LutheranLectionary.org

Series B – Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost – Sunday, October 18, 2015 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough

Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough:

Time Stamp	Transcript
0:28	the holy Gospel According to Saint Mark
0:30	chapter 10 verses 23-31
0:34	Jesus look around and said to his
0:36	disciples
0:37	how hard it is for the rich to enter the
0:39	kingdom of God
0:41	the disciples were amazed at his words
0:43	but Jesus said again children how hard
0:47	it is to enter the kingdom of God it is
0:50	easier for a camel to go through the eye
0:52	of a needle than for a rich man to enter
0:54	the kingdom of God
0:56	the disciples were even more amazed
0:59	and said to each other who then can be
1:02	saved
1:03	Jesus looked at them and said
1:05	with man this is impossible
1:09	but not With God all things are possible
1:12	with God
1:13	Peter said to him
1:15	we have left everything to follow you I
1:18	tell you the truth Jesus replied no one
1:20	who has left home or brothers or sisters
1:22	or mother or father or children or
1:24	fields for me and the gospel will fail
1:27	to receive a hundred times as much in
1:29	this present age Holmes brothers sisters
1:31	mothers children and Fields and with
1:34	them persecutions and in the age to come
1:38	eternal life but many who are first will
1:40	be last and the last first
1:44	in the name of Jesus
1:47	so our gospel text picks up where the
1:50	gospel left off last week remember the
1:53	rich young man coming to Jesus and
1:55	asking what must I do to inherit eternal
1:57	life
1:58	Jesus rattles off the second table of
2:01	the law and the guy says oh I’ve kept
2:03	all those Commandments from my youth
2:05	and Jesus loves him and says to him all
2:07	right one thing you lacked go and sell
2:09	everything you have give it to the poor
2:12	and then come follow me
2:16	Jesus’s
2:17	well his invitation was the same
2:21	invitation that he gave to the disciples
2:22	when Jesus met Peter and the others he
2:25	said follow me and they did this guy had
2:28	that same invitation but the problem was
2:31	this
2:32	he had a god other than Jesus
2:35	and that God
2:36	is named Mammon or money
2:40	and so the man leaves despondent and now
2:43	Jesus comments he says
2:47	how hard it is for the rich to enter the
2:52	kingdom of God
2:54	and then the text says this the
2:56	disciples were amazed at his words
2:58	amazed really
3:01	you know why they were amazed
3:03	because there were people preaching in
3:06	the name of God
3:07	some of the same messages that we hear
3:09	today
3:10	how do you know that God loves you and
3:13	is truly blessing you well look at your
3:16	bank account if the number is small you
3:19	are under a curse if the number is large
3:22	and has lots of zeros after the initial
3:25	number well then you are truly
3:27	experiencing the blessing of God you are
3:30	blessed and there’s pastors and
3:33	preachers today who are going around the
3:35	landscape and on the airwaves and on the
3:38	internet preaching messages to this
3:39	effect God Wants You wants you to be
3:43	rich
3:44	and he can’t really help you until you
3:48	start stepping out in audacious faith
3:51	and all you gotta do is look at yourself
3:54	in the mirror every morning and say
3:57	words like this I am wealthy I am
4:01	prosperous I am the head and not the
4:04	tail I am strong and see when you start
4:07	affirming all of these wonderful things
4:10	that you are God’s hands will be untied
4:13	and he can start to shower on you
4:16	blessings from heaven with one little
4:18	caveat though you gotta write a large
4:21	tithe check make it payable to your
4:23	local televangelist and send that into
4:25	him as a seed offering to demonstrate to
4:27	God that you have enough faith for to
4:30	believe that God’s going to bless you
4:32	financially
4:34	and you know what that’s called alive
4:36	from the pit of Hell
4:39	a lie from the pit of Hell
4:42	the gospel is not about making you rich
4:44	in this life and if you believe that
