That was the problem of the rich young man in Matthew 19. He wanted to have God in his life to a certain extent -- to have the proper kind of morality which would ensure eternal life, but he did not want God to have all his life in all aspects. Don’t many of us, like him , keep a check list? We pride ourselves that we are achieving God’s standards or if not quite that, at least we are not as bad as others or we never do anyone any harm. Can we dare to stand before God on judgement day and so confidently assert that we kept the rules, or were not as bad as others, or we never did anybody any harm? Doesn’t sound very convincing, does it? Even the rich young man was not convinced by a check list of the rules: ‘I have kept all the commandments. What do I still lack?’ Here Jesus with loving firmness probes the weak spot like a skilled surgeon: ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’Christianity is not a matter of checking off the commandments; it is about complete commitment to Jesus Christ.

I wonder if many of us in church leadership have let Jesus down because we are more easy going than he is and cover up the real cost of commitment to Christ. If the rich young man applied to join our congregation would the elders and I be loving enough to challenge him with the real cost of commitment? or would we fall over ourselves to sign him up, get him offering envelopes, tell him just to come to church and keep a few commandments, make plans to get him on to the committee and on to the session and congratulate ourselves on being in with a powerful man? Jesus did not entice this man, nor did he reject him; he simply refused to lower his terms in order to get his good will; he plainly presented the cost and left the man with a decision to make. In order to follow Jesus he had to face up to the dead weight of wealth. He had a lot of possessions but his possessions held him. They were stopping him following Jesus; either his possessions had to go or he did not follow Jesus.

This is clearly one of the ‘hard sayings’ of Jesus and we must not try to fudge its meaning. Yes indeed, it was said to one individual and yes, it would be imprudent for every Christian to do this and yes, other parts of the Bible accept that some Christians are rich, and they are asked only to be generous with their wealth. But yes, there have been those who have taken this literally: the disciples themselves had left everything to follow Jesus, the early Christians in Acts were generous and shared what they had, or we can think of the example of St Francis or CT Studd and his friends wealthy privileged men from the English upper classes 100 years ago who abandoned all the wealth and privilege they had been born into in order to serve Christ as missionaries. In our own time I have heard of Christians dying in comparative poverty single men leaving literally only pence to their name. Why? Because they took teaching like this seriously. Such was their passion for Christ that money was no problem to them. We need more people like that round us, don’t we? Don’t we need to find out for ourselves what one thing we lack? what we are holding on to which prevents us from following Christ? What areas of our lives have barbed wire around them and notices saying ‘God Keep Out!’? Relationships which damage us and others? Obsessive attitudes to work or leisure? Approaches even to church where we will dominate and others can serve us?

Let’s pause for a moment and think of what it is that we treasure most or want most of all even if we haven’t got it now. Suppose Jesus comes and says; ‘you have to give that up to follow me’ Are we willing to say yes Lord, I love that a lot but I love you most of all’ It is not that Jesus is a kill joy, who wants you to be miserable and will take away whatever you treasure most; often he allows us to keep what we treasure and gives us more. But do we allow him to decide or are we just adding Jesus on as the religious bit of our lives never supposed to interfere with how we run things most of the time? In other words, does he act as the steering wheel or the spare wheel? Is he given constant control, or just used in emergencies?

It is hard isn’t it? Like a camel going through the eye of a needle -- the largest animal in Palestine confronted with the smallest opening, it is plainly impossible to our human strength and ingenuity but be encouraged: it is possible in a life handed back to God. ‘with God all things are possible.’ Remember what we started with, the one group of humans whose only problem with money is that it doesn’t taste nice. Jesus wants us to be , not childish but childlike in being humble, accepting, trusting in our heavenly Father’s provision.

Loving father the season of Advent used to be a serious time when people thought about the second coming of Jesus, about judgement and eternity. Now sadly, it seems we only care about a spending spree and celebrations that leave us tense and tired. Help us to prepare for the wonder of Christmas with the fresh wonder and excitement of children. Help us in how we spend money at this time. Let us be both wise and generous in using the resources you have entrusted to us. Guide our preparations to celebrate Christ’s first coming on earth that we are truly glad and confident for his second coming. Especially speak to any who find themselves like the rich young man. Help them to identify and give up whatever in their lives blocks from a true glad following of Christ.

God is able to make all things abound to you so that in all things at all times having all that you need you will abound in every good work

SOME NOTES AVAILABLE AFTER SERVICE

Wealth in the Bible is not necessarily wrong, but, like dynamite it is to be handled carefully. It is capable of great good or great evil. Deuteronomy 8.10 ff. warns of the dangers of material blessing from God, that we may forget him.

Matthew 6.19-21, 24-34 give Jesus’ teaching on serving God rather than Mammon (the God of money), so that our treasure is in heaven -- we value spiritual things most of all and we rely on our heavenly Father for everyday needs.

1 Timothy 6.3-10, 17-19 urge contentment and that the rich should be generous, aware that we come into the world with nothing and we leave it the same way. Likewise Hebrews 13.5 sets the beautiful promise that God will never leave us nor forsake us in the context of being free from love of money and being content.

In 2 Corinthians 8.1-15, 9.6-15 Christians are urged to show generosity in response to the example of Jesus Christ. Giving should be free and cheerful; in no way a rent that we feel we have to pay to God but a glad response, in proportion to what we have.

When we have a spirit of thanksgiving we can hold all things lightly. We receive; we do not grab. And when it is time to let go, we do so freely. We are not owners, only stewards. Our lives do not consist of the things we have, for we live, move and breathe in God, not things. ... this includes those intangible ‘things’ that are often our greatest treasures -- status, reputation, position. These are things that come and go in life, and we can learn to be thankful when they come and thankful when they go. (Richard Foster ‘Money, Sex and Power’)

Note on the camel going through the eye of the needle (Matthew 19.16-30) The idea that this refers to a ‘needle gate’ in the walls of Jerusalem through which a camel could only go by kneeling down and losing its load, is a late speculation, arising no earlier than 1100. It has no basis in what is known about the gates of Jerusalem in Jesus’ time. Jesus was not saying (what was obvious) that rich people have to give up their wealth when they die, but rather he was using the impossibility of a large animal going through a tiny opening to warn about the snare of wealth, having challenged the rich young man to give up his wealth while still living in order to follow Jesus. The challenge to enter the kingdom of heaven comes now, while we live, not on the point of our deaths.