Unplugged
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What does it take to get to heaven?
What does it take to get to heaven?
— That is the question mankind has wrestled with since the beginning of time!!!
— Since the very beginning, believers - Jews and Gentiles alike - have wrestled with that question, and… We still wrestle with it today!
— Do all religions lead to heaven?
— Is life about living right? Doing the right things? Doing more “good” than “bad”?
— Is it about being a social justice warrior?
— Is it about just loving everyone?
— Being a “morally good” person? (Who gets to define that?!)
— the list goes on....
I. Believe it or not, good Jews - God’s chosen people, also struggled with this question.
17 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?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.
19 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.’”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
21 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.”
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
25 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.”
26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
A. Right off the bat, we see 4 things about this man:
His earnestness — (17) “he came running to Jesus”
17 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?”
2. His humility — (even if it was false) — “he knelt before Jesus”
3. His sincerely seeking heart — “What shall I do?”
4. His moral goodness — (20) “I have kept all these since my youth”
20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”
So, what is this passage about?
— Is it about giving up all wealth and living in poverty?
— Is it about compassion for the poor?
— Is it about coveting wealth and allowing it to become an idol in our lives?
The answer is “yes!” But.....
But… That’s not all, and that’s not the main point!
II. The key is found in verse 21
21 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.”
A. There are 2 things we need to see here:
Jesus “Looked at him.”
— “Emblepo”… means to look directly at, to focus on…
— Jesus “looked” directly at him, not at his outward appearance, or his words, but directly at him!
— Jesus does not see our faults when He looks at us… He sees the object of His Love!
— 1 Sam 16:7
1 Samuel 16:7 (NIV)
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
— Jesus does not see the broken pieces… He does not see worthlessness…
— When Christ LOOKS at us… He sees the beauty of HIS CREATION… AND He sees the ONE He LOVES!!!!
Mark 10:21 (NIV)
21 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.”
ii. “He loved him.”
— James Smith writes: “…it was not his earnestness, his humility, nor his moral goodness that He [Christ] loved, it was him.” — James Smith
a. The love of Jesus is deeper than human love.
— It goes down to the spirit within.
Jesus looked on this man with eyes moistened with infinite love for him!
— This is the love that caused John to cry out in the midst of writing his letter to the church —
1 John 3:1 (NIV)
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
— it is the same love that caused Paul to proclaim “He loved me and gave His life for me!”
Galatians 2:20 (NRSV)
20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
What Precious Love that is!
— You see… Jesus loves him enough to call out his lack!
— And… He does the same for us!
It is not Love to leave people in their sin…
It is not love to just accept their sin…
It is not love to say “it’s between them and God”…
We are God’s messengers to this world! Therefore, we MUST follow Christ’s example…
Jesus calls out the lack… in LOVE!
B. The Message.
21 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.”
— What did Jesus tell this man to do?
give away everything & live in poverty?
show compassion for the poor?
— Those are good things… but they don’t align completely with the whole of Jesus’s message…
— look back at verse 21… “One thing you lack”
— That phrase is “hen se hysterei” — present active verb — means “you continue to lack”
— One thing the Rich man “continued to lack” is the same thing we often “continue to lack”… that is an intimate relationship with Christ!
— That relationship is only found in a COMMITTED devotion to Christ!
— Nothing else can get in the way!
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.
27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?
29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you,
30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’
31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.
33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
— Christ tells the man to give up everything… to let go of his worldly comforts… and to enter into an intimate relationship with Him.
— But… that’s not easy is it?
— This is why it is so difficult for the wealthy…
We must unplug from our “worldly security” and plug into God’s security!
III. God’s message to us is not always easy.
A. the man’s reaction
22 At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
— His wealth and comfort were important to him - so he missed out… he failed to understand Jesus’s invitation…
B. Do we do that?
— The Word of God is not always easy to accept…
12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
— look at Matthew 10:34-39
34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
35 For I have come to turn “ ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
36 a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’
37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
— God does not bring us a comfortable - easy to accept Word… Jesus doesn’t say He will… BUT… His message is always brought in Love!
C. Christ’s message is the same to us.
We MUST “unplug” from the world — let go of those “material” comforts — and “plug in” to God!
— material comfort is an illusion!!!
23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
25 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.”
— unplugging is not easy… it takes intentional effort…
D. the disciples reaction
26 The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”
E. Jesus’s response
27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
IV. Unplug!
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
We MUST “unplug” from the world, and “plug in” to God!
— If we desire to enter into the Kingdom it takes radical action!
— we cannot enter in in name alone. Entering into the Kingdom of God REQUIRES that we “give up” the world and embrace the Kingdom!
We must “UNPLUG” from the influence and illusion of worldly success and “PLUG IN” to the Kingdom of God!
— But entering into God’s redemptive purposes is not easy!
— It requires a total change in orientation…
B. Promise of Blessing.
29 “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
30 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.
C. Are you willing to “unplug”?
21 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.”
— Jesus is “looking” at you… And He “Loves” you… And He is saying to each of us:
“One thing you lack”… “unplug” from the World, and “plug in” to me!
“Can gold calm passion, or make reason shine?
Can we dig peace or wisdom from a mine?
Wisdom to gold prefer, for ‘tis much less
To make our fortune than our happiness;
That happiness which great ones often see,
With rage and wonder in a low degree,
Themselves unblessed.”
— Edward Young
Are you willing to “unplug” from the world, and “plug in” to God?
(communion)