The Seeker Who Does Not Find

It’s been said that everyone is seeking something. Some are seeking meaning, some are seeking purpose, some are seeking relevance, some are seeking power, some are seeking money, some are seeking significance, some are seeking pleasure. Perhaps everyone is seeking all of these things in different ways. But not everyone seeks them in the same way.

Some use worldly pleasure to attain purpose, significance. Some use spiritual beliefs as a way to feel relevant and meaningful. Some use activism and political involvement to create a sense of value in their lives. And some use religion to make themselves feel like they matter, like they’re significant, like they have purpose.

Isn’t that interesting? Some people use religion - sometimes even the Christian religion - as a way not to get right with God, not to have their sins forgiven, not to live for God’s glory and purposes, but as a way to meet their own psychological desires. They are seekers alright, but they are not actually seeking God.

In other words, there are many people who come to God, or come to Jesus, for all the wrong reasons. I wonder why you have come to Jesus?

Did you know it’s possible to come to Jesus, and leave empty...if you come to him for the wrong things?

My hope this morning is that as we examine this text we would consider a few things: 1) Why have I come to Jesus? And I hope, through this text, we will be instructed about the way to approach Jesus rightly, and the danger of wealth and riches.

The Biggest Question

So let’s start with the setting. Jesus is about to set out on his journey. His journey is back toward Jerusalem for the last time where he will be crucified. He’s just setting out, and “a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to be saved?” We know from the rest of the story that he’s rich, Matthew records the detail that he’s a young man, and In Luke he’s described as a ruler, and so he is well-known to Christians as “rich young ruler.”

Here’s a picture of success. Even as a young man, he has attained a position of leadership and influence in his culture. His position has given him the opportunity to attain wealth and prestige, and to accumulate great possessions. We are not told precisely how he attained his status and wealth, but from this short account it’s not hard to see some of the qualities of a financially successful man. He’s aggressive - he comes running up to Jesus. He’s fearless - he doesn’t mind barging in to talk directly to the most popular rabbi Israel has ever seen. He’s sincere - he falls to his knees, taking the posture of a beggar, something rich people didn’t ordinarily do. He’s curious - willing to ask the questions that are haunting him. He’s respectful: he says to Jesus, “Good Teacher,” recognizing Jesus as an admirable and respectable rabbi. And also, he is thoughtful - he’s asking the single most important question a human being can ask: “What must I do to inherit eternal life.”

At a young age he had accomplished much, and yet he knows, through observation, that even if the stuff he accumulates will last, he won’t. He knows he’s going to die. And his question is not how to attain wealth in this life, status in this life, authority and power in this life - no, his question is about how to secure the next life. It’s almost as if he’s got everything figured out in this life, so now he can start working on the next life. He’s got everything under control, except that nagging reality called “death,” which he can’t seem to shake.

Do you like this guy? I do. I’d like to get to know him. I love his boldness. I like the proactive pursuit of knowledge. I love his question. I think it’s the most important question you can ask.

I think he’s realized that it really doesn’t matter what he’s accumulated in this life if he loses it all in the next. He’s realizing that the most important thing about him is not what he’s accomplished, but what will happen to him after he dies.

Friends, this smart young successful man is asking the right question. I hope everyone of you has asked this question. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” The most important thing about you is not the job you have, the grades you get, the trophies you earn, the college you attend, the career you pursue, the money you make, the status you attain, the stuff you buy. The most important thing about me is not that I am a pastor. The biggest question facing all of us is this: do we have eternal life? What will happen to me after I die? Will we cross the river of death and enter the land of eternal glory and blessing, or will we drown there, and be lost forever in the darkness of God’s righteous condemnation?

I wonder, do you know, for certain, your answer to that question?

Jesus’ answer to this question will surprise us. If a young, successful businessman came to you, and genuinely asked you, “What must I do to get to heaven?” What would you say? I don’t know if any of us would respond to this many like Jesus did.

And yet, Jesus is the authority on how to get to heaven. Anybody have better credentials to teach on how one gets to heaven? Any PhDs or experts out there have a better resume than the Son of God? No. So whatever Jesus says stands as the highest authority.

Lessons from Jesus

Verse 18: “And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” Jesus is simply a mastermind. His response to the man’s question starts building out a complete doctrine of salvation.

First, notice what Jesus says about God. “No one is good except God alone.” Jesus grabs hold of the man’s use of the word, “good” and uses it to stir his thinking and point him to God. He is saying that God is uniquely good. God has a particular good. God is perfectly good, utterly good, without any impurity, without any evil, without a single ounce of bad within. He will never do anything except that which is good and right, because he is good. God is good.

Second, take a look at the same statement again: “No one is good except God alone.” Jesus is making a statement about man. He is making a clear theological statement about the sinfulness of man. He says “no one is good.” You may gather around a small group of 10 or so people and ask them, “Are people basically good?” And Jesus would say, “No one is good.” The quality of “goodness” that God has, no human being has.

