According to Luke: So Close Yet So Far Away

According to Luke: So Close Yet So Far Away

Opening Illustration:

How many of you remember the game show Deal or No Deal? The way the game works is that a contestant choses one case from 26 cases. Each case has a secret dollar amount hidden inside. The contestant hopes that he or she has chosen the case containing 1 million dollars. As the cases are whittled down, an off screen banker tries to make a deal with the contestant to quit playing so that he or she does not win the million bucks. The game is interesting because it tests a person’s common sense vs. their greed. There have been so many people who had the opportunity to walk away with hundreds of thousands of dollars. In many of those games, the contestant’s greed kicks in and they turn down staggering amounts of money in hopes that they have the 1 million dollar case. 

Let’s take a look at just one such case. Here is a contestant that has played the game all the way to the end. There are two cases left. Either he will walk away with the million dollars or he will walk away with 1 dollar. His last offer from the banker was nearly half a million dollars. His family begs him to take the offer from the banker. Sadly greed takes over and common sense is cast aside. Let’s see what happens. 

Ouch. This poor fella misses a million dollars by one case. He could have walked away with half a million dollars but no, he was all in. Deal or No Deal powerfully illustrates the power of greed. It powerfully illustrates the sway that money, stuff, material possessions, and worldly goods can have over a person. 

Today message could be called deal or no deal. Jesus encounters a rich man. This man wants to know what he must do to inherit eternal life. What case must he purchase in order to find favor with God. This fella is literally there to broker a deal with Jesus. What he doesn’t realize is that he is playing a game with his soul. What we discover in today’s message is that there is choice to following Christ. Jesus never forces Himself on anyone. We can choose. This man was offered a choice. Jesus tells him that in order to gain the riches that are unseen, he must sell his riches that are seen. You see, this rich man is playing a game with Christ that reveals what he truly worships. It is a game that reveals his greed. It is a game where common sense is often thrown out the window because the power and pursuit of material possessions is great. What today’s contestant finds out is that there is a choice and a cost to following Christ. 

Today’s Message: The Choice and Cost To Following Christ!

Background and Context:

Our passage today is the familiar story of the rich, young ruler.  Prior to our text, Luke recorded that Jesus was blessing the children.  Jesus said, “Whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child will not enter it at all.”  One receives the Kingdom of God as a child: innocently and with total faith.

Today’s passage is a troubling one. It is a radical passage that offends our tastes. You see we live in a society of moderation. Do everything in moderation and that is good. You can have cake, just not to much cake. You can have a drink, just don’t get drunk. You can drive fast, just not to fast. We treat our faith the same. You can have a little Jesus, but don’t be a crazy Bible thumper. You can be a Christian, just don’t make anyone feel awkward about their beliefs. You can tell others about Christ, just don’t say anything about hell. We are introduced to a ruler in the synagogue who was very wealthy. He wants to know what it takes to gain eternal life. He is good with being religious, as long as it does not cost him anything. That’s where the trouble comes. Gaining eternal life will always cost us something. By the way, this story is found in Matthew, Mark and John. Why? I believe that this story is there because it is essential for people to know that following Christ comes at a cost and when we choose not to follow Christ, it reveals a great deal about who we are and what we value. 

So, let’s take a moment and read together from Luke 18:18-30. It is time for the rich young ruler to play deal or no deal with Jesus. 

Today’s Scripture

Luke 18:18-30 ESV

18 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.” 23 But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. 24 Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, 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 man is possible with God.” 28 And Peter said, “See, we have left our homes and followed you.” 29 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

3 Points From Today’s Passage

I. Jesus’ Statement vs. 18-19

Luke 18:18-19 ESV

18 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.

Point:

Let me ask you a question, what makes a person good? Is it the way they talk? Is their goodness determined by their deeds? Is their goodness attached to their giving record? Surly you are good if you are charitable? People would say that you are good if you help little old ladies across the street and rake up leaves for your next door neighbors. It seems that the definition of the word “good” is shifting depending on who you are talking to and the culture you examine. You see when I was a kid, it was good for a child to grow up in a home with a mother and father. It was good to go to church. Church in those days served as an institution that bound civilization together. It was good for a mother to carry a child to term, give birth to that child and raise that child. In the 1980’s and 90’s, those things were overwhelmingly good. 

