All You Need is Need

  • David Fairchild
  • May 4, 2008
  • Series: Jesus – Portraits, Parables, and Parties

TEXT

Luke 18:18-27: "And a ruler asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'  19 And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.  20 You know the commandments: "Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother."'  21 And he said, ‘All these I have kept from my youth.'  22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, ‘One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.'  But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.  24 Jesus, looking at him with sadness, said, ‘How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!  25 For 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.'  26 Those who heard it said, ‘Then who can be saved?'  27 But he said, ‘What is impossible with men is possible with God.'"

INTRODUCTION

Over the last several weeks we've been working through the Gospels to build a biography of Jesus.  Our hope has been to come to see Him more clearly with the eyes of our heart. 

Most of the stories have been beautiful pictures of His pursuing grace towards those who are broken down and hopeless.  Jesus has shown an incredible capacity for love towards the unclean and marginalized.  He breaks all the stupid-man rules by going right to the center of lost and welcoming them in. 

But some of these stories are a bit more cryptic and difficult to swallow.  The message this morning is a hard saying from Jesus and may feel at first pass as if it doesn't apply to us.

Jesus' hard sayings are like hard candy.  You can't just bite into it and expect instant gratification or you'll hurt yourself.  You'll chip your spiritual tooth!  It has to be worked on for a while with patience.  But if you allow this teaching to be worked out you begin to notice the layers it has.  The more you work it out, the more significant, the more important, and sweeter it becomes.  And like hard candy, it will stay with you longer. 

STUDY

As we read the passage we see that the question the rich young ruler is asking is an important one: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"  You can't get more basic than this question; yet you also can't ask a more profound question.  This question assumes that there is something more to this life than just the cradle and grave. 

Jesus is addressing the very core, the very essence of what it means to be a Christian.  He's explaining to this man, and those listening, what it means to be a Christian. 

Verse 18: "And a ruler asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'"

Q1: From this story in Luke and the other Gospels, what do we know of this man? 

"What must I do to inherit?" is a question that is important.  This man knows something about promised inheritance and blessing.  Obviously there is something still missing in this mans life.

Q2:  What does this man think about Jesus from how he approaches and addresses Him (in Mark it says that he ran up and knelt before Jesus)?

Verses 19-22: "And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.  20 You know the commandments: "Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother."'  21 And he said, ‘All these I have kept from my youth.'  22 When Jesus heard this, he said to him, ‘One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.'"

Q3:  What does this man still lack? 

This man doesn't have the ability to have no other gods before Him.  This man needs need, but doesn't have it yet.  He has yet to discover his real need, his real lack. 

Jesus is calling this man to exchange his gods.  He wants to him to stop clinging to what he is hoping will save him and place that hope in Jesus alone. 

Jesus knows that this man doesn't just have great possessions, but that his possessions possess him. 

Q4:  How does Jesus respond to this man?

In Mark it says, "and Jesus, looking at him, loved him."  What a beautiful picture of Jesus' response to this man.  He was grieved and saddened for this man, and He looked at him with love as this man came to see what he really was trusting in. 

Then Jesus says to him, "How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!  For 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." 

Q5:  If Jesus showed up, what would be the one thing that you are hoping in to secure you so that He would have to say, "One thing you lack...Give this up and follow me"?

Q6:  What is the thing that has become so important to your sense of worth or security that it has in some way has justified you?  What would cause you to walk away from Jesus grieved if He said to give it up and walk away from it? 

Q7: What thing have you inherited that now possesses you?

Until we can identify what that is, we haven't really entered into this story.  If God has given everything to you in your life that is good, what have you taken to use as your hope?

Q8:  What have you been trusting in to give you your joy or peace? 

Verses 24-25: "Jesus, looking at him with sadness, said, ‘How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!  25 For 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.'" 

If you've heard any number of sermons you have probably heard one or two teachings on this passage in which the preacher attempts to show that the eye of the needle is really one of the city gates in Jerusalem that was so small that only if a camel knelt down and took off his load could he enter the gate.  Or you may have heard that Jesus is basically saying that it's only hard but not impossible for someone to have the right motives with money to be saved.  Whatever you've heard, the point Jesus is making is that it is as possible for the largest animal in the Middle East to enter into the smallest opening you could think of: the eye of a needle.  That's the point!  It's not possible. 

We have a saying here in the US to be more contextual, "The chances of a rich person inheriting eternal life is about a snowball's chance in hell."  You don't have to be a mathematician to understand that it's not only improbable, but impossible.  That's the force of what Jesus is saying. 

But why is it harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God?

