I don't want to live like this

but i don't wanna die

The holy Gospel according to St. Mark the 10th chapter!

This man runs to Jesus and wanting to know what he HAS to do.

But, don’t you get the feeling this poor guy has been running his entire life?

…Right now a few of us are reading “Seculosity,” and one of the author’s points is that you can tell when effort is being exerted in religion, in whatever the form, by looking out for anxiety. 

Which, sadly, seems to be the case all too often. It certainly rings true for this man. 

Eventually we will be told he had a lot. But, as it turns out, none of that was enough to allay his anxiety about the future.

He runs up to Jesus, desperate to find out what he needs to do to make sure his future is in order. 

“What MUST I DO to inherit eternal life,” he asks.

Jesus, though, doesn’t seem too interested in discussing such questions. 

First, he takes issue with the designation the man uses to address him with. Then, he gives a text-book, seemingly throw-away answer. “You know the commandments,” Jesus shrugs. And then recites the second table of the Ten Commandments like a good confirmation student.

…It’s only when the man insists he’s been doing all that since he was a boy, that Jesus changes his tone. 

Looking at that man, who already has a lot, Jesus tells him, in love, that there’s just one last thing he lacks: “(G)o, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor,” Jesus says. 

At this, for maybe the first time in this man’s life, he stops. Shocked, he goes away, grieving.

You careful readers will note, it’s only here, as if delivering a punch-line, that we’re told the man has many possessions.

It’s as if the evangelists wants to make the point the man wasn’t as desperate as he thought!

But, we’re a lot like that man, aren’t we?

We, too, are running scared, doing everything we can to try and put our arrears in order.

Sometimes, catching a glimpse of the futility of it all, we too come running to Jesus. Wondering what we MUST to do to secure our future.

But, just as Jesus had no interest in answering the man’s question, so has he no interest in answering our’s, either.

Faith, real faith, isn’t concerned with the future.

…This winter Amanda and I watched a lovely little film, “Brittany Runs a Marathon.”

You can only watch it on have Amazon Prime, sorry. 

But, cards on the table, this movie was the reason we bit the bullet and got Prime. And, I have to say, it was worth it.

Brittany Runs a Marathon is based on a true story. 

It’s about a young woman who’s having trouble transitioning into adulthood. In fact, she feels like she’s stalled. 

One day she visits the doctor, trying to get a prescription for recreational use. The doctor, though, sees through her ploy and suggests she start exercising instead. 

Put off by the doctor, Brittany ignores him. At least, for a little while. 

But, as her life continues to flounder, she decides something has to change. So she does take up exercising. Choosing running because it’s in her budget, free. 

And over time, it start working! Her health improves. And the benefits carry over to the rest of her life, too. 

Slowly, Brittany starts to feel more optimistic about her future. In fact, she even gets the idea to run a marathon. 

As she progresses toward her goal, her life continues to fall into place. But, as many of us know, it’s always those last, little bits of our that are so hard to accomplish. And it’s no different for Brittany, either.

One night, frustrated by her lack of progress, Brittany goes out for an extra run. When she sees she still hasn’t met her goal, she goes out for another. And another.

Until she injures herself.

Enough to jeopardize her chance at running a marathon. 

In fact, her foot doesn’t heal in time, and she has to sit out the marathon she so desperately had her heart set upon.

Blessedly, I haven’t really given y’all any spoilers, but I relate this illustration because it captures a dynamic that’s true in so much of our lives. Doesn’t it? That just as often as not, the thing that does us in, is all our efforts.

The person who injured Brittany was, Brittany! And all because she felt she needed to reach some goal she assigned to herself.

Like the man in today’s scripture, like Brittany in Brittany Runs a Marathon; we’re all running, trying to set our house in order. But, we’re only getting further away from our goal.

It’s enough to make you run to Jesus!

Which is why I want us all to hear Jesus’ instructions as literal!

It’s as if Jesus says to us, “You want what I have to give? Easy. Stop trying. Depart with all the stuff you think will secure your future. Give it to the poor, those with the wherewithal to know just how fickle all that stuff is.”

…The man runs up to Jesus wanting to figure out how he can nip his future in the bud. But Jesus just instructs him to part ways with everything he thought would secure his future.

And, as it turns out, that’s the one things this man, whose never met a challenge he can’t meet, can’t do. 

Which, actually, is probably the best thing that could happen to him!

Now, for the first time in his life, he isn’t running, he isn’t striving. In fact, he’s like the people Jesus declared as blessed from that sermon on the mount, the mourning. He went away grieving.

The man found his blessing. But, it was at the last place he expected!

Which is actually, surprisingly, where true faith begins!

Like the man, we think following Jesus has to do with effort and accomplishments. But, as it actually turns out, faith in Jesus begins where all those things end!

Which is where Jesus was pointing the man all along!

And you, too!

Jesus’ office is at the end of your rope. And that’s where Jesus is inviting you today.

And perhaps you don’t need an invitation. Maybe that’s where you are right now. Which  just means you too are right where Jesus pronounces his best blessing, at the last place you’d expect!

Our own abilities are grossly overrated. Relying on them to secure our future is a surefire way to spend your life living as good as dead; anxious, tired and getting nowhere. 

When you get spooked by the futility of it all, you too will come running to Jesus. Maybe that’s why you’re here today. Which means you’re right where you need to be!

But, Jesus, wonderful savior that he is, won’t tell you how to get your future in order. Instead, he will redirect you to the present.

And here, in the present, you will find Jesus, and all he has to give!

Faith doesn’t have to do with an abstract future. It has to do with the promise that Jesus meets you in the messy, scary ever-present present!

…As it turns out, this man’s question was more insightful than he knew, “What must I do to inherit enteral life,” he asks.

And, what do you HAVE to do to inherit anything?

Nothing, of course! Nothing, except be in line to receive something from the deceased!

Which is exactly where you stand today! Right now!

In your baptism, you’ve ALREADY been adopted into Jesus’ family! Now you are in line to inherit all he's won by his death! 

In fact, it’s all ALREADY as good as yours, now! And, best of all, there’s not a single thing you must do to inherit it!