“Hanging With Jesus” John 8:31-36

“In war, the first casualty is truth.”

That quote may date back as far as Aeschylus in 5^th Century BCE Greece, or it may have been as recent as Hiram Johnson, a California Senator in 1918 commenting on “The Great War.”

The authorship or “who said it first” is in question.

The gravity of how the statement has been felt throughout the ages is not.

          Knowing the “truth” about something does indeed become slippery business in the midst of conflict.

          “If you continue in my Word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”    Jesus says today.

          How does that apply to this Gospel, and to our celebration of the Reformation?

          The Lutheran Church has for a long time lifted up this passage from the 8^th chapter of John’s Gospel as the text for this day and that rallying cry for the Reformation.   We attribute it to Luther’s own pursuit of reform for the Roman Catholic Church which he did dearly love in his day. 

The nailing of the 95 Theses was an invitation to debate.

“He was only after the truth.” We might even have said.

          We muse about how, if only people would have listened to Luther at the time, 500 years of bitter conflict within the church and hundreds of years of religious wars would never have had to have happened.

          Nothing of course, could be further from “the truth.”

          Luther knew perfectly well that nailing those points for debate to the Wittenberg Chapel Door was an “act of war” of sorts.  He was directly defying authority.

He also knew that truth would likely be the first casualty. 

When he was “invited” by the Pope to the council he had long hoped for, it was not to really to have a congenial discussion around the good questions that he had raised.

He was called to Worms by the Pope to recant his statements, to take his medicine like a good obedient little Monk should and then recede back into the woodwork.

Similarly, Luther’s seeking of help from the political entities of the time, the Elector Fredrick and the Saxon princes, all amounted to an invitation to open conflict within the Holy Roman Empire.

          The conflict itself would become the crucible in which truth would be forged and decided.

In order to refine and purify the truth, a lot of dross of half-truths and counter-truths must be burned away and refuted.

          There is a reason why this passage was chosen for the celebration of the Reformation.  This is, in fact, taken from the Gospel of John’s most contentious chapter.

Jesus is in heated debate in chapter 8 of John with the Pharisees.   The tone turns downright nasty.

          The chapter begins with the story of the woman caught “in the very act of adultery.” She is being hauled out in front of Jesus to be stoned, as the law demands.

Jesus famously draws in the sand with his fingertip and then says “let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

          There you have it.

The chapter begins with a lurid sex scandal, an accusation made, a pile of dirty laundry from the community put out into public view. A woman’s reputation sullied while the man she was caught “in the very act of” is somehow nowhere to be seen or mentioned!

          It is in chapter 8 of John’s Gospel that Jesus repeatedly references the Pharisees with what at first seems like name calling –“the Jews” he calls them.  (Or, at least the author of John calls them that.)

While that sounds a bit derogatory to our ears, it is meant to distinguish between those who are members of the same community.

Some are followers of Jesus and “the way.”

Some are remaining in the way of the ancestors, holding to the laws of Moses and the prescribed traditions of the elders, and uncertain about this teaching of Jesus.

Conflict ensues.

          It is in this chapter that the Pharisees accuse Jesus of being (horror of horrors) a “Samaritan” – a foreigner, an outsider, or a turncoat to his own people.  

They even accuse him of having a demon.

          Both Jesus and the Pharisees banter back and forth throughout the chapter accusing each other of being “liars,” with Jesus using that term for the Pharisees.

Conflict is real, evident, and “the truth” takes a significant beating here.

          And yet, Jesus maintains, one thing will keep one in the truth!

          “If you continue in my Word…”  Jesus says.

          In John’s Gospel, “the Word” has a particular understanding. 

The “Word becomes Flesh and dwells among us.”

          In John’s Gospel, “the Word” is both pre-existent with God, and a living reality in the person of Jesus.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The prologue asserts.

          “Continuing in the Word” for John is therefore literally about “hanging in there with Jesus!”  

          The danger before us in celebrating the Reformation is that we make of it a remembrance of what Luther did.

          The Reformation is not about what Luther did 500 years ago.

          The Reformation is about what Luther discovered, namely what it means to be disciple. It means following where Jesus leads the way. It means “hanging in there” with Jesus through the complicated and contentious times and pushing ever forward the Grace and love of God.