Paul reiterates this truth in Romans 3:10-12: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

What Jesus is implying to this young man is, “You’re not a good person. No one is a good person. Only God is good. Are you willing to accept that?” And many people are not.

Third, think of Jesus’ initial response: “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” Why do you call me good? Jesus is saying, “Do you realize who I am?” He’s saying, “If you know that I am good, and if no one is good except God, do you realize that I am God in the flesh?” In other words, through his questioning, he is causing the young man to consider whether Jesus could actually be God. Jesus is helping the man discover who he truly is.

So follow me: in this brief response, Jesus has laid the foundational doctrine of the goodness of God, of the sinfulness of man, and of the divinity of Christ. God, man, Christ. Sound familiar anyone?

And he’s not done: Verse 19: “You know the commandments: Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.” Jesus here is now affirming God’s requirement of obedience. It’s as if he’s saying, “God is good, you are a sinner, I am the Son of God, and you are required to obey all of God’s commands - how are you doing?”

In other words, Jesus was trying to help this man recognize his need for grace. This guy had it all, and he wanted eternal life, but he hadn’t realized how desperately sinful he was before a holy God.

Christians, notice how Jesus is using the law of God and its moral demands to expose the need of this young man. Before someone can come to embrace Christ as a savior, they have to see their need for a savior. They have to see that they’ve broken God’s law. They have to see that they’ve violated his commands. They have to see that they’re objectively guilty.

Jesus says that salvation is for those who are poor in spirit. That is, unless you come to the end of yourself, unless you declare spiritual bankruptcy, unless you experience the crushing inability to keep God’s law, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. We recognize we have nothing within us to commend us to God. We do not rely upon our abilities or talents. We do not rely upon our natural birth, that we belong to certain families, certain nations, certain races. We do not rely upon our natural temperament or our natural personality. We do not look to the position we’re in or the powers we have. We do not look to money or wealth or education. We do not look to the religious rituals we’ve participated in. We don’t look to our own intelligence or wittiness or emotional IQ. We say we are nothing, we have nothing, we’ve done nothing, and we look away from ourselves to God in utter dependence upon Him and his grace and mercy.

This man as we are going to see, though curious, though intrigued, though sincere, with the best of intentions, has not yet come to the end of himself.

The Delusions

Now, this young man answers Jesus’ question: verse 20: ‘And he said to him, ‘Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.”

This is the exact wrong answer. The right answer would have been, “Teacher, I know I am not good, and that I have failed to keep God’s righteous requirements.” But here he reveals that way down deep there is a delusion he is entangled in. He is convinced that he has been obedient to God’s moral demands since childhood.

Now I want to just think about this guy. First of all, he wants eternal life. He’s not asking for more money, he’s not asking for more health. He’s asking the right question. Second of all, he came to Jesus. He’s asking the right question, and he went to the right person to ask the question. Up to this point, all is well. Third of all, he’s a good guy. He’s been an obedient, hard-working kid, his discipline and study have resulted in his promotion to a ruler in Israel.

There’s more to it though. The young man is also wealthy. A little background helps us know what’s going on here on a little deeper level. It was a commonly held Jewish belief that wealthy people were experiencing God’s blessing. Now, the truth is that they are - wealth is a blessing. But they thought that riches indicated not only blessing, but approval. You see, before the day of judgment comes, God often allows even the wicked to share his blessings. But the presence of wealth does not indicate the approval of God.

So this man, having obeyed the commandments since childhood, and having attained wealth, has probably concluded that he has God’s divine approval. He is right with God, and that his wealth is a sign and seal of approval that God is happy with him.

Now here’s a guy with the right question, going to the right source, who has obeyed all the right rules. Why doesn’t Jesus just lead him to the sinner’s prayer, right? Why doesn’t Jesus just baptize him on the spot, right? Jesus knows something deeper is going on.

The Call

Verse 21: “And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell al that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come follow me.’”

Here is a man who wants eternal life and is looking to Jesus as a trustworthy source to give him answers. He is a good man, honorable and dignified. And Jesus says, “You lack one thing.” His desire for eternal life does not mean he will get it. His coming to Jesus does not mean he will get salvation. His obedience is tried and found wanting. You lack something.

What does he lack? Some people are confused by this because they observe that Jesus speaks of lacking “one” thing, and then he says, “go, sell, give, and come,” which is four things. The reason Jesus says one thing is because he’s referring to the one thing underneath all the other things. The one thing this man lacks is the self-sacrificing, self-denying, complete and total reliance upon Jesus.

The selling of the possessions and giving to the poor isn’t the point. Jesus never commands a vow of poverty to be taken by his followers. There are rich believers in Scripture and they are not condemned for their riches. But Jesus calls this man to sell all of his possessions to demonstrate his complete and utter reliance upon him, and not his wealth.

