All I hear in Peter’s words are exacerbation and exhaustion after Jesus instructs the man, Peter, and all of us to give up everything we own, give the money to the poor, and then follow Jesus. “Look, we have left everything and followed you,” Peter says. People usually hear Peter’s words here as words of boasting, but since the disciples have already moaned, “Then who can be saved,” it seems clear that Peter is continuing this sense of exacerbation. “What more do you want from us?” Peter seems to be saying. “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”
“What more do you want from us?”
I have been hearing this more and more as the weeks, months, and years go by. As good faithful people try and try to make a dent within their communities and, dare I say, see some new faces in the pews, but it does not seem to be happening I hear the lament to God, “What more do you want from us?”
As adult sons and daughters take care of their ageing and failing parents, and then they need to take care of their grandchildren, and then they need to start taking care of their own ailing health they cry out to God, “What more do you want from us?”
As the struggles of this world continue to blare from our television sets and from our phones, and we try to do our part, but doing our part to make this world a better place doesn’t seem to make a single bit of difference, all while new concerns and struggles pop up all the time, desiring our attention, and consuming our sleep, we cry out to God, “What more do you want from us?”
You know what? I do not think you are a failure or that you lack some sort of moral character if it is all just a little bit too much right now. Sometimes, life is just a little bit too much, and it is OK to say, “That is just reality.”
I am having a hard enough time keeping off the measly ten pounds that I have lost. If I cannot get a handle on my own health, I am pretty sure I am not quite up to the task of changing our entire culture to be more healthy, loving, and forgiving. Do you know why it is hard? Things like crispy crème donuts exist! And, in the same way, daily struggles and hard-headed people all exist, right?
If only donuts were all I had to worry about. If only donuts were all any of us had to worry about. Sometimes my complete lack of God-like power and control over this world really, really comes into sharp focus. There is obviously something lacking in life that would make it all better.
Maybe that is why I identify with this guy (who incidentally has lots of stuff) who comes up to Jesus. I, incidentally, have lots of stuff too. There is too much stuff is in our house. In fact, one could say that I am pretty stuffed out. But, it is not just the stuff that captures my attention with this guy; it is the sort of question he asks. “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Of course, the good, educated protestant within me immediately answers, “There’s nothing that we can do to inherit eternal life. That is why we trust Jesus to save us.” See, I learning something in Sunday School. It was not all just flannel graphs and eating crayons. Haha, remember flannel graphs? Just take a little cut out Jesus and stick him on the blue board! Walla! He is instantly walking on water. The miracle of the flannel graph!
I am getting distracted here. I know why. It is because I know that the man’s question goes much deeper than just asking how to get to heaven. It touches on those deeper struggles of life. What he is asking is more like, “Good teacher, what do I need to do to make this life better; with less struggle; to more holy, and to be fuller of life, and love, and laughter.
In response, Jesus, the ever caring healer, starts with the basics. Like a doctor trying to make sure that the low hanging fruit are not the cause of the problem: smoking, lack of exercise, forgetting to take your medicine; Jesus asks the man about the commandments. “Do you murder? Do you cheat on your spouse? Do you steal? Do you lie about your neighbors? Do you forget to take care of your parents?”
“No, no, and no again” the man answers. “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.”
But, that still is not good enough, is it? We all know that being good does not guarantee a good life. Sure, congratulations, you are not going to jail for murdering someone! But, ask a caregiver of someone whose health is ailing if they ever feel free. I could give you more examples, but you get the point. Heck, you probably live the point. Being a really, really good person does not guarantee that you will get that “better” life; with less struggle; that feels more holy, and is more full of life, and love, and laughter. And that “lack” of life and vitality is what gets us asking those questions that we asked at the beginning of the sermon. “What more do you want from us Jesus?” “What more do we need to do?”
As the man waits for an answer, Jesus gives him some of the most wonderful words of scripture. You see, rarely, do we ever get to hear what God feels about something. We infer it from what God does and how God reacts. But, in a rare break in God’s façade, we get to hear how Jesus feels when he looks at us, tired and yearning souls. The scriptures say, “Jesus, looking at [the man], loved him.”
Can we just sit with that for a second? When Jesus looks at us tired and struggling people, as frustrating as we must be…as blockheaded and backwards as we must act sometimes….as confused and wandering and unable to hear the words of Jesus as we are…as childlike as we act sometimes, Jesus still looks at us with nothing but love.
You are loved. In all your struggles, you are loved. In all the deep breaths that stem from overwhelmed souls, you are loved. In all the wayward acts and wrong approaches that you have taken in life, thinking that they would be good, but turn out to be destructive, you are loved. Jesus looks us, and loves us.
And, with love in those eyes, Jesus finally gives us his treatment plan: give up the need to control it all, and follow me. To the young man with many possessions he says, “Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” In other words, “give up the need to control it all, and follow me.”
And, when the disciples are astounded by Jesus’ teachings that those people in the world who appear the most blessed by God with lots of wealth are no more likely to crawl their way into eternal life than a camel going through the eye of a needle, they ask, “Then who can be saved?” And, Jesus gives the same answer to them as he did the man with many things, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” In other words, “give up the need to control it all, and follow me.”
You want to know what I hear from Jesus’ words here? He is saying, “It is OK if you are not enough, because I am enough.” Have these past weeks and months been impossible? Are you at the end of caring…you are just cared out? Jesus says to you, “It is OK if you are not enough, because I am enough.” “For God all things are possible.”
And, maybe, when you grieve enough, as the man starts to grieve as he walks away from Jesus, you will be able to let go: you will be able to let the stuff go, or you will be able to let the controlling person go, or you will be able to let your own need to control every situation in life go, and when you do, when you grieve it all, you will finally be able to turn around and head in a new direction. You will finally be able to follow Jesus…to truly follow him and trust him. And, when that happens, you will finally be able to see the living God who loves to overcome the impossible.
You will see the living God who opens the eyes of the stubbornly blind. You will see the living God who feeds the entire crowd from a small amount of food. You will see the living God who overcomes all the scorn, all the struggle, and all the death. You will see the living God who is able to overcome death on a cross. You will finally be able to see the living God who is able to put a camel through the eye of a needle. You will finally be able to see the living God who loves to overcome the impossible, and that sight…seeing the living God, and following the living God…makes all the difference.
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