Northside Church - Sydney
Did Jesus Really Say That? Role Reversal
You're listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. Well, what a great text to feature on the lower North shore of Sydney. Here we are living in an area that's undisputedly regarded as one of the most wealthy areas in the whole of Sydney. And here's Jesus, here's this key verse, verse 23 of Mark 10, "How hard it is for rich people to enter the kingdom of God." I mean, that's a great verse to build a bridge of friendship, isn't it? In a lucrative, very affluent area. I mean, many people in this area are quite wealthy. So why did Jesus say that? What did he mean by that? Well, we've got to get it into context. In the preceding verses, Jesus has an encounter with the man who's become known as the rich young ruler. Many of you know this incident. He's the one who came up to Jesus and said, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" And Jesus rattled off a few commandments. "Don't kill, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie." And the young man was able to look, "Jesus, right on the eye and say, 'Well, I've managed to obey all of those.' Now, he must have been the real deal, because Jesus didn't say, 'Right, pull the other leg, nobody's that good.' No, Jesus, the Bible says, Jesus looked at the man with great love, with great admiration, with great respect. But in doing so, our Lord could see something that was a problem for this guy. You could see that difficulty this man was facing. His problem was his total trust and reliance on his wealth as his source of identity and his source of security. He not only had wealth, he was totally wrapped up in it. He was totally absorbed by it. So Jesus then issues his now famous challenge to the man, verse 21, "Go and sell all you have. Give the money to the poor, come and follow me and you'll have riches in heaven." Now this instruction is not prescriptive for everybody, it's not a prerequisite for following Jesus selling all you have, but it was important for this man to test his level of sincerity, his level of trust, ultimately to test his level of faith. And as we know, the story ends rather sadly because the man turns away and he rejects the offer of Jesus for eternal life. I mean, I always believe Jesus had that power. He turns away and rejects that offer. It's like the old night in that Indiana Jones movie with a temple of doom, you know, with a night turns to Indiana Jones and if this guy's disappeared a bit evaporate, he says, "He chose Paulie." And that's kind of what happens here. The guy chooses Paulie. So it's in response to that man's rejection of eternal life that Jesus would doubt as a heavy heart and with sadness in his voice, he says how hard it is for rich people to enter the kingdom of God. Now friends, he's not talking about the amount of their wealth. He's talking about their dependence on their wealth. That's what he's talking about, their reliance on their wealth, the security and identity. But then what follows is an extraordinary, it's quite extraordinary rather, the disciples are stunned by the words of Jesus. The Bible says they're amazed and they ask, "Well, who then can be saved?" Now that's an amazing question when you think about it. I mean, we can understand what Jesus is saying. You know, wealth can be an impediment to people responding to the gospel because wealth creates a certain level of self-sufficiency, wealth in some cases can distort people's spiritual values and throw their moral compass out of whack. We can understand. We would have little trouble in agreeing with some of what Jesus is saying. But the disciples, they were coming from a background where it was believed that wealth, prosperity, position, power, these were indicators of God's favor. These were indicators of heightened righteousness and moral integrity. If you're rich, you are really in God's favor. And so their question is, "Well, who can be saved?" You can understand it against that background. In response, in verse 27, Jesus says, "With man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible." And then this prompts, we sort of unpacking this incredible passage, this prompts a very provocative comment from Peter, verse 28, he says, "Look, we've left everything. We've left everything and followed you." Now, friends, I take that, I take that to mean, "Okay, Lord, if you're saying that wealth and prestige are no longer significant in salvation, then where does it leave those of us who are following you in poverty and humility? Where does it leave us? Like, what's in it for us? If wealth and prosperity are out of the equation, we've always thought they were, but if they're out, well, where does it leave us?" And this is where it gets quite shocking if you listen to the reading brought to us by Hannah. It gets really quite astounding here because Jesus says, "Yes, Jesus said to them." And I tell you that those who leave home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property for me and the gospel will receive much more in this present age right now. They will receive 100 times more houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and property and persecution as well. And in the age to come, they will receive eternal life. Wow, receive 100 times more houses, brothers, sisters, children, property. How do we reconcile these statements from Jesus on the one hand saying how difficult it is for a