Sunday 11 October 2009, Sermon on Mark 10:17-31, Kim

ANYONE WHO HAD A HEART…….
(How Big is your Heart?)

When I first read the theme title for today sermon - ‘Anyone who had a Heart’…. Cilla Black’s song came to mind, then ‘Give it some Heart’ – the advertisement for Heart Radio, Shredded Wheat, The logo ‘Give Blood’, and The British Heart Foundation. Amazingly four words had conjured up five different things in my head all of which have nothing to do with the sermon. Except the word Heart. A relatively small organ that does some amazingly humongous things – let’s face it – if it didn’t work we would be dead.
I remember the first time I read this story I was seven years old, reading Mark’s Gospel in bed. When I got to verse 25, I was so alarmed that I shut the Bible, jumped out of bed, and ran into my parents’ room. I shook my mother out of a sound sleep. "Mum," I whispered urgently, "Jesus says that rich people don’t go to heaven!" "We are not rich. Go back to bed," came my mum’s response.
I knew better. I knew I had all I needed plus lots more. I would later learn of fascinating attempts to soften the text (the use of the word "camel" for "rope," of "eye of the needle" for "a small gate"), but the little girl inside me knew that these words of Jesus were clear and hard and scary.
Mark 10:17-31 hangs on the question of eternal life. The rich man wants to know how to get it. The disciples want to know who can have it. And the good news that Jesus offers is this: "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible."
This story is one of the healing stories. The rich man runs up to Jesus and kneels, just as countless other Jesus-pursuers have done throughout the Book of Mark. The scene is set for him to request and receive healing, and his running and kneeling show that his request is both urgent and sincere. But he is the one person in the entire book who rejects the healing offered him.
"Jesus, looking at him, loved him." He offers him healing. "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." What is the healing that this man needs? What he lacks is that he does not lack. This man is possessed -- but only by his possessions. Jesus is offering to free him of his possession, to cure him of his excess. But the rich man turns his back.
I grieve too. I have accumulated so much since first reading this text. Am I also possessed, but only of possessions? Am I refusing to be healed by Jesus? What can I do to inherit eternal life? Nothing. For mortals it’s impossible. But not for God. To say we must give up all our wealth in order to be saved puts the burden on us to save ourselves. Neither wealth nor divestment of wealth saves us. God does. Even Jesus realised he could not save himself.
Yes, there is still the problem of having too much stuff. It keeps us from realising our need for God because we use it as a buffer against vulnerability. We use it to fill the emptiness in our souls. We use it to feel less susceptible to the vagaries of life. It keeps us from seeing how needy we are.
The rich man’s secure status in life led him to keep asking the wrong question: What can I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus’ response was that there was nothing he or anyone else could do. And Jesus told him to release his wealth and give it to the poor -- to grow closer perhaps to the fragility of life, to take his own place among the poor.
The poor, the sick, the demon-possessed and the children of whom Jesus speaks all live close to the fragility of life. They are thus more likely and more able to respond to a vulnerable Christ. The disciples freed themselves of what would stand between them and that fragility and were somehow able to follow the One whose life would soon be a ransom for many. In many ways we have to be like children, like Samuel or like those who know they are really sick or like disciples who have let go of all the things they once relied on -- in order even to see how much we need Jesus.
What must we do to inherit eternal life? We must let go of all that we have and all that we do that gets in the way of seeing that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. Even then, letting go of it all is beyond our capacity. The hardest news Jesus has is the best news we could get -- our salvation is impossible except for God. "But not for God; for God all things are possible."
So what can we do with the problem of too much stuff? There is always the danger of being possessed by things. Instead of owning things, they begin to own us and we become possessed by our possessions – or some of us are possessed by the lack of them! We spend much of our lives seeking to gain, to get, to have, and we can be in danger of losing sight of loving and giving of ourselves. Money can be a good reflection of this. Some people’s pockets are as hard to touch as their hearts.
How BIG are our hearts? Are they big enough to look at what we have and decide to share it with our neighbours, those in need? Are they big enough to get involved with the community outside these four walls? Are they big enough to be a disciple of Christ seven days a week? Are they big enough to get involved with the down and outs, the sick, the vulnerable, the children, the abused and the abusers? Are they big enough to give more of our time, talents and money? Are they big enough to give God ourselves? Are they big enough to abandon our comfort zones to share God’s Heart with the world we live in? If they are not, then just like we would die should our heart stop beating, the love of God would cease to be known.
In a moment Samuel, who as yet knows nothing about wealth and possessions except perhaps a favourite toy or his dummy, if he has one, is to be Baptised into the Family of God, a family who loves him and who will do what ever they can to encourage him to grow in the love and knowledge of God so that he will not be like the young ruler. Prayerfully, he will grow up to have a BIG heart. But before Bruce wets his head let us close our eyes and imagine:
Imagine a table. I want you to put on it all the things you want to give to God: your time, your talents, your money, your home, your friends, your loved one; your job, your plans, your future. We are going to need a great big table. We raise up the things we want to give God and say, ’All things come from you, O God, and of your own do we give you.’ But wait, one thing that God wants is still missing. Who knows what it is? GOD WANTS YOU – your Big Heart – More than any gift, more than gold or silver, God wants you. God wants you to give yourself to him. God wants you to give your love. God wants you more than anything. St. Paul said, ‘If I give away all my possessions….. but do not have love, I gain nothing’. (1 Cor 13:3).
Lets pray…..

Questions:

1. Towards the end of the sermon there is a list of things that God wants from us. Which ones do you/would you find hardest to give over to him and why?

2. We all have talents/gifts/skills. Name yours. If you are unsure what they are, ask the person sitting next to you.

3. How often do you get to use your T/G/S's. If not often or do not use them - would you like to? How can we help you to use yours?

4. How do you feel about the fact that 'for mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible?' Knowing that all things are possible with God - does it inspire you to give over to God the things you are unable to? To use your gifts to His glory?