Today is very different. Our culture is trying to break down the nuclear family. I recently heard that growing up with a mother and father is considered “racist” by some organizations. The church is not an institution to be upheld but to rather be torn down. For many, the church symbolizes colonialism and imperialism. The church stands in the way of progressive thought and therefore must be torn down. Now women are being celebrated for having an abortion. When I was a child you never heard about women having abortions but today women are applauded and seen as strong for proclaiming their abortion for all to see. 

Is good subjective or objective? Can good change? Can what was once bad now be good and what was thought of as good be bad today? 

What does it mean to be good?

Point:

When the rich younger ruler addresses Jesus, he addresses him as “good teacher”. Jesus replies this greeting of empty flattery with a philosophical question and statement of His own, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone”. You see Jews had clearly defined who a good man was, namely someone who kept the Law in the manner prescribed by their traditions. Of primary importance was what the person did not do, not necessarily what that person did. So good in Jesus’ day was set by the religious leaders and teachers of the day. They held the spiritual limbo stick and everyone who wanted to be good had to pass underneath it. They were the judge, the jury, the one who blessed and the ones who executed. 

Goodness was not about the internal workings of an individual, it was all about being seen. Being good was a show. Being good was theater. Judaism was a religion of works. This man came to Jesus believing that if he performed the right work, or if he gave the right amount of money to the carpet and drapes fund for the synagogue that he could inherit eternal life. People who are focused on their wealth think in terms of dollars and cents.  He had the means to pay for most anything.  He was wondering what he could do; what tangible act could he perform to receive eternal life.

Point:

Jesus quickly upends this man’s notions of what is good and who is good. Jesus states that no one is good except for God. God is the standard of goodness and that standard never changes. Understand that Jesus is not denying His divinity when He states that only one is good and only God is good. No! What Jesus is saying is that any good work that He performs is done by God working in and through Him. When God’s presence permeates our spirit, we cannot help but to do good things. Those good things will sometimes be done in public but many will be done in private and no good work is done for man’s glory but for God’s glory. Simply put, any work done in God’s name where a person receives the glory is not a good work. It is a work, but not a good work and the one performing the work is not good. The only good work done in God’s name is the work where God receives 100% of the glory. The person who is successful in that mission is good. 

Everything that Jesus did, 100% of every deed, gave His Father glory. It was the expressed mission of Christ to point others to His Father. Because every work that Jesus did gave His Father glory, Jesus is considered the ultimate good doer. 

So what is good? Obviously, you cannot use the shifting sands of our culture to determine what is good. Doing good is any work that returns 100% of the glory to God and 0% to us. When God receives all the glory, you have done something good and intern you are good. 

Hebrews 13:16 ESV

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

John 17:1-3 NIV

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.

3 Points From Today’s Passage

I. Jesus’ Statement vs. 18-19

II. Jesus’ Discernment vs. 20-21

Luke 18:20-21

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.”

Point:

Brother and sisters, do you believe that Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves? Do you believe that He can see our hearts, discover what motivates us, and that He can determine our thoughts before we even think them? 

I do. 

Scripture tells us over and over again that Jesus has a the uncanny ability to see into our hearts and know what makes us tick. 

Matthew 9:4 ESV

But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts?

Matthew 12:25 ESV

Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.

Luke 9:47-48 ESV

47 But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side 48 and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.

The list goes on and on. While today’s passage does not say that Jesus knew the man’s thoughts, He certainly was aware of what drove him, what motivated Him. He reveals this by rattling off the law. You see, the Jews used the law as the standard of good. If you kept the law, you were good. If you didn’t, then you were not good. 

Point:

Take a look at the commandments that Jesus listed.  They involved outward appearances.  Adultery, murder, stealing, lying, and disobeying parents can all be readily detected.  Pious Jews, those who wanted to keep their reputations, would never commit adultery, murder, steal, lie, or even disobey their parents.  Remember the emphasis from the rich young ruler was on what he could do.  Jesus listed five commandments of things he should not be doing.  The ruler easily could check them off his list.  Jesus did not inquire about the other five commandments: having no other gods; not worshiping idols; taking God’s name in vain; remembering the Sabbath; and coveting.  Jesus knew that the man was trying to serve two masters.  He was seeking to serve God on the Sabbath while his wealth had priority on the other days.  He had taken God’s name in vain; he was called a ruler of the synagogue, a respected religious official, yet inside, the man had divided loyalties.  Because of his great wealth, there was a great chance that he even wanted more, which would be coveting.  The man simply could not serve God and money.

