What lack I yet?...the Wayfarer 8/23/14

8/23/14

                                                    What lack I Yet?

“The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?”

(Matthew 19:20)

Once again I find myself in Matthew for this day’s message.  Here we find Jesus answering a question for a young man who has come to him in search of the way to eternal life. This young man asks a question that is still pertinent today in each of our own lives, and is a question worthy of asking ourselves daily. This young man was obviously a devout Jew, as we will read in the beginning statements of this particular teaching.

 Yet he felt compelled to ask what more needed to be done to assure that he would see the kingdom of heaven and be among those few elect who will win eternal life.

Before we begin to explore this particular scripture, I want each of you to ask yourself the same question that this young man asked, “What lack I yet?”

 If you truly examine your life and heart, you will find any number of ways to improve on the condition of your eternal soul. This question applies not only to what we lack in reference to gaining eternal life, but also pertains to what we lack in our efforts to  be disciples of the Master, which, if we call ourselves Christian, is what we profess to be.

We will delve deeper into this after first examining the scripture, beginning with the 16^th verse of Matthew:

“And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

He saith unto him, Which?

Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up; what lack I yet?”

(Matthew 19:16-20)

As I stated earlier, this young man was obviously a devout Jew, who not only knew the commandments, but kept them. Still he felt that there was something lacking.

 I call your attention to Jesus’ statement that included in the requirements to inherit eternal life, was something not covered in the Ten Commandments that Judaism was familiar with.

 “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself!”

This is the first reference to the commandment that he later gave his disciples to love one another.  It is the single commandment given us by Jesus, Himself, and if followed would assure obedience of the other ten!

 Jesus stated that in order to inherit eternal life we must constantly be aware of the original Ten Commandments given Moses, and additionally and, perhaps, even more importantly, we must be aware of Christ’s admonition to love one another!

 When we fail, even in the slightest way, to live up to this standard that he set, we sin. Sin requires repentance.

Repentance requires, first the recognition that we have sinned. Denial of that fact earns chastisement in one form or another, if we are indeed Christian.

 Perfection, though unattainable in this corrupt body, must still be pursued:

“Jesus said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come follow me.”

(Matthew 19:21)

Jesus asked this young man to sacrifice his riches and give them to the poor. He asked that he leave the comfort of his home and family and friends and follow him.

What are YOU willing to sacrifice for our Lord? I can hear the murmuring now, pastor, I’m not that rich young ruler, I don’t have very much, I can barely pay my bills. Surely the rich were who he was talking to.

 If you have a roof over your head, food to eat, clothing to wear, heat in the winter, and shade in the summer, you have far more riches than our Savior had while here  on this earth!

If you live in a shanty, and heat with the same coal, or wood that our forefathers used, you still have a roof over your head, If you eat “country,” hunting for your meat, gardening for your vegetables, aren’t connected to the net, don’t have electricity even if you were, you are still far richer than our Savior was while on this earth.

“And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.”

(Matthew 8: 20)

I ask once more, just what are you willing to sacrifice for our Lord? Just how closely do you live to the commandments he referenced while answering this young man?

 Christianity is more than attending church once or twice a week.

It is more than just a religion. Even a mule can claim religion.

He can go around with his long sad face, braying and complaining about his lot in life and everything and everybody around him and might even consider himself to be the only creature on earth to be righteous in his own eyes.

Christianity is a devotion to the teachings of our Savior.

It is a valid and honest attempt to follow those teachings in everything we do and say. It must be first and foremost in our hearts and minds before it can be in our souls.

 I have stated before, and state here again, salvation is a onetime experience, the only one who can verify it is you, and Jesus.

Repentance is, however an ongoing continual endeavor.

 No one is fit to judge another man’s soul’s condition. Trying to judge fruits is to judge the individual. When you see the beggar on the street that is homeless, do you judge him less than you, or merely less fortunate?

How would you have judged our Savior, who was also homeless?

 How would you have judged John, who Jesus said was the greatest prophet of all times, with his camel hair and goatskin clothing and a diet of locusts and honey?

 Was he less the prophet that Jesus said he was because he didn’t wear a suit and tie, eat the finest of dishes available at the finest of restaurants?

Was he less because he lived in the wilderness without a building to shelter him in some great city? How closely do you pay attention to the lessons taught by both John and our Savior?

We’ll continue because Jesus wasn’t finished with this particular lesson that he left for us:

“But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And I say again unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying Who then can be saved?

But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?

And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.”

(Matthew 19:22-30)

That young man went away sorrowful! He was willing to keep the commandments of Moses, but unwilling to sacrifice the many things he had acquired in his life.  The things that were truly important to him were the things of this world.

I am reminded of something I used to use to find out what young people really wanted from life when I was an Army recruiter.

I would ask if this was truly what the prospect wanted, after he indicated a particular goal in life.

Invariably they would answer, “yes it was”, no matter what their goal in life that had been stated was. I always countered, “would you work without good pay for several years, digging a ditch, hard manual labor as long as twelve hours a day with no day off for the entire time if you knew at the end of that specified time that you would reach the goal you described for me?”

The answer was usually no.

This told me that the young person either didn’t believe in his goal strongly enough or was lying to me and himself about what his real goal was. The few who answered yes always enlisted in the Army willing to sacrifice something to attain that goal!

What is your goal? I ask one more time, what are you willing to sacrifice for your Lord? If your answer is nothing, you need to reevaluate whether you have truly given you soul to the Savior for his keeping. He gave his humanity and blood so that you could inherit eternal life. He asks only that you follow his commandment of love in return. That requires sacrifice and repentance on your part. You can’t truly repent without sacrificing things of this world in exchange for the wealth promised by him.

 I leave you with just one more thought.  We face a world in which terrorism has become the tool of a fanatic religion known as Islam.

Though all do not practice or preach jihad, there are those so devoted that they become human bombs to reach the paradise that they feel they are working toward. They serve a religion, founded by a man.

I serve a living Savior given by God. What do you serve?

I salute you with the love of God given this sinner, saved by His grace through the blood of His Son Jesus Christ, in the hope that you too can find the way to salvation and eternal life that the rich young ruler, who was subject of this message ignored. Live and believe, strengthen your faith by praying, reading, and listening to his teachings. Teach them to your children. Sacrifice whatever is demanded of you by Him. Repent and accept him as your savior as well as mine.

2 Timothy 1:12
 ¹²For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day

AMEN and AMEN
the Wayfarer