The One Thing

Sermon from October 13, 2006 at First Presbyterian Church in Berryville, Arkansas

Job 23:1-9, 16-17
Psalm 22:1-15
Hebrews 4:12-16
Mark 10:17-31

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen

It’s time for me to admit a guilty pleasure. I love watching poker on television.

When watching the World Series of Poker on the tube, there are all of the modern technological advances that make watching Texas Hold ’Em Poker look like any other televised event. There are special camera angels, there are special features on the players, and of course, there are the announcers like Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder, Gabe Kaplan, and most recently, Norman Chad and Lon McEachern.

I love watching the players. What catches my eye is that in some events the players wear so much advertising they rival NASCAR drivers. There are caps and shirts advertising for PokerStars.Com, 888.info, FullTiltPoker.com and other internet poker sites. The players themselves make commercials for their latest books, web sites, and whatever. The tournaments are sponsored by big rollers including Miller Brewing and Coca-Cola. Televised poker has gone big time.

The World Series of Poker hasn’t always been such a big deal.[1] The first World Series of Poker event in 1969 was an invitational tournament in Reno, Nevada. In 1970, seven men played several different games and the winner was determined by a vote of the players. The winner took home a silver cup. The first modern style tournament was in 1971. The winner of the main event paid in $5,000 to play and took home $10,000 in winnings. These tournaments were very exclusive, only elite players received an invitation to play.

These days, it’s no big deal to get into any World Series of Poker event. There are no more invitations, no more making your bones. All you need is enough money to pay the entry fee. Since 1972, the buy-in, the entry fee, to the Main Event has been $10,000. But not everyone pays to play the event. Many internet poker sites buy seats and give them away to their on line tournaments winners. In 2003, the winner of the Main Event of the World Series was Chris Moneymaker. He got his seat at the table after winning a $40.00 qualifying tournament. Fending off 838 others, he won two-and-a-half million dollars.

Another thing that made Moneymaker different was that he was an accountant, and the first amateur to win the main event. In the last four Main Events, three of the winners have been amateurs. This year’s winner was an amateur named Jamie Gold. He won the largest poker game in history, 8,773 other players, winning $12 million.

I was watching poker on TV the other night and after watching chips being recklessly bandied around the table, I heard Norman Chad lament “These kids don’t know the value of money.” I’ve come a long way to say this, Norm’s got a point.

What do we expect? The new wave of poker players are amateurs—not the grizzled professionals of yesterday. The old pros used their own money to get into tournaments. Many of the young guns of poker cut their teeth on games that are free or have an inexpensive buy-in. They play with hundreds of thousands of chips that have no relation to real money. Players bet all of their chips on hands that are suspect hoping for the best. Many entering the Main Event don’t even buy their own way into the event; they’re playing with other people’s money from the first hand. It’s not the same game it was anymore.

And honestly, $10,000 just isn’t what it was in 1972 anymore either.[2]

But all things considered, at the most basic level, nothing has changed since biblical times. People do all sorts of things for money; some play cards. Others invest in securities, some of these being a crapshoot at best. Others inherit their fortunes. Players know that the one with the biggest stack at the end wins.

Today’s gospel reading is traditionally called the tale of the rich young man. He is a humble man. He shows he has the makings of a follower of Jesus. The rich man reaches Jesus as he sets out on his final journey to Jerusalem and he kneels before him. This act of contrition is often the way the sick approached Jesus seeking healing. This is not a test of the Pharisees; this is the supplication of a humble and hopeful man. He asks, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

The man is sharply focused. Jesus asks him a question: “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” The man misses this question focusing on his own. We know the irony of his statement “No one is good but God alone.” He is God! He is Good! Jesus hints at this with his disciples, but in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus never equates himself with God. This is left for us, the worshipping community past and present. The man, on his knees, just lets this statement wash over him. The sharply focused man awaits his answer.

He is a confident man. In verse 19, Jesus quizzes him about his piety. Jesus asks the man about whether he has kept the commandments that concern how people are to live together. “You follow these commandments, don’t you?” Here the young man shows he has the makings of a Pharisee. “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” The man is confident he has done what is required of a good child to inherit eternal life.

Now, it is tempting to look at this man with contempt. We know how this ends for the man, but we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. Verse 21 begins with the glory of God shining upon this man. “Jesus, looking at him, loved him.” Jesus does not scorn him. Jesus does not hold the rich man in contempt. Jesus does not rear back and let him have it. Jesus loves him.