4:46	that is the truth then your God is named
4:49	money not Jesus and that’s the problem
4:53	and so this is kind of similar to the
4:55	message that disciples were hearing
4:57	because we learn from the Gospel of Luke
4:59	that the Pharisees who were the chief
5:01	rabbis running around the landscape at
5:03	the time they were lovers of money
5:07	and so how do you know that God is truly
5:10	truly blessed somebody just look at the
5:13	gold in their money bag look at the
5:16	clothes that they wear
5:18	this is how you can tell somebody’s
5:20	blessed and we can all kind of relate to
5:22	this because we’re all used to and we’re
5:26	all trained in well the pecking order
5:30	based upon what you have I remember
5:32	distinctly running into this pecking
5:34	order when I was a little lad when I was
5:37	a lad the Star Wars movies came out it
5:39	was a big deal I remember seeing the
5:42	original Star Wars movie in the
5:44	Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood
5:46	big deal blew my mind I mean all I
5:50	wanted was a lightsaber but then what
5:53	happened is that all of the toys started
5:56	coming out there were Little Star Wars
5:58	action figures and then there were
6:01	different levels of things that you
6:03	could purchase you could purchase well
6:04	an X-Wing Fighter or if you really had
6:08	money your parents were really rich you
6:11	could get the Millennium Falcon and I
6:14	remember going over to some of my
6:16	friends’s houses and well I had a Han
6:19	Solo and a Chewbacca and a Luke
6:21	Skywalker but my friend had the
6:24	Millennium Falcon
6:26	it was just not fair how could he have
6:30	so much more
6:32	than I have and I remember going home
6:34	and saying mom I want the Millennium
6:36	Falcon
6:38	and the response pretty much had
6:39	something to do with pigs flying or
6:41	something like that right
6:44	but you know what
6:46	I actually felt I felt like this kid was
6:50	better than I was because he had a
6:52	Millennium Falcon and all I had was a
6:54	couple of action figures if only I had
6:56	not opened the packaging and kept those
6:59	action figures I could sell them on eBay
7:01	now for a fortune but that’s another
7:03	story
7:04	but we all have stories like this
7:07	we all look at other people and we say
7:09	gosh look at the clothes they’re wearing
7:11	look at the logo on that person’s shirt
7:14	and you begin to feel like somebody’s
7:16	worth is based upon the wealth they wear
7:18	on their body
7:21	how big is the diamond in their wedding
7:24	ring how big is the gold and the
7:28	Diamonds in their ears are on their neck
7:30	right
7:31	is there a Gucci symbol on their purse
7:36	yeah mine says Kmart but I don’t have a
7:38	purse I’m just saying you know yeah and
7:41	so and can you afford to shop at Macy’s
7:44	or Nordstrom’s or do you have to go to
7:46	the thrift store
7:49	all of this
7:50	is an Abomination and it’s from the
7:53	world
7:54	don’t think for a second that whether or
7:58	not God is blessing you or cursing you
8:00	is based upon how much money you have or
8:04	do not have in your account Jesus is
8:06	going to blow this all up
8:08	so Jesus says how hard it is for the
8:11	rich to enter the kingdom of God
8:14	think about that
8:15	how difficult it is why because the love
8:19	of money and the Trust In money is
8:22	idolatry it’s a sin against God in the
8:24	first table you will have no other gods
8:26	before me so Jesus says
8:30	children how hard it is to enter the
8:32	kingdom of God it’s easier for a camel
8:34	to go through the eye of a needle than
8:37	for a rich man to enter the kingdom of
8:39	God
8:40	now I haven’t done much sewing but I can
8:42	tell you this it’s difficult to get a
8:44	little thread into a needle I can’t
8:46	imagine getting a camel into it
8:48	in other words it’s impossible and
8:51	that’s what Jesus is saying and then the
8:53	disciples respond they were even more
8:56	amazed and said to each other who then
8:59	can be saved now note here in the text
9:03	verse 26 the disciples are asking who
9:06	then can be saved and Jesus looked at
