Sermon on LD 42
Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
The eighth commandment is a little bit like the sixth commandment, as in that it sounds like something that only criminals would do: you’re not allowed to kill and you’re not allowed to steal. When we hear that, we think of murderers and burglars and such people. And LD 42, about the eighth commandment, does nothing to take that feeling away. It mentions false weights and measures, counterfeiting, loan sharks, defrauding and deceiving your neighbour in any way, just to get at his money. Now, that’s not something we do, is it? Are we burglars and counterfeiters?
No, it’s pretty safe to say that we’re not. But that doesn’t mean that this commandment is not relevant for us, because that’s not the only thing the eighth commandment is about. The eighth commandment is about our whole attitude towards money and possessions. It is about how we use the gifts that the Lord God gives us. Do we use them to his honour and glory, as a means to an end, or do we pursue them to provide us happiness and a carefree life?
It is obvious that the world around us is very much pre-occupied with money and possessions. And that is putting it mildly. The seventh commandment spoke of sexuality as an idol, but wealth is just as big an idol in our society. Many people are completely focussed on gaining wealth. Their whole lives are aimed at buying stuff, building stuff, going places. They want the latest TVs, cars, up to date modern furniture, a second or even third house. And they will do whatever it takes to get those things. They will work long hours, or go up North to work in the mines, on a fly-in fly-out basis, just to make good money. They may even leave their family behind for extended periods of time, they will spend all their time and energy on making money. Sometimes you wonder where they find the time to enjoy all the things they worked so hard for to buy.
As Christians our focus in life should be completely different. We learn this from the eighth commandment and also from the texts that we read. Many people are obsessed with possessions. But Jesus Christ saves us from our obsessions. He redirects our attention from this life to the everlasting life. We know that money doesn’t give anyone lasting happiness. We know that possessions can be taken away from you in the blink of eye, leaving you empty handed, without a thing in this world or the next. That is why we seek our treasures in heaven. We try to be content with what the Lord gives us in this life. And we seek to be good stewards of what the Lord gives us, and to use whatever we receive to his honour and glory.
And so the eighth commandment holds an important lesson for us, in this day and age, when we are inundated with pamphlets, advertisements, commercials on TV, that tell us that we really need this or that to be truly happy. Brothers and sisters, it is clear that money and wealth can be a danger threatening our relationship with God. Our text in Mt. 19 about the rich young man also makes that point quite strongly. And therefore today we will speak not just about how blessed we are in this life, with all our possessions, but we will speak about the fact that money can also be a danger, yes, even a curse.
The curse of money
- The question of the rich man
- The answer of the Lord Jesus
- The reaction of the disciples
1. The question of the rich man
One day, a man comes up to the Lord Jesus to ask him a question. This man is very rich (vs 22), he is young (vs 20), and Luke, in his account of the story, tells us that he is also a ruler of some sort. He approaches the Lord Jesus with respect, addressing the Lord as Teacher. He wants to ask the Lord a question, a question of great importance: “How can I be saved?” - a question that should be on everyone’s lips. Apparently he knows that this life is not all, there is another life to come, a life after death. And so he wonders how he can get access to that life.
But let’s read the question carefully. He is not really asking: “How can I be saved?”, but: “What must I do to have everlasting life?”. And with that question we touch on the heart of the matter straight away. Apparently the man felt that he could do something to earn his place in heaven. He kept all the commandments from his youth, he says. But there is something lacking still. He feels that he has not done enough. What more can he do to save himself?
And there we have one of the great dangers of wealth, here we have the curse of money. I mean this: Ask yourself the question: why do people want to be rich in the first place? Why do some people spend all their time and energy on making money, so that they can buy stuff and go places? Well, because their money is what makes them happy. Money makes the world go ‘round. Money solves problems. If you have lots of money you have no worries about how to pay your bills, or whether you will have food and drink the next day. Money buys you luxury: cars, houses, holidays, furniture, entertainment, computers, TVs, clothes and shoes. And so money provides happiness.
And what is just as important: you don’t have to rely on anyone else to give you what you want. You can provide for yourself. Money makes you independent and self-sufficient. You can take care of yourself. You don’t need anybody else. You make your own future, your own happiness.
And that is where the rich young man in our text goes wrong. His riches had taught him that he could rely on himself. And that is why he asked the Lord what more he could do to get him what he wanted. Just like he worked to gain his wealth on earth, he wanted to work to gain his life in heaven. And that is the big mistake many rich people or prone to make - they will take care of themselves.
The Lord Jesus knew of course what was in this man’s heart, and he knew where he went wrong. And with his counter-question in vs 17 he makes this clear. Remember the question of the rich man: “What must I do to have everlasting life?”. The question is actually a bit longer still: “What good thing must I do to have everlasting life?”. That as such is not a silly question. The Pharisees had found and listed 613 laws in the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) only. But what has priority? The man wanted the Lord Jesus to tell him which of those many commandments was the most important. What is that good thing that I am missing?, he asks. In his heart he knew that he was not perfect yet. He wanted to do more. More than just the conventional good. “Tell me what kind of remarkable, extraordinary thing I must do? What good thing am I missing?”
