The "M" - Word
a sermon based on Mark 10: 17-31
by Rev. Randy L Quinn

Most of us hear this text and think it’s about someone else. It’s about people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffet and Carolyn Kennedy. It’s about people like Tiger Woods and Alex Rodriguez. It’s about people like Bill Cosby and Oprah Winfrey.

Or maybe we think it’s about people who won the lottery or who took home the prize on “The Wheel of Fortune” or who correctly answered all the questions on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”.

When we think of sin, we like to look at the sin of other people. We don’t like to look at our own. It’s OK for a pastor to speak about sin, just not OUR sin. That’s when a pastor crosses the line and begins to meddle.

In a similar manner, we look at the rich young ruler and assume it’s about someone who is rich, but not about us.

But the truth is, we are rich. When you compare any of us to the vast majority of the people in the world, we are rich. If we had half of what we own and earned half of what we earn, we would still be among the richest 10% of the world’s people.

And most of us didn’t do anything to be included in that category. We were simply born in America. Most of us were born with a silver spoon in our mouths. Our wealth was inherited from our parents – and that’s true for those of us who were born in the depression as well as those born during this recent period of economic expansion.

If we don’t recognize ourselves in this story, we’ve simply not heard the story. This story is about us. It’s not about the rich entertainers who entertain us – though they are included in it. Nor is it about the rich ball players we pay to play for us – though they are included in it, too. This story is primarily about us – the ones who can afford to be entertained or spend time watching a ball game.

We are people who have money. And whether we want to admit it or not, we have lots of money.

And not only do we cling to it in ways not too different from the young man who meets Jesus, we can also say we’ve attended church since our youth. We’ve learned the commandments and obey them.

Most of us can say we’re basically good people.

This story is about us.

The Disciples are stunned by what they heard and we need to be, too, precisely because he is talking about us (v 26). But when the Disciples ask if it counts that they have given up home and family and income, Jesus assures them that they will receive their reward (vv 27-30).

Are we just as fearful as the Disciples were when we ask if we have done what needs to be done to “inherit eternal life” (v 17)?

It’s OK to feel a little squeamish.

We don’t like to talk about money, and we especially don’t like to talk about our own money. It’s OK to talk about taxes and rising prices, but it’s another thing altogether to speak about personal wealth in our society.

The fact remains that Jesus spoke more about money than he did about prayer. He spoke more about money than he did about family. He spoke more about money than he did about faith. In fact, the only thing he is reported to have spoken about more than money was the Kingdom of God.

And I believe that’s because money is more than just a “medium of exchange” as we were taught in school. It’s a powerful force in our society. Money is a rival god to the God we claim to worship.

“In God We Trust” is printed on our money, but the truth is that money has become our god. It’s money we trust.

And money is an all-consuming god. Jesus was right when he said we cannot serve God and mammon (Mt 6:24). They are rival gods who want our everything.

I’ve said many times before that I don’t believe money should make our decisions, especially not in the church. When money makes our decisions, money has become the god we serve.

Those who have no money as well as those who have plenty of money can fall prey to the power of this false god. Those who have no money can just as easily spend their lives wishing they had money or pursuing money as if it were the solution to their problems. And those who have more money than they can count can just as easily spend their lives looking at the bottom line when they make decisions.

In either case, money is making their decisions. Money has become their god.

I challenge you to take that standard to measure your own lives. Which god do YOU serve? How do you make decisions in your life?

I confess my own guilt at this point. While I have tried to live my life differently, I can still name times in my life – and some of them have been fairly recent – when money made a decision for me.

We are all guilty.

The question then becomes, what are we to do? We are wealthy, but we want to serve God – the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Mary and Joseph and Jesus and Peter and John and Paul.

What are we to do? “What must we do to inherit life eternal?” as the rich young man asks the question.

We cannot as long as money makes a claim on our lives.

There was a 'made for TV' movie that came out several years ago called, "Murder Ordained." I saw it again as a re-run while I was in San Diego this summer. The movie is based on the true story of a pastor in Kansas who murdered his wife so he could marry his secretary.

One of the key characters in the movie is a State Policeman who doesn't believe the pastor's story and keeps searching for the truth – even though most people try to stop the investigation. In an early scene, where the policeman's character is still being developed, the policeman stops a speeding motorist. The motorist is driving an expensive car and wearing an expensive suit. The policeman gives the ticket to the man to sign. But when he passes it back to the cop, there is a $50-bill clipped to the ticket.

The policeman asks, "Is this yours?" The man replies, "no." "It's not mine, either," says the cop as he throws it into the wind and watches it blow across a field.

The man cannot be bribed because money is not his god. He responds to a higher calling than that.

Would that we all could say the same.

Money you give away has no hold over you. One of the best ways to become free of the power money has over you is to give it away. Give enough away that you are no longer bound by the money you have and can instead respond to God’s will for you and your money.

I believe that’s why Jesus tells the young man to sell all he has and give it away (v 21).

At the same time, I believe it is possible to have wealth and to serve God. Jesus depends upon some wealthy women to support him in his ministry (see Luke 8:1-3), for instance.

The difference comes from learning to use money without serving it. It’s a matter of having possessions without being possessed by them.

When I first started using a computer, I was adamant that I would not allow that tool to become my master. I had seen too many people who wrapped their lives around a machine – whether it was a car or a boat or a computer. I was not going to let that happen to me.

And I can honestly say, I haven’t. My computer is an important tool in my ministry there is no doubt about that. But it is only a tool; it is not my master.

When we get to that point in our lives with money, God can come in and offer us the gift that cannot be bought. God can come in and adopt us as children. And as adopted children, we inherit the riches of God.

We cannot inherit anything from God except by grace. And as long as we serve other gods – including the god of money – we cannot experience that grace.

Some of you have said it before in other contexts, but it really fits in this one. It’s the simple saying about trust: Let go and let God.

As long as we cling to our wealth, God cannot enter our lives.

When we let go we will find untold wealth.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.