Living a life that counts ~ our relationship with Jesus

He had it all, this man who comes to Jesus. It says he was young, so he had many days in front of him to do whatever he wanted to do. It says he was rich, so he had resources to make a real difference in his community. From this same story in Luke’s gospel we learn this man was a ruler, so we know he was blessed with gifts and abilities in leadership that were recognized by the people around him, and he had developed strong healthy relationships with his family, friends and neighbors. Look at the commandments Jesus asked him if he followed: do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother. Do you notice something about these particular commandments? They all have to do with our relationships with one another, spouses, parents, friends and neighbors. So in essence what Jesus is asking him is if he is making the most of all the relationships God has given him, and his answer is yes. I have followed all these commandments since I was a youth.

If you have been with us these last few weeks you might say that this rich young man was living a life that counted. He was managing well all the days God had given him, all the money God had given him, all the gifts and abilities God had given him and all the relationships God had given him, but there was still something missing and that’s why he went to see Jesus

While on the outside it looked like he had it all and was living a life that really counted, when he looked inside himself, he knew there was something missing and he thought that Jesus might be the one to give it to him. We know this by the way the man approaches Jesus. Look at Mark 10:17, he ran up to Jesus and he fell on his knees before him. He speaks to Jesus with honor and respect calling him a good teacher. It appears that he really is searching for something more out of life and he believes Jesus has the answer. So this young man asks Jesus the question, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Now we might think he is just talking about an eternal life in heaven, but that was not really his question. For the Jews at this point in time, the concept of heaven and eternity was not well established. For them, eternal life was tied into living a life that counted for God in this world. Eternal life began by living a faithful and God centered life here and now. So when this man asks about inheriting eternal life, part of what he is asking is what must I do to live a life that counts, and he knows that it has to be more than just managing well his time, money, gifts and relationships because he is doing all of that for a long time and yet he knows that it just isn’t enough.

Jesus answers the question by saying, go sell all you have and give it to the poor and then you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me. Many times when we hear Jesus say this we think that getting the most out of life will come when we sell all we have and give it to the poor, but that’s not the key to living a life that counts and the reason we know this is because Jesus met lots of other rich people and he never told them to go sell all they had and give it to the poor. If living a faithful life required us to sell all we had and give it to the poor – Jesus would have told everyone he met to do that, but he doesn’t. So living a life that counts, finding the fullness of life and living for God isn’t found in selling all our possessions, living a life that counts is found when we follow Jesus. Living a life that counts will only be found when we enter into and grow in our relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

That’s what this story of the rich man shows us so clearly. While managing well our time, talent, money and relationships is important, even vital to living a purposeful faithful life, we can do all of that and still not get the most out of life, and we can do all of that and still not make an impact for God in this world –living a life that really counts only happens when we follow Jesus. This is why Jesus said to fishermen, tax collectors and now rich leaders of the community – follow me. Follow me is Jesus invitation for us to enter into a relationship with him where we will not only begin to experience the fullness of life but also begin to live a life that counts.

So what does it mean for us to enter into a relationship with Jesus?

I asked my sister that recently and I loved her answer, she said, I wonder why we go into a relationship with Jesus so differently than we do with anyone else....while there is the issue of not being able to see him and touch him (not a small issue I might add) the principles are still the same aren't they? You are introduced to someone. You spend time talking and listening to them. You learn from them and are influenced by them. As the relationship deepens there are more demands, struggles and some hard times, but we work through them because we love the other person. That really is what it means to enter into and be in a relationship with Jesus. We are introduced to him and then we begin to spend time talking and listening to him. We learn from him and allow his life, grace and love to influence and shape our lives. As the relationship grows, we find there are often more demands placed upon our lives and there will even be some hard times as we follow Jesus into some difficult places, but we do this because we love him and we know that he loves us. If you are here today, then you are already somewhere in this relationship with Jesus, what I would ask you to do is make the decision to go deeper into that relationship.

Maybe you are here today and are really just being introduced to Jesus. Maybe you are like the rich man who knows there has to be something more in life and you have heard about Jesus and think he has something to offer you. Maybe you know he has the answer for you but you aren’t sure how to find that answers for your life. Maybe you don’t even know the questions you need to ask. If any of that sounds like where you are today, what an exciting place to be, because the truth is that Jesus not only has answers for us, but he is the key to helping us make the most out of our lives and to top it all off, he wants to share all of this with us. Look back to the rich man. He is at that introduction stage himself and he asks Jesus for some answers and what we see is that Jesus is excited to give them. Look at what it says about Jesus, he looked at him and loved him. Jesus loved that this man was hungry and eager to learn about how to live a life that counted. Jesus loved that this man came to him to find the answers and Jesus is eager to invite him into a deeper relationship where he can find those answer the strength to live out those answers. Jesus is eager today to invite all of us into a deeper relationship and if you are in those first few steps of introduction, then ask Jesus to enter into that relationship with you. It really is that simple, we just ask Jesus to enter into a relationship with us. We ask Jesus to walk with us so we can begin to experience the life of God and learn how to live a life that counts.