9:08	them and said with man this is
9:11	impossible
9:12	not the saving of a rich man
9:15	but the saving of anybody rich or poor
9:19	tall or short skinny or fat
9:24	doesn’t matter with man
9:27	salvation is
9:29	impossible you can’t save yourself
9:33	try as you might you will never be good
9:36	enough
9:37	you really think that you’re going to
9:39	save yourself and that your feeble good
9:43	works are going to somehow stack up to a
9:47	certain level where God’s going to say
9:48	well not you finally have done it you’ve
9:51	done the impossible you’ve saved
9:53	yourself
9:54	never going to happen
9:57	with man this is impossible but not With
9:59	God all things are possible with God
10:04	now I’d like to read to you some other
10:06	passages of scripture that make it very
10:09	clear that the love and Trust in wealth
10:12	enriches is idolatry and scripture
10:16	speaks very sternly against it James
10:20	chapter 5 verses one through six read
10:23	come now you rich
10:25	weep and howl
10:28	for the miseries that are coming upon
10:31	you
10:31	your riches have rotted your garments
10:34	are moth eaten your gold and silver have
10:37	corroded
10:38	and their corrosion will be evidence
10:40	against you
10:42	and they will eat your flesh like fire
10:46	you have laid up treasure in the last
10:49	days
10:50	behold the wages of the laborers who
10:52	mowed your fields which you kept backed
10:55	by fraud are crying out against you and
10:58	the cries of the Harvesters have reached
11:00	the ears of the Lord of hosts you have
11:03	lived on the earth in luxury and in
11:06	self-indulgence you have fattened your
11:09	hearts in a day of Slaughter
11:15	doesn’t sound like things are going to
11:17	go well for those who do that we’ve all
11:18	seen those reality TV shows where people
11:20	are Hoarders
11:22	it’s a weird disorder where people
11:24	collect and keep every little piece of
11:26	junk that they can possibly get and they
11:27	collect it and they stack it all in
11:29	their houses you can’t even walk in
11:30	their houses like walking through
11:31	Canyons right and they never get rid of
11:33	any of that stuff
11:35	well hoarding doesn’t begin with that
11:37	kind of stuff
11:38	it begins with money
11:41	and these are people who have hoarded
11:43	lived in luxury
11:45	despised others have defrauded them and
11:48	you know why they’ve defrauded them
11:50	because they never want to part with
11:52	their God
11:53	I know I told you I was going to pay you
11:56	ten dollars an hour but you know I don’t
11:59	really like the job you did here so I’m
12:02	only going to pay you four bucks an hour
12:06	take it or leave it
12:09	you’ve we’ve heard of people like this
12:10	we may have even experienced people like
12:12	this
12:13	and you think what a jerk well the
12:16	problem there is that
12:18	see his God as money he can’t part with
12:21	his God he doesn’t want to share his god
12:24	with anybody he’s living in
12:26	self-indulgence
12:30	we read in Ecclesiastes and let me read
12:32	it again Ecclesiastes 5 whoever loves
12:36	money never has enough
12:41	you sit there and you wonder I mean we
12:43	all hear about these exorbitant salaries
12:45	that these CEOs make
12:48	are these sports figures
12:50	and you sit there and go what is
12:51	somebody going to do with a 110 million
12:54	bucks what are they gonna do with it
12:57	I mean at some point it just becomes
12:59	absurd right
13:01	you have more than you’re ever going to
13:03	spend in your entire lifetime and you
13:05	ask somebody who’s a CEO who’s got all
13:07	these stock bonuses who’s making 10 50
13:11	100 million 200 million a year
13:14	how much is enough
13:17	never is enough is it
13:20	there never is a point where they say
13:22	it’s enough scripture says this this is
13:25	meaningless
13:28	written by the man who arguably is
13:30	probably the wealthiest man of the
13:31	ancient world Solomon
13:34	whoever loves money never has enough
13:37	this is meaningless as Goods increase so
13:41	do those who consume them and what
13:43	benefit are they to the owner except for
