Pentecost 22A

19 Pentecost, Proper 23

Octobe= r 11, 2009

Rev. Ken Wratten at St. Stephen’s, San Jose=

Job 23:1-9, 16-17

Psalm 22:1-15

Hebrews 4:12-16

Mark 10:17-31

As a child, I tried hard to live up to my father’= ;s standards; grades in school (honor role), chores at home (hospital corners), wiring cars, installing hitches, basketball.

As an adult, I try to live up to my own standards; nev= er get sick, never get tired, never let disappointment show, never be wrong.
The standards of my father, and my own, are too high for me to consistently meet.

God has high standards for all of us too; about how He= wants us to live our lives. None of us can live up to God’s standard. We sh= ould always do the right thing, at the right time, and for the right reason. Do = we ALWAYS do that? No. We aren’t perfect.

God knows we can’t measure up to His standard by ourselves. So God gives us faith. Having faith is the way we measure up to God’s standard.

God doesn’t lower His standard, but he gives us = a way to meet his high standard.

The rich young man in the Gospel story this morning wa= nted to know what God’s standard is for earning eternal life. He wanted to know what he had to DO, to be part of God’s Kingdom. If Jesus would just tell him, he w= as sure he could reach the goal, and win eternal life. Jesus told the young man that what God wants isn’t just to obey the rules God has set (What ru= les has God set? 10 Commandments). He was told that he needed to give away his possessions to help the poor.

Jesus focused a lot of his ministry on how believers s= hould treat the poor and helpless. This was a major focus because how we treat the poor and helpless reflects our true character. We know we can’t expect anything back in return.

Jesus was putting the emphasis not on what the young m= an had done, but what kind of person he was.

What God wants to see in you and me is not what weR= 17;ve done, but what kind of person we are. What motivates us? What beliefs drive our actions?

Remember that James wrote, ‘faith without works = is dead’. This is the flip= side of the issue. This is Jesus saying that works not based on faith will not g= et us into heaven.

The rich young man had placed money, possessions, and = status higher than God. And Jesus knew it would be easier for a camel to pass thro= ugh the eye of a needle than for this man to put God first.

This is the heart of the ‘S-word’ that we = use in the church: Stewardship. The issue behind stewardship is what ranks number = one in our life. When we have our annual stewardship drive, which will start in= a few weeks, the main issue isn’t money. We talk about money, but the c= ore issue is what we believe, and how much we believe it. The issue is whether we put faith in God high enough so that we want to ensure a Christ-like environment for ourselves and for our families and our friends. How we understand stewardship reveals what beliefs drive our actions. The history of this community is that we get it.

God sets a very high standard for our lives: we are ca= lled to grow into the image of Christ. James wrote in his epistle, “Whoever k= eeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” God wants us to be perfect. If we mess up on just one piece of God’s law, then we haven’t lived up to God’s law at all.<= o:p>

Jesus’ followers asked , “Then who can be saved?” Jesus said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God.” Jesus is our intercessor with God the Father. Jesus has already paid the price for our imperfections.

By taking the faith God gives us, and living as faith-= ful people, and sharing our faith with other people, God accepts our faith as having met His standard.

Without real sacrifice, like the sacrifice Jesus asked= of the rich man, there is no growth; no transformation. But our God is all about transformation. Jesus challen= ges humankind to become all that we are meant to be.&nbs= p; The rich young man turned and walked away. He passed up his opportunity to be transformed.

You and I have the same decision to make every time we= see a need, every time we feel a pull inside us to help someone with our time even when we are rushed, to be kind even when we feel stressed, to be willing to= get involved even if it means learning about an issue in order to be more effec= tive.

The author of Hebrews says that through faith in Jesus= as our High Priest we can approach the throne of grace with boldness. I love t= hat vision. In our Eucharistic prayer we say, “We give thanks to you, O G= od, for in Jesus your Son, you have made us worthy to stand before you.” = So it isn’t through anything we do, but because of our faith in Jesus, t= hat we can approach God’s throne – with boldness.

Whose standard are you trying to live up to in your life? Your parents, your older brother or sister, your boss, your sports hero or your movie actor hero? Jesus’ conversation with the rich young man asks us to look at our priorities, and for us to say, “I choose to follow Jesus with every resource I have.” Amen.=