“For God…”

Text:  Mark 10:17-31                19th Sunday after Pentecost                    October 11, 2009

When our kids went off to college we bought them a small tool kit with hammer, screw drivers, pliers, etc.  Another parent got her son a sewing kit, another good idea.  A few days before he left the mother sat him down for a sewing lesson.  Lesson #1: threading the needle.  The boy’s eyesight was fine, good eye-hand coordination, he was going to play tennis in college, but no way could he get that itsy bitsy thread through the eye of that needle.  The mother gave up, “We’ll try again tomorrow.”  The next night she had a little gadget; she pushed it through the eye of the needle and then attached the thread to it.  It was a needle threader.
Jesus says 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.  The disciples are astounded, flabbergasted, “So who can be saved?”  Jesus says,“For God all things are possible.”  This all started with the question “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus uses a hyperbole, the camel and needle.  This exaggeration was used to make a point.  “You want to know how hard it is.”  “How hard is it?”  It would be impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, even with a needle threader.  For God, it would be possible.  How is that possible?  Using this imagery we could say God sent Jesus as the needle threader.  Jesus threads that impossibility, enabling you to be a part of the kingdom of God.
The key words in Jesus’ response are “For God”, for God anything is possible.  First let’s look at the impossible part, you thread.  The college student found it impossible to thread that needle.  You can’t thread the needle into God’s kingdom, no matter how good you think you are or how successful.
This man who approaches Jesus was a good man; Jesus looked at him and loved him.  It was speculated that he was a successful lawyer, no lawyer jokes (we have one coming to speak to us in adult class next week.)  From his youth he had lived a holy and obedient life, no doubt he expected a pat on the back from Jesus, “you’re in good shape for eternal life.”  Isn’t that normal for us, six easy steps to success, or follow three simple rules for achievement?
This man was sincere, a nice guy, he just didn’t have a fire in his belly. Jesus loved him, saw the potential, but he was missing something.  He needed to see someone living an eternal life.  Maybe that is what this Jesus is challenging him to do.  Our second reading describes it well, “The word of God is living and active.”  This young man was being challenged to be living and active.
Have you seen the Cadillac with the license plate, “God is Good.”  This was the thought pattern at that time.  If you had a lot of riches, as this man did, God liked you.  We are rich as well, and there is nothing wrong with that.  You can still be a disciple as long as the riches do not become more important or interfere in your relationship with God and living your eternal life.  He was told to remove any barrier, and for him his riches were a barrier. He couldn’t do it. He was shocked and went away grieving.  But he did not have to.  He was working under the promise of what he had to do.  He had to thread the needle, he needed to listen to those words, “For God, all things are possible.”
Grace alone will save us, not how much we give up, not how much we achieve.  “For God” gives eternal life despite our richness.
Secondly,” For God” threads the needle, for God all things are possible.  We don’t thread, that’s impossible; God threads, then all things are possible.  The kingdom of God is something you receive, not of your own actions, no matter how many commandments you keep.  You will have never done enough, it is impossible. Remember, our riches do not make it possible to thread the needle, our salvation is not a financial transaction, it is determined by what God has given up for us, that would be the needle threader named Jesus.
With our riches comes responsibility.  The rich man lacked one thing, “go sell everything and give to the poor.”  Now he is not asking us to sell everything, but he is asking us to be responsible with the riches we have.  We don’t bargain with God; a steward of God’s blessings receives them gratefully and responsibly.  William Barclay writes, “We will be judged by how we acquired our possessions and how we use them.”  Logically then, the more we have the more responsibility we have.  Will we be selfish or generous?  We are blessed to be a blessing.  Will we be possessed by God’s love and generosity?  We are asked to reprioritize. The rich man and the rich people of God, you and I, are challenged to trust God and what is possible rather than our own efforts and what is impossible.  Stock tips are either “Divest” or “Invest”.  We are to divest of the impossible to invest in the possible.  Remember:  “For God”, all is possible.
A newly married man asked his wife, “Would you have married me if my father hadn’t left me a fortune?”  “Honey,” she said sweetly, “I’d have married you no matter who left you a fortune.”
For God, we have a fortune, called eternal life, and it is clear who left it to us.  Amen

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