A WORD FOR TODAY, October 16, 2024
Peggy Hoppes
We pray you have been blessed by this daily devotion. If you received it from a friend, you can see other devotions and studies by visiting our website at www.awordfortoday.org.
Blessings. Peg
A WORD FOR TODAY, October 16, 2024
Lectionary Scriptures for October 20, 2024, Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost: Ecclesiastes 5:10-20; Psalm 119:9-16; Hebrews 4:1-13 (14-16); Mark 10:23-31
“For he shall not often reflect on the days of his life; because God occupies him with the joy of his heart.” Ecclesiastes 5:20, WEB
Today’s Gospel story begins the transition between Jesus’ ministry and Jesus’ passion. Jesus spent about three years teaching about the Kingdom of God and doing miraculous things. The people in power watched Him until an appropriate moment. The time was near when they would have to do something about Jesus, a man they deemed dangerous to the nation of Israel. He was dangerous to them, or so it seemed. Mark 10 is the culmination of the interaction between them that would ultimately lead to His death. In these last teachings before the Triumphal Entry, Jesus addressed some of the issues of His day, teaching about those in their society that are often dismissed: women, the powerless (children), those who value God more than the world, servant-hearted leaders, and those with bold faith. In today’s story, Jesus reminds the disciples that they are to be like those who are dismissed, to trust that God will accomplish His work even when we experience rejection and persecution.
Jesus’ teaching in today’s passage is in response to a question from a man who introduced in verse 17 where he ran up to Jesus and knelt at his feet. “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” On the surface it seems as though the man honors and respects Jesus and His teachings. His words and actions, however, appear to be mere flattery spoken by someone who wants Jesus to justify the life he was living. The man is said to be quite wealthy. He was possibly part of the ruling class, maybe even a Pharisee.
What would you think if someone came up to you and offered you a million dollars? If you are human, your first reaction will probably be, “What do I have to do?” No one gives us something so extravagant without expecting sometime in return. We even feel like we have to reciprocate smaller gifts. We invite someone to dinner who has had us to dinner. We buy presents because someone gave us presents. I’ve even had people write me notes in response to notes I’ve written to them (I don’t argue, I love to get the notes.) We can’t seem to accept a simple act of kindness without trying to pay it back. The man wanted Jesus to tell him what he needed to do to earn a place in heaven.
Jesus’ initial answer was uplifting to the young man. Jesus quoted the Decalogue, listing the laws that involved relationships between human beings. The man could easily respond that he never killed, cheated, stole, lied or coveted and he honored his parents. “Teacher, all these things have I observed from my youth.” He was a good man, good according to the expectations of his religious community. I can almost hear Jesus’ sigh; I hear it every time I think of myself as a good person. I too can say that I have lived up to the words of the law. I’m fairly generous with my resources and I try to do kindnesses for my neighbors.
“Jesus looking at him loved him.” He looks at us the same way. We aren’t much different than the man. We want to know what we have to do to earn the kingdom of heaven. We respond to Jesus’ initial answer with a sigh of relief. It should be easy for us to earn heaven because we are generally good people. Murder, theft, adultery are not part of our daily lifestyle. We try to bring our good life before the Good Teacher with humbleness and respect. “I have done all these things.” Jesus looks upon us with love.
Yet, in love He responded with a greater expectation. “One thing you lack,” He continued. Even though we do everything right and are even generous with our resources, we still have something in our life that is more important to us than our God. We aren’t willing to give it all up, to pick up our cross and follow. We aren’t willing to let go of our old life and follow Christ without the burdens and baggage of the life we enjoy. The burden was wealth for that man because he had much. He was deflated when Jesus told him that he had to sell everything, give it to the poor, and then follow. He walked away because Jesus expected too much.
I wonder if the response would have been different if Jesus had said, “Give half your stuff to the poor.” The man would then have still had enough to survive in the world without relying on the charity of others. He would have had a place to hang his hat. He would have had finances to support the ministry he may have been willing to do. Jesus said, “Get rid of it all.” The young man wanted to know what he had to do to earn what God was giving for free, so Jesus made the payment beyond the young man’s ability to pay.
