Sermon Text 2024.10.13 — Missing the point

October 13, 2024 Text: Mark 10:17-22Dear Friends in Christ, About 15 years ago I was here before church on Christmas Day. As I was in the narthex, a little sports car drove up and a nice dressed lady got out. She was carrying a box. She was heading to the front door of the church. Before I got there she had laid the box down. I opened the door and asked if she needed anything. I looked at the box and it was a Bartles & Jaymes wine cooler box. Odd, but maybe she was dropping something off. She was. She proceeded to tell me she had caught a mouse that morning, put it in the box and brought it to church. I’m thinking, “What?” She then said, “Well, you know the story about the church mouse.” Mice, I am afraid of. Thankfully this one had escaped and ran off. I just stood there dumbfounded. This lady had completely missed the point of what a church is. A place for dropping off mice. I don’t think so, my friend. People miss the point all the time. Nothing was different in the days of Jesus. The Bible is always relevant. Let’s evaluate . . . “MISSING THE POINT” We begin with the first verse of our text, “As (Jesus) was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’” (v. 17) Life always gets down to this. What is going to happen to me after I die. This fella wanted to know how to have eternal life. He was you might say, anxious. Do we ever get anxious about that question? Someday death will arrive, and we want to know we have eternal life. My friend and I were just talking about this the other day. For the first time in our lives one of us heard from a doctor the words “tumor” and “biopsy.” It is my friend. We talked about life and death and the things that swirl in the mind. Some of you have been through this and understand the anxiety. “And Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” (v. 18) Jesus lets it stand: He is God. So, God through Christ is going to give the answer. Please note the man’s wording, “what must I do?” It is not, “What can God do to help me a poor, miserable sinner?” Jesus answers, “You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” (v. 19) This is where the man’s thinking becomes less than honest. “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” (v. 20) This has been man’s thinking for thousands of years, “But, I’ve been a good person?” Really? Jesus drives him back with his thinking that his accomplishments will get him eternal life. “And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’ Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” (v. 21-22) What should he have done? Something we all should do, fall to our knees and cry out, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” No, not this one. He wanted to earn heaven. He is Missing The Point. Does life ever find us Missing The Point? “Lord, I have done a lot of good things, and I am really good on commandments 2, 3, 5 and 7.” Can’t we help this eternal life business along? I want to participate with my stellar human record. Look it up, Lord, I’m one of the good ones. We come here to the Lord’s House to rid ourselves of those thoughts. We should be walking in the doors with sincere repentance ready to stand before Calvary’s Cross where the Lord forgives and reconciles us with God. The point is: He takes our sin away not because we are wonderful and momma’s favorite. He does it because He loves you and me. He knew and He knows we need a Savior. A little Wisconsin town on the shores of Lake Superior has an annual dog sled derby for young people. A mile course marked out on the ice. One year they had large boys with large dogs competing with one little fellow with a little sled and little dog. As the race began the big boys outdistanced the little shaver by quite a large distance. Then it happened. The sled in 2nd was trying to pass the sled in 1st. There was a melee. Each subsequent rider and dog got caught up in the mess, until all the dogs were fighting. That is – all but the little fellow with the little dog and the little sled. He was the only one to finish the race. We have a clear course marked out for us. The course won for us by the blood of Jesus. We exist as a congregation for this reason: to share Christ’s love with others. No matter how difficult and messed up things look in front of us, we know the course. Just keep going. Christ the Leader. Eternal life the destination. We haven’t missed the point, have we? Amen