Welcome (Psalm 107:17-22)

Some were sick through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities endured affliction; they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress; he sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction. Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind. And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices, and tell of his deeds with songs of joy.

Preparation: Father, I adore you

Call to Worship (Psalm 107: 1-3)

O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, those he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.

Glorify thy name

Prayer

God of grace,
You created heaven and earth and all therein.
With love beyond our imagining, you sent your son to lead us back to you.
Guide us through this season,
that we may not avoid struggle,
but open ourselves to blessing,
through the cleansing depths of repentance
and the heaven-rending words of the Spirit. Amen.

Mark 10:17-31

As 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?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You 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; Honour your father and mother.” ’ He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, 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.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It 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.’ They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’

Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ Jesus 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, who 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. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’

Sermon:

For a long while, we taught Christians to love God and one another. The new commandment that was given to us by Jesus is still the most important commandment that summarizes all other commandments. We know it by heart. We do our best to live by it every day. For some of us, however, we are humble enough to think and know that we are not perfect and we fail to love all the time without fail. For example, we can think of many times when we had moral arguments in our own minds. When a person begs from us on a street for money, we wonder what may be the best way to help. Often when we pass the person without giving, we have a tinge of guilt. We know love is a hard thing to keep doing 24/7.

In this context, when we read today’s passage we get taken aback a little. The rich man who came to Jesus had no qualms about telling Jesus that he followed all the law and that he confidently spoke to Jesus saying how he kept the law, the ten commandments, since his youth. He came to Jesus because he wanted to know if there was something he was not doing in order to receive eternal life. For him, it was clear that receiving eternal life was based on what he did throughout his life. In this transactional understanding, if he did good things, eternal life was his, but if he did bad things, then, he had no reason to expect it.

We tend to think much the same way as this rich man. If we are good in our daily lives, our entry into eternal life is a sure thing. Thus we encourage one another to love God and neighbours as much as we can as we teach each other that salvation is by God’s grace alone. We truly believe that there is a severe consequence for those who do not love God and neighbours intentionally. We interpret this consequence as being sent to hell for the wrongs we have committed. Being in hell means that we no longer have eternal life.

If we follow this line of argument, it makes sense that Jesus’ response could be understood as one more thing for everyone to do. Like this man, we, too, then, make an assumption that if we go, sell everything, give to the poor the proceeds and follow Jesus (do the good work), then, we would be rewarded with eternal life. Indeed, the history of the church shows countless numbers of people who have done exactly the way Jesus told this rich person to do. Whether it was St. Francis of Assissi, St. Nicholas, and St. Augustine, they all gave up their riches in order to fulfil this command to follow Jesus, right?

Of course, this as a command is a very potent one. Since Jesus said that this rich man lacked one thing, we assume that the proper way of following is to give everything up and follow Christ. Before we get excited and do the same in order to gain eternal life, we need to hear Peter’s speech. He told Jesus that he and the other disciples left everything to follow Jesus. We know that Peter and the disciples followed Jesus, but there was no indication that they went, sold everything and gave to the poor before actually following Jesus. The point here is that when they were called, they left everything including their families and followed Jesus right away without hesitation. Yes, they did not look back to their old lives and old ways as they followed Jesus.

Following Jesus for them was, indeed, putting the life they lived behind. As for this rich man, the challenge of leaving everything behind began to be tested on his willingness to part with his possessions. This mental break from his current life into the new world of following Jesus meant that he would walk in eternal life. As the disciples began following Jesus so unreservedly, they began walking in eternal life. It is not by chance that we confess in Living Faith, “eternal life begins in this life: whoever believes in the Son of God already has eternal life.” Sadly this rich man could not part with his current life and his possession. He could not believe Jesus as the Son of God in whom he would find eternal life in the end.

Before we go any farther we need to go back and deal with the difficulty of seeing what Jesus said to this person as a command to fulfil. Surely we can interpret the first part of what Jesus said as a command, “sell what you own, give to the poor.” This part sounds like a command. Yet, immediately Jesus said, “you will have treasure in heaven.” Giving to the poor could be understood as loving the neighbours. But instead of saying to him to love his poor neighbours, Jesus said that doing so would let him have treasure in heaven or in eternal life. Here we need to remember that Jesus taught his disciples that their hearts were where their treasures were. Selling and giving to the poor would net him the treasures in heaven where his heart would be focused on. That is, he would not have to worry about this worldly matters when he were to follow Jesus, just like Peter and other disciples.

In other words, loving God and others does not necessarily mean the entry into heaven. Loving sets one’s heart in heaven. Loving is not necessarily the sure requirement for receiving eternal life. One does not gain entry into heaven by working hard on loving and living the life of loving. Surely everyone can love. But not all loving people will end up in heaven. Their love for God and neighbours may earn them treasures in heaven, but not the entry. As the reformers in the 15th and 16th centuries reminded us salvation is by grace alone. That is, what we do does not save us. It does however lead to rewards in heaven or earn our punishment in hell.