          We remind ourselves on this day of the tortured conscience of an Augustinian Monk who struggled with scripture.

It is about Luther reading scripture, listening to it to hear Jesus speak, and finding in it a gracious and loving God in a world that was hell-bent on asserting God’s judgment in both the political and religious realms of the day as a means of control. 

          It’s about finding Jesus beyond all the trappings of church polity, beyond all the formulas and doctrines and teachings of “what the law prescribed” or “what the church taught.”

          The Reformation is about asking questions.

“If Jesus said that God loves the world, dare we believe that?  And if so, what then should I then do to follow and to love?”

          If you engage in this kind of conversation with the Word, you too are bound for conflict my friends!   The ways in which this world and this earthly kingdom find to push Jesus out of the picture are indeed “Legion.”

          “Continuing in the Word” is hanging in there with Jesus when the prevailing sentiment of tradition wants you to fall back on “right” or “wrong” and simple choices.

          “Continuing in the Word” is about engaging in a dialog with Christ in such a way that your own assumptions about how things just “ought to be” are brought into question and come up for examination.

          “Continuing in the Word” is not just about reading the bible.

Reading the bible is indeed good!  That’s why we place it in the hands of our children. Reading it will introduce you to the person of Jesus.

          But “Continuing in the Word” is about checking your thoughts and actions against the graciousness and loving kindness of a God who sent his son not to condemn this world, but rather to save it.

It is to picture Jesus beside you and to imagine whether he would bless you for your actions right now, or whether he would challenge them on the basis of love for your neighbor.

          “Continuing in the Word” may indeed mean that you say some sharp, pointed things.

It may mean that you will have to say things that need to be said to clear away the half-truths of innuendo and doubt in which this world engages in order to control and obscure love.

          “Continuing in the Word” may make you squirm as you measure your own words against what Jesus would have you say as his follower, making you swallow what you would want to say right now, in deference for what should be said, or what needs to be said!

          “Continuing in the Word” is stepping into the fray of this world!  It is engaging in the battle between the kingdom of this world and the Kingdom of God. 

          This world is content with letting half-truths exist.  

          Half-truths serve the political realm well.

          Half-truths serve the “Descendants of Abraham” well, as they appeal to their position of privilege by birth.

Such half-truths are often spoken to assert control, by “Sons of Abraham” who allow women to be dragged out to be stoned while never mentioning or considering who it was that she was “caught in the very act” with…. men get a pass!   Patriarchy is unquestioned.

“Continuing in the Word… hanging in there with Jesus will make you strip away each-and-every one of these “oh so comfortable for some” half-truths, melting them down to arrive at a single, simpler truth – that God loves all and has come for all.

It is a simpler truth, but it is a truth that will vastly complicate your life, precisely because this world prefers the “half-truths” that continue to allow people in power to retain their power.

So, it’s Reformation Sunday, and I know you’d all just like to sing “A Mighty Fortress” and bask in what Luther did some 500 years ago and call that good.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth which will afflict you and will also set you free.

All that Luther did was just pick up on what had been done 1500 years earlier.

How Jesus had gathered a group of fishermen, tax collectors, outcasts in general and a whole slew of other sinners with no status in society and decided that there would be no “half-truths” tolerated any more.

They glimpsed that the only place to hang, was with Jesus.

They saw that where Jesus chose to hang — was on the Cross–for them.  He would rather die than recant the teaching that God loves, and that in specific… God loves you, and meets you where you are!

How then could they do any less as Jesus’ followers?

How could they do any less than fully enter into the conflict of this world themselves to bring about the Kingdom that Jesus was willing to give his own life for?

So, on Reformation Day, –you’re invited to “hang with Jesus” as well.

You are invited to engage in the kind of questioning, the kind of conversation, and the kind of inevitable conflict with the way this world works.

Such “Hanging with Jesus will strip away the complicated half-truths, getting you down to the one simplified truth.

That truth is this: The Word of God was made flesh, and dwells among us still, and shows us that God loved and accepted all, and that in specific, God loves you right where God finds you!

You can continue to “Hang with Jesus” to this day, proclaiming that same message.  “God loves YOU!”

This is Reformation.

It is not just an event that happened long ago with a printing press and a troubled Monk with an irritable bowel. 