The disciples were shocked and asked, “Then who can be saved?” The truth is that none of us can be saved by our own goodness or good works. Jesus answered, “With men it is impossible, but not with God: for all things are possible with God.” This is good news. God offers us a gift worth far more than a million dollars and He expects nothing in return. When we ask what we have to do to earn this gift, the cost is always beyond our ability to give. How will we respond? Will we respond with sadness and turning away from God, or will we truly be humbled, embracing His gift for what it is: His amazing grace.
It might not always seem so, but we inherently have a need to accomplish something. There are some who might be considered lazy, but many people simply need to know and understand their purpose. They are “lazy” because they don’t know what they are supposed to do. Yet, most of us are constantly busy, sometimes never really accomplishing everything. We work because we have to work. I have been doing laundry this morning. After our long vacation, I had a lot of clothes to clean. I did a load here and there since we got home, and finally caught up today. The sad part is that I still have dirty clothes. Unless you do your laundry naked, there is always more clothing to wash. It also seems like there are always dishes to wash, dust to wipe, floors to scrub.
God created the world in six days, and then He rested. He did not rest because He was tired, but because His work was done. The Sabbath is a gift given to us from God so that we will stop and rest for a moment, knowing our work is done. But our work is never really done, is it? We never really get to stop and rest we need. We get days off from our paid jobs but use that free time to do whatever else must be done, like mow the lawn or do the laundry. We go grocery shopping or get the oil in our car changed. We volunteer at church or sports, prepping for our other responsibilities. We might take an hour or so on Sunday to rest at worship, but we use the rest of the day to get done what we didn’t get done on Saturday. By Monday morning, we begin again without ever really finishing.
It is not bad to be busy with commitments, especially when we are serving our family, friends, and neighbors; it is not bad to sacrifice our time, energy, and resources for others. At times, however, our responsibilities become burdens. We no longer “want to” do these tasks, we believe we “have to” do them. We grumble and moan when we need to attend another meeting. Our work is never done, and we get very tired of it all. Too often, we fear that if we don’t do everything that comes our way, we will disappoint our Father. We think we are righteous by what we do, so we feel we need to do more and more to be right with God. We never enter His rest.
Have you ever watched a mom juggle all the things necessary to take care of her baby? Each item has its place on her shoulder or under her arm. She is burdened with so much baggage and yet she somehow manages to take care of everything. Moms seem to gain a few extra hands during those early years. They become Octopus Mom, but there are times when even a mom needs help.
Doors are a difficult obstacle for anyone with an armful of stuff, particularly when it needs to be pulled open. I can’t count how many times I’ve had to put down burdens to get through a door. I am happy when someone helps by opening the door. I confess that sometimes I acted like I didn’t need any help, insisting that I could do it all with my own strength, like I was Supermom. Even as Christians, we tend to carry our own pain, unwilling to burden our family or friends. We try to be Superchristians, defeating the greatest evil with our own power.
Jesus wanted the man to put down his burden so that he could embrace the opportunity to be blessed by God’s rest, but I get the man’s disappointment. I have so much. How do you get rid of everything you own?
I often ask this question when I see stories of those people who have chosen to live in tiny houses. My art supplies would never fit into such a small space, let alone my whole life. As a matter of fact, my husband and I did not downsize when we bought our latest house, as many do when they become empty nesters. We bought a larger house so that I would have room for an active lifestyle and so that there is space for people to visit. This is the first house we’ve had that doesn’t have furniture pushed against every inch of every wall. There is room to move. I can’t imagine every getting rid of everything to move into a house that is just a few hundred square feet.
Perhaps it sounds like I am a hoarder, but I know how to purge. We moved regularly as a military family, and while we probably moved too much, we always let go of things we knew we would not need. Well, almost always. Our tour in England required some storage, but when we returned to the United States, we ended up getting rid of almost everything that we did not use during those four years. Our latest move twelve years ago was an incredible undertaking. We had lived in that house eight years and it is so easy to let things pile up. The kids were on the verge of adulthood, so we donated truckloads of things we didn’t want to move to another house.