But with his counter-question in vs 17 the Lord pointed out to him, that his question was all wrong. At first the words of the Lord sound a bit puzzling: “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good.” What it means is that the Lord Jesus challenges this man’s perception of what is really good. In the end there is only one kind of real goodness, and that is the goodness of God himself. The goodness this man is asking about is not of the same level as the perfect goodness of God. The man is asking about a good deed. He says that he has always loved his neighbour: he has not murdered anyone, not committed adultery, not stolen anything, never gave false witness, obeyed his father and mother. He has been a truly good person. But all this goodness, even the best human good, is inadequate in the light of the goodness of God. For this man to earn heaven, he had to be as perfectly good as God himself!
The Lord Jesus wanted him to become aware of that - that whatever he good he did, it would never be good enough to earn everlasting life. And that is why he told him to sell everything he had and give it to the poor and follow him. This man had already given much to the poor, no doubt, because that was part of doing good to your neighbour, but within limits. But now Jesus is telling him that he needs to abandon everything. For the rich man that meant: give up all your security, give up all your self-sufficiency, and follow Jesus, put all your faith and trust in him. In vs 21 Jesus says: “If you want to be perfect, sell all your belongings.” If this man really wanted to work his way into heaven, he needed to be perfect as Jesus Christ, God himself. He needed to be completely dedicated to God.
But that he could not do. His wealth stood between him and God. That is the curse of money, brs and srs. It makes us think that we are powerful and smart, strong and hard-working. We can take care of ourselves. But what it really does, it make us arrogant. Rich people don’t need God. They can make their own happiness. But they forget that they are just small and sinful people. We need to be dedicated to God, love him, and expect everything from him. We cannot work our way into heaven. God must open the door for us. The rich young man could not accept that. And so he walked off, sad and disappointed, for he believed more in his wealth and in himself than in God.
2. The answer of the Lord Jesus
This incident with the rich young man prompted the Lord Jesus to address his disciples about the danger of riches. In vs 23 he says: “Only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.” And in vs 26 the Lord says it even stronger: “With man this is impossible.” We explained in the first point why that is impossible - rich people rely on their own abilities, they do not depend on God to give them what they need. But there is another reason, which is closely connected to the first one. We read about this in Mt. 6. Vs 21 reads there: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” And vs 24: “No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and Mammon (or Money).” In other words, it is also a matter of focus. When people pursue happiness in money and wealth, then money and wealth effectively become their gods. Either you trust God to give you what you need, or you trust Money to give you what you need. And you will give your faith and love to whomever you put your trust in. And so Money becomes an idol. And idols pull people away from God.
They do this by taking centre stage in people’s lives. If you trust Money to make you happy, then you will do anything to get it. In Eccl. 5:10 we read: “He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.” Vanity indeed, for money is a very demanding idol, it never has enough. I heard a song once that said: “The poor man wants to be a rich man, and the rich man wants to be a king.” That is so true. It is never enough. Those who put their trust in money will always want more, for with their money their demands for luxury also increase. That is why Paul says in 1 Tim. 6:10: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” Pursuit of wealth pulls people away from God. And the sad irony is that often people feel more empty inside as they fill their lives and houses with more and more possessions. The materialism in the world around us leaves people spiritually empty.
In fact, the unbelieving and materialistic people in the world know this themselves. There was an unbelieving philosopher in Germany, even back in around 1840, named Arthur Schopenhauer. This man was called a great pessimist, which is true, but he was also very much a realist. He said that man could never be happy in this world, for his life is a chain of unfulfilled desires. Meaning, that people who rely on wealth for happiness, never really find what they are looking for. They have a desire for something, which leaves them wanting and therefore unhappy. They do everything they can to get what they want. Once they do, that desire is replaced by another desire, which again leaves them wanting and unhappy. And so their lives become a chain of unfulfilled desire.
Indeed, that is the emptiness left in a person’s heart when he seeks his happiness in money and wealth. This idol does not give what he promises. But not so with Jesus Christ! Our Lord Jesus Christ breaks this chain of unfulfilled desires, by giving us what makes us truly happy. He plants in our heart a desire not for material riches, but for spiritual riches, the riches of a living relationship with God. And with the desire our Lord Jesus Christ also grants the actual restoration of the harmony with God, through the blood he shed for us on the cross. Our problem in life, you see, is not poverty, but it is sin. And God takes that away through his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And once we realise that, we will also focus our lives on Jesus Christ, and live our lives for him. And that is when we find true happiness and salvation, and not just in the future everlasting life, but even in this life already.