Reformation is about continuing in the Word, hanging in there with Jesus in your conversations, in your living, in your actions and in your decisions in such a way that truth is revealed, God’s love is proclaimed for all, and people are at last set free to love!  

“To Only Have Eyes for Jesus” Mark 10:46-52

“Pay attention to the book ends.”  

That was a piece of insight given to me by one of my seminary professors.

As a skilled carpenter will employ their experience of shaping wood and fitting pieces together to create the final product, and as the skilled chef will use all the techniques of kitchen craft to complete the tasty dish, so also an author uses all the skills at their disposal to craft a compelling narrative, driving you to a conclusion. 

The author of Mark is a gifted writer and storyteller.  Phrases that are repeated word for word are a kind of “book ending,” highlighting and contrasting a central point.

Last Sunday we talked about James and John, and their request made to Jesus.   “Do for us whatever we ask of you.”

“What do you want me to do for you?”  is the phrase that Jesus employs in response.  That phrase drew out their request, made their desires known.  They wanted positions of power and authority, to be put at Jesus right and left hand.

This week Blind Bartimaeus also makes a request of Jesus, and once again the exact same phrase is used.

“What do you want me to do for you?”  

That cannot be a coincidence!

This phrase reveals Bartimaeus’ desire, just as surely as it revealed James and John’s.

Bartimaeus however, is all too aware of his “place,” already, and it is not one of honor.  His position in the world that of a blind beggar, sitting beneath his cloak on the fringe of society.

If Bartimaeus does not understand his position, then the crowd appears all too ready to remind him of it!

When Bartimaeus first called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” the crowd responds with displeasure and tried to silence him.

Mark says that the crowd ordered Bartimaeus “sternly to be quiet.” 

That’s a relatively nice way for the translator to put it.  The actual word is a form of siwpaw, and would normally have the force of roughly… “Shut Up!”

This should not surprise us. 

Whenever the marginalized, the people at the edges, the people whom we are embarrassed to see hanging around raise their voices, their hopes, or make their requests known, they are quite often told to simply “shut up.”

We don’t know a lot about Bartimaeus, but we do know a few things.

His name, “Timaeus” is Greek, and means “Honored one.”

“Bar-Timaeus” then is a hybrid Aramaic name, combining both the Gentile and Jew.   “Bar” means “son.”  So, he is literally a “Son of an Honored One.”

But oh, how he has fallen, now reduced to begging on the streets!

We also know that Bartimaeus was not blind from birth for what he asks for is restoration.

“My teacher, let me see again.”  He says.  Which, can also be translated “let me see anew.”   In either case Bartimaeus is seeking something that has been stripped from him, and probably more than one thing. 

His sight, to be sure.

But, also his “honor”, his worth and his value in the community.

He was sighted, and as such is acutely aware of all that his current blindness has taken from him.

Perhaps it stings all the more to be told to “shut up.”  

He knows that those telling him to do so have all the advantages in this world of sight and mobility, the ability to make a living, to work a trade, gather with others —  all those things that he once had and perhaps also once took for granted.

Bartimaeus longs to be restored!

When he hears that Jesus is passing by, he lays claim once again to his place in the community, a place that the King and Messiah can restore. 

He calls out to Jesus, “Son of David.”  

“Son of David.”  is a phrase unique to Bartimaeus in Mark’s gospel.  We have not heard Jesus called this before. 

Jesus has been worried about it though. He has been worried about being associated too closely with Messianic hopes and all the “King like David” expectations that have been ruminating in the Galilee.  It is the reason why he withdraws from crowds, but it appears that even a blind man can see who Jesus is.

“Son of David, have mercy on me.” Bartimaeus shouts, and though the gathered crowd tries to silence him, he shouts it all the louder.

It is as if Bartimaeus proclaims, “I am an Israelite! I am one of your subjects!  I was once a valued part of this nation’s people, subject of the King, heir to all the hopes of the Throne of David and all that it meant.

“Have mercy!”   He cries.

“See me!   Consider me!  Grant my request!”   

You see how being told to “shut up” by those who can see and speak, those who have all the privilege and advantages in life must sting now?  He has insight into who Jesus is, and no one will listen to him!

It is Jesus who changes the attitude of the crowd.   He stops and calls Bartimaeus over through them.

