Rich Man, Poor Man – Mark 10:17-27
Rich Man, Poor Man – Mark 10:17-27
August 29, 2010 AM
By Pastor Lee Hemen
There are a lot of folks that think God smiles on them because they are financially well off, well educated, or have good looks. Nothing could be further from the truth. Absalom, King David’s son, had all three things in abundance and yet God did not favor the man because of his arrogant pride. In fact, Absalom’s prideful hang up got him hung up! There is a Universalist tendency that is creeping into mainstream evangelical circles that gives folks a false faith. In our day, people are being led to believe that if they live right and have spiritual feelings about Jesus, then they will be okay with God. Again, nothing could be further from the truth. We would do well to find the answer to age old question, “What makes a person truly rich?” The converse would be to find out “What makes a person truly poor?”
The book by Irwin Shaw, Rich Man, Poor Man, is about a lower middleclass family and its three siblings who are impacted by the influence of a hedonistic rich man named Teddy Boylan. One sees money and education as his answer to life, another, his prowess at fighting, and the last her dependence upon needing someone else in her life. None wanted to be like their embittered, brutal and miserly father. But does education, looks, or wealth have the answer for success in life? Jesus, in Mark’s gospel, teaches us that none of these things does. We discover the truth, as we look at Rich Man, Poor Man in Mark’s gospel.
READ: Mark 10:17-27
Are you rich or are you poor? Depending on how you look at life and what these things mean to you personally, your answer could say a lot about what you believe. Especially concerning your faith in Jesus Christ. Right after Jesus shows his disciples that, “anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it,” we see a rich young man running to discover the answer for himself. He discovers that…
I. God does not measure by one’s perceived “goodness!” (Vv. 17-22)
1. Have you tried being “good enough” for God? If you have, aren’t you tired by trying so hard? The fact is, you cannot be “good enough” for God. As Jesus is getting ready to leave the area of Perea, a young man “ran up to him and fell on his knees before him.” Before Jesus can say anything, the man asks, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Matthew relates that the man asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” What “good thing” and “what must I do,” wow what a misguided perception of Jesus, yet one that is common even today. Far too many folks falsely think, “If I am good enough, God’s gotta love me!” Jesus put the brakes on such a belief. He bluntly asks the man, “Why do you call me good?” Apparently, the man thought Jesus had gained a measure of reputation with God by His good works. Jesus’ answer shows that if He were truly good, then it would be because He is God: “No one is good—except God alone.” Jesus’ answer is another of his claims of deity, of being God in human flesh. However, Jesus makes the truth of the man’s situation hit home. He bluntly reminds him, “You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” Jesus is pointing the man to his own misconceived system of self-merit. The man immediately proclaims, “All these I have kept since I was a boy!” Tah-dah, I am such a good person!” Oh really? Jesus looks at him and, only in the personal penetrating way he could, remarks, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Here is where faith comes in and merit flies out the window! When you try to be good enough, you will always lack one thing more. When you have faith in Christ, you will lack nothing. Jesus knows the truth of this good rich man’s situation. He wasn’t really “good enough.” God does not measure by one’s perceived “goodness!”
EXAMPLE: Everyone thinks of himself or herself as a good person. I will never forget an interview conducted with Charles Manson when the reporter asked, “Charlie, do you think you are a good person?” You could tell the reporter was visibly shaken when Manson confidently replied, “Yes, I see myself as a good person.” This is why the sinful world has a problem with Paul when he reiterated the truth that, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.” (Romans 3:10-11) In fact, Paul goes on to expose the age-old spiritual blindness of folks and tells his audience what the reason is, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:18) And that is the truth of today’s generation as well! We have come to a false corrupted concept that God loves us no matter what we do, that he accepts us no matter how we live, and all we have to do is be “good enough” in our own eyes for God to love us! The rich young man learned God does not measure by one’s perceived “goodness!