To answer that question we have to listen to how Jesus counsels this young, rich man.  Why do I say counsel?  Because this man has come to Him in what appears to be distress and anxiousness.  In Mark 10 it says that he ran up to Jesus and fell knelt down at His feet.  This man was obviously troubled.  His conscience seems to have been bothered.  Perhaps he had just heard Jesus tell the disciples in the previous passage that only those who have the faith of a child, in total reliance upon God, can belong to the kingdom of God.  This man may have heard that and thought to himself, "Wait a minute, I've accomplished so much and have kept God's Law, and this teacher is saying that little kids who've done nothing and have no resume or status are the one's that God will accept!" 

So this man comes to Jesus and is looking for a sense of security and hoping to be reassured that all of his hard work isn't wasted.  He's not nearly as pulled together inwardly as he appears to be outwardly. 

This man is asking about inheriting eternal life and as we know, this man realizes there might be something missing that he hasn't quite attained-some good deed, some good teaching that he needs to get or hear. 

This man has been successful socially, successful economically, and successful morally, and yet Jesus is telling this man he still lacks something.  Of course he would ask this question.  Anyone who is doing to accomplish favor with God, anyone who is working to earn His approval is going to be bothered by Jesus' teaching.  The rich man's question shows this man's heart; "what must I do..." is the cry of each of our hearts.  We're all trying to make ourselves acceptable.

Think about a needle.  It seems so perfectly manufactured.  So flawless.  It's shiny, symmetrical, and perfect for what it was intended for.  Yet when you look at a needle under a microscope you begin to see all its imperfections.  It's pock-marked; it's not nearly as clean as we thought it was.  If you look deeper, with greater magnification, you see all of the bacteria on it and all of its flaws.  If you look deep enough at anything, you'll begin to see that it really isn't what meets the eye. 

Even beautiful, rich, young, wealthy people realize their flaws.  Perhaps this is what makes them so beautiful; they are more aware of their physical imperfections and have the means to spend and spend to try and correct them.  Yet if you ask a model, or someone who we think should be the most secure with their looks, you find that they are the worst critic and most aware of their imperfections because they spend the most time consumed with themselves. 

They know their pock marks, they know their flaws and they are willing to do anything to cover them.  They are willing to work at it to make themselves beautiful.  Yet with all the covering, stretching and reshaping, they always know that underneath the surface they don't have it all together.  This gives them anxiety and a sense of never quite having enough and a willingness to work and work, to do some deed, to finally rest. 

Here is a man in this story of a man in San Diego who was born into a wealthy family, who is attractive and young, has all the toys you could want, and a house in La Jolla on the beach.  He's become a wealthy developer who seems to make all the right business decisions.  He's upright, well respected by his neighbors, peers, and family.  He tries really, really hard to make sure he doesn't take from anyone, cheat anyone, and has a reputation in business of being honest and a man of his word.  Everything seems to be going well. 

Yet, to his surprise, he seems to still be seeking out spiritual gurus, and reads book after book about self-improvement.  He still feels like he has to seek out something that will give him a sense of real rest, real and lasting security and approval.  He still feels he's missing something.  He's willing to come to Jesus and ask him what he's missing.  He's willing to do one more thing.  He's willing to perform another good deed.  He's teachable and isn't afraid of being told what he must do. 

He may even be willing to go to church, read his Bible, learn to pray and go to various studies to learn more.  What must I do??? 

Good teacher, what must I do...?  Jesus recognizes that this man's view of what is good has to be radically altered.  He's coming to Jesus as if Jesus is just another, normal, good rabbi.  Jesus is showing him that there is only One who is good, and it's God.  Therefore, he shouldn't just stroll up to Jesus and throw out the word "good teacher" unless he really understands and means what he's saying. 

Verse 22: "When Jesus heard this, he said to him, ‘One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.'" 

What is Jesus doing here?  Jesus is teaching this man something incredible and earth-shaking.  Even though this man has seemingly kept the Law towards other people, Jesus seems to be interested in something greater and more important than the bad things this man has or has not done. 

Of course this man shouldn't commit murder, or adultery, he shouldn't steal or lie, he shouldn't dishonor his mother, etc.  Jesus' followers should not be known by those things and should repent of them.  However, even if someone kept all these laws, all they would become is a Pharisee and still fall short of eternal life. 

If you want a lasting, eternal, forever kind of hope, security, acceptance, and salvation, the kind that will never go away, you don't simply have to repent of the bad things you've done, you have to change the relationship you have to the good things you're doing. 

If you just repent of your sins, you only become a moral person, but if you want eternal life and become a Christian, you have to repent of how you've used the good things in your life.  What does Jesus mean here?

Anyone who has come to Jesus in honesty and transparency will have to deal with these same issues.  Jesus will eventually get at more than just your moral failures, he has to get at the heart of your goodness and how you think you make yourself good. 