When the pandemic hit, I joined millions of others in the quest to simplify life. We did some redecorating, which meant moving furniture, including a desk. The desk drawers were filled with junk from the last house, so I emptied each one, separated the good from the bad. I threw out useless items and filled many boxes to donate. After the desk, I began cleaning the other junk drawers in our house. I cleaned bookshelves and purged hundreds of books from our collection. I gave kitchen items to my children. I got rid of some furniture. Even after all that purging, I know I could get rid of more.
While I still have too much stuff, I have also learned to limit my collecting. We had a wonderful vacation in Wyoming and Colorado. We visited two national parks and a Christian retreat center. I like to buy souvenirs to remember our travels. I know I didn’t need another Christmas ornament. I didn’t need a pile of informational books. I didn’t buy everything I wanted to buy, but I’m sure I bought too much. With Christmas around the corner, my family will ask what I want to receive under the tree. I have a hard time answering because I really don’t want anything. Do I really need another tchotchke to clutter my shelves? Do I really need the latest kitchen gadget? It isn’t that I want to be difficult, I am just content. That said, I still don’t think I could get rid of everything for Jesus’ sake.
Today’s Old Testament reading from Ecclesiastes is a little uncomfortable for those of us who love our stuff. The writer writes, “He who loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he who loves abundance, with increase: this also is vanity.” Have you ever noticed that when you satisfy one desire, you soon have another? Just like our desire to accomplish something, we always have a desire to collect something new. We start with a little, but we always want more. Who can eat just one potato chip? It is hard to collect just one porcelain figurine. No one has just one pair of sneakers, but I confess that I have shoes of every color so that I can match my shoes to my clothes. I also have socks to match. I also have a pile of sweaters to match my shoes.
The writer of Ecclesiastes talks about the vanity of collecting stuff, after all, we can’t take it with us. We labor for everything we have. Our work is never done because we chase after that next thing, laboring to buy, maintain, and protect our stuff. Our focus is on our stuff, and we lose sight of what is important. Too many men pay more attention to their car than their girlfriend. Too many women are more concerned about which shoes or dress to wear. Children don’t like to share because they are afraid someone will break their toys. We lose sight of joy because we are worried.
There is a joke about a man who was near death. He had spent his life working hard for his possessions and he prayed that he might take some of it with him to heaven. An angel heard him, and though the angel told him that he could not take anything, the man implored the angel to ask God. After a time, the angel reappeared and told him he was allowed to take one suitcase. He died and went to heaven. At the pearly gates, St. Peter stopped him and said that he couldn’t bring the suitcase. He retold the story of the angel’s visit and after St. Peter checked it out, he returned and said, “Ok, but I have to see what is in there.” St. Peter opened the suitcase to find bricks of pure gold stacked neatly inside. He said, “Pavement? Why did you bring pavement?” We love our things, but we have to remember the value of anything in this world is miniscule compared to what we will experience in eternity. We don’t need to take gold to heaven because the sidewalks are paved with gold. Everything in heaven will be better than anything we have on earth.
The message of Ecclesiastes isn’t all bad news. God wants us to enjoy our life on this earth, not to the point that our possessions are our focus, but in thanksgiving for the God who has made all good things possible. “Every man also to whom God has given riches and wealth, and has given him power to eat of it, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labor - this is the gift of God.” We are called to a life in which God is our focus. Our stuff is meaningless in terms of eternal destiny, but they are blessings to be enjoyed.
Jesus told the man to sell everything and follow Him. This doesn’t mean that the man would have nothing. He’d have everything because He would have Jesus. The key is to remember the priorities of life. The Ecclesiastes passage reminds us that we don’t need to worry about today or about our stuff because our hearts are filled with real joy in knowing that our God is gracious. When we put down our burdens, we find it much easier to accomplish the work God is calling us to do.