The rich young ruler interrupts Jesus and proclaims that he has done and kept all the laws that Jesus listed. Jesus then tells the man that he lacks one thing. We all know what that one thing was. You see Jesus understood that obtaining eternal life cannot be purchase. It is not a prize for restraining yourself from the world’s temptations. Jesus boils down gaining eternal life into to subjects: love God and love others. 

You see, the thing that the man lacked was a relationship with Christ. Because he did not have a relationship with Christ, he could not fully realize his love of others. He was just flat out missing the boat. 

If you loved God, then you would love your neighbor.  If you loved God, you would not have any other gods nor would you worship idols.  If you loved God, you would be godly in lifestyle, not just in name.  If you loved God, you would not worship money nor would you seek to hoard wealth.  If you loved God, you would have no trouble with the question, “Which is more important God or money?”

Point:

The problem with money is that money can be so corrupting. Know this, money in and of itself is not evil, but it can draw out the evil in us. How does money corrupt? What else is Jesus telling this man to give up?

• Possessions, what money will buy, the accouterments of wealth. A new car, a nice house, a membership in the country club, and fashionable clothing.

• Status and influence that wealth affords. People make way for the wealthy, hoping that some of that wealth might rub off on them. At the very least, people kowtow to the wealthy to keep from becoming their enemies.

• Power. Wealth is power. It buys influence. It buys others who will now let the wealthy have their own way.

• Community leadership. The man isn't very likely to continue as a respected ruler without his wealth. If he gives up his wealth he will be misunderstood and resented by the other influential people in his community. No, he won't be a ruler for long.

• Family. The young man probably comes from a wealthy family. But if he disposes of a huge chunk of the family wealth, will his siblings understand and accept it? Will his wife and family? His father or mother if they are still living?

How often have you been tempted to do things that were wrong or unethical or self-serving because of the lure of money, even a little bit of money? Money must either be controlled or it will control us. It is a sad thing when our possessions begin to possess us!

Point:

This man thought that he could hide his true motivations from Christ. What are you hiding? What are you doing in secret thinking that no one will find out, not even God? This rich young man was playing a game with God. As long as I do the public acts of holiness where everyone can see them, Ill be good and God will love me. Friend that is not the way it works. If you remember, hell will be filled with people that had good intentions of doing good things for God but they lived devoid of a relationship with Christ. Because they were all fakers, they were thrown out into the darkness, apart from Christ. 

Do you really have a relationship with Christ or is He just an acquaintance that you are trying to please?

Remember…

Matthew 7:21-23 ESV

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

3 Points From Today’s Passage

I. Jesus’ Statement vs. 18-19

II. Jesus’ Discernment vs. 20-21

III. Jesus’ Requirement vs. 29-30 

Luke 18:29-30 ESV

29 And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, 30 who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Point:

After hearing the words of Christ and realizing that he had great wealth, the man went away sad. He was unable to do the one thing that Jesus asked. He was unable to part with his wealth. Jesus then gives a follow up statement to Peter. 

“Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”

Point:

In actuality, there is nothing we can do here that can compare with what God has done, is doing, and will do for us.  God’s perspective is that earthly wealth is temporary; eternal life lasts forever.  But to gain that eternal life, we have to have a relationship with God.  And if we have relationship with God, our priorities will be different from someone who does not share that relationship.  We will see the world differently; we will love individuals.  When we are aware of needs, we will seek to minister and give resources.  When given the choice of which is more important God or money, we will choose God, not just with words but with our lifestyle.  We will not allow our wealth to interfere with serving God.  If we have a proper relationship with God, we will not be as concerned about our net worth as we are about the needs of others.

Point:

So what is the requirement? Jesus is saying get off the fence. Make a call. Stop living half in and half out. You are either in the game or you are not. You are either all in or you are not. Ladies, the day that you were married, how you would like it if when the minister gave the vows to your husband he replied that he would only stay married to you in the rich, in the healthy, and in the good days? That is not much of a vow. You want your husband to be there in the poor, the sick and the bad days too. Well, we have to many Christians that have given vows to Jesus, but their vows on contingent on the ease of following Christ. When Jesus starts going down tough roads, when He starts clashing with the culture, when Christ calls us to the mission field, or when He wants us to do something that we feel is impossible, we are out. 

Brothers and sisters, Jesus is giving us a choice today. Are we willing to sacrifice it all for Him? Jesus says that when we sacrifice what we can see, we will one day be blessed with things that we cannot see. Do you trust Him. Do you believe Him or will you walk away sad like this rich young ruler?

Matthew 7:13-14 ESV

“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

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