“Call him here.”  Jesus says to the crowd.  It becomes their work to make sure that he gets to Jesus!

When Jesus notices him, Bartimaeus also garners a new kind of respect from those around him, from those crowds who had previously told him to shut up!  

Now it appears they encourage him on.
“Take heart, get up!  He is calling for you.”

Since Jesus stops and turns, now the crowd takes on a new attitude.

“Oh, I guess you are worth something after all!  Jesus is asking for you!”

How changeable crowds can be.

This will not be the last time we will see that!

When Bartimaeus is told that Jesus will receive him, he throws off his cloak, (his only worldly possession,) in order to get to Jesus.

There is significance in that too!  

The cloak was Bartimaeus’ shelter, his sole possession in this world. 

For a beggar, the cloak is home.  It is what you wrap yourself up in as shade during the heat of the day.  It is your shelter from the rain, and what you use to keep the cold of the night at bay.  

The cloak is what you spread before you as you beg, to catch the coins that are tossed your way.

The cloak is the sign of your identity! 

It’s like the cardboard sign that the man on the street corner holds in our day, expressing the request. “Please give, anything helps!”

It’s like a purloined shopping cart to a bag lady, what you need to make your way in life.

When Jesus stops and calls for Bartimaeus to come to him, Bartimaeus stands and throws off the cloak!

It is a sign of faith!

“I won’t be needing this anymore, Jesus has stopped and had consideration of me!”

Now comes the phrase that is the bookend. 

“What do you want me to do for you?”

Bartimaeus knows exactly what it is he is asking for!   He wants to see again!  He is asking for restoration to his community with all that such restoration would mean.

He wants restoration to the community, the ability to cast aside the beggar’s cloak.

“Let me see again.”   He says to Jesus, and Jesus grants it, and tells him to go now on his way. 

And then we discover the great surprise in the story! 

You might miss it if you didn’t pay attention to the “book ends” and think about how these two stories are connected.

James and John desired places of privilege with Jesus, and he says they will have a place, but not the place they ask for.  

It will NOT be the privilege to sit and rule, but the privilege instead of drinking from the cup and being baptized with the baptism that is Jesus’. 

They will serve.  They are able to do so, and it will be their privilege so to do!

And Bartimaeus? 

You have to ask yourself, “What would I have done if I had been sighted, and then blinded, and now could see again?”

What would you want to do? 

Would you go to look into the face of that loved one?

          Would you go to the hometown and walk the streets again, drink in the familiar, experience “home?”

          Would you sit and wait for a sunrise, or a sunset, or get busy in your former trade, making up for lost time, or just enjoy the freedom to go and see and do?

          Think now, Jesus heals Bartimaeus and sends him on his way.  He is free to do whatever he wishes, and where does Bartimaeus go?   

“Immediately he regained his sight and followed him (that is, Jesus) on the way.” Mark says.

          When Bartimaeus regains his sight, — or sees anew–it appears that he only has eyes for Jesus! 

Here are the bookends! 

James and John go looking for glory and privilege and instead find out that the real privilege is to be found in the call to service, abandoning their own dreams of a life of privilege to follow where Jesus leads.

          Bartimaeus asks for his sight to be restored, and when he receives it, he discovers that the only thing worth looking at or pursuing is the following of Jesus!

This is what Mark has discovered and what he wants to share with you.

          Mark wants you to see that you can go searching for a lot of things in this world.

You can set your sights at being great, wanting the choice seats, but in the end, you’ll discover that the only thing worth pursuing is a life of service and following Jesus.

You can think that if you could just get back that one thing you’ve lost, that life will be better, but given new eyes to see with, you discover that the only thing you have eyes for now is Jesus and following him on the way!

          If your eyes are not set on Jesus, then you are like the crowd, so changeable and so fickle, shouting your displeasure at things at one moment and your encouragement for the opposite the next.

          So, even they will ultimately take their cues from looking to Jesus!

          Only having eyes for Jesus is the central point in this story!

And yes, that will mean that sometimes you will never see things the same way again!

And yes, that will mean that you too may be choosing the path of a servant life.

And yes, that will mean that you may be forced to change your mind about some things in life, once Jesus points out to you who it is that he is calling up and who it is that he is asking that question to.

“What do you want me to do for you?”