The man missed what was important in the encounter with Jesus: that Jesus loved him. Jesus knows that the world tries to distract us with shiny bobbles. “It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom.” His words were shocking to the disciples because they did not see who could be saved, but Jesus promised that those who are willing to set aside the things of this world for the sake of the Gospel will be blessed beyond measure with even more. However, it will come with a price: persecution. We have reason to rejoice because the promise of eternity is greater than the wealth of this world, and even if we suffer now, we can do so with joy because the day will come when the promise will be fulfilled.
Some people, even Christians, never really experience the rest that comes with faith in Christ. This is not a rest that means we do nothing with our lives. God calls us to work. He calls us to produce. He calls us to be witnesses and to serve others. He calls us to be good stewards of all we have been given. He doesn’t even mind that we fill our lives with things that we enjoy. But He will ask us to consider our priorities so that we can follow Him completely. This is a call to trust that God is faithful to His promises and the blessings of this world are simply a foretaste of that which is to come in Heaven. One thing we lack is complete trust in God and the joy of knowing that God is the center of our blessedness.
The psalmist asks how a young man can be pure. The answer is by obeying God’s divine spoken Word. We can look for Him in our religious obligations, but we must keep His promise close to our heart so that we won’t turn from Him and do what is wrong. We can seek God’s teaching on how to live properly and according to His rules. We can accept God’s judgment when we do wrong and rejoice through our worship practices. We can, and must, focus on God’s authority over our lives because it is there that we will find rest.
Jesus was so much more than we can expect or desire. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is Redeemer. He is the Great Shepherd. He is our brother, our friend, and our master. He is our teacher. He is the Great High Priest as the writer of Hebrews describes in this week’s epistle lesson.
A priest is not one who rules over a people, but rather one who serves God and man. A priest is a servant and in the case of Jesus, the perfect servant who though He was tempted He never sinned. Though the human response to such greatness would tend to make such a man unreachable, in the case of Christ this is a title that makes Him even more gracious. He knows what we are experiencing, so He offers mercy. The pompous sounding title does not make Him beyond our reach. Instead, He calls us to approach Him with boldness, to set everything aside to put Him first.
I hope that whenever I have to choose between God and the world that I will make the right decision. I know, however, that Jesus loves me even when I fail. I know that He understands the draw of the world and the bobbles that it promises. I know that He sees my heart and that He sees the flicker of faith that is at the center of my being, the faith that He has given by His grace. Day by day, Today even, I find I can let go more and more as He fills me with Himself. One day I will have to give it all up; one day I'll die and stand at those pearly gates. I don’t have any pavement to take with me, but I hope that I won’t feel the need to beg God to let me take a few of my favorite things. I hope that my little faith will be enough to keep my focus on the Lord now so that I won’t worry day by day what will happen to my stuff because the joy in my heart is from God. For now, I pray that God will help me remember that the meaningless stuff I will have to give up when I die will be replaced with so much more: eternal rest and joy and peace.
Our salvation is never dependent upon our works. God created the world and on the seventh day He rested because His work was finished, and it was good. The Sabbath was given to man so he could celebrate the finished work of God with joy. In Christ the Sabbath is no longer one day a week: it is Today, every moment we rest in the salvation He won for us at the cross. Though God’s work was complete from the beginning, it is in the work of Jesus Christ that we receive the true rest of God. In Christ, our work is no longer a burden, but a joy. Our righteousness is founded in His love and His work on the cross, not in a schedule filled with commitments. Today, when you hear His voice, know that the work is complete and rest in Him, then your thoughts, words, and actions will truly glorify Him. Don’t try to find your rest in an hour of worship once a week; find it in Jesus.
God says, “You don’t have to exhaust yourself over all this; put me first and you’ll have enough. You will have even more in the Promised Land. Rest in me, for in Me is the true blessing.”
A WORD FOR TODAY is posted five days a week – Monday through Friday. The devotional on Wednesday takes a look at the scripture from the Revised Common Lectionary for the upcoming Sunday. A WORD FOR TODAY is posted on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Word-for-Today-Devotional/339428839418276. Like the page to receive the devotion through Facebook. For information and to access our archives, visit http://www.awordfortoday.org