Little Children and Rich Ruler

Little Children and Rich Ruler

Well we've been looking at Jesus in Luke for a few weeks now and I don't know about you, but I feel like I've been beaten black and blue. Each week as I head back into my study to prepare the sermon I'm finding more and more hard words. Jesus just keeps upping the anti, making the challenge more more clear. It feels like I'm going back into the ring with the champ and he's pounding on me.

Has it felt like that where you're sitting? I hope it has, because I think that's what we're supposed to feel in this section of Luke. Jesus is setting a very high bar for following him – it's all or nothing, we give him our life, all of it, or we miss out on what he has to offer. It's that stark.

And as I sat down with Luke 18 this week the challenge flies out again 'go sell all you have, give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, then come, follow me' and 'how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, 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.' These are confronting words. And I feel the need to pass them on with the sort of force that I feel them being spoken with.

And yet, I'm worried that with all these hard words flying at us we might miss the glorious offer comes along with them. And there are glorious things on offer, in this passage and throughout Luke.

So this week I want us to hear the challenge. But let's start with the offer first shall we?

We see the offer from Jesus most clearly in the closing verses of the passage, so we're going to start there.

The first point is that:
The Kingdom of God is worth more than anyone could ever pay for it.

Did you get that:
The Kingdom of God is worth more than anyone could ever pay for it.

That's what Jesus says in verse 29 isn't it? Read with me from verse 28:

Peter said to him,

"We have left all we had to follow you!" "I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no-one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.

Do you hear how wonderful this Kingdom is that Jesus is offering? You can never pay what it's worth, no matter what it costs us, Jesus will repay us many times over, many times over – now; and in the age to come, eternal life – eternal life with the Father, in perfect peace and love and wonder.

Jesus offers us an amazing deal. He is offering eternal life. He has come to take away the shroud of death that covers all nations.

On a remembrance Sunday what could be better than that?

We remember those who have died to preserve our freedom. And so we remember that freedom is always in peril in this life. We remember that justice, peace, safety and security – even life itself – these things are not a given, they have to be defended against forces of evil, of destruction, of injustice, of greed and exploitation and, ultimately – death itself.

We are fragile, life is precious and we all we have can be snatched away from us in a moment. Two generations ago millions gave their lives defending our future.

Remembrance Sunday reminds us that death and war and hatred are alive and at work in this world.

And against that stark backdrop how good does Jesus' offer look? He comes to fight the final battle against death, and to set the captives free. He offers us more than fragile peace, he offers eternal peace, more than a democratic, liberal freedom, he offers true, eternal freedom.

It is so wonderful that we can never pay what it is worth, and whatever it costs us we will be repaid many times over – and then some; and on top of that we get the true riches of eternal life.

Imagine a store where they sold treasure. On every shelf a treasure box that was guaranteed to be worth many times what you paid for it. You'd shop there wouldn't you? And any price they asked, you'd be willing to pay wouldn't you? There was a change machine in the car wash that malfunctioned when I was in high school – you know you put in £10 note and it gives you £10 in coins to put in the machine. This one started producing £10 for every £5 you put in. There was a group of teenagers who camped out there all night and they couldn't find £5 notes fast enough to put them in the machine. They spent all they had and more – and until the police came to take it back it looked a very good deal indeed.

That's what Jesus offers you and me. Unlimited wealth, as many fields and homes, children and relationships as we give up for him, he will repay us many times over and then some – and eternal life on top.

A prosperity gospel then? Not that prosperity gospel. Jesus offers true riches, not tawdry money only, but riches that truly satisfy, in this life and the next. If we learn to love true riches truly he may load us up with cash money too – but if we love true riches we'll know what to do with it and we won't hoard it up to make ourselves rich, we'll use to look after others. (go back and listen to Luke 16. 1-15 if you need to be reminded about that).

This offer sounds too good to be true, but it gets better, because Jesus is at great pains to say to us that this offer comes to us as a gift:

This is point two, and we see it most clearly in verse 15-17

Point Two: The Kingdom of God is a Gift Given, not Earned

Let me run that by you again:
The Kingdom of God is a gift given, not earned
Look at verse 15:

People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.

The Kingdom doesn't come to the rich or the powerful, to the good or religious. The Kingdom of God comes to the powerless, the poor, the destitute, the helpless. That is because the Kingdom of God is a gift that you cannot earn, but you must receive like a helpless baby.

Jesus made this point last week – the good religious man was rejected, but the bad, irreligious man who called out for mercy – he went home justified. And before that it was a helpless widow with no hope of justice except for her persistence in crying out for help. At the end of this chapter we'll meet a blind man who has no hope, status, power or wealth, but who is saved because he cries out to Jesus for mercy.

