from dependence on God — and instead entering into the joy of a child to let go of everything to receive a greater gift from the Lord.

The most fascinating comparison between children and the rich young ruler is that while children have nothing, they will receive everything; and while this man has everything, he will receive nothing.

Jesus has a question to those who have everything, who may have no need for God, in verse 23:

“How hard is it to enter the Kingdom of God?”

Jesus turns to His disciples and gives them a mental image: easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich, who trusts in their wealth, who has everything they need, to enter the Kingdom of God.”

The question has shifted from, “what must I do?” To “who can be saved?”

Jesus is demanding the total devotion of a child — a single-minded neediness in Jesus alone, and Jesus recognizes the impossibility of this reality. How can I possibly give myself completely to Jesus?

He answers in verse 27, Mark 10:27

Mark 10:27 NIV

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

The reality is startling: I can’t do anything to get eternal life, and no one can save themselves.

This is why Jesus looks at the man and loves Him… He knew he couldn’t do it. He knows that no man can do it. No one is able to save Himself.

Jesus has come to do for us, what is otherwise impossible.

The glory of the gospel is that Jesus will go from the riches of heaven down into the poverty of death, so that we might become truly rich by receiving the endless riches of the Kingdom of God. 2 Corinthians 8:9 reminds us

2 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV)

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

All of this He offers to those who contribute nothing to their own salvation, and to those who cannot save themselves.

He will take us deeper into the process of discipleship, where our hearts will be searched as to whether or not we have surrendered all of our trust to Jesus.

And what will Jesus find? Will find us as the rich young ruler, whose possessions had taken possess of their heart? Or will find us empty-handed, full of the fascination for what the gift of the Kingdom will bring us?

Verse 29 points us to the fact that all lose is worth it, because Jesus is worth it — verse 29 says we have done this for the sake of Jesus and His gospel, so that others might share in the announcement of their forgiveness.

Jesus ends with the notion that a childlike faith, even in suffering and persecution, is never a loss — we never live at a deficit, it’s always a gain. Jesus says in in verse 30, no one will fail, right now, in this life, to receive a 100x over what they may have lost.

I will end our time together this morning with a reference to the story of the Pearl of Great Price from Matthew’s gospel, Matthew 13:45-46

Matthew 13:45–46 NIV

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

Jesus is the pearl of great price, He is the treasure, and we are to let go of everything to receive Him.

And what we do, every day, moment by moment, is we exercise the simple trust of children...

Trust in the provider of my finances.

Trust in the One who honors His promises to His children — that our children, and grandchildren, belong in His care.

Trust that His Kingdom will come to the forefront, when all we can see is the chaos of the world.

Trust that He can make sense of our diagnoses.

Trust that the relationship we need to reconcile will honor Jesus when we muster up the strength to make amends.

Trust that in His care, our marriage can grow more tender with every passing year.

Trust that He can rescue those we love — that we aren’t sure they can actually be rescued.

Trust that what feels like an impossibility, is possible in Him.