That’s what Mark wants us to see from his “bookends,” here, the invitation he extends.

Will we also only have eyes for Jesus? 

“What Do You Want?” Mark 10:35-46

Where can you picture yourself?

          In the front seat of a brand new car?   The feel of fine Corinthian leather, the wind racing through your hair, and the autumn leaves flying behind you?

          On a beach, a drink in hand, finally getting yourself a little of that “Royal Caribbean” after a long pandemic of being shut up in the house??

          Or, Ooo, Disney on property, with VIP backdoor passes. Free run of the park an hour before the crowds hit and a behind the scenes look at all the best attractions.

          Perhaps you visualize yourself as one of the elite given the chance to go up into space with Jeff Bezos, to slip the surly bonds and come back transformed like William Shatner.

          Isn’t this where we picture ourselves when given the chance to dream?   Hey, put me in the best slot! Give me the perks!  

          James and John approach Jesus today with a request.  They start off by saying to Jesus, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”

          To which Jesus responds, “What is it you want me to do for you?”

          Anyone with children, or maybe worse yet, grandchildren — will immediately recognize that as a dangerous request. Something is sure to come that will make you uncomfortable, a request that is out of the question, out of reach or terribly expensive!

          “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” They say to him.

What do you suppose they thought that looked like? Where would they have gotten the impression that there are “best seats” next to Jesus? 

It might have been from the Transfiguration story back in chapter 9 of Mark where they were given a “sneak peak” at a transfigured Jesus.

It was a pretty powerful image after all. A glimpse of Jesus in power; robed in light itself, talking with Moses and Elijah.

It was a brief glimpse of what the Kingdom of God will be like when Jesus completes his course on earth and returns to the Father. An image that captures their attention the way that great advertising can capture ours.  They can picture themselves there already!

Of course, Jesus hasn’t talked about such glory at all.

No, in fact just before this little discussion we have another one of his predictions about what is to come upon Jesus in Jerusalem.

“See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles; they will mock him, and spit upon him, and flog him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise again.”

Since that mountaintop experience back in chapter 9, Jesus has been getting on with the real work of ministry. 

He’s been driving out demons with prayer, (when the disciples failed at it miserably!) 

He’s been teaching about suffering, and the greatness found in serving, and telling the rich man what he lacks – get rid of the stuff and come follow him.

There has not been any talk about glory, luxury, or choice seats.

Jesus has talked more about those who give up things dear to them receiving things more dear, — more brothers and sisters and lands in this life, –(but with persecutions,) and then in the age to come, eternal Life.

Maybe James and John got their visions of having the best seats from that, but if they did, they weren’t listening very well!

Or maybe, their problem, (like our problem, most often;) is that we are far too easily captivated by the images of what we like, and not easily enough captivated by God’s image of the Kingdom.

See, I find it easy for me to picture myself in that flashy car.  I can just imagine that! 

I find it much harder to picture myself denying myself such luxury and choosing a simpler lifestyle so that I could be free to raise up my less wealthy neighbor, help him or her simply live.

I can just imagine myself grabbing a little of that “Royal Caribbean” after being cooped up. I can even convince myself that I deserve some R&R, I could use a little pampering.

It’s harder however to imagine myself choosing a simpler lifestyle or forgoing luxury for the sake of my neighbor – pursuing justice for them instead of luxury for myself.

So much of the way that this world works is based upon desiring what you do not have, grabbing gusto where it is found, and enjoying the “good life.” 

It is hard for me to imagine working for sustainability in a world that is obsessed with consumption.

I’d rather block out and not think about God’s call to live a life of self-examination, of seeing what my choices and my decisions might do and mean or what effect they may have on others. 

I’d rather think about a trip to Disneyland than think about how I could gain brothers and sisters and even lands, (and with them their persecutions!) if I were to open myself up to conversations with my indigenous neighbors about their experience of America.

I’d rather dream about a new car than listen to my black fellow Americans talk about their experiences of this country, what it has been like for them.

I’d rather blame the plight of the homeless or working poor on their own laziness than learn about their experience of opportunity.

I’d rather reflect on the blessings of citizen in this country than listen to the plight of the immigrant about the experiences that have led them to come here and try to cross the border seeking asylum.

It’s not so hard to understand James and John today after all.

