¹⁷As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”¹⁸Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. ¹⁹You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” ²⁰He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” ²¹Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “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.” ²²When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. ²³Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” ²⁴And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” ²⁸Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” ²⁹Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, ³⁰who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. ³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” Mark 10:17-31

“I still don’t feel like giving up all I have, especially now that I can buy whatever sneakers I want, eat at restaurants that don’t even have lima beans on the menu, and still send a little money to the World Hunger Appeal to help those starving kids in India. Which is why Jesus comes and makes these demands, naming whatever idol we’ve created and asking us to give it up, throw it away, for the sake of our neighbor and ourselves. What is it Jesus is asking of you? I have no idea. That’s something you will need to figure out? But, if you’re anything like me, when you hear his voice first you’ll freeze, terrified that you’ve been found out, and grieving all the plans you’d made for the perfect life. But then you’ll hear him speak again, uttering a word that binds only to set free, that wounds only to heal, that kills only to make alive again. You’ll hear the voice, that is, that tells the truth: with humans, it is impossible, but with God, all things – all things, then and now – are possible. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord for this gift of grace…and for you…!” (David Lose, “Curing our Heartsickness”, October 5, 2015)

Wealth or lack of wealth here is not the problem for us to consider.  The problem is:   “Attitude”!!! Our Attitude toward what we really need, and…. Our Attitude toward whose money we think it is.  Is it out money?  Is it God’s money and we have been entrusted with managing that money? So, pastor you might say, what is the answer?  Is it:

“Give more than you can spare?”

“Give a tenth – tithe your income?”

“Give the equivalent of $1.28 a day = $9 a week = $468 a year?”

Look, your individual stewardship in terms of giving to God is just that – individual – personal.  In other words it is between you and God.  And I also know that, as the Hebrews text tells us, there will be a day where we “…will be laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.”  And I do know this, that when challenged by Jesus, the disciples said “Who then can be saved?”  And to that Jesus said “For humans it is impossible, for God all things are possible.”  God is the one who is in charge of our individual salvation – God knows what is in our heart – God sent to us Jesus who redeems us through the cross and asks that we respond to God’s endless love, mercy and grace.  So, Pray.  Pray about it.  Pray to God about your individual and personal stewardship.  Set a goal.  Don’t go about it randomly.  Make a plan.  Stick to it.  Find a proportion, a percentage that you are comfortable with, and over time slowly raise it to the point that it may be a little uncomfortable, but you may find that instead of making you poorer, it will make you richer – richer in faith, richer in blessings.  After all, all that we have has come from God. 

Pastor Dave

¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, ²⁰ Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,²¹ Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21

“The only thing the Apostle asks us is to “work” not according to “the flesh” but according to the “spirit”. This means several tings. The flesh is a generic term not for bodily life…but for mundane life. The “flesh” includes not only sensuality and licentiousness, but even worldly conformism, and actions based on human respect or social preoccupation. We obey the “flesh” when we follow the norms of prejudice, complacency, bigotry, group-pride, superstition, ambition, or greed. Hence even an apparent holiness, based not on sincerity of heart but on hypocritical display, is of the “flesh”. Whatever may be the “inclination of the flesh”, even when it seems to point to heroic and dazzling actions admired by men, it is always death in the sight of God. It does not seek [God’s] glory, but our own satisfaction.” (Thomas Merton, “Flesh and Spirit”, Life and Holiness, p. 67)

Do not walk in the flesh—walk in the spirit. Do not define your life in fleshy matters—define your life in spiritual matters—not living a self-serving life—but a life of self-sacrifice. Yes, this all sounds good. But it goes completely against our human inclination, and of course how our society tells us to live. Society, especially 21^st century America, tells us to satisfy the flesh—gather as much as you can that personally makes you feel good, looks good, to live good. We are living among so many people who are living and walking according to a hoarding and gathering mindset. It is all around us. It is our choice—live according to the flesh—or live according to the spirit. We can only do it with the help of the Holy Spirit—and with the mutual conversation and consolation of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Pastor Dave