Some would incorrectly conclude that, “If being ‘good enough’ is not good enough for God, perhaps then being well off enough is rich enough for God!” If you are in this category, you have just made a fatal theological and spiritual error. The rich young ruler and Jesus’ own disciples are completely shaken by Jesus’ answer when they discover that…
II. God does not measure by one’s perceived “wealth!” (Vv. 23-26)
1. After all, aren’t rich people blessed by God? When Jesus told the disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” they were amazed (surprised) because in Judaism a person’s wealth was a mark of God’s favor and thereby it was seen as a blessing, not a barrier, in relation to God’s kingdom. Everyone thought so, but everyone was wrong. Interestingly, after rebuking the disciples about their indignation concerning the children crawling all over him, he addresses them as “children” thereby revealing their true spiritual immaturity. The disciples amazed at Jesus’ words, he tells them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!” He goes on to say, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Wow! There are those who nowadays think that having more acquired things equates into how successful you are. We find this ungodly infection within the rank and file of today’s churches. This heresy states, the more people through the doors of your edifice means the more successful God views your ministry. A larger church means bigger blessings from God. However, if one were to break down the numbers of those who actually tithe, serve, go on missions or do ministry as compared to the numb numbers through the swinging gates, we would find a completely different answer as this recession has shown. In fact, it would be easier for a camel smoker to get lost in the crowd at a mega church than for a rich man to enter unknown through the door of a smaller one! Remember, Jesus had told them before, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:36) Yet, the disciple’s response is not too different from many of us today: “The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, ‘Who then can be saved?’” What they were missing is what many miss, that God does not measure by one’s perceived wealth!
EXAMPLE: In the play Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye is an impoverished Russian Jewish milkman whose five daughters all bring him joy and grief. He sings a song where he prognosticates about being a “rich man.” His daydreaming hits a chord with many of us because we have all at one time or another dreamed of being a “rich man.” He even beseeches God during the course of the play to see things his way, but of course God does not and the world around him evolves from one incident to the next whether he likes it or not. He later learns that the riches he seeks is found in his village, his family, and his faith. Our view of wealth may be just as skewed as Tevye’s is. A person’s spiritual condition cannot be measured by the things he owns or the money he has. Look at the lives of Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton. God does not measure by one’s perceived wealth!
If wealth and goodness are not what God measure us by in life, then by what does God measure us? This is an age-old question that even the prophet Job asked. His conclusion was that his redeemer God stood no matter what. Jesus is that redeemer. He answered this question fully. In fact, we find…
III. God measures a person by his standard! (v. 27)
1. We kick the tires and look at the body, God checks the engine! Bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. Job, who faced extreme trials, would finally declare to God, “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely, I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.” (Job 42:2-3) Job came to realize that what people cannot effect -- God can indeed affect. God does so by his grace. When the disciples incredulously asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus responds by telling them, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” With man, it is hard to understand that God doesn’t look at wealth, being good, or our station in life. For man it is hard to realize that God looks at something quite differently than we do. It should be no surprise to us because he told the prophet Samuel when he was supposed to look for a king to rule Israel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) God looked at Adam and Eve’s heart and saw deception; he looked at the hearts of the rebellious Jews, who made golden calves to worship, and found them idolatrous; God looks “to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God” and he finds “everyone has turned away.” (Psalm 53:2-3) But what is impossible for mankind, is very possible with God! Paul would say, “And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:27-28) Jesus offset their concern by declaring that salvation is impossible with men — beyond their human effort — but not with God. It is not beyond His power to bring about because all things necessary for people’s salvation — rich and poor alike — are possible with God through Jesus! And this is why God measures a person by his standard!
EXAMPLE: I find it interesting that Jesus had just gotten through telling his disciples that the kingdom of God belongs to those who come to him like little children, and here a wealthy young adult comes running up wanting to know what he “must do to inherit eternal life?” The disciples immediately thought what the world always does, “Here is a guy that is on the ball who has everything surely God has blessed him!” But isn’t it interesting that the guy who had everything needs something from Jesus? I am reminded of the story of a family where the father always sat in his easy chair and watched as his wife and children got ready for church and went off to Sunday School and Worship. He never discouraged them, but he never went. He did not think he needed to go. He had everything. One day, his little preschool daughter was singing a song she learned in her Sunday School Class: “Jesus, Jesus, I love Jesus. Jesus, Jesus he loves me! Jesus, Jesus, I love Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, he loves mommy!” Then she sang, “Jesus, Jesus, I love Jesus! Jesus, Jesus, he loves Daddy!” And she ran to her father, climbed into his lap and asked in her childish innocence, “Daddy why don’t you come to church with us? I love our church! Would you come with us today?” He was dumbfounded. He got up, got ready, and went with them. That day, he learned Jesus did indeed love him and he accepted Christ. He is now a leader in his church, all because of childlike faith. He learned that God measures a person by his standard!
Conclusion:
God does not measure by one’s perceived “goodness!” God does not measure by one’s perceived “wealth!” However, God measures a person by his standard!
—
Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2010 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.