There is a fine example within today’s passage how love alone does not guarantee salvation. Jesus loved this rich man. When Jesus told him to follow the law, the man responded that he kept all the laws. He was devout and did everything according to the law. Jesus did not simply look at him. He looked at this man standing before him and loved him. He loved this man who was so earnest in trying to enter eternal life. Jesus’ love for him, however, did not entitle him to receiving eternal life. It is significant to note that in the entire Gospel of Mark, this is the only place where we find “Jesus loved” someone, anyone.  Yes, no one else, including the disciples, were described as being loved by Jesus.

Salvation or being in eternal life is different from loving. Anyone can love. Anyone can love God and neighbours or do not love God, but love their neighbours. We see people without faith loving others all the time. We see people of other faiths also love God. Our lives in eternal life is, however, something entirely in the scope of God and God’s grace alone. God alone has total discretion on who enters into eternal life. By sending Jesus, God did something extraordinary: those who believed in Jesus would have eternal life. God’s grace calls us through Jesus to follow him. Following Jesus in faith,as those first disciples did even when they were not perfect or completely righteous, is the sign of citizenship in eternal life.

When Jesus told this rich man to follow him, just as with Peter and other disciples were asked to follow, and if he did follow like others, putting behind all that he had including his possessions and family, then, he, too, would have received eternal life as he inquired. Sadly, he could not follow Jesus. He was too rich to put all his possessions behind and put his heart on the treasure in heaven. Jesus’ love for him did nothing for him when he could not follow Jesus as Peter and the disciples did.

Of course, following Jesus, especially in this time of Lent, is a reminder that we walk with Jesus as he suffers, be arrested, humiliated unjustly, and be put on the cross to die. Following him involves for many of us to run away from him in fear for our lives as we saw Peter denying him three times. Following him is not to participate in his victory walk without suffering and dying for the world. Following him means to lay our lives’ down for God’s people in the world as Christ did for us. It is costly for us when we face humiliation, mocking, threats of death and eventual death.

Yet we follow because when we accept the invitation to participate in Jesus’ life on earth. By following, we begin our lives in eternal life because only those who believe him can truly follow by giving up everything and go with him into death. Again we remind ourselves of our confession,  “eternal life begins in this life: whoever believes in the Son of God already has eternal life.”

Prayer

God of love,
You call us to yourself through your Son offering salvation for us to live with you beyond death. We thank you for calling us to follow your Son our Lord. Hear us as we lift up our concerns, anxieties, fears and worries.

This week our thoughts are centred on those who are among us seeking jobs in order to enjoy a secure life. With so many people searching for jobs it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a sense of stability. Once again we hear that the unemployment rate is now at 5.8% showing no signs of available employment for many. Be with everyone who seeks a job. Open the future for each and everyone.

We continue to witness horrors taking place in so many parts of this world. Killing by neighbours or friends have not ceased. Globally people are still dying in Gaza and Ukraine as wars rage. Those who are powerful show little or no compassion for another human life. If anything, they seem to define victory based on lives taken. Today we also share griefs of those who witnessed the mass killing in Barrhaven in the Ottawa region. This murder of a family and friend by a friend shocked everyone. Be with those who have lost their loved ones, those who are in terror under the threats of death and those who seem to have no regard for taking lives. Douse them with your love. Give comfort and support to those who are suffering. Give a sense of moral understanding and compassion to those who are perpetrating such suffering upon other people. Give us courage to witness and speak up in love for all so that all may find your love as their source of life.

We pray for your church here. Only on your love can we be your church here. Without you, we are nothing. You have been our centre. You have steadfastly guarded and protected us. As we continue to witness your good news here, may you fortify our faith to be strong not to waver in times of troubles. Lead us without fail. Love us without reserve. Bless us without limits. Make us yours so that we may glorify you always. Shine through us to all those who despair and are lost. Build us up as your people with faith, hope and love.

All these we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Offering/Offering Prayer

Announcements

We thank the Rev. Jared Miller for sharing our pulpit and delivering the message this morning. It is our prayer that he will continue to shepherd the Chippawa Presbyterian Church flourish according to God’s will. We also pray for Chippawa Church to continue serving God and their neighbours with Christ’s love.

Next Sunday the Rev. Anita Van Nest of Stamford will be with us.

Most of our volunteer groups will resume their meetings this week. Please check your emails for meeting time and date.

Our Lent Devotion continues on Wednesday at 10 am.

Every Wednesday afternoon at 3:30 pm we are gathering to pray. Come to our prayer meeting.

Every Saturday, we start our exercise at 1 pm, followed by devotion, workshop and various volunteer activities.

Hymn: Rejoice, the Lord is king

Benediction