13:45	to Feast his eyes on them
13:48	the sleep of a laborer is sweet whether
13:51	he eats little or much
13:53	that’s right the person who works for
13:55	the rich man they sleep well at night
13:57	but not the rich man but the abundance
13:59	of the rich of a rich man permits him no
14:01	sleep I think ant acids were originally
14:04	made for the wealthy
14:07	think about it
14:09	I’ve seen a grievous Evil Under the Sun
14:11	wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner
14:15	or wealth lost through some Misfortune
14:18	so that when he has a son there’s
14:20	nothing left for him
14:22	and then verse 15 naked a man comes from
14:25	his mother’s womb and as he comes
14:29	so he departs
14:30	he takes nothing from his labor
14:33	that he can carry in his hand
14:37	I’ve never seen
14:40	a funeral here where there was a U-Haul
14:42	behind the casket
14:45	right can’t take any of it with you none
14:47	of it
14:49	you think of King Tut yeah I remember
14:51	you know seeing King Tut’s Treasures you
14:54	know when they brought him to Los
14:55	Angeles back in the 70s early 80s
14:58	remember when that was on tour and it
15:01	just struck me that the story behind the
15:04	treasure the great treasure was all of
15:05	that was put into his tomb because that
15:08	was supposed to go with him to the
15:09	afterlife
15:10	well somebody forgot to come and pick it
15:12	up
15:13	because it stayed here
15:16	you can’t take any of it with you
15:20	Proverbs 11 28 says whoever trusts in
15:23	his riches will fall
15:26	but the righteous will flourish like a
15:28	green leaf
15:30	and see that’s the thing
15:32	money is a tool
15:34	money can be and is often a gift from
15:37	God we need it God knows you need it but
15:40	to trust in it
15:42	to set your heart and your mind on it to
15:45	make it an idol
15:47	that will send you to hell
15:51	dangerous stuff
15:53	think of what Jesus told this Parable in
15:55	Luke 12 starting at verse 16. listen to
15:57	this
15:58	Jesus told a parable saying the land of
16:00	a rich man produced plentifully and he
16:03	thought to himself what shall I do for I
16:05	have nowhere to store my crops and so he
16:08	said I’m going to do this I’m going to
16:09	tear down my Barns and build larger ones
16:13	big grain silos and there I’ll store all
16:16	my grain and my goods and I will say to
16:18	my soul soul you have ample Goods laid
16:22	up for many years relax eat
16:24	drink be merry
16:27	the God said to him you fool
16:30	this night your soul is required of you
16:32	and the things that you have prepared
16:34	for yourself
16:36	whose will they be
16:38	so it is with the one who lays up
16:40	treasure for himself and is not rich
16:43	toward God
16:45	Ambrose of Milan commenting on this text
16:47	once wrote that this poor fool of a rich
16:52	man
16:53	was looking for a place to store all of
16:55	his grain
16:57	when the place he should have stored it
16:59	was in the bellies of all the poor and
17:01	the needy in his community
17:06	Rich to himself poor towards God and
17:09	poured towards God you’re poor towards
17:11	others and you’re stingy
17:13	so we return to our text
17:17	Jesus said regarding salvation with man
17:20	this is impossible
17:22	but not with God
17:23	With God all things are possible now
17:26	Peter
17:28	whose mind is blown by everything that
17:30	Jesus is saying
17:32	kind of trepidatiously puts forward this
17:35	idea well Lord we’ve left everything to
17:37	follow you
17:39	but so that you don’t think that leaving
17:41	everything to follow Jesus is the thing
17:43	you have to do to earn salvation Jesus
17:46	notes this he says I tell you the truth
17:48	no one who has left home or brothers or
17:52	sisters or mother or father or children
17:54	or fields for me in the gospel will fail
17:57	to receive a hundred times as much in
17:59	this present age God does reward us by
18:03	the way
18:04	those of us who have faith the one who
18:06	has left home or brother or father or
18:09	mother has done so because of their
18:11	faith in Christ but Jesus says this in
18:14	this present age you’re going to receive