Just like any relationship, there is great joy and excitement in those early stages of love and friendship with Jesus. It’s exciting to listen to Jesus and learn about his love and grace and the power of God. It’s exciting to think about how much God loves us and how much God wants to be part of our lives. It’s exciting to think that the God of the universe wants to use me to make a difference in this world and to help make my life count for something here and now. It’s exciting to be in those early stages of a relationship with Jesus where everything is new and fresh, but as you know from other relationships, to keep that excitement going takes an investment of time. We have to be willing to set aside time to pray and read God’s word because that’s how we listen to God and learn about Jesus. It’s through prayer and reading the scriptures that the life and example of Jesus can begin to influence our own lives so that our lives take on deeper meaning. It’s in times of worship that we deepen our relationship with God because this is the time and place where Jesus meets us. Jesus said to his followers that whenever two or more are gathered together – he will be in the midst of them, so when we gather for worship we know Jesus is here. When we gather in small groups for Bible study or fellowship or service – we know that Jesus is there and if Jesus is there then we have the opportunity to grow deeper in our relationship with him.

Taking time to be with Jesus is important. If we don’t spend time with people – those relationships will suffer and if we don’t spend time with Jesus, our relationship with him will suffer – so a relationship with Jesus calls for us invest time, but it also calls us to be willing to change and some of those changes can be difficult. Every time Jesus called someone to follow him, they had to make a change in their lives. When Jesus called the fishermen to follow him they had to drop their nets and leave behind their lives as fishermen. They had to leave behind the comfort of their homes and the security of their jobs to follow Jesus. When Jesus called Matthew the tax collector to follow him, he had to leave behind his life as a tax collector and all the financial security that position provided him. Look at the changes Jesus asked of the rich man, go sell all you have and give it to the poor. That’s a pretty radical change, and as we go deeper in our relationship with Jesus there will be times when God will call us to change. God is calling many of us to make changes in our hearts and lives today and like the rich man we have a choice to make. We can make those changes and go deeper with Jesus and experience more of a life that counts – or we can walk away sad.

What are the changes God is calling you to make today? Is it to let go of the faith and trust we place in our finances? Is it to let go of past hurts and be willing to forgive those who have sinned against us just as God has forgiven us? Maybe God is calling us to let go of our hopes and dreams so that we can embrace God’s vision and plans. A few weeks ago at our Sunday evening worship we heard Rob Bell tell this amazing story about his young son who had spent the morning collecting shells and pieces of shells as they walked along the beach. After a while they noticed a starfish bobbing in the water a they told him to go get it, it was his starfish. So their son runs out into the water and just gets his feet wet when he returns to them. They say to him, come on, go get it, it’s your, its yours. So he runs out into the water goes a little deeper before he again turns around and runs back to them on the shore, and again they say, no, go get it, it’s your starfish go get it. So he goes out a third time and gets in a little deeper and then runs back up onto the beach and his parents say, what’s wrong go get your starfish and finally he says, I can’t, my hands are full of shells.

That starfish is our relationship with Jesus and it is right there for us to grab hold of, but too often we aren’t willing to let go of the shells and pieces of shells that we are holding on to. We can hold on to so many things that are good, but in the process we miss out on what is best. We hold on to our money so we can take care of ourselves and our family in an uncertain future, and yet Jesus says, if you would only trust me I would provide for you in amazing and miraculous ways. We hold on to our the brokenness and pain of relationships because we don’t want to let go of the hurt and anger, but as long as we hold onto those broken pieces of life and love – God can’t bring healing, forgiveness, and new relationships into our lives. And we hold on to our own plans thinking that we have all the answers and just need God to bless our ways, and yet Jesus says, if you would just let go and enter into a deeper relationship with me you would find a great vision, a greater plan and make a deeper impact in this world.

Entering into a relationship with Jesus will call each of us at some point in time to make some difficult changes in how we live. Now don’t tell my sister this, but she wrote something very profound in her email to me this week. She said, how do I enter into that relationship with Jesus? That is the easy part....just ask him. Jesus I want to have a relationship with you. The hard part is living it out. Living out that relationship – going deeper into a relationship with Jesus is hard because Jesus will call us to let go of more and more of us so we can experience more and more of Him, and yet isn’t that how we grow in any relationship – letting go of more and more of us so we can experience more and more of someone else.

If that is where you are today, if God is asking you to give away more and more of who you are so you can experience more and more of who He is, do it. Go deeper into that relationship with Jesus because it is only in that relationship that we can find and live a life that counts. Actually, it is only in that relationship that we can find life.