Eventually you're going to hear Jesus say, "How are you dealing with your pock marks?  How are you dealing with your spiritual poverty?  How are you dealing with the sense that you aren't quite right and haven't quite lived up?" 

There is something in your life that you're looking to in order to deal with that sense of missing the mark.  Some of us are turning material wealth into great importance to deal with our sense of spiritual poverty.  Some of us are trying to turn our physical beauty into a spiritual beauty to try and deal with that inner sense of deformity.  Some of us are looking to love, to family, to romance, to sex, to our jobs, to our recreation, to our hobbies, to our homes, to our art, to our intellect, to any number of things to feel like we're okay. 

Jesus is saying, "You, young man, are doing it with money and morality."  It will eventually make us proud, and it will make us uneasy and anxious inside if anything goes wrong with our money or morals.  God may be this man's helper, this man's example, this man's boss, this man's sugar daddy, but God has yet to become this man's Savior. 

How do we know?  Jesus proves it to him by telling him to sell everything and give it to the poor.  He's asking him to imagine his life with no money, no trust fund, no homes, no cars, no vacations to exotic places whenever you wish, no power, no prestige, no position of authority...just a regular guy working a regular job and all he has is Jesus.  Jesus wants this man to think about how attractive that looks to him. 

Jesus is saying to him, "Young man, if you give everything up and all you're left with is Me, will it be enough to give you that sense of joy and peace, that sense of approval and worth, that sense of beauty and completeness?" 

How does the man respond?  How does this man feel as he's walking away?  The text says "he became sad" (v. 23) but the Greek word is far more intense.  It means exceedingly grieved.  This man walked away with deep, deep grief.  This word is used in another place in Scripture when it spoke of Jesus' emotional state.

Matthew 26, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus began to be exceedingly sorrowful and grieved as He prayed in the Garden right before He was taken away.  He was so grieved that His capillaries in His sweat glands burst and He was sweating drops of blood as He prayed to His Father.  As He did, He became overcome with deep distress.  This is the same word that is used to describe this man's broken heart when he walked away from Jesus. 

Why did Jesus go into such sorrow and grief to the point of such distress?  Because Jesus was loosing the joy of His life, He was experiencing the ultimate disorientation and dislocation from the One who was everything to Him.  The joy, the meaning, the hope, and the security of His, and the core of His identity was being lost and it grieved Him.  He was losing His very self.  He was losing His Father.

When He calls this young man give up his money and possessions, this man begins to sweat and become exceedingly sorrowful and grieved.  Because money, for this young man, was what the Father was to Jesus.  It was his center, his identity, his hope, his core, his self.  He was losing what had that gave him some sense of his rightness, his security. 

Its one thing to have God has your boss, your sugar daddy, your example, and your moral compass, or even your helper in times of trouble.  It's another thing entirely to have God has your Savior.  If you want God as your Savior, you have to replace what you're already looking to and putting your faith and hope in. 

Everyone has something and you have to find out what it is.  If you want to be a good moral Pharisee, all you have to do is repent of your sin and keep the Law.  But if you want to have eternal life and become a Christian, you have to repent of using your good things as your savior. 

This is what Jesus is teaching us in v. 27.  The only people who come to saving faith and inherit eternal life are those who see that it is impossible to get it on their own by their own resources.  There is nothing routine about it.  Our salvation is a miracle and won't come to us unless God breaks in and makes the impossible possible. 

Everyone has to recognize that we all have something that has become our wealth that's keeping us from Jesus, that's keeping us from the cross.  It's our moral wealth that keeps us from Him.  It's our idea of goodness that keeps us from Him.  It's our performance that keeps us from Him.  It's our righteousness that keeps us from Him. 

For every time Jesus speaks to us about our sexual conduct, He speaks to us ten times about money.  Ten times more!  Why?  Because money is one of the primary ways in which we gain approval, power, comfort, and control.  Money is used to make us feel beautiful and to give us a sense of overall security.  It is much more important to us than we really know or understand. 

That's why it's so difficult for us as Christians to hear any messages about money, or to give in radically generous ways.  It is so important to us that people will leave the church if it is discussed too much.  But what if instead of talking about our sexuality or other kinds of morality, I speak ten times more about money?  How many of you would stay?  Why?  This is what Jesus did.  Why?  Because money isn't just our money, it's become our father, it's our savior, it's our hope and security and to give it away would mean that we have to trust something else to give us those same things. 

So what do we do about this? 

Q9:  What is the gospel in this passage?

The gospel here is that the gods that possess us and enslave us no longer have to because what is impossible with man is possible with God. 