Do you see the running theme? The Kingdom of God is an astonishing thing – and access to that Kingdom is being handed out by Jesus; not to the good and the great, but to the desperate and the needy.

And here the point is distilled to it's essence. Babies are brought to Jesus. As far as the world is concerned they have nothing to offer – the disciples thought they were a waste of the master's time; and as far as religion goes they're useless aren't they? As far as intellect or achievements or accomplishments – they've got nothing, they're babies, they can't even feed themselves, they are utterly helpless and dependent.

And that is Jesus point – before God that's what we're all like – we've got nothing to offer him, we are utterly helpless and dependent. And unless we see ourselves like that we won't come to God to receive his gift. But there is no other way in to the Kingdom of God – we receive it as a gift freely given, or we do not receive it at all.

And as if to illustrate that we have the rich young ruler. Look at the contrast between him and the other losers in this chapter – check out verse 18:

A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No-one is good-- except God alone.You know the commandments:'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honour your father and mother.'" "All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.

Well that's more like it – he's impressive, a ruler no less, and we'll see soon enough an exceedingly rich one at that. And he's religious, from his youth he's been doing the right thing. 'All these I have kept' he says. He's so religious that he's not worried about basics of discipleship, he's looking for the advanced class, the extra credit assignment, he can do it, he'll do what's required.

But, like the Pharisee in the temple this man went home sad and he didn't enter the Kingdom of God. His accomplishments, his earnest good works, his good position in society – all the things that make him look like the ideal candidate for heaven – these things are of no use to him here. Because the Kingdom of God is a gift given, not earned. He couldn't earn it, and neither can you, and neither can I.

And it's so basic and obvious that it shouldn't need to be said. But it's so the opposite of the way we're wired that it needs to be said again and again.

So let me ask you have you heard it yet? Have you realised that access to heaven is wide open to you – not because you're worth it, or because you're earned it; not because of anything in you at all, but because God chooses to give access to his Kingdom to any who will accept his gift like a little child.

So what about the hard words from Jesus? The gift that Jesus gives us will cost us everything. This is point three:

The Kingdom of God will cost all you have

I want you to hear that again:
The Kingdom of God will cost all you have
Let's go back to that impressive ruler who went away from Jesus sad. He's kept the commandments from childhood – what more do I need to do to be sure? Look at Jesus' response in verse 22:

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "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." When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, 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.

Jesus sees right through this man and he knows where his heart is. I'll do anything to get into the Kingdom he says. But Jesus knows that he won't. He would do almost anything, but there is one thing he can't do – he's never going to chose Jesus over his money, because money has his heart (remember ch 16.13 you cannot serve both God and money).

So Jesus says the one thing that exposes his religion for the sham that it is: sell everything, all of it, and give it all away.

But he loves money, so he walks away. He won't do it, he won't follow Jesus after all.

You can not serve two masters.

This is the thing about entering the Kingdom of God – there is only one King in that kingdom, only one. Not money, not pleasure, not me and not you, Jesus is the King and he will rule as he sees fit. If you come into his Kingdom you become his subject and he demands all that is yours.

See it's traditional at this point in the sermon on this passage for me to explain to you why you don't have to sell all you have and give it to the poor – but I can't do that.

Jesus says the same to everyone of us.

Flick back to ch 12.32:

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Again and again in the last few weeks Jesus has pointed to our money as a barrier to entry into the Kingdom of God. You can not love both God and money. You can not serve two masters. Sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Use worldy wealth to make friends for yourselves so that after it is gone you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Jesus goes on and on about money – why is he so hung up on it?

Because our money will keep us from the Kingdom of God.

How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!  Indeed, 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

Ask yourself right now – if Jesus offered you the same deal he offered the rich ruler, would you take it. Could you go right now and sell all you have and give the money to the poor? Could you do it? Do you love him that much? Do you trust him that much? What price do you put on entering into the Kingdom of God?

In that Kingdom there is one King and he will rule. The question is would you rather be free from his rule, and a slave to money; or free from slavery to money and a subject of the King? He demands your money – it's his to demand by the way, he gave it to you. In fact he demands you very life – it's his to demand, he gave it to you.

And in return he offers – what was it again? A guaranteed return of many times what it cost you, and eternal life in the age to come.

There's a very old Simpsons' episode where Homer gets his hand caught in the can dispenser at work. He's stuck for hours and in the end the fire brigade come and cut him out. When they do they discover that his hand is stuck because he's holding onto a can. How many of us will miss out on eternal life because we will not let go of the can?

The gift is entry into the Kingdom of God, and it's given to you free – you can't buy it, you can't earn it, you can only receive it like a helpless babe; but it is conditional on laying down your life to the one who is King. And that King offers you in return many times more than whatever it costs.