wealthy person to enter the kingdom while at the same time appearing to be promising incredible wealth and prosperity to those who choose to follow Him? I mean, did Jesus really say this? It just seems very confusing. Well, friends, there is an explanation. And I'm sure many of you have heard it before, but here it is if you haven't heard it before. The starting point is we've got to forget our Western mindset of individualism. That's the first step. We've got to try to forget for a moment the incredible emphasis we have in this country and in this Western world on private ownership. That's the first thing. We go back in time, back to the 1st century and back to the radical thinking being taught by Jesus and ultimately being embraced by the early church. And there are a couple of clues here. One of them is in Matthew 12, you might like to check this when you're during the week when you get home. Matthew 12, this is the part where Jesus receives a visit from his mother and his brothers. He's in full flight teaching and preaching in a house and the word comes to him, oh, your mother and your brothers are outside, want to see you. And it's not sure why they have come to see Jesus. Some commentators have speculated that it was out of concern. Jesus is really putting the foot down on claiming to be the Messiah and making all sorts of claims for himself. And they're a little bit concerned that they can see the tension against him building and their concern. And they're there to try to calm him down a little bit. So for Jesus, it's one of those, get behind me, Satan kind of moments, you're hindering my work, you're getting in the way. And so when he's told your mother and brothers want to see you, this is his extraordinary response in Matthew 12, verse 56, who is my mother? Who are my brothers? And then he pointed the disciples and he said, look, here is my mother and my brothers. And of course, Jesus loved his mother and his brothers, that's a given. He loved his family. But at the same time, he had a commitment to his ministry and his mission which took priority over anyone, including family, if they didn't share the vision. That's what seeking first the kingdom of God is about. His sense of mission and ministry was so intense that if people didn't share that vision, even family, they took second place. In that sense, his new family with the disciples and those actively involved in participating in the work of the kingdom. And Jesus states that here in the second part of this verse verse, who ever does what my father and heaven wants him to do is my brother, my sister, and my mother. Now, friends, this is the radical community, the radical community Jesus was establishing. It ties him with what we were saying last week, for those of you who were here about the disciples willing this to count the cost, to leave it behind, to not look back. Well, I mentioned a moment ago that this Matthew passage provides a clue as to what Jesus was referring to when he talked about the rewards of the discipleship. We turn to Acts for the second clue. And it's over in Acts chapter two for a start, verses 44 to 45. The day of Pentecost has happened. The church has been born, there's incredible stuff happening, spectacular events of course on the day of Pentecost. And then here's the description of life in the early church as it was taking shape in Jerusalem. Now, we know these words, many of us, but try to see these words in a fresh light. Look at them through fresh eyes from Acts chapter two. Look at this. All the believers continued together in close fellowship. They shared their belongings with one another. They would sell their property in possessions, distribute the money among all according to what each one needed. And there's an even more detailed description in Acts chapter four, verses 32 to 35. Look at this. The group of believers was one in mind and heart. None of them said that any of their belongings were their own. They all shared with one another everything they had. The great power, the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God poured rich blessings on them all. There was no one in the group who was in need. Did you get that? There was no one in the group who was in need. Those who owned land or houses would sell them, bring the money received from the sale, hand it to the disciples, and the money was distributed according to the needs of the people. Now, friends, not surprisingly. But surprisingly, this level of extreme generosity and genuine compassion was one of the key elements in the growth of the 1st century church. Of course, I mean, people had never experienced, they'd never seen such outrageous selflessness was unbelievable, all driven and motivated by a response or in response rather to God's extreme generosity in sending Jesus. As John would say, years later in his epistle, if this is how God loves us, how should we love one another? It was motivated by that response to God because of his love. What it meant in real terms for someone like Peter, who's left everything, what it meant for him was entry into a world where houses, practical support, resources of all kind, and financial help were now available to him in an unprecedented way. And so here's Jesus in Mark 10 for shadowing what he knew would be the case once his church was established. He knew that. He knew this would be a spirit-led, selfless, super-generous body of believers doing