August 29, 2010 AM
By Pastor Lee Hemen
There are a lot of folks that think God smiles on them because they are financially well off, well educated, or have good looks. Nothing could be further from the truth. Absalom, King David’s son, had all three things in abundance and yet God did not favor the man because of his arrogant pride. In fact, Absalom’s prideful hang up got him hung up! There is a Universalist tendency that is creeping into mainstream evangelical circles that gives folks a false faith. In our day, people are being led to believe that if they live right and have spiritual feelings about Jesus, then they will be okay with God. Again, nothing could be further from the truth. We would do well to find the answer to age old question, “What makes a person truly rich?” The converse would be to find out “What makes a person truly poor?”
The book by Irwin Shaw, Rich Man, Poor Man, is about a lower middleclass family and its three siblings who are impacted by the influence of a hedonistic rich man named Teddy Boylan. One sees money and education as his answer to life, another, his prowess at fighting, and the last her dependence upon needing someone else in her life. None wanted to be like their embittered, brutal and miserly father. But does education, looks, or wealth have the answer for success in life? Jesus, in Mark’s gospel, teaches us that none of these things does. We discover the truth, as we look at Rich Man, Poor Man in Mark’s gospel.
READ: Mark 10:17-27
Are you rich or are you poor? Depending on how you look at life and what these things mean to you personally, your answer could say a lot about what you believe. Especially concerning your faith in Jesus Christ. Right after Jesus shows his disciples that, “anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it,” we see a rich young man running to discover the answer for himself. He discovers that…
I. God does not measure by one’s perceived “goodness!” (Vv. 17-22)
1. Have you tried being “good enough” for God? If you have, aren’t you tired by trying so hard? The fact is, you cannot be “good enough” for God. As Jesus is getting ready to leave the area of Perea, a young man “ran up to him and fell on his knees before him.” Before Jesus can say anything, the man asks, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Matthew relates that the man asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” What “good thing” and “what must I do,” wow what a misguided perception of Jesus, yet one that is common even today. Far too many folks falsely think, “If I am good enough, God’s gotta love me!” Jesus put the brakes on such a belief. He bluntly asks the man, “Why do you call me good?” Apparently, the man thought Jesus had gained a measure of reputation with God by His good works. Jesus’ answer shows that if He were truly good, then it would be because He is God: “No one is good—except God alone.” Jesus’ answer is another of his claims of deity, of being God in human flesh. However, Jesus makes the truth of the man’s situation hit home. He bluntly reminds him, “You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’” Jesus is pointing the man to his own misconceived system of self-merit. The man immediately proclaims, “All these I have kept since I was a boy!” Tah-dah, I am such a good person!” Oh really? Jesus looks at him and, only in the personal penetrating way he could, remarks, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Here is where faith comes in and merit flies out the window! When you try to be good enough, you will always lack one thing more. When you have faith in Christ, you will lack nothing. Jesus knows the truth of this good rich man’s situation. He wasn’t really “good enough.” God does not measure by one’s perceived “goodness!”
EXAMPLE: Everyone thinks of himself or herself as a good person. I will never forget an interview conducted with Charles Manson when the reporter asked, “Charlie, do you think you are a good person?” You could tell the reporter was visibly shaken when Manson confidently replied, “Yes, I see myself as a good person.” This is why the sinful world has a problem with Paul when he reiterated the truth that, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.” (Romans 3:10-11) In fact, Paul goes on to expose the age-old spiritual blindness of folks and tells his audience what the reason is, “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:18) And that is the truth of today’s generation as well! We have come to a false corrupted concept that God loves us no matter what we do, that he accepts us no matter how we live, and all we have to do is be “good enough” in our own eyes for God to love us! The rich young man learned God does not measure by one’s perceived “goodness!
