Avoiding Costly Mistakes - No Deal
Luke 18:18-25
Pastor Don Jones
West Glendale Baptist Church
One of my favorite TV programs just came back on for its second season. It is called "Deal or No Deal". I honestly think people are mesmerized when they watch it. I am not sure if it is Howie’s bald head, the pretty girls who hold the cases, or the desire to see someone walk away with a cool million or, as in the case of premier week, cool six million. What ever it is that causes us to watch, it is a game of pure chance with a little decision making along the way. I am constantly amazed at the people who walk away from the sure thing to take a chance on winning more money, even if it is only a few thousands more. I actually saw a woman turn down 880,000 from "the mysterious banker above". She either had a million or 750,000. She wound up with $750,000. I thought, "Serves her right." She "only" walked away with $750,000, boo-hoo.
Believe it or not there was a deal or no deal in the scriptures. The prizes were, good works, a fortune in money and possessions, and a chance at something far more valuable than mere possessions and money; the ultimate prize of eternal life. The characters involved were the disciples, an audience watching the exchange, a rich young ruler, and Jesus. You will find the account of the rich young ruler and Jesus in Luke 18:18-25.
Cue slide - The Urgency
I like the way the contestants are picked. Several "possibles" are in the audience waiting for their name to be called. I cannot imagine the intense pressure of waiting for your name. It must be close to unbearable. Finally after that moment of pause, the name is called and the person leaps from their chair, runs to the stage, and stands, jumps, and smiles ear to ear until "Howie" calms them down.
Mark 10:17 says,
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him.
The rich young ruler must have had a sense of urgency about his question. It could have been a deeply felt need in his life that drove him to seek the answer to his question.
I truly wish that we had that sense of urgency in our lives. If you are like me, you go through a week or a month and wonder where the time went. We do not live our lives intentionally. Too often we live just to "get through" the day or week.
Cue slide - The Question
Luke 18:18 asks the question,
A certain ruler asked him, ¡§Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?¡¨
In verse 23 we find that the young ruler had acquired great wealth and power. He came to Jesus and recognized Him as a teacher, a "good" teacher. Other versions say he addressed Jesus as "Rabbi", which translated means teacher. His question was one that was on people’s minds and is still on people’s minds. It was simply "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"
Most commentators agree that the question of eternal life had very little to do with the length of time associated with eternal. They do agree that it has everything to do with quality of life. Quality not quantity is the key to understanding the question. Perhaps he had discovered as Solomon had that for all of his wealth and power he was still empty. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14,
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
Perhaps someone he knew had just died or was dying. He might have been confronted with his own mortality. He might have been a young ruler of the synagogue or he may have heard a stirring reading that morning or interpretation of this passage. Whatever had happened, it caused him to have a great sense of urgency about his life. We do know that his question was in earnest, there was no trickery involved at all as some or maybe even I had suggested. He truly wanted to know what he needed to do. McArthur’s commentary even goes so far to portray the man as desperate to find the answer.
The young man posed the question to Jesus. A professor of OT once told me, "There is no right answer to a wrong question." The question he was asking was the wrong question. He was on the wrong track. He asked what he must do. The young ruler believed that the quality and hence, the satisfaction of his life depended on him. He believed it was through works that eternal life was attained.
Cue slide - Deal or No Deal
Jesus answers his question in Luke 18:19-20 and says,
Why do you call me good?¡¨ Jesus answered. ¡§No one is good¡Xexcept God alone. You know the commandments: ¡¥Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.¡¦¡¨
Matthew 19:16 says,
¡§Why do you ask me about what is good?¡¨ Jesus replied. ¡§There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.¡¨
Notice that Jesus says something unusual at first. It was the habit of many a Jew to call their teachers or rabbi good. Again, I think Jesus was making a statement about the righteousness of man. He states that "no one is good". I think he must have been referring to Isaiah. Isaiah clearly tells us Gods perspective in Isaiah 64:6. It says,
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
It almost seems as though Jesus was contradicting himself. He says there are none good but then refers to the 10 commandments. Why? Romans 3:20- tells us,
Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
I believe that Jesus was trying to get the young ruler to see that the Law and the Prophets were given by God to show our dependence on Him alone. No one could keep the commands of God and thus it was only by God’s grace and mercy that we had any hope at all.
"Jesus did not respond by immediately showing the way of salvation because the man was missing an essential quality. He lacked the sense of his own sinfulness, and Jesus had to point that out." (McArthur) Jesus was offering the young man an opportunity to reassess his question and possibly find his need for a savior.
¡§All these I have kept since I was a boy,¡¨ he said.
The young man in his answer to the question demonstrated his total lack of understanding. In pride and arrogance he said that he had kept the commandments, not as an adult, but he stated he had kept them all his life.
