With Stuff, Without Stuff

October 15, 2000

The Rev. Dr. Anthony J. Godlefski, Pastor

Montgomery United Methodist Church

Mark 10: 17-31

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.” And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, ad you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.

And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” and the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God? It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” Peter began to say to him, “Lo, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, house and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many that are first will be last, and the last first.”

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, good morning! We have remarkable Gospel before us today. It seems that Jesus was traveling from one place to another, and as he went along the road, a man came running up to him. He fell at his feet, and kneeling, he said, “Good teacher, how can I earn eternal life?”

Jesus looked over the situation. I have a feeling that there were some very interesting things about that man. You see, he was very wealthy. I wonder what he looked like? Perhaps his garments were very brightly colored and stunning. Perhaps they were full of jewels and beautiful pieces of metal, gold and silver. Perhaps he had many of them, all along his sleeve and around his neck. Perhaps he had a hat indicating his stature and position and significance. And if he had all that, he probably had bodyguards, don’t you think? Maybe he had a little entourage around him, people who clung to him and escorted him.

And so, as he came running, all this came running with him. He fell at Jesus’s feet, and he said, “Good and great teacher, how can I have eternal life?”

Jesus looked at him and said, “Wait a minute with all the titles. Let’s save something for God. I appreciate what you’re saying, but let’s take some of those superlatives and hold them for the Lord above.”

I wonder what was in Jesus’s heart. I think Jesus knew that this was a sincere request. I think Jesus knew that there was a real spiritual hunger in this man. And wasn’t that amazing, for all the stuff he had? He had so much stuff—riches, stature, people around him—and yet there was an emptiness somewhere inside. And Jesus said, “Okay, let’s try the conventional answer.” And he said to the man, “All right, you know the rules. You shall not steal; you shall not be unfaithful; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not dishonor your mother and father; you shall not kill. Do this, and you will live.”

And the man said, “But Master, I have done all these things since I was little.”

And Jesus thought, and looked at him, and he began to speak. But did you notice what happened just before Jesus spoke? There was one little word, one tiny phrase before Jesus began to speak. “Jesus looked at the man and he loved him.” Isn’t that amazing? He didn’t criticize him, he didn’t belittle him, he didn’t look down at him. The Gospel says, “He loved him.” And then he said, “Friend, there’s one thing you lack. What if you were to go and take all this stuff and sell it and give it away to the poor and follow me? What do you think?”

And the man was shocked! He was shocked speechless. He turned away grieving, “for he had many possessions.” Actually, “for many possessions had him.” He walked away into the distance.

The disciples turned to Jesus and said, “Wow! That was amazing. Lord, we thought that stuff was a sign of blessing. We thought that was the sign that the man had done well. Who shall stand?”

Jesus answered, “Stuff isn’t everything. If a person has a lot of stuff, it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for that person to get close to God.”

Now, we need to understand that we think of the eye of a needle as one thing, the sewing needle. In Jerusalem there was a tiny gate to get into the city, a very narrow gate of stone, called the Eye of the Needle. A camel could just about fit through the gate—if he didn’t have any stuff on him. That’s what Jesus was referring to.

The disciples asked, “But who shall stand?” Jesus said, “Don’t try to do it on your own. On your own, it’s impossible. With God, everything is possible.”

The disciples responded, “Lord, we left everything and followed you. We’re okay, right?” And Jesus said, “Look, having things is not a sin. People who put God first will have all kinds of things. Put God first.”

Well, friends, what I’d like to talk with you about today are two insights from this Gospel. The first is this: with stuff or without stuff, you are loved. Jesus looked at the man who had many possessions, and he loved him. With things or without things, we are loved. Don’t let things give you value. You give value to things. The television and the circulars and the ads would have us believe that, if we have certain things, we’ll be really okay. If we have certain items, then our neighbors will admire us. Jesus says it isn’t true—you are wonderful just as you are. There is no one just like you. If you have many things, that’s fine. If you have nothing, you are just as wonderful. Your worth comes from your own dignity, which is a gift from God. With stuff or without stuff, you are loved. Let your spirit triumph!

If I can share a personal note, I am dealing with this whole matter of possessions. My mother and father were savers. They left me many things—two households filled with things, which I have now gotten down to something I affectionately call “the unit,” a storage unit that I’ve rented in North Brunswick. In preparation for the rummage sale this week, I spent time at the unit, thinking about what to let go of and what to hold onto. I wonder if some of you are going through the same thing.

It is a good exercise. I found some things that are very, very precious to me. I found a letter that was opened, addressed to my mother, from her brother. Within that letter was a letter to me, thirty years later. Talk about not opening your mail! It was a loving letter from my uncle, advising me that I should develop a second career other than music. Thank you, Uncle Frank.

I found a manuscript, an autobiography my mother was writing about her life in Poland. What a cherished thing! I found bills—my father saved receipts from every bill he ever paid. But you know, among those bills were receipts from Drew University and Westminster Choir College. They reminded me of his love for me and how he sent me to school.

I found a wonderful book of English phrases that he must have used, with the English phrase in the left column and the Polish phrase in the right column, and in the middle column the phonetic pronunciation of the English phrase. Polish pronunciation is absolutely consistent. Every letter is always pronounced the same way every time. We don’t have contextual pronunciation changes, such as read and read; we don’t have auxiliary letters as in knife. Polish is really consistent. Of course, five consonants may jam together. A friend of mine says she thinks Polish was invented by a group of people who had terrible colds.

Anyway, the book provides phonetic translations of English phrases. [Pastor Tony using Polish accent: I am very pleased to meet you. You have a very nice house.] My father talked like that. I think these days we’d call that book, “Hooked on Phonics-ski” or something like that. It was a treasure to find.

Many things I had to let go of. But I had to remember that God loves me, with these things or without these things. And as you go through things in your life, I invite you to remember that, won’t you?

Second, yes, we are loved, but Jesus doesn’t stop there. Jesus challenges us to go to the next level, and to move from having things of success to significance. He challenges us to go from being loved to loving. He said to the rich young man, “Look, here’s how to fill the emptiness in your heart. Take what you’ve been blessed with and share! Take what you have and help others do well! Take what you have and enjoy life by lifting other people up!” That was his challenge to the rich young man.

This week, here at church, we had a rummage sale. I think that’s wonderful. I think there’s a great metaphor in the rummage sale. First of all, a remarkable amount of money was raised to help people in need. People in the area found treasures that they didn’t know they didn’t have. I got a wonderful crock-pot and a blanket and a tea cozy. It was a blessing.

And the rummage sale blessed me personally, because I was able to take some of the things I was parting with very reluctantly and give them over to these very loving people who turned them into something good. It was a real blessing. I invite it for all of us.

Let’s take what we’ve been blessed with, take what we have, enjoy the success, but enjoy the giving. Move from the game of getting to the significance of love. Move from just what we have to the sunshine of giving out. That’s Jesus’s way.

And remember, in all of this, you are loved. By God. By me, too. Have a wonderful week. God bless you. Amen.