The rich young man came to Jesus for an answer to the question how he could save himself. But the answer of Jesus saves us from that question! It is impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, because he is proud and his love does not go out to God. It is like trying to get a camel go through the eye of a needle! But with God everything is possible. We do not have to do something! We only need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, in love and faith, and God will let us in! If only that rich young man had understood that.
3. The reaction of the disciples
For us this not new, no doubt. We know about the dangers of wealth and money. Therefore we do not really understand the reaction of the disciples. When the Lord Jesus told them that a rich man would only with great trouble receive everlasting life, they were amazed, as in, absolutely blown away! Peter said: “If a rich man cannot enter heaven, then who can?!” We don’t really understand that. We tend to think that it is easier for poor people to get to heaven, because they have learned to depend on God more. Now what made the disciples think exactly the opposite?
To understand their surprise at Jesus’ words, we have to realise that the people in Israel in that time, mostly saw wealth and prosperity as a blessing of God. We read many times in the OT that God will bless with wealth anyone who worships him in truth. Therefore, so thought the disciples, all those who were wealthy had to be true worshippers of God. There were notable exceptions to the rule, but that was the rule: rich people were quite likely to go to heaven, for their wealth showed that God favoured them. But now the Lord Jesus was telling his disciples that wealth was not proof of some sort of salvation, but rather an impediment to salvation! In the eyes of the disciples, this rich young man was a promising candidate for the kingdom of heaven. But the Lord said that it was close to impossible for him to receive everlasting life!
Indeed, brs and srs, this is something we need to think about very carefully ourselves. For don’t we often think along those lines? Suppose a br begins a new business. He works hard to get everything going. He puts in many hours. And then after a while his business begins to make a handsome profit. And then he thanks God and says to his friends that God has blessed him richly. But is this necessarily so, brs and srs? What if his success is more like a test? What if the Lord is also testing him to see if he continues to put his trust in God? What if this blessing is a curse in disguise?
You will agree that it is too quick and too easy to say that riches is always a blessing. But then, what about those promises in the OT? Didn’t God bless Abraham and David for instance with great wealth and prosperity? So he did. But also remember these words in Deut. 6:10ff: “And when the Lord your God brings you into the land that he swore to give to your fathers - with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant - and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” These are words of Moses to the people of Israel just before they entered the land of Canaan. They were to remember that God would bless them with prosperity and wealth, but they were warned not to forget about God once they were so rich and prosperous. Remember also Job, who was very rich. But everything was taken away from him, although he was a righteous man. God took it away because he wanted to prove Satan wrong, that Job would continue to put his trust in him, in spite of all his pain and affliction. And I could mention more. But these examples suffice to show that the connection between wealth and blessing is not one of inevitable cause-and-effect. Not every true Christian is wealthy, and not every wealthy man is a true Christian.
And so Jesus answers Peter’s question: with man it is impossible that rich people go to heaven, but with God it is possible. Wealth is not always a blessing, sometimes it can become a curse. But God will bring his own to salvation, whether rich or poor. With God everything is possible, for he paid the price that we can never pay with all our money. Jesus paid the price for sin with his own precious blood, something that no man can ever do, however rich he may be. It takes only for us to believe and put our lives in his hands.
Finally, Peter has one more question, he asks on behalf of all the disciples: “That rich man could not leave everything behind, but we did! Then what is in store for us?” That question sounds rather selfish, don’t you think? But it isn’t necessarily. The disciples had just heard that you can’t earn your salvation through wealth and money. And they also heard that salvation is possible through God only, so they can’t work their way into heaven through self-sacrifice either. Then how can they be sure that they will be saved? Peter is not asking for a reward really, he is asking for certainty. That is why the Lord Jesus does not hesitate to tell him what will be in store for him and the other disciples: they will sit on twelve thrones and judge Israel. What that means exactly is not clear - elsewhere in the Bible the Lord Jesus is the only one who does the judging on the last day. But it is clear that their faith in him will be rewarded with everlasting life. And in vs 29 Jesus ads a promise for all who follow him: their reward will be great in heaven, it will be beautiful beyond our wildest imagination. But, says the Lord, remember that many who are first in this world, the rich and famous, will be last in heaven, and many who are last in this world, the poor and destitute, will be first in heaven.
Conclusion
The message is clear. Money can be a blessing, but sometimes it can also be a curse. If it leads us to trust in our own strength, or when it brings us to lose the focus of our lives, then it is a curse. But it is a blessing if we are content with what the Lord gives, and if we use it to the honour and glory of his wonderful name. Brothers and sisters, let us remember that true happiness lies not in money and possessions, but in our salvation in Jesus Christ, and in a life that is dedicated to him. If we remember that, then we understand what the eighth commandment is all about, and we will receive a great reward in heaven, granted by God in his great mercy. Amen.