God's Perfect Grace

The message from the Wednesday night Lent service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church.  The Bible verses used are Mark 10:17-31.

            What is your least favorite saying of Jesus?

            I cannot hear if you’re answering the question, but I hope you’re thinking about it.  And if you are, I suspect the one we read tonight would be on the list.  It might not be number one, but it would be pretty close.  Jesus said to this man, “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

            Most of us don’t like that one at all.  And so we try to come up with ways to say it does not apply to us.  We say, well, he said this to a rich man.  I’m not rich.  Jesus did not mean this to apply to someone like me.

            And that sounds reasonable, right?  When we think of a rich person, we think of someone like Bill Gates.  By American standards, probably no one watching this broadcast is rich.

            But that’s by American standards.  You know what the median income in the world is?  Well, I did not know either, I googled it.  It turns out the median income in the world is $9,733.  By that standard, pretty much everyone watching this broadcast is rich.  That makes it a little harder to argue that Jesus’ statement does not apply to you and me.

            But if Jesus was talking to us, what did he mean?  Did he mean it literally?  Did he mean that each one of us should sell every possession we have and give the money to the poor?

            That does not really make sense, either.  I mean, Jesus did not even demand that of the twelve disciples.  Peter says, “We have left everything we have to follow you,” but he did not say, “We have gotten rid of everything to follow you.”  In fact, in Matthew Chapter Eight Jesus goes to Peter’s house, which means, of course, that Peter had a house and presumably had some stuff in the house.  In John Chapter Twenty-one, after Jesus has been resurrected but before he has ascended to heaven, Jesus and the disciples take Peter’s boat and go fishing, which means that Peter had a boat and fishing equipment.  So if Jesus did not demand that the twelve disciples sell all their possessions, I don’t think he demands it of you or me, either.

            But of course, that sets up the question:  what does Jesus demand of us?  What is Jesus telling us we need to do?  If Jesus was, in fact, talking to you and me, what is it that you and I need to do to fulfill what Jesus requires?

            Well, let’s look at the context.  The man comes to Jesus and asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  And there’s nothing in the context that indicates this is intended as a trick question.  This is not like those times the Pharisees are asking Jesus questions to try to trap him into making a statement they can use against him.  The way the situation is presented to us, this man is sincere.  He really wants to know.  He understands that eternal life is important, that it’s something he needs to get, and he wants to know what he needs to do to get it.

            But that question, even though it’s sincerely asked, is the problem.  This man had the idea that the way you get eternal life is by doing stuff.  He thought that if you just do enough of the right things, then God will approve of you and you’ll get eternal life.  He does not see that salvation is a matter of faith.  He does not understand that salvation is found only in Jesus Christ.  Instead, he’s looking for a checklist.  He’s does not see that salvation is a matter of the heart and of the soul.  Instead, he thinks salvation can be found just by doing enough good things, by being a good-enough person.

            So, Jesus takes this man on his own terms.  He says, okay, you want a list of things to do, I’ll give you one.  We’ll start with the commandments.  Do all those.

            And the man says, but I already am.  I’m already following all those commandments.  What more do I need to do?

            Which is one of the problems of a works-based faith.  And maybe it’s why God does not base salvation on what we do.  Because when we try to earn our way into heaven by doing good things, we can never feel like we’ve done enough.  We always think there might be something more.  After all, if salvation was based on works, we’d have to judge our good works against those of the holy, righteous, perfect God.  And there’s no way we could ever measure up to that standard.

            And this man knows he does not measure up.  So he asks Jesus, what more do I need to do.  And Jesus gives him the answer we quoted earlier.  “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me.”

            What Jesus was saying to this man is, look, if you want to get to heaven by the things you do, then you have to be perfect.  You have to live a perfect life.  You have to live up to the standard of the holy, righteous, perfect God.

            And the man knew he could not do that, because no one can do that.  And, we’re told, he walked away sad.

            But what if he had not reacted that way?  What if, instead, he had humbled himself before Jesus?  What if, instead of just walking away, he had fallen to the ground before Jesus and said, “Lord, I cannot do it.  I cannot keep all the commandments perfectly.  I cannot give away all my possessions and follow you.  I wish I could.  I really want to.  But I just cannot.  I’m not good enough.  I’m not worthy of following you.  Have mercy on me!”

            Do you think Jesus would’ve had mercy on him?  I do.  I think Jesus would’ve forgiven him.  I think Jesus would’ve told him to get up, to know that his sins were forgiven, and to follow him. 

            Because that’s what Jesus really wants from us.  Jesus wants us to confess our sins.  Jesus wants us to confess our weakness.  Jesus wants us to acknowledge that we are unworthy of following him.

God does not want us to try to be perfect.  God wants us to do the best we can, but God knows perfection is not possible for you and me.  If you and I could get to heaven by doing enough good things, Jesus would not have had to come to earth.  Lent, Good Friday, Easter--none of that would’ve been necessary.  All we’d have had to is focus on doing good things.  God could’ve given us that checklist that the man wanted from Jesus.  It would’ve been simple.  Simple, but impossible.

            God never asks us to do the impossible.  The difficult, sometimes, but not the impossible.  That’s why we don’t get to heaven by living a perfect life, because you and I are not capable of living a perfect life.  God does not want us to try to be perfect.  In fact, God wants us to do the exact opposite.  God wants us to admit that we are not perfect and that we never will be.  God wants us to humble ourselves, confess our sins, and ask for mercy and forgiveness.

            And you know what happens when we do that?  We become perfect.

            Not in the sense of never sinning again.  Not in the sense of doing everything exactly right.  Certainly not in the sense of being holy and righteous that way God is.

            So, in what sense do we become perfect?  We become perfect because God sees us as perfect.  Because that, really is what grace is.  Grace is God knowing exactly who we are, knowing exactly what we’ve done, knowing exactly how far short we fall from being who we should be, and yet seeing us as perfect anyway.  God does that because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, taking the punishment that should have come to us for our sins, enabling God to see us as perfect even though God knows perfectly well that we’re not.  That’s grace.  And when you think about it, God’s grace really is amazing.

            And that’s why salvation is based on faith in Jesus Christ.  If salvation was based on living a perfect life, we never could be saved.  But salvation is based on our faith and God’s grace.  And our faith does not even have to be perfect.  There are very few people who have prefect faith, either.  Most of us have doubts.  Most of us have times when our faith is weak.  A lot of us, in fact, are like the man who said to Jesus, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.”  We want to believe, and we do believe, but at the same time we struggle with our faith.  And yet, God accepts that.  God accepts our imperfect faith and perfects it with God’s perfect grace.

            What do we need to do to have eternal life?  Believe.  Have faith.  Don’t try to be perfect.  Do our best--grace is not a license to sin--but don’t try to do more than that.  Do our best, believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior, and let God’s grace take it from there.  And God’s grace will do that, because God’s grace really is amazing.