Jeff Strite once talked to a man about becoming a Christian who tried to convince him that he ¡§wasn¡¦t really a bad person." He didn¡¦t think he had really sinned all that much. Sensing that he was trying to avoid accepting his sinfulness Jeff gave him this illustration:
I told him to imagine I had invited him over to my house and offered him a cold Pepsi. I asked him "would you drink it?" "Of course," he replied. Then I asked to imagine I had poured that sparkling Pepsi into a filthy glass. Would he drink it then? Even if it had only a ring of old milk at the bottom of it? "Of course not", then I explained that when we sin - even just a little - and presume that God will accept us without our accepting His cleansing of the "glass" (or soul) we were, in essence, asking God to accept any good deeds we might do in a glass.
The young ruler wanted eternal life based on his good works. It hadn’t worked in the past and yet he was asking Jesus to accept his deeds in exchange for eternal life. The definition of stupid I find most often occurring in my life and others is this; Stupid is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Jesus said it wasn’t going to happen.
One day God was looking down at Earth and saw all of the evil that was going on. He decided to send an angel down to Earth to check it out.
So he called one of His best angels and sent the angel to Earth for a time.
When the angel returned she told God, yes it is bad on Earth, 95% is bad and 5% is good. Well, God thought for a moment and said "Maybe I had better send down a second angel, to get another point of view."
So God called another angel and sent her to Earth for a time too.
When the angel returned she went to God and told Him yes, the Earth was in decline, 95% was bad and 5% was good. God said this was not good. So He decided to E-mail the 5% that were good. He wanted to encourage them; give them a little something to help them keep going. Do you know what that E-mail said?
You didn¡¦t get one either, huh? (sermon central)
Matthew states the young man asked what more he needed. Luke states that Jesus told him what he lacked.
¡§All these I have kept,¡¨ the young man said. ¡§What do I still lack?¡¨
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, ¡§You still lack one thing.
Cue slide - The Offer
Jesus gave him one final opportunity by telling him the one element he was missing. The young man probably thought that he had missed one commandment. Perhaps he hadn’t kept one of the 627 additional laws of the Pharisees added on to explain the other laws given by God. It simply did not occur to him that he fell short in obedience to any part of God¡¦s known law. Because his outward, humanly observed life was upright and religious, he never suspected that his inner, divinely observed life was ¡§full of dead men¡¦s bones and all uncleanness. (Matt. 23:27)
Jesus responded to what he was lacking by saying,
Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.¡¨
Jesus gave it to him in three steps. He was to sell all he had in life. After all, he was gaining eternal life. Give the proceeds of the sale to the poor. There must have been quite a few in Jerusalem so finding them wouldn’t have been difficult. Then follow Jesus. And oh, by the way, you have laid your treasure in heaven where nothing can ever destroy it. Then you will attain your goal; eternal life. It seemed relatively simple.
I really think that the question tells us the outcome even before we read another word. The young man’s sense of urgency was based on his own sense of longing and need. His question reflects his self centered approach to life in the words, "what must I do". I am sure he wanted Jesus to give him another rite, ritual, or deed to fill this void. Jesus offered him the real answer. To gain eternal life you must give up what’s in your case, and exchange it for the one I have. Did you ever notice how long it takes for Howie to uncover that red button? The whole purpose is to increase the drama. Very slowly he walks around the contestant reviewing all of the possibilities and odds. Finally, he lifts the plastic cover and with hands clasped in a prayer like position he asks the question, "Deal or No Deal?"
Cue slide - Deal or No Deal
Jesus gave him one final offer. This was the last chance for him to trade what was in his case; outward righteousness, good works, obedience to the law for what Jesus was offering in response to his question; eternal life. Essentially Jesus posed the question "Deal or No Deal?" The next verse is one of the more heart breaking responses you will find. No Deal. It says,
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
He didn’t even answer. Not a word was spoken. He kept his case. No Deal. He turned his back on what Jesus offered him. He wouldn’t exchange all of his great wealth and power for eternal life. He was already miserable. He was already desperately seeking an answer to his inner longings. Yet he passed up ever lasting life; not so much the quantity of life as the quality of life. What answer have you given to Jesus, "Deal or No Deal"?
Invitation.
Outline
Avoiding Costly Mistakes - No Deal 10-8-2007
Luke 18:18-25 WGBC
1. The Urgency
„« He came running
„« He knelt
2. The Question
„« Recognized Jesus as "good"
„« What must I "do"
„« Eternal life
„« Quality not Quantity
3. Deal
„« Followed the law
„« Thought he was "righteous"
4. The Offer
„« Sell all you have
„« Give it to the poor
„« Follow Jesus
5. No Deal
„« Unwilling to give up his wealth and power
„« Walked away sad
„« He knew he turned down the best for less