Some would incorrectly conclude that, “If being ‘good enough’ is not good enough for God, perhaps then being well off enough is rich enough for God!” If you are in this category, you have just made a fatal theological and spiritual error. The rich young ruler and Jesus’ own disciples are completely shaken by Jesus’ answer when they discover that…
II. God does not measure by one’s perceived “wealth!” (Vv. 23-26)
1. After all, aren’t rich people blessed by God? When Jesus told the disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!” they were amazed (surprised) because in Judaism a person’s wealth was a mark of God’s favor and thereby it was seen as a blessing, not a barrier, in relation to God’s kingdom. Everyone thought so, but everyone was wrong. Interestingly, after rebuking the disciples about their indignation concerning the children crawling all over him, he addresses them as “children” thereby revealing their true spiritual immaturity. The disciples amazed at Jesus’ words, he tells them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!” He goes on to say, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” Wow! There are those who nowadays think that having more acquired things equates into how successful you are. We find this ungodly infection within the rank and file of today’s churches. This heresy states, the more people through the doors of your edifice means the more successful God views your ministry. A larger church means bigger blessings from God. However, if one were to break down the numbers of those who actually tithe, serve, go on missions or do ministry as compared to the numb numbers through the swinging gates, we would find a completely different answer as this recession has shown. In fact, it would be easier for a camel smoker to get lost in the crowd at a mega church than for a rich man to enter unknown through the door of a smaller one! Remember, Jesus had told them before, “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? (Mark 8:36) Yet, the disciple’s response is not too different from many of us today: “The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, ‘Who then can be saved?’” What they were missing is what many miss, that God does not measure by one’s perceived wealth!
EXAMPLE: In the play Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye is an impoverished Russian Jewish milkman whose five daughters all bring him joy and grief. He sings a song where he prognosticates about being a “rich man.” His daydreaming hits a chord with many of us because we have all at one time or another dreamed of being a “rich man.” He even beseeches God during the course of the play to see things his way, but of course God does not and the world around him evolves from one incident to the next whether he likes it or not. He later learns that the riches he seeks is found in his village, his family, and his faith. Our view of wealth may be just as skewed as Tevye’s is. A person’s spiritual condition cannot be measured by the things he owns or the money he has. Look at the lives of Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton. God does not measure by one’s perceived wealth!
If wealth and goodness are not what God measure us by in life, then by what does God measure us? This is an age-old question that even the prophet Job asked. His conclusion was that his redeemer God stood no matter what. Jesus is that redeemer. He answered this question fully. In fact, we find…
III. God measures a person by his standard! (v. 27)
1. We kick the tires and look at the body, God checks the engine! Bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people. Job, who faced extreme trials, would finally declare to God, “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely, I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.” (Job 42:2-3) Job came to realize that what people cannot effect -- God can indeed affect. God does so by his grace. When the disciples incredulously asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus responds by telling them, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” With man, it is hard to understand that God doesn’t look at wealth, being good, or our station in life. For man it is hard to realize that God looks at something quite differently than we do. It should be no surprise to us because he told the prophet Samuel when he was supposed to look for a king to rule Israel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) God looked at Adam and Eve’s heart and saw deception; he looked at the hearts of the rebellious Jews, who made golden calves to worship, and found them idolatrous; God looks “to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God” and he finds “everyone has turned away.” (Psalm 53:2-3) But what is impossible for mankind, is very possible with God! Paul would say, “And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:27-28) Jesus offset their concern by declaring that salvation is impossible with men — beyond their human effort — but not with God. It is not beyond His power to bring about because all things necessary for people’s salvation — rich and poor alike — are possible with God through Jesus! And this is why God measures a person by his standard!
EXAMPLE: I find it interesting that Jesus had just gotten through telling his disciples that the kingdom of God belongs to those who come to him like little children, and here a wealthy young adult comes running up wanting to know what he “must do to inherit eternal life?” The disciples immediately thought what the world always does, “Here is a guy that is on the ball who has everything surely God has blessed him!” But isn’t it interesting that the guy who had everything needs something from Jesus? I am reminded of the story of a family where the father always sat in his easy chair and watched as his wife and children got ready for church and went off to Sunday School and Worship. He never discouraged them, but he never went. He did not think he needed to go. He had everything. One day, his little preschool daughter was singing a song she learned in her Sunday School Class: “Jesus, Jesus, I love Jesus. Jesus, Jesus he loves me! Jesus, Jesus, I love Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, he loves mommy!” Then she sang, “Jesus, Jesus, I love Jesus! Jesus, Jesus, he loves Daddy!” And she ran to her father, climbed into his lap and asked in her childish innocence, “Daddy why don’t you come to church with us? I love our church! Would you come with us today?” He was dumbfounded. He got up, got ready, and went with them. That day, he learned Jesus did indeed love him and he accepted Christ. He is now a leader in his church, all because of childlike faith. He learned that God measures a person by his standard!
Conclusion:
God does not measure by one’s perceived “goodness!” God does not measure by one’s perceived “wealth!” However, God measures a person by his standard!
—
Pastor Lee Hemen has been the outspoken pastor of the same church for 25 years in Vancouver, WA. He writes regularly on spirituality and conservative causes and maintains several web blogs. This article is copyrighted © 2010 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.
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