Their hearts and minds are captive to their own best hopes for their own future. “Take us, Jesus, and set us up in the best seats in the Kingdom!”

That is where our hearts are often drawn as we think about Jesus. They are drawn to the future, the final destination, to paradise. 

Yes, Jesus, we are ready to be with you in Paradise when that day comes. Make sure my reservations are booked and give me an upgrade if it is available!

But in the meantime, — in the here and now – well, that’s another matter.

In the here and now Jesus points us to the cup and to the baptism. We’ve got this cup, and this baptism, and this call to be servant of all. Those are the images that we have a harder time picturing ourselves fitting.

A cup? 

In this life to follow Jesus is to drink from “the cup” he says.

Jesus says we are able to do it, but are we willing?   Will we drink from the cup of the sorrows and sacrifices that mingle together? The cup that is gladness and joy, and also challenge and sacrifice, all mixed and mingled?  

This cup, around this table, where Jesus invites us.

This is the place where we gather the best and the worst that this world has to offer.

Here we gather the scoundrels as well as with the saints.

Here the cheaters and liars come, as well as the children and the chosen.

Can we imagine our lips touching where the untouchable is welcomed? For, that appears to be God’s image for the Kingdom as Jesus presents it. 

This baptism?

“Baptized by fire” Jesus says.  Are you ready to be put in the hot seat, in the place of persecution, decision, and derision? 

Can we imagine ourselves speaking up for the sake of the other?

Can you imagine ourselves choosing to remain silent when false accusations are hurled at us, as Jesus did before the Sanhedrin, Pilate and Herod? 

Jesus says to James and John, (and to us all!)  that we are able to take such heat, but the larger question is always; “Are we willing?” 

Are we willing to do the Christ like thing?

Are we willing to take the servant role with others?

That is the mark of greatness, Jesus says, time and again.

We have a hard time getting our minds around the fact that by giving something up we might actually gain something greater!  More brothers and sisters and lands.

It runs so “counter intuitive” to what the world tells us.

The world says watch your own back first!

The world says take care of Number One – yourself.

The world says only suckers care about losers or spend time with them.

But Jesus keeps mixing and mingling with the poor and the oppressed and the outcast and the ones who are shunned by his society.

The world says, “don’t be associated with such as these,” and Jesus says, “these are my brothers and sisters, my mother, God’s sons and daughters… and they can be yours as well if you will but join me with them. Join me as the invitation was given to the older brother by the Father who welcomed and feasted with the prodigal when he came home!

“What do you want me to do for you?”  Jesus says, to James and John, and I’m wondering if he doesn’t say the same thing to all of us. 

We are often all too ready to put our list to Jesus. The prayers we lift for what we would hope that he would do for us.

Are we as “in tune” with what Jesus also says we are capable of doing in this world?  What we are “able” to do in terms of loving our neighbor and bringing in the Kingdom?

“You are able,” Jesus says, to James and to John.  Able to drink from the cup, to be baptized, to be a servant.

And, by extension, Jesus says the same to all of us!

“Are you willing?”  

And just what would that look like for me?

What is Jesus asking of me — in my family, in my place of work, in my community, in my church and in my personal decisions?

As I ask of him, does he not also ask of me?

Ask of me to do the very things that he has shown me to do. To love, to care about my neighbor, to put a check on my own pride, my own insistence on the way things should be, my own downfall of Pharisaic thinking that creeps in and triggers my desires to have the best blocking out my compassion for others?

Where do you picture yourself as a follower of Jesus?

If your life is filled up with the desires for the “best seats” – the Cars and the Cruises, the VIP box and back door passes, is there really room for Jesus and his expectations? 

What do you want me to do for you? Jesus asks.

What we answer is telling about ourselves, about our faith, and about where we have ultimately placed our trust and our treasures.

Jesus has full confidence in us as his disciples.

If it were not so, he would not have come and given us this gracious invitation to follow and entrusted this work of ministry to us.

We are able to be his followers!

We are able to bring in the Kingdom, make a difference in this world, run counter to the way the world thinks and acts.  

We are able to serve, to give, to love and to forgive.

The larger question for us is always — will we?

Where can you picture yourself?

