Mark 10:17-27   A man ran up to Jesus and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “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 murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’ “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”  Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”  At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.  Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”  The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said 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 a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

A man ran to Jesus to ask him a question.  What is your question?  I guarantee you that your life is asking a question.  You might not even be aware of it.

Good Teacher, What must I do to pass your class?

Good Bishop, What must I do for the ELCA to ordain me?

Good Father, What must I do for my dad to love me?

Good Psychologist, What must I do to stop hating myself?

Are any of these your questions?  What is it that you are asking Jesus?  And you don’t know that you are asking it, but you are.

This man’s whole life was asking one question, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  I imagine, one time as a little child, while preparing a meal, his grandmother whispered into his ear,“My boy, listen to your grandmother and fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands, and then you will enjoy long life.” And he did.  He followed his grandmother’s advice.  He was a good boy, he was very good boy. Even one time when he was at synagogue

the scroll was rolled open and the words of the Torah seemed to be speak directly into him: “Today, I have set before you life and death.  Now choose life.”  And he thought, “Yes, Adonai, I will choose life.  I will keep your commands.” And he devoted himself right there at that moment.

There’s a story floating around about my Bishop, that when he was a little boy, one Halloween, when all the other kids were carving out scary faces on their pumpkins, he carved Luther’s rose in his pumpkin.  His teacher asked him, “Chris, what’s this on your pumpkin.” To which he responded, “Well, I thought I’d carve Luther’s rose into the pumpkin, because Reformation Day is coming up.” It was the same for this man, ever since he was a little boy he was a good boy.  He could critically look at his life and honestly say, “I’ve never murdered; I’ve never committed adultery;

I’ve never stolen anything; I’ve never given a false witness about someone; I’ve never defrauded anyone; I’ve honored my father and mother. And yet, I don’t have the life that I thought I would.”  Because if following the commands had given him the life he was looking for he wouldn’t be on his knees in front of this wondering homeless preacher named Jesus.

But now his midlife crisis is in full swing, because he realizes, “I thought I held up my part of the bargain… now where’s your part of the bargain God?  Where’s the life that’s promised to me?  Where’s my inheritance.  Where’s what’s mine?”  This type of midlife crisis happens at about every stage of life when we look at our life and we ask, “Is this it?  Am I really living life?  I want a meaningful life.  What do I got to do to have a fulfilling life?”

I probably live half my life there.  Maybe you are there right now.

Now here is the crux of the encounter:  It says, “Looking at him, Jesus loved him and said…”  Jesus didn’t despise him,  Jesus didn’t pity him…  no.  Jesus looked at him at loved him and gave him a gift.  It was the gift that his life needed most.  But what do you give someone who has everything?  Nothing.  You can’t give anything to someone who imagines they have everything.  The person who has everything is impervious to grace.  The person who has everything is hopelessly ungiftable.  So what do you give to the person who has imagines they have everything?  Poverty.  The emptying of hand… the emptying of heart… the emptying of rights…  The gift that Jesus gave him was the end of the law, that is to say, the end of what this man could do for himself.  It was the end of the question, “What must I do?”  Because this man followed the commandments, but they did not lead him to the conclusion that “No one is good but God.”  So Jesus looks at this man, and because Jesus loved him, he stripped him of his delusion that he’s has everything, and everything he has he has earned.

“You lack one thing.  You’ve followed the law… but you haven’t followed me.  Sell all those possessions that you worship and make room for the grace of God as a free gift.”

Right now, right here, at this very moment this man is on the verge of the greatest exchange of his life!  I’m reading this story and I want to yell out to him on the page,  “Come on man!  Ask another question.  Don’t stop there!”

Instead he hangs his head.

“No don’t go, stay in it!  Dig into your despair and ask Jesus what your heart is scared to ask!  Ask, “Who can be saved?”.  And then he leaves, full of grief, “because he had many possessions.”  He was on the verge of the greatest moment of his life, but instead goes home dead-man walking, destroyed by the very law he trusted would save him.

But what if… what if he had stuck around for just a couple more minutes?  What if he had stayed around long enough to verbalize that lament of his heart, “God, who can be saved! Not me!  I’m not enough!  I don’t have it in me!”  If he would have stuck around for just a couple more minutes to hear the question: “Who in world can be saved?”  Then!  Then, he would have heard the first good news in his life – Jesus would have told him,

“Yep.  I know.  I know.  It’s really hard.  In fact, it’s beyond what is possible.  It’s impossible ya know.  And it’s even more impossible for people who have it all.  (If that’s possible.)  Gosh, I guess there’s nothing you can do

to inherit eternal life. Bummer…   But what if God did it?  What if it’s not about you giving things up or doing things.  What if it’s about giving up giving up, because God is doing it.”

And with a word, Jesus changes the location of our hope. It’s no longer in you.  It’s no longer in what you can do. This man’s whole life was asking one question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

What is it that your life is asking Jesus? You might not be aware of it, but your whole life is asking a question.  How sad not to know your life’s question, and how dangerous.  I fear giving an answer to an undiscovered question, but regardless of your question, there is a way in which Jesus is saying to you, always,

“Yeah.  I know you think answering that question will give you life.  But, truth is, I am life.  I know you want to inherit life. But in order to inherit something someone has got to die.  I already did that.  You can’t do anything to inherit something, instead you have to belong to someone, And you do.  You have to be related to someone.  And you are.  You are my sister, you are my brother, You are a child of God.  Trust me.  I’ll give you all the life you need.  It’s not something you can do.  But God can.  Now open up your empty hands.  I want to give you something.”

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