A certain ruler asked Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”
“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said.
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
Those who heard this asked, “Who then can be saved?”
Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”
Peter said to him, “We have left all we had to follow you!”
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age, and in the age to come eternal life.”
–Luke 18:18-30
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Preachers are supposed to preach the Good News. The trouble is, sometimes it is difficult to tell the good news from the bad news. In the Bible, as in real life, it is sometimes hard to tell the difference between the good news of grace and the bad news of judgement. Sometimes, what looks like harsh and cruel judgement, turns out to be an act of pure grace. Sometimes grace and judgement are the same thing. In fact, we even sing about this in that best loved of all hymns, Amazing Grace. We sing, “’Twas grace that taught my heart to FEAR, and grace my fears RELIEVED. How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed!
Sometimes, the only difference between good news and bad news is where you happen to be sitting when you get the news. Take for example, the news of Jesus’ death on the cross. To the disciples, sitting in that locked room on the day after, hiding out in despair and fear, the crucifixion looked like the worst news possible. But for us, sitting in church on a Sunday morning, hearing about Christ’s victory over death and the grave, the cross was a step on the way to the best news ever.
Herb Brooks (1937-2003; pictured above) was bad news. On the first day of practice for the 1980 United States Olympic hockey team, everyone hated him. He was tough, he was demanding, he drilled the players mercilessly, and he was always yelling at someone or everyone. Many players said he was the most miserable man they ever met. One player even said the players became united as a team primarily because they all had a common enemy—Herb Brooks. To the whole team, Herb Brooks was bad news—at first. But then, in an incredible upset, this well-trained and disciplined team beat the Russians in the semi-finals and went on to win the gold medal. All of a sudden, Herb Brooks was the greatest guy and the best coach on earth. Then, having played for Herb Brooks was all good news.
This can also work the other way. All the ninth graders thought it was good news to get the new teacher, Mr. Harris, for Algebra I. They all agreed he was the nicest teacher ever, so friendly, it was easy to get him off the subject to talk about other things, his tests were not difficult, and ‘aren’t we lucky to have him,’ they all said. It was good news in every way. That is, until Algebra II the next year. Then, all of Mr. Harris’s students were lost and had to get tutors; but those in the other section who had the crabby and demanding old Miss Thomas (bad news), were getting straight A’s. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out if it’s good news or bad news.
In Luke 18 and Mark 10 there is the story of an ‘extremely rich’ ruler who came to Jesus with a question. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” he asked. This was a golden opportunity for Jesus to give that man some good news—the good news of God’s offer of forgiveness and salvation, just like Jesus had been telling everyone all about. But Jesus apparently saw in this man the need for a different kind of lesson that day, so he gave a surprising answer. Jesus said to him, “You know the commandments.” Commandments? Didn’t Jesus say in John 3:16, “Believe and you will be saved?” There was no mention of the commandments there. To this surprising answer, the man replied with his own surprising statement: “I have kept them all,” he said. Wow! Well, how about some good news now, Jesus? That is quite an accomplishment! But no good news yet. Jesus looked at him and said, “One thing you still lack. Sell all you have and give it to the poor, and you will have your treasure in heaven; and then you can come and follow me.” (continued…)
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