Can you picture yourself as Jesus sees you this day, not sitting at all! Not sitting at his left or his right, but rather joining him in the journey!  Joining with him as one of his empowered servants who is able to do the work of God in this world?

“Looked at in Love” Mark 10:17-31

I have an important question to ask you.  How many of you are here today because you hoped to be looked at in love by Jesus?  

Come on, let’s have a show of hands!   

If you’re hand isn’t up, then I’m assuming that maybe you came here to be judged, or to be scowled upon by an angry and judgmental God?  

Let’s have a show of hands for that.

          No?

Well then, I think we can all agree that we came here in the sure hope and expectation that Jesus would look upon us with love.   

          But, as this Gospel shows us, such a look does not mean that we are not challenged!

          In the Gospel this day a man who is identified as being “Rich” comes to Jesus with a fascinating question. 

“Good teacher, what must I do to inherit Eternal life?”

          It’s a fascinating question, because on a certain level it is nonsense!  How do you do something to get an inheritance??   

Oh sure, we might talk about sucking up to Aunt Elsie or being nice to Uncle Tom in hopes of being included in their will, but the point of an inheritance is that it is a gift!   You get it because of who you are not because of what you do! 

Whether you are nice or nasty, the gift comes your way first and foremost because of the relationship that you have with the one who gives the inheritance.  

So, why is this man asking this question?  What makes him think he may be missing something, or missing out on something?

          We get a glimpse into that when Jesus questions him back.  “Why do you call me good?   No one is good but God alone.  You know the commandments…,” and then Jesus lists the commandments, and the man affirms to Jesus that he has kept all of these commandments since his youth. 

Now, this is the point at which we kind of glaze over and aren’t paying really close attention.  Our mind shifts to automatic pilot and we fail to hear what is really said.

 To make sure that we have that down, let’s take a closer look at these commandments that Jesus lists here. 

“You shall not murder.”

“You shall not commit adultery.”

“You shall not steal.”

“You shall not bear false witness.”

“You shall not defraud.”

“Honor your mother and father.”

Now let’s see, that’s 6. 

“Defrauding” is an interesting commandment.  Maybe that is the 9^th and 10^th about coveting and getting your neighbor’s property by scheming, at which case we are at 7 commandments referenced by Jesus.

How many commandments are there again? 

I have a vague memory of there being 10!

So, what do we make of this?  Didn’t Jesus know the commandments?

Or, is the point here that it is the man who doesn’t really know the commandments, though he says he’s kept them since his youth?

Or, is there something else going on here.  

Which commandments are missing from this list?

“I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me!”

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.”

“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.”

The list Jesus gives is missing the first three!  

If you remember your catechism, you might remember that those first three commandments are all about our relationship to God.  We sometimes refer to that as “the vertical relationship.”

 Commandments four through ten are about the “horizontal relationships” of living in community, how we are to live in relationship with one another.

Is this what Jesus is doing?  

He looks at this man, and loves him, and in a sense sees right through him!   

Here is a man who has lived a good life, yes!  

Here is a man who has been doing very well for himself.  

Here is a man who by all outward appearances has everything together.  He is Rich!   But, here also is a man who isn’t so sure about what the future holds.  

Is this all there is?  The success I’ve found in this life? 

“What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

How do I hold on to all that I have?   How do I get more than what this world has to offer?  How do I continue on beyond what this life has to offer?

“You lack only one thing.”  Jesus says with that look of love. 

Here the man stands, looking God in Christ Jesus in the face, and the look he is getting is a look of love!

Make sure you understand that, see that, Oh people!  

This is not a scowling face upset with the man or with his actions.  

This is not a disapproving face.  It is not a face that judges this man for what he has done or left undone.  

No, Jesus looks at him, and loves him, it says.

Jesus then goes on to say, “You lack only one thing….the thing that is found in the first three commandments, attention to your relationship with God!

And now, here is an opportunity to have that.  “Sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

This is where we get distracted.  

It sounds like Jesus is asking him to give up everything. 

He does not say that.  Jesus doesn’t say “sell everything” just “sell what you own.”

What Jesus does invite the man to do is to follow him, and in order to do that, he will have to take a hard look at what is standing between himself and the relationship with God, the inheritance that is his all along.  

What is in the way?

“Stuff” is in the way.  Stuff!