No where else in Mark’s gospel is it said Jesus loves any other person. Jesus loves him. And because Jesus loves him, he wants what is best for him, what is good, what is holy. “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” Jesus asks this man to get rid of what ties him to this life and dump it in favor of eternal life. The man asks Jesus “what must I do?” and Jesus tells him the one thing he lacks.

It is tempting to ask ourselves, “What is that one thing I lack. What is the one thing Jesus asks of me? What ties me to this life keeping me from eternal life?” It’s a very good question, with a very good answer, but again we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. We are trained to know that Jesus wants our time and our talents and our treasure. But Jesus is specific in this exchange, he is talking about treasure.

He doesn’t invite the young man along because he has talent Jesus needs. Jesus never says to him or to any of us, “You’re gifted; I need someone like you in the organization.” No, Jesus needs him—unencumbered of the things that tie him to this life. Jesus needs all of him so that he may inherit treasure in heaven, eternal life. Jesus needs all of him so that he may share the wealth of His vocation and the riches they bring.

It is tempting say that we are not rich. John Stossel of the ABC TV show 20/20 has an interesting take on this. In his “Give Me a Break” segment, he once approached a group of people waiting for assistance.[3] He asked why they were there. They said it was because they were poor. Then he asked about their stuff. People admitted to having a place to stay, and cars, and cable television, and microwave ovens, and large music systems, and all sorts of stuff. His take was “These people need a handout? Give Me a Break!”

But I am not fond of this take. Sure, it shows that American poverty is some of the best poverty in the world. People from all over the world long to come to America for our brand of poverty. But seemingly, Stossel says this without love or compassion. The segment also fails to show the truly poor that do live in the boundaries of the greatest nation on earth, those who know real hunger, those who do not have a roof over their heads.

John Stossel doesn’t seem to have approached his subjects with love.

Jesus loved the rich young man.

It is easy to beat people over the head with this piece of the gospel. It is easy, far too easy, to say to you from the pulpit that “we are all rich, richer than most, and we are called to give, give, and give more for the glory of the gospel. Remember, ‘It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven!’”

I recently read an article said that when we get caught up in the processes of the faith, we tend to treat the processes like idols. The author writes, “It is certainly idolatrous when the Book of Order is used as a club to beat somebody with.”[4] I believe this applies to scripture too.

Many, rich and poor alike, have been intimidated with this piece of the Good News, me included. But Jesus says more than go, sell, and give. He also says come and follow. This is more than a call to give to the cause of those in need, the cause of the Gospel. It is a call to good discipleship. Discipleship involves the good use of our God given treasure. It also involves what we allow God to do with our lives after we surrender them back.

The disciples are astounded. Oh Jesus, If what you say is true, those who have been blessed by the Lord with great wealth (a common thought in ancient Judaism), if they cannot be saved then who can?

“For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” Jesus reminds them, and us all, that God is sovereign. For God…all things are possible.

I said we know how it ends for this man, but really, we don’t. We know he leaves—shocked, saddened, and grieving. It is true, we never hear about this man again. But the gospel is silent about this man. We suppose he left Jesus to be with his fortunes. This is how this passage leaves us. But then again, we do not know how his encounter with the living God left his life. We don’t know that the Holy Spirit was able to keep gnawing away on his life until he was able to leave his things behind for the things of God. We just don’t know. I certainly hope so. There is only one thing in the scripture that leads me to believe this may be true, for God, all things are possible.

This piece of scripture deals with the current day and with the final days too. As we talk about eternal life we are compelled to consider what that means for our time and for the ages. Returning to the poker metaphor, the final table is no longer for the elite, Jesus invites us all to come and play. The rules are not the same as they were before the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. Before, our wealth was seen as the way to buy our seats at the final table. Now we are invited to sit at the table of God by Jesus. We are told to take our earthly binds and cast them where they will help the people of God. And we are told to come and follow Him. This is about stewardship, and this is about discipleship. But of course, as Jesus tells us so well in verse 21, these are part and parcel.

“Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” He gives us these difficult instructions not because he wants to inflict hardship upon us, but because he loves us.

[1] Poker references come from Wikipedia.org, accessed the week of October 10, 2006
[2] $10K in 1972 is worth $45,611.08 in 2005. $10K in 2005 is worth $2,192.45 in 1972
[3] This was years ago, I do not recall the date of the broadcast.
[4] Johnson, David W. in “Spirituality as a Response and Concern.” Insights, The Faculty Journal of Austin Seminary, v. 122, no. 1, Fall 2006. Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary: Austin, Texas, page 15.