The promise is that if we're willing to give up our inheritance, than instead of using things to get God, we can get God and then use the things in the right way.  It is in issue of a proper relationship with the things in comparison to our relationship to God.

The good news is demonstrated in the very next passage as He tells of His coming death.  He is showing them that He came to do what the rich young ruler was unable to do.  He had status, wealth, power and great possessions.  Jesus has been reigning in power for eternity. 

Here we have the King of kings, the Lord of lords, who becomes a pauper.  In Him is someone who literally did take everything He had and gave it to the poor.  All of us, and all of mankind, are spiritually poor.  We had no wealth, no power, no social standing before God.  Yet here we have the King who comes as a servant to lay down his life and for our sake become poor that we might become rich in all things ( 2 Cor. 8:9). 

Jesus was willing to take all of His possessions, all of His inheritance, and give them up so that He could come and rescue us make us co-heirs with Him.  He is showing the disciples that He will be the one who sells it all to give to the poor.  He will be the one to lays down His life so that others will be blessed.  He will be the one who does what the rich young ruler couldn't do.  What's impossible for men, is possible for God!  Jesus then goes on to tell them that He's going to lay down His life.  Those of us who know Him realize that Jesus is the rich young ruler.  He's the one that has done what the rich young ruler couldn't do, and he's the one that does what we can't do. 

Q10:  God, what is it that if you took it away, I would no longer feel acceptable?

Q11:  God, what is it that I've trusted in-either that I do or have-that makes me feel justified before you or man?

Q12:  God, what is it in my life that has become so important that I think it's greater than Christ's ability to justify me?

Q13:  How has Jesus done what you can not do?  How has He become what you thought you could, but now realize you're unable? 

We have to look at this as a tree: root, trunk and leaves.  All three have to be looked at and transformed. 

The root is the level of trust, the trunk is our attitude about it, and the leaves are our actions towards it and with it. 

The Root

The root of money is our trust in it.  Why was Jesus' heart filled with both love (in Mark) and sadness (in Luke)?  You won't understand Jesus' heart unless you get the point of the whole Bible, the whole narrative. 

Jesus was a young man too.  Jesus was a rich man as well; He owns everything.  You can't get any richer than to own the entire universe all everything in it.  He is not only young and rich, Jesus is a ruler too.  He is the King who has authority over everything and holds everything together by His own power. 

Jesus left all of this and gave it away and became poor, in a cradle in a manger, on straw He came in poverty without a home.  He came into poverty from a height infinitely higher than this man to come infinitely lower.  He came and gave it away so that men like this rich young ruler could have eternal life. 

If Jesus was willing to give away such riches beyond human comparison, then calling us to give away the things that have become our riches is nothing!

He's not asking us to do anything; He has done infinitely more than us.  If the True Rich Young Ruler was willing to give away His wealth to come and get us, why are we unwilling to give away such little things to show our love and trust in Him?

Only when this becomes real to you, and good news to you, will you begin to deal with the root of your money.  Only when you see the beauty and sacrifice of our Rich Young Ruler, will be able to give away and follow Him.  Only when will money becomes only money and not your father, will you be able to be generous. 

The Trunk

The trunk of money is our attitude towards money.  Do you find yourself envious of others who have more than you?  Do you worry about it?  Do you dream about it?  Are you constantly watching your balance and spreadsheets and feel lost if you don't know your exact status?  Do you have a bias to the rich or the poor?  Then money isn't just money to you, it's something more. 

Do you find buying new, beautiful, or cool things pleasing to you so that when you're depressed you shop and feel better afterwards?  Then money isn't just money to you.  It's your sense of freedom, or power, or pleasure and has become more than just money.

The Leaves

The leaves are our actions towards money.  It isn't enough to just have your attitude or trust changed.  Your behavior has to change towards it as well.  You'll begin to see that your salvation is impossible and by grace and you'll begin to show your trust in God and able to give generously where previously you could not. 

It's not an issue of percentages.  He calls this man to give it all away and He asks Zaccheus to give 50% away.  Don't get hung up on percentages because if 10% is manageable for you, you'll think you're being generous and may not have to trust much in Christ.  For some, 10% is so much that they have to trust in God to give it.  The percentage isn't as important as the action of giving generously until it hurts.

Jesus is calling this man, and us, to follow Jesus to the cross.  To give until it is a sacrifice.  If giving X% isn't a sacrifice for you, then the right percentage will be when it becomes a sacrifice.  That is the nature of Jesus' work on the cross; it is utterly sacrificial so that we can live empowered lives of sacrifice ourselves. 

So many of you have asked, "How much do I have to give?"  Here is the answer: give until it hurts, until it's a sacrifice. 

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