I want you to notice the beginning of verse 21: “And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him.” Jesus isn’t infuriated by this man. This man doesn’t elicit the same response as the Pharisees often did. Jesus loved this man. He had an affection and compassion for him.

And notice, it is from this love that Jesus tells this man to sell everything he has.

Some of us think that God is a killjoy, and that he never wants us to enjoy anything. God doesn’t want us to have pleasure. God doesn’t want us to have fun. God doesn’t want us to have wealth. God doesn’t want us to enjoy life. And we conceive of God as this grumpy father with this furrowed brow, scowling down at humanity. We may be tempted to believe what H.L. Mencken said about the Puritans: “Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” We think God is concerned that somewhere, someone might be happy.

But look: Jesus isn’t telling this man to sell all his possessions because he’s anti-wealth. He’s not telling this man to leave everything behind and follow him because he doesn’t want him to enjoy his money. Jesus is against wealth that corrodes, wealth that is perishable, wealth that deceives and provides false security. But look: if you give it all away, “you will have treasure in heaven.” Jesus is not against treasure, he just doesn’t want you to be duped by earthly treasure. He wants you to have a greater treasure, a lasting treasure, a heavenly treasure - the true treasure of eternal life.

And Jesus knows that the only way to enjoy this greater, infinite, imperishable treasure is to stop seeking security in earthly treasure while fully committing yourself to Jesus Christ.

In other words, Jesus has been giving people this message all along. Look back at 8:34 “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” Why? “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” In other words, deny yourself this life so that you can gain eternal life. Take up your cross in this life so you can find it in the next life. Lose your life here to save it there.

What Jesus is describing is normal Christianity. This isn’t some super Christianity for pastors and missionaries. True Christianity sets its security in Christ and its treasures in heaven. Because Jesus loves this man, he says, “Let go of these paltry riches! Let go of those rotting moneybags. They cannot save you, they cannot give you security, cast yourself fully into the care of God.”

What did this man do? “Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”

When Jesus answered his question regarding eternal life, and it came down to a choice: do I trust this man Jesus, that he will save me, that he will care for me, and that he will finally ensure that I attain eternal treasures in heaven, or do I hold on the wealth I have here, that I can see and feel. He was disheartened. He could not leave his possessions.

When the offer of eternal life was offered to him, he held on tightly to his quickly corroding wealth, and would not come to Christ.

As it turns out, his money was his master. He could not forsake his master. He had many possessions, but he was possessed by them. He had accumulated the wealth, but now his wealth owned him.

His money spoke to him. It said, “Don’t trust him, trust me. I will keep you safe. I will keep you in control. I will provide all you want: security and stability, status and power. Trust me.”

And Jesus said, “Follow me. I will save you and forgive you and redeem you and I will bring you to glory and you will be eternal rich forever.”

But he listened to his money.

I wonder how many of us are controlled by our money. I wonder if any of you, like this man, are trusting in your money to the degree that you are struggling to obey Jesus. You can’t be generous. You can’t give it away because it’s your God. Your life is controlled by it. Your life is wrapped up in it. Your career is dictated by it. Your life decisions are about creating a life of luxury, comfort, wealth - and so you’re angling and strategizing and working to attain wealth - and trying to seek the kingdom on the side.

Listen - this young man had possessions, and we have far more possessions than he ever did. As one author wrote, “If you have a smartphone, you have more wealth in your pocket than Nebuchadnezzar accumulated over the course of his lifetime.” It is so easy to forget how desperately we need God’s care, his grace, his provision.

As it turns out, trusting Jesus involves forsaking all other hopes. You cannot trust in Jesus and money at the same time. You cannot serve two masters.

Robert Murray M’Cheyne, a Scottish pastor in the 1800s knew that generosity was the mark of true Christian faith, and he was concerned for the wealthy in his congregation. In one sermon he preached: “I am concerned for the poor but more for you. I know not what Christ will say to you in the great day...I fear there area many hearing me who may know well that they are not Christians, because they do not love to give. To give largely and liberally, not gruding at all, requires a new heart; an old heart would rather part with its life-blood than its money. Oh my friends! Enjoy your money; make the most of it; give none away; enjoy it quickly for I can tell you, you will be beggars throughout eternity.”

Money is lying to you. More will not be enough. How many shortcuts are you taking with Christ because you’re not willing to part with your money? And if you will not part with your money, who then, truly, is your master? It’s not Jesus.

We must believe that it is Jesus and Jesus alone who saves. That he died in our place, for our sins, and that he rose from the dead, vindicating his claims, and that he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the father, saving everyone who comes to him by faith.

And he invites us to entrust our entire lives to him. Our health, our finances, and yes our very own souls. But we have a hard time trusting in a promise we cannot see, and so we tend to trust in the money that we can.

This man wanted eternal life, but walked away without it, because he loved his money.