21st SUNDAY after PENTECOST 101324 Zion amp Bethel Lutheran Churches Lovettsville Va

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=oORFEWTlah4

What's with the Camel and the Eye of the Needle? Mark 10:17-31 • “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ask the rich young man who fell at Jesus' feet. • 'DO?' askes Jesus. What is it he really wants from Jesus? To look as GOOD as Jesus? Or is this a matter of checking off a list of a worried soul, What must I DO to inherit eternal life? Seemingly for him just upholding the 10 commandments which he declares he has done since his youth can't be enough, can it? Just look around ... the Pharisees enlarged that number to over 613 sub commandments detailing how one is to obey the big 10. What do I need to DO? Wondering if he was thinking ... I just want a little MORE ... a guarantee of my salvation. I just want to look good to God and do the right things so that God will look at me and smile. I just want to find a way to secure a spot in heaven, even if it takes a little cash for ME TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. Tell me what I NEED TO DO! • Looking at this young man with LOVE IN HIS HEART, Jesus says, OK ... you want to DO SOMETHING ... YOU WANT THIS TO BE ABOUT YOU? “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.” He couldn't believe what he was hearing and in grief walked away. Why? Because the riches of this world had taken possession of his heart. His heart wasn't ready to follow Jesus because it was possessed by what he had accumulated in life. He wasn't ready to surrender everything he had worked for to provide him the security he craved ... all the while feeling like even this financial security just wasn't enough to guarantee to ticket to heaven. He wanted something more. But it would COST HIM TOO MUCH. He couldn't imagine life without his stuff. I NEED MY STUFF! Reminds me of the child who has learned, Can you buy me this? doesn't work as well as I Want this! or in a final cry of desperation, I NEED THIS! The choice was his ... what did he really NEED/WANT? I recall, Jesus saying, Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Only problem is, if our treasure is something tangible, we will find that in the end we can't take it with us. We came into the world much like we will leave the world, with nothing in our hands. If only Jesus had given him a chance to cut a descent check, he would have gladly paid it! • But Jesus doesn't need our stuff, nor does he want it! He doesn't want HUMAN DOINGS ... he wants HUMAN BEINGS. What Jesus wants more than the STUFF of life is our very lives! He wants to have a lasting relationship with us. He wants our attention, our loyalty, our reverence, our presence, our reliance and trust in what HE HAS ALREADY GIVEN and DONE for us! He loves us and wants us to reciprocate that love with him and our neighbors. If we think getting a camel through the eye of a needle is tough, Jesus said it's even harder for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God? WE CAN'T DO IT! But JESUS has already DONE IT! We can't bargain or buy our way in with our good works or our money. Only God can bring us into his kingdom. Only God can get a camel though the eye of a needle. Nothing, absolutely nothing is impossible with God. All he asks of us is to trust him with the gift he has already bestowed on us in Jesus who PAID the price for our sin and set us free, to no longer be possessed by the things and ways of this world. If we can let Jesus possess us, our heart, mind, soul and strength, then there is no limit to what he/we can do together. Salvation is a GIFT! A gift given! A love shared! A life offered! A promise made! Let us come to Jesus and watch and see what he can and will do with and through us, as we come with nothing in our hands. These are the blessings that WE CAN TAKE WITH US: the joy in seeing the love we shared, the hearts we comforted, the sick we healed, the hungry we fed, the naked we clothed, the humble we lifted up, and the possessed we set free all in the name and with the power of Jesus! What joy there will be when we all get to heaven and see the lives that have been changed by God ... by HIS AMAZING GRACE!

#############################

New on site