A sermon from James: Hebrews 4.12-16, Mark 10.17-31, Sunday 13th October 2024.
Jesus looked at him and loved him. I like that bit. Jesus looked at him and loved him.
Jesus is confronted in today’s gospel reading by someone who’s got everything, lots of money. The only thing he lacks is that assurance of – as he puts it – Eternal Life. His question is What must I do to inherit eternal life?
So lets give him points for having the courage to come to Jesus and ask the question.
Alas he doesn’t like the answer. ‘Go and sell everything and then come and follow me’.
And alas he doesn’t even hang about long enough to hear the next bit of the discussion. The disciples are astonished – surely having a big bag of money must be proof that God loves you, that you’re blessed. But Jesus says ‘No, that’s not the proof. The proof is what you do with it’.
As we saw with the letter of Paul to Timothy – the Love of money is the root of all kinds of evil – and alas his love of money will be too strong to allow him to receive the love of Jesus.
I like his question – what do I have to do to inherit eternal life. There’s not a lot you can do to inherit anything. It’s a gift. But Jesus is inviting us into a living relationship with God through Him – Come follow me.
Alas Jesus fails. The man walks away. You wonder what became of him, and if in his mind he justified it all to himself – Jesus was just being ridiculous! OR if on quieter days he didn’t wonder if he still had a chance an opportunity to do the right thing.
The Book of Hebrews says – we will have to give an account – for what we have done with our lives, with all that God has given us. That’s quite a sobering thought.
*We are going to be in the Book of Hebrews for the next few weeks so if you’re wondering what bit of bible to be reading then have a go at Hebrews. Its not easy reading. We don’t know who wrote it. Probably not St Paul.
But certainly it was written to people who knew the first 5 books of the bible really well, they knew about Abraham and Moses and Melchizedek, they understood the sacrificial system and the blood, and the covenants.
*But it seems that it is also written in a context where some people are being persecuted even imprisoned, and others have abandoned their faith or keeping it quiet.
So, the whole book of Hebrews really has one message and that is Don’t Give Up. Keep at it. Stay close to Jesus. Hold the Faith. Don’t give up the habit of meeting together. Support each other, encourage each other in the faith. Have a read through with this in mind and make a note of where in each chapter the writer says something like: Let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.
The writer goes on to say Why.
And again each chapter has a slightly different reason why – Because Jesus is better than the angels, Jesus is better than Moses.
Because all our spiritual role models – from Abraham to David to Isaiah to … all those heroes of the faith – they struggled with their different struggles but they kept the faith and they pointed us to a future hope to a messiah.
But we, we have seen this, in these last days, we have seen God walking on the earth. Either the author did, or the author knew those first apostles who did.
So Hold firmly to the faith – because in Jesus we have all that we have ever hoped and prayed for. We have a saviour who has become our High Priest – that’s the language in today’s bit of Hebrews – and that’s about sin and the cleansing power of forgiveness that we have in Jesus and this suddenly becomes important because there will come a day when we will all have to give an account.
On that day, you want your judge to be Jesus. Jesus looked at the man with all that money and Loved him. Jesus will be looking at you through the lens of love.
As the newly risen Jesus ascended in to heaven, the disciples are looking up, and the angels explained that This Same Jesus will return. This Same Jesus.
The Same Jesus who had time to bring healing to the woman with internal bleeding, who had time for the little children, who had time to bring redemption to Zacchaeus.
Keep the list going. This Same Jesus. That’s a good thing.
We will all have to give an account. But it will be to This Same Jesus that we will be doing this accounting. And this is the Jesus who knows how to bring forgiveness to our sins and healing to our souls. This Same Jesus.
And the question that Jesus will ask you is NOT why were you not more like Jesus, more like St Peter, Mother Theresa, Billy Graham. He will not even ask you Why were you not more like James or Derreck or Carole
He will ask you Why were you not more like the person I made you to be? I gave you gifts and opportunities to flourish and grow and bless.
You know how you see someone on the news and they’ve won the lottery and you think Wow they’re so lucky! I wish I had that money. – I fall for that sort of thinking too – but then I think ‘Actually they will have to answer to God for that blessing’. Yes they’ve won a massive amount of money, but will they do good with the power they have or not?
And that is the challenge – God will call us to account, what will we do with the blessings that God has given us.
If you’re not sure where to start, start with reading your bible. Start reading Mark’s Gospel, have a go at the book of Hebrews. The promise of Hebrews is that scripture is a scalpel, a double edged sword, – so it might be that as you read it that your conscience is pricked,
it might be that you realise that your sins have slowed you down and held you back from living the full free life that Jesus wants for you,
it might be that you will see that you have inherited guilt from your upbringing and the weight of those expectations has made it hard for you –
but it might also be that you will see that the Bible is not merely the word of God that awakens us to these things – it is also the scalpel that can cut you free from all that sin and guilt.
We will all have to give an account for what God has blessed us with and how we have been a blessing to others.
But be comforted that it will be This Same Jesus who does the judging.
And it is by the blood of This Same Jesus that we find forgiveness.
And through His Holy Scriptures that we continue to allow God’s word to change us, free us, empower us to be the person God has made us to be.
So that’s a good reason to Hold Firmly to the Faith. Hebrews gives us this picture of Jesus gone up into heaven, and we remember his comforting words – I go, I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back, I will take you to be with me.
So the invitation is not merely in this life to Come Follow Me, but also to know that Jesus will come for you and me as we hold firmly to Him: through prayer and worship, through scripture and service, receiving His blessings and giving them away.
And its all this that will allow us to approach God’s Throne with Confidence. When you are called to give an account for your life – that should not be the first time that you have stood before God’s Throne.
You should find yourself standing there and saying ‘I have been here before’.
You’ve been there whenever you have been lost in worship in wonder love and praise; Whenever you have wept for your sins and addictions and so received mercy and grace, or whenever you have received Holy Communion and in that moment prayed a Thank you Jesus prayer.
So the writer to the Hebrews says Let us approach God’s throne with confidence.
My son Sam has always done this. When he was at school, he’d burst into the study and tell me he was home, a quick hug and then off he’d go. Or he’d burst in and ask for money to go fill up the car with petrol, I think that was one of the more recent ones – he’s now 22. You get the point. He behaves as a son to dad. He knows he has the right to just walk in and talk to me.
Jesus when He taught us to pray did not say – Speak to God as to the Creator of all things visible and invisible, the Creator of the Universe, but speak to God as Abba, Father, Dad, to God as a caring loving close parent.
So the writer urges us to Approach God’s throne with confidence – to receive grace, mercy, and help. So don’t forget to come up to the Holy Spirit Chapel for further prayer after you have received a blessing or communion today.
Jesus looked at the man and Loved him. Some come and receive this love, – remember from the Christmas reading – To all who received Him He gave the right to become children of God, children of God – and that is how you inherit eternal life! Amen. //
Photo is of St Luke’s with harvest flowers!