 The comedian George Carlin has a routine that he does on “Stuff.”  In a way that only a comedian can, he makes us laugh at ourselves and recognize the silliness of our preoccupation with our possessions.  

“What are our houses after all?”  Carlin begins, “It’s just a place for us to store our stuff.    We make a pile of stuff, and we put a roof over it!”  

“And, then, when we get too much stuff, we need a bigger house for our stuff.”  

“When we run out of room there, we rent storage for our stuff.  Imagine that, a whole industry designed to help us with our stuff!” Carlin point out.   

“When we travel, we take our stuff along!” He continues,  “Not all our stuff, just enough stuff to make us feel at home.   But we never really feel at home when we travel. 

Why?  

Because of all the stuff that other people have in our way.  There’s no place for my stuff!   

Ever notice that our stuff is always ‘good stuff’ but other people’s stuff is “junk?”   Carlin remarks. 

“Where did they get all this stuff???  Pretty soon we have our stuff spread out all over the place, and we have a hard time keeping track of all our stuff.”   

By the end of the comedy routine, Carlin makes a confession. 

“I started out having all this stuff, and now all this stuff has me!”

It is a profound observation!

This is the plight of the Rich man in our Gospel.  His eyes are set on the things of this world. 

Oh, he has kept all the commandments since his youth that relate to his neighbors in a sense, so long as they did not impede on his ability to acquire and to own.

 He has probably done exceedingly well by himself!

There is a 1^st century proverb that states, “Every rich man is either the thief or the son of a thief.”    

In 1^st Century Judea under Roman occupation you gained wealth in one of two ways. 

You were either born into it and bribed your way into keeping it so the Romans didn’t take everything, or you collaborated with the occupying forces and did their bidding for which you were rewarded monetarily and with the property that was confiscated.

What the Rich Man lacks is a relationship with God that can give him the assurance of a life that is more than just “stuff” and his attention to the “stuff.” 

What keeps him from receiving that gift that is his inheritance from God, is the stuff itself!

So, Jesus looks at him, and loves him, and says, “you lack only one thing…sell your possessions.”  

Do what you know would be good to do, which is to give to the poor, to help your neighbor.

You already know about those commandments, act upon them!

Then freed from you preoccupation with the “stuff,”  come, follow me.  Get rid of the “stuff” that holds you back!

We are told that that when he heard this, the man was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

The stuff got in the way.

You didn’t come here today to be scowled at by an angry God.

You didn’t come here today to listen to some guy in a white robe who gets paid plenty stand up here and tell you that you should sell everything you have and give it away. 

You came here today to be looked at in love by Jesus. 

So did I.

But the look of love from Jesus requires that all  of us.. me included… look at the stuff that gets in the way of our relationship with a loving God.

The look of love from Jesus who desires to give us all things as an inheritance, as a free gift of Grace, requires that we deal with the things that would get in the way of such Grace.

Whatever it is; your stuff, my stuff–possessions, long held convictions, and presumptions about what the bible says… Whatever it is that keeps us from seeing the look of love in the face of Jesus for us this day, — that is what we need to get rid of today!  

We don’t have to do anything to inherit eternal life.  That is the truth!

But seeing Jesus look at us in love is meant to prompt us to do some things because of the power of that relationship with God.

Because God looks at me in love, — can I let go of some of my stuff for the sake of the one who is in need?

Because God looks at me in love, —and looks at others in love as well; — will I put away my pre-conceptions about what others should or should not have or do? 

That is a matter, after all, for them to resolve with the God who also looks at them in love!

Because God looks at me in love, — am I free now to give, free to live, free to love and free to serve?  

I don’t do these things to earn or inherit anything. 

The inheritance is mine because I am a child of God and because it is God’s good pleasure to give God’s children the Kingdom – the inheritance! 

It is God who has called me and made me God’s own precious child, claimed me in love, looked at me in love!

I do these commandments, these things, because of that look!   

The look that invites me to put relationship with God and neighbor above all else.

Beloved in the Lord, you are this day, looked at in love by Jesus, — remember that!

With that look of love there comes an invitation. 

You are free to follow. 

Eternal life is given as a free gift of Grace.

What stuff will you let go of, dispose of, — so that it won’t get in the way of that one thing that we all desire most – our inheritance from God?   

Life!