“The journey of faith”

This is the fourth sermon in my Lenten Sermon series exploring what it means to be a disciple according to Mark’s Gospel. The accompanying text is Mark 10:17-22

Last week Katie and I went out on a bike ride and we passed one of those “self-storage” places. Have you seen one of these businesses? They’re a group of buildings where you can take all of your extra stuff that won’t fit in your house. Maybe you’ve seen a commercial on TV. There are businesses out there, and lots of them, who will store your stuff. It’s a hassle free way to store all of the extra stuff that gets in our way, mostly so we go out and buy more stuff, stuff to better capture who we are at the moment. I think for the most part we define ourselves by our stuff. In our minds our stuff makes us who we are.

And this is not a new issue. Even in the time of Jesus people had an issue with stuff. As he sets out on the way, we are told that Jesus is approached by a man who seems to have it all together, but as it turns out he has a problem with stuff. This man wants to know what he must do to inherit eternal life and he is told by Jesus that he needs to part ways with his stuff, to sell it all, give to the poor, and follow Jesus. He leaves the scene grieving because he is a man with a great deal of stuff.

We’ve been talking about how the struggle for the life of a disciple is found in where we put out emphasis; on human things or divine things. The man from today’s story has clearly put his emphasis on human things and we see the struggle play out when Jesus calls him to sell what he owns and follow. Jesus is calling this man to deny his human things; in essence Jesus is calling this man to deny himself.

A few weeks ago we heard these words come out of Jesus’ mouth; “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Here we see these words “deny yourself” come to life for this man who has a lot of stuff. Now this man has a great deal of confidence. He approaches Jesus quite openly, he says he has kept the commandments since his youth; he grew up in the church and was raised in the faith. We are even told that Jesus looks upon this man with love. He has everything going for him, he has attained status and power in his world; he thinks he has it made.

And that’s where it all unravels for the man. The crux of the problem is that he has put his faith in his stuff and in his own abilities. This man’s identity is intimately connected to his stuff because his stuff is what he can control. In the uncertainty of life he can control his stuff. Because he has control of his stuff he thinks he has control of his life. So all he needs now is something to get him into the ever after and all will be well. He is asking Jesus for more stuff so he will have everything tied up with a neat little bow. But Jesus does not offer him more stuff. Jesus asks him to deny it all and follow. Jesus is asking him to deny his faith in himself and put his faith in Jesus. But this man cannot deny his stuff, he cannot deny himself. He walks away from Jesus broken because he cannot put his faith in someone else.

I know I have thrown the word stuff around a great deal this evening, but to name everything that goes into the category of stuff would take all night. Stuff is far more than just money. Cloths, furniture, pictures, everything that is in your living room right now; that’s the stuff I am talking about. And it holds a great deal of power over us. We identify ourselves with our stuff. To deny ourselves would be to deny our stuff. And this is where the struggle lies for us who are called to be disciples.

This call from Jesus to deny ourselves is hard. We don’t like to give up our stuff or power or control. But today Jesus is telling us that our faith in our stuff won’t cut it, that faith in ourselves won’t cut it in the kingdom of God. Our stuff can be taken away. Everything that we have gathered in this world can be taken by fire or flood or moth or rust. And at the end of the day we cannot take it with us. Jesus knows this. Jesus is telling us to let go of our struggle for human things. “Deny yourselves,” he says, “and follow me.” Jesus offers us the life of a disciple. A life lived in faith.

Because to tell you the truth dear friends, it’s not about our stuff; this story this evening is not about stuff at all. It’s about faith. Jesus is calling us to place our emphasis in the divine gift of faith. The call to deny ourselves is a call to a life of faith. At the heart of the life of a disciple is faith and faith alone. I don’t know about you, but I got tired of all the stuff this evening. It got heavy, it got in the way of what is important in our lives, and what’s important is faith.

About a month ago, almost every senior student on an ELCA seminary campus was waiting on pins and needles for a very important letter from the mother church. These letters contained a single, life-changing number. This single, life-changing number was the number of the region of the ELCA that the student was assigned to, the first piece of the puzzle of “where I am going to serve my first call.” After the years of schooling, the internship and the paperwork, the great unknown of first call is an exercise in faith. No matter how much a person tries to control the assignment process, though there is a room full of Bishops, hours of prayer, and the moving of the Holy Spirit, at the end of the day it comes down to faith. Faith to follow Jesus into the unknown. Faith to follow Jesus into the next leg of the journey.

That’s what we’re on dear friends, a journey. That’s that best way I can find to describe the life of faith, a journey. We are all at different places in life, taking different routes, encountering struggles and joys and people; all the way trusting that God is with us, shaping our lives as we walk through this world.

Our faith is a journey through the ups and downs of life, a daily struggle to give up our stuff, to relinquish control, and put our faith in Jesus. Our faith is lived out every day when we move beyond ourselves and recognize where God is already at work in our lives and in our world. Through the love of God, we can daily move beyond ourselves and into the lives of those we encounter along the way. Dear friends, through the power of the Holy Spirit we can put our faith in Jesus.