|
Inheriting Eternal Life
SERMON – 10.15am, Emmanuel Church, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
Sunday 11th October 2009
Revd. Canon David Pickering
Mark 10. 17 & 18 As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, 'Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?'
18 Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call me good?
No one is good but God alone.
In this morning's gospel reading it is very easy to get caught up in the whole business of riches and eyes of needles and to lose sight of the opening dialogue between Jesus and the man who ran after him.
In an affluent city like Hong Kong perhaps we should be reflecting upon the challenging words of Jesus from this morning's gospel reading, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.
But before we can appreciate these words, we need to consider the discussion on Jesus' goodness at the beginning of the gospel reading.
Addressing Jesus as 'Good Teacher' obviously contains a degree of flattery.
Buoy-up your teacher and they will probably give you an easy answer.
Jesus sees through the rouse and reminds the man that God alone is good.
In other words all goodness can only come from God.
Tomorrow evening among other things I will be involved in the Baptism preparation at the Cathedral. The parents will be hoping and trusting that their babies will be 'good' and not cry or upset the service.
I try to assure them that a baby has never defeated me in voice volume yet. Baptism is a sign that God's goodness will be with the child throughout his life – yes some of the children to be baptised at St John's next Saturday are boys.
Now we all know that boys are not always good.
Well that is how I was brought up.
Remember the rhyme, 'what are little boys made?' pretty awful things compared with girls. So i.e. girls are good and boys are bad.
Everyday I came home from school my mother would ask me, the same question I heard at about 3.30 most afternoons in my last as I walked past the Primary School 'Have you been a good boy at school today?'
The expectation was that I hadn't, and of course I did not like to let my mother down.
When I was taken to visit family or friends there were dire threats about my possible failure to be good.
Goodness is so often limited to personal moral behaviour.
But perhaps we need to pick up on what Jesus says about, no one is good but God alone.
An OT refrain; O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his mercy endures for ever First and last verse of Psalm 118, repeated twice in the Books of Chronicles in the OT.
If we go to the creation story in Genesis chapter one, we see the same theme repeated from a different angle. At the end of each daily stage of creation, God saw that it was good. At the end he saw all that he had made was very good.
God saw that what he had made was working properly.
We are good when we are function as proper human beings.
The father of Greek philosophy, Socrates, was asked to define 'good'. His reply was 'good' cannot be defined it's something we have to perform or do. It's only known in action.
This, of course implies correct moral behaviour.
We humans are social beings, who are called to relate to all those around us.
We are proper human beings when we are in a good relationship with our fellow human beings. This will often mean that we are doing all that we can to give them proper lives. Being a good human being is about justice.
We can see this in today's first reading. 14 Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you, just as you have said. 15 Hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate
Genesis also tells us that we have responsibility in creation. Being good means caring for God's creation. Need to see the goodness of God, to be able to follow it ourselves.
This has two implications with regard to our attitude to riches. The riches we enjoy are part of the goodness of God's creation. And the good riches that we enjoy, no matter how we gained them, ultimately have come from God, because they are part of the goodness of his creation.
So being good means using our riches responsibly.
This morning's gospel begins be telling us that Jesus was setting out on a journey.
Let's think for a moment about what happens when we are about to set off on a journey, especially if it is long distance and for a long period of time.
What do we pack? Can we afford to pay for excess luggage? Or are do we follow the backpacker's simple principle, 'I shall have to carry this, so do I really need it.'
In the gospel reading Jesus is not the only one setting out on a journey, so is the rich man who ran after him.
Jesus knew where he was going; the rich man was unaware that he was setting out, but his question 'Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' is really about a journey – the journey of life.
Jesus, like the backpacker, is travelling light, on his journey to the cross. The rich man was setting out on a spiritual journey, a pilgrimage of discovery. He knew the commandments and kept them, but he carried a burden; the bulging suitcase of his material possessions.
He wasn't a bad man, and Jesus looked at him and loved him, but also saw his burden, his attachment to his riches. They ruled his life; they set the course of his journey, a journey of possession.
But Jesus calls for social justice and that requires the right uses of our riches; their fair and equitable distribution, so that there are no poor in our world.
We can do something about that this morning in the Fairtrade Stall after the Service, not because 10% of the profits come back to Emmanuel but because if means those who have produced the goods will get a fairer share of the riches of the world, even if we are paying a little over the odds.
Retiring collection for Philippines
Empty pocket or purse – collection, Fairtrade Stall, Philippines
Jesus said to the rich man, You lack one thing; go sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come and follow me.
Perhaps Jesus says to us, To have treasure in heaven, come and follow me by bringing about social justice for the poor in buying Fairtrade Goods, and responding to the disasters of the Philippines and else where.
|