life together in the work of the kingdom, passionately driven with the desire to see that work flourish. And so his words again, back there in Mark chapter 10, what he says, yes, Jesus said, I tell you, those who leave home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property for me and the gospel will receive much more in this present age, they'll receive a hundred times more houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and property. Well, all of this begs the question, what does this mean for us? This is a radical community, what does this mean for us? In the contemporary 21st century setting where individualism is more pronounced within our society than it's ever been, it's more entrenched than ever. What does it mean for us? Well, guys, the short answer is we need to be different. That's the first thing. We do need to be different. You see, we're the members of the body of Christ and we are meant to demonstrate intangible ways, our love, our care, our support of each other and for anyone in need. That's the new way when we're following Jesus. And you know what? In my role as a pastor, I see this all the time. I really do. I've said from this platform many times, Christians don't have exclusive rights to generosity and compassion. That's the reality, we just don't. But you'll be hard pressed to find a group anywhere in the community which demonstrates these qualities with the eagerness and the consistency of a local church. That's just been my experience over a lifetime of ministry. You'll go a long way to find a group that will express these qualities, compassion, generosity as consistently as the people of God where they've been impacted by the Spirit of God, with a deep desire to serve and to bless whenever and wherever possible. Like, look, we see here at Dulcine, virtually on a weekly, on a daily basis. You know, there are people in this church, I'm not going to embarrass them by naming them. People in this church, you'll open up their home at the drop of a hat for anybody who's in need. There are several of them, one couple in particular and some of you've been on the receiving end of their generosity. It's touching, it's moving. That's how it is, those people have had, they open up their homes in that way. People here give enormous chunks of their time and their gifts to support our ministry in various ways. The Glee project, the Madagascar we've talked about, Bathurst that's coming up in the second half of the year. Anybody who serves in any way to further our cause here, which ultimately everything we do here ultimately touches lives and people gifts give so generously. And when it comes to money, do you know one of the things about a church like Northside that really amazes brand new Christians? People who haven't ever had any experience in the church, and I've seen this many times over the years, one of the things that amazes them is the amount of money we raise each week. I mean, it's well documented, it's well in excess of $10,000 on average per week. And when people come to Christ and they've been used to giving $5 to world vision every year, or maybe giving $50 to an annual telephone, that sort of money just stack us up from a comparatively small group of people. There are people here in this church who give hundreds of dollars per week to the ministry of this church. And many others who give amounts that are much smaller, but the amounts are representative of real sacrifice in terms of income, in some cases, 10%. I mean, it's amazing. And when it comes to the financial sacrifices that were made to allow this ministry complex to be built and established in excess of $1 million over and above offerings, we may never know the holidays that were canceled. We may never know the purchases that were delayed or abandoned. Look, friends, the church of Jesus Christ, when it's in full flight in pursuit of a God-inspired mission, is a very powerful entity. You think about that. The church of Jesus Christ, when it's in full flight, motivated by desire to serve and to witness, it's a pretty powerful entity. This is the family we belong to. This is the inheritance, according to Jesus, we have here and now. This is the body of believers so many people benefit from through services and ministries and support and aid and practical help and compassion. What a privilege. What a responsibility is ours who named the name of Jesus. I like to think of it this way. The church isn't where we meet, it isn't a building, the church is what we do. The church is who we are. Church is the human expression of the person of Christ and in the final analysis, we don't go to church. We are the church. With no tangible rewards this side of heaven, other than our beautifully generous, incredibly hospitable, service-oriented band of brothers and sisters with whom we do life. That's the only tangible reward this side of heaven, but what more do you need? What more do you need than that? It's fantastic. The church of Jesus Christ. There are homes open to all of us anywhere around the world. Hospitalia, Madagascar team gets up there in Madagascar, homes, family, multiplied because of our oneness in Jesus Christ. So, friends, be the church this week. You've come to church today, but you haven't really. You are the church. Be the church out there. It's our privilege each and every week. May God give us the strength and the motivation to do just that, let's pray.