18:16	Holmes brothers sisters mothers children
18:18	and Fields and here’s the caveat and
18:21	with them
18:23	persecution
18:26	all of God’s blessings in this life come
18:28	with a cross
18:30	that’s the reality of the situation and
18:33	I’m glad that they do
18:35	lest we love the gift rather than The
18:38	Giver
18:40	we love the reward rather than the one
18:42	who rewarded us everything comes with
18:44	persecution and then in the age to come
18:47	comes eternal life
18:49	where the streets are laid with gold
18:53	ghost from something that we hoard to
18:55	something that we use and treat like
18:57	asphalt which I think is a wonderful
18:59	thing to do with gold can’t stand the
19:01	stuff anyway never have any of it
19:04	and then Jesus says many who are first
19:07	will be last and the last first toppling
19:12	Again The Whole World’s system and way
19:14	of looking at wealth where we sit there
19:16	and say that person is amazing look how
19:19	wealthy and successful they are you at
19:22	the bottom your scum you’ve got nothing
19:25	look at your clothes they’re dirty and
19:28	have holes in them you Vagabond you’re
19:31	worthless
19:32	and Jesus says no blessed are the poor
19:36	theirs is the kingdom of heaven
19:39	remember the story of the rich man in
19:41	Lazarus who was the one who was blessed
19:43	well according to the world system it
19:45	was the guy who was wealthy
19:47	but there’s Lazarus that poor man
19:50	needing medical attention who’s begging
19:52	for money every day longing to be fed
19:54	from the crumbs that fall from the rich
19:55	man’s table when they die the rich man
19:58	ends up where hell
20:01	for eternity
20:04	and yet the poor cursed Vagabond Lazarus
20:08	he had faith in God
20:10	he trusted Christ
20:12	he was forgiven and he spends eternity
20:14	in heaven
20:16	the last
20:18	will be first the first
20:20	will be last
20:23	so with man salvation is impossible
20:27	but With God all things are possible
20:30	now if you think about it there’s this
20:32	wonderful little Gizmo I’ve discovered
20:35	this a few years ago it’s this thing
20:37	that has like a a tiny little paperclip
20:40	looking thing and you can actually stick
20:42	it through the eye of a needle take a
20:45	piece of thread put it into the bigger
20:47	Loop and then you can pull the thread
20:49	through right this is a handy little
20:51	device and I want you to think of the
20:54	Cross like that
20:56	with man it’s impossible it’s easier for
20:59	a rich man camel to go through the eye
21:00	of a needle big camel small eye and a
21:03	needle then for a rich person to enter
21:05	the kingdom of heaven and with you
21:06	salvation is impossible but what the
21:09	cross does is it puts it right through
21:10	the eye of the needle Jesus grabs you
21:13	and then he pulls you right through it
21:17	that’s how salvation is possible because
21:21	Jesus bleeds and dies for you
21:23	your righteousness will never be good
21:25	enough
21:26	you always have fallen short from the
21:29	moment you were conceived because as we
21:31	confess we were born sinful and unclean
21:35	everything that you do thought word deed
21:39	the things you do and don’t do all
21:41	tainted with sin
21:42	but God is merciful and kind and
21:45	forgiving
21:46	and he has not left the impossible for
21:49	you to accomplish he has accomplished
21:52	the impossible for you and so he is the
21:55	one who grabs you and pulls you through
21:57	the eye of the needle in to eternal life
22:01	and all of this he does by Grace as a
22:05	gift because of God’s mercy
22:07	what a great Jesus that we have
22:11	so that we he became poor by the way
22:13	left all of the treasures of heaven and
22:18	was born in a barn
22:20	for you so that you might be rich
22:23	in him rich in God
22:26	but never Rich to the point where money
22:29	is your deity
22:31	if money is your deity I recommend
22:34	getting rid of it all of it
22:37	and coming and following Jesus
22:40	in the name of Jesus Amen
22:43	[Music]

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