Travel Light, Sermon On the Rich Young Ruler

Travel Light (Mark 10.17-31)

He came to Jesus on his knees. It hurt to have pebbles biting into his skin, but he was earnest and genuine. With intense brown eyes, he looked up and asked our Lord, “What can I do to inherit eternal life?”

A good question. It’s like he’s saying, “I’ve seen enough, Jesus, the good and the bad. I know where it’s headed. No matter how much I do or achieve, one day I’ll die. I have an expiration date on my forehead. Can you help me out, Jesus? Is there an antidote? What can I do to inherit eternal life?”

In response, Jesus doesn’t talk to him about beliefs. He doesn’t say, “You must attend a religious meeting.” Instead, he points to the Torah, the Jewish law, the commandments. Don’t murder. Be faithful to your wife or husband. Don’t steal. Tell the truth… always tell the truth. Take care of your parents and family. Jesus is concerned above all with love and relationships.

The man thinks he’s done pretty well here. “I’ve kept all the commandments since I was a boy,” he says.

Jesus looks at him for a minute. Then he looks up at blue sky and off to the brown hills. What do you say to someone who is perfect and keeps all the commandments flawlessly?

So Jesus pulls a grenade out of his pocket and drops it in the dirt. “Sell everything you own, give the money to the poor, and you will have wealth in heaven. Then come and follow me.”

Boom… it all blows apart.

The man’s face turns white. He feels the eyes of everyone looking at him. He stands up and walks away in a daze. He never imagined the price of eternal life was so high.

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So what do we do with this scripture? We who have mortgages, bills to pay, college to fund, retirement accounts (if we’re lucky). Sell everything you have? Are we all supposed to become St Francis of Assisi, living under the open sky, having dinner with the birds?

I’ll admit to you that I don’t know. This story has always made me uncomfortable. If Jesus’ words here don’t make us uneasy, then we’re not listening closely enough to him.

But I want to share with you another story, one that helps me understand this encounter Jesus has with a seeker.

The story comes from Philip Yancey, who is an editor and writer. He was doing research for a book called Disappointment with God. He was looking at ways pain and suffering can make people feel God has let them down or abandoned them.

He scheduled an interview with Douglas. Douglas’s wife had cancer, which started in her breast and moved to her lungs. Her illness put a great strain on her, on Douglas and their whole family.

But that wasn’t all. In the middle of this crisis, Douglas’s car was hit by a drunk driver. He suffered a head trauma and was never right afterward. He could no longer work full days… he got disoriented and forgetful… his vision was permanently damaged.

The two men met for breakfast at a restaurant. Philip watched as Douglas struggled just to guide the fork to his mouth with each bite. Philip felt like he was talking to a modern-day Job, that character in the Bible who suffered all those terrible things.

He described his book on Disappointment with God. Then he asked Douglas, “Tell me about your disappointment. What have you learned that might help someone else?”

Douglas was silent for a long time. He stroked his beard and thought. Finally he said, “I don’t feel any disappointment with God at all.”

He explained, “The reason is this. I learned, first through my wife’s illness, and then through my accident, not to confuse God with life. I’m upset about all that’s happened, and I vent my grief and anger. But I believe God feels the same way—grieved and angry.

“I’ve learned to see beyond the physical reality in this world to the spiritual reality. We tend to think that life should be fair because God is fair. But God is not life. If I confuse God with life—by always expecting good health, for example—then I set myself up for a great disappointment.

He concluded, “God’s existence—even his love for me—doesn’t depend on my good health or good fortune. Frankly, I’ve had more time and opportunity to work on my relationship with God during my impairment than before.”

Philip Yancey shared this story about Douglas in his book.

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I’ve been thinking a lot about Douglas lately, his words and his suffering. Seeing beyond the physical to the spiritual.

You see, these last two weeks have been pretty hard… really hard. Two dear friends of mine have had surgery—they lost parts of themselves so they could go on living. And they’re not the only ones. Others are suffering too, with anxious families watching.

And even when you’re just an observer, it changes you. It smacks you in the face with the fragileness of things. Our bodies are vulnerable—they break down, and they will wear out.

What does all this have to do with the seeker and Jesus? I think Jesus wanted him to do the same thing that Douglas learned to do. Look beyond the physical reality to the spiritual reality behind.

All the physical stuff in our lives—bodies, possessions, and all the money we spend on them—none of it lasts forever. It’s important, but it won’t last. And any of it can disappear in a day. The physical passes away—only the spiritual remains.

To put it another way, Jesus wanted him to travel light, carry less, for his own sake if nothing else.

Put less stock in stuff and things, and more in love and relationships. Love of friends, neighbors and family. Love of strangers. Love of God. Love of creation. Love takes up no space in a suitcase or a garage. Love is the only currency that counts for eternal life. In the end, love is all that matters.

I don’t have much more to say, only this: old Job was right. We come into the world naked, and we leave it naked. And we’re lucky if we leave with our bodies and bank accounts intact. The only thing we can take with us is the depth and quality of our loves.

So let love be your focus, and let the rest go.