For God, All Things Are Possible – Matthew 19:13-26

Lectionary Readings for September 13, 2020
Exodus 14:19-31         Moses parts the waters so the Israelites can escape from Egypt
Exodus 15:1-11, 20-21  v2a “The Lord is my strength and my might, and he has become my salvation…”
Romans 14:1-12          Do Not Judge Another
Matthew 18:21-35       The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant

But this week we’ll focus on Matthew 19:13-26 “Jesus Blesses Little Children” and “The Rich Young Man.”

Peace Quotes

“Peace and justice are two sides of the same coin.” ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower
This is one of the many reasons that Methodists have a long history of focusing on social justice issues at the local, national, and international levels.

“Peace has to be created, in order to be maintained. It will never be achieved by passivity and quietism.” ~ Dorothy Thompson
Creating peace is like creating pottery. It’s a messy process that sometimes requires starting over in order to get the desired (and sometimes unanticipated) results.

Any time I preach or lead a group, regardless of age, I start the same way. I’m going to say three short sentences. Please repeat each sentence, with enthusiasm.
God made me.           God loves me.            God has plans for me.

Preface to Today’s Scripture Reading

Today reading includes two stories that, at first, may seem completely unrelated. Both stories are recorded as actual events, not parables (which were stories Jesus made up to drive home a “big picture” point).

We start with Jesus blessing children brought to Him by their parents. These children were likely helpless and penniless in their society. We then have a story of Jesus talking with a completely different character, a man who is anything but helpless or poor.

Jesus uses His encounter with this man who is unnamed but is commonly referred to as the “Rich Young Ruler,” as a teaching moment to convey how earthly distractions can hinder someone from “entering” the Kingdom of God.

But beware! Don’t fall into the all-too-easy trap of condemning the rich young man. The assumptive conclusion that the Rich Young Ruler has chosen wealth over salvation, has been taught and preached for centuries, but the Scripture itself does not provide that conclusion.

As you listen to today’s reading, I invite you to put yourself in today’s story; put yourself in your choice of walking in the shoes of the parents, of the little children, of the rich young man, or an onlooking disciple.

Let’s open our ears, minds, and hearts to today’s reading.

Read Matthew 19:13-26.

If today’s reading sounds familiar, that’s because you can find it in all three synoptic Gospels (Matthew 19:16-30, Mark 10:17-31, and Luke 18:18-30). Each author gives us slightly different details, much the same way all of us would describe the same event with different details.

Jesus’ words in today’s story should be understood as a story of encouragement, not condemnation. Why? We can start with Mark’s version that says Jesus loved the man which is a remarkably uncommon description for anyone. Also, Jesus never challenges the man’s statement that he had kept all of the commandments since he was a boy. That’s a mighty impressive accomplishment!

And perhaps most complimentary of all, Jesus tells the man that the only thing between him and the Kingdom of God is parting ways with his wealth. If he can do that, Jesus invites the young man to join Him. That’s a mighty impressive invitation!

If Jesus’ request seems extreme, recall that this was not the first time that Jesus commanded someone to give up everything for the sake of following Him. Matthew tells the story of Jesus calling the first disciples – Simon, Andrew, James and John – all of whom immediately left their jobs as fishermen to join Jesus. In a subsistence economy, their actions were a tremendous (or selfish) act of devotion since their families depended on their work to survive (Matthew 4:18-22).

None of the three accounts tell us what the man did after he left. Was he so miserable because he knew he simply could not take that final step towards a complete commitment to God? Or was he sad because he was processing the grief of giving up his fortune, status, power, and comfort so that he could follow Jesus? We simply do not know.

And if it seems farfetched that someone could be simultaneously depressed and completely committed to doing what God calls them to do, recall that Matthew and Mark both record Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his execution saying, “I am deeply grieved, even to death…” (Matthew 26:38 and Mark 14:34).

From all of this, I draw a tremendously encouraging message: God’s primary desire for us is to be in relationship with us. Think about that. Yes, as His precious, beloved children, God wants us to be happy and healthy. And, even more than that, God wants us to be in close relationship with Him. And to get us there, God does not ask us to do anything that we cannot do. Following God’s leading may be difficult, but there’s a world of difference between difficult and impossible.

Which brings me to my final thought today.

With all of that in mind, the part of today’s reading that has stuck with me the most this week is the very end; the last words of the last verse: “For God, all things are possible.”

It’s a famous verse. If you’ve spent much time around Christians, you’ve no doubt heard it quoted in a variety of situations including when someone feels like they are faced with more than they can handle or whenever they need or want a miracle. Indeed, if you had told me 6 months ago where our food pantry would be today, I would have laughed and said with a degree of disbelief, “We can only dare to dream, but you know… For God, all things are possible.”

Here’s the thing. Jesus wasn’t talking with the young man about food pantries, or Earthly accomplishments, or miraculous healings, or how much God could further enrich the man’s life. Jesus wasn’t talking about how much God could flex God’s Divine Creator muscle.

No. Jesus was talking about salvation, about intimacy with God. This was a conversation about faith, not fame or finances.

There’s another famous story in all three Gospels (Matthew 9:1–8, Mark 2:1–12, and Luke 5:17–26) where Jesus forgives a paralyzed man of his sins then (after being criticized by the local religious leaders) Jesus heals the man’s body thus allowing the man to reintegrate into society, which was a pretty big deal at the time. But why in that order?

I believe it was because Jesus first dealt with what was most important – restoring the man’s relationship with God. Then Jesus restored the man’s relationship with society. Jesus’ first and best offer was salvation, and He gave that freely to someone who could offer only thanks and joyous praise in return.

Jesus’ first offer remains as true and as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago. Wherever you are in life, no matter how much or how little you have, no matter how much or how little you think you’re worth, you remain God’s precious and beloved child.

As difficult as it may be, let’s not let ourselves become distracted by our immediate, Earthly needs and wants. Let’s encourage each other, as members of this faith community, to focus first and foremost on our spiritual relationship with God. This is what John Wesley (founder of the Methodist movement) meant when he talked about “working out our salvation” as we mature in our sanctification. Those are some pretty churchy words that mean we’re going to spend our lives understanding what it means for each of us to put our intimate relationship with God before anything else. When we can do that, an unbelievable future awaits us.

Amen? Amen!