Less is More: Getting Off the Beaten Path

In my sermon two weeks ago ("Looking out for #1") I asked:

What if you took the material thing that you treasure most in the world and got rid of it?

Unless God works in our lives—until we let God work in our lives—the answer for most of us is simple:

In a very short time, we would replace it—probably with something more expensive!

There is a reason why most of us don’t see God at work in our lives: we might feel passionate about God; we might feel bad about ourselves; we might even vow to do some great thing for God; but until we let God work in our lives, nothing ever changes. ("As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly."—Proverbs 26:11)

Luke 18:18-30

Commentary

This story also appears in Matthew 19:16-30 and Mark 10:17-31. (I won’t belabor the differences here—the main point is the same in all three accounts—but there are subtle differences in how the story is told. Can you find one?)

v20 What Jesus gives here is only five of the Ten Commandments. Conspicuous in their absence are the commandments honoring God (Exodus 20:3-11: no other gods; no idols; no taking God’s name in vain; honor the Sabbath). Is Jesus just randomly listing some commandments, or is he saying something by what he is not saying?

v23 One must conclude at this point that the rich man idolized his wealth. His security was in his wealth, not in God. His glory was in his wealth. His faith was in his wealth. [1]

v24 Have you ever noticed that Jesus never chases after half-hearted disciples? He doesn’t follow this guy saying stuff like, "Well everything is a goal, but why not start by giving away a tenth, and work your way up from there!" What is the lesson there? On the other hand, in some of the manuscripts this verse reads, "Jesus looked at him and became very sad" (i.e. Jesus felt about losing the young man exactly how the young man felt about losing his money).

v28 A riddle:
Q: What’s the difference between disciples and disciple wannabes?
A: Disciples follow; wannabes want to follow, but don’t.

v29 Not everyone will be asked to leave anything, but everyone will be asked to leave something. You will be asked to leave the thing distracting you from God ... but God will make it up to you when you follow.

Application

The rich young man turned away, because he could not see the possibility of Jesus replacing the man’s great wealth with anything better. So it is for us:

We struggle with forgiving others, because we cannot see the possibility of justice, or reconciliation, or peace coming out of our unilateral forgiveness of others. We figure we’ll be taken advantage of.

We struggle with sexual purity, because we cannot see the possibility of real, wholesome, fulfilling sexual intimacy coming into our lives after we refrain from tawdry pornography or lewd behavior. We figure we’ll simply have nothing.

We struggle with selling all and giving it away, because we cannot see contentment coming from something other than our stuff. We figure no stuff means no happiness.

If the rich young man could have seen just a little further, he would have known that in the process of following Jesus, he would have become a new creation. He would have been transformed into someone who found joy in the Spirit—and consequently would have found joy in service to God, service to others, and the coming of God’s reign into this world. All that stuff that held him in bondage would have lost its power to hold him—and the lie that happiness comes from great wealth would have been broken for him.

All that could have happened if the man had followed. But the man was not ready to follow. He could understand selling all his stuff—he understood the consequences of that!—but he could not see the necessity of following, of getting off the beaten path of materialism, in order to become whole.

Points to Ponder

Whatever God is asking you to give up, either:

material stuff (e.g. the 42" HDTV, the fancy truck),

worldly stuff (e.g. the internet, pornography),

spiritual stuff (e.g. the illusion of control with your kids)

giving it up will leave a big, sucking wound in the middle of your life. You know that, and that’s exactly why you haven’t given it up yet.

You’ve been spiritually sick all this time (& you know that, too) and the first step to real health (just like treating cancer) is to remove the thing which doesn’t belong. After that, God can begin the rest of the healing—assuming that you are ready to follow. Following is going to involve unlearning some things and re-learning others.

For example, let’s say God said,

Sell the TV!

If your TV rules your life, then you probably cannot imagine evenings at home without the TV on. "What will I do?" God can’t teach you what to do until the TV goes off. It may be relational time with the family, or service projects in the community, or devotional time with God, or sleep! The point is: God wants you to have it; you’ll never understand it or appreciate it until you sell the TV and follow God’s lead in whatever comes next; eventually you’ll like it more than what you have now.

Whatever your stumbling block is, get off this beaten path, and follow God to greater wholeness!

A Parable of Four Christians

Four Christians all went to the same church:

The 1st heard a sermon about selling all and having treasure in heaven, and he sold all, and it changed his life.

The 2nd heard a sermon about having self-control, and he gave up drinking, and it changed his life.

The 3rd heard a sermon about loving your enemies, and he prayed for those persecuting him, and it changed his life.

The 4th heard a sermon about dying to self, picking up one’s cross daily & following, and he did so, and it changed his life.

When someone asked the four what she needed to do to be saved ...

... the 1st said, "Sell all"

... the 2nd said, "Quit drinking"

... the 3rd said, "Pray for your enemies"

... the 4th said, "Follow Jesus daily"

Three of the four spoke only of their own experience—and they were good witnesses of God’s work in their lives—but only one of the four saw the life-changing work of God for what it was. Their great deeds did not save them; rather, their daily walk thereafter made them into something new.

End Notes:
1 - Remember, the best working definition for faith is that it’s what directs your actions. What you think is what you know, but what you believe is what you do.