I was in church at on Sunday and our pastor was talking about Mark 4:10-12~When He was alone with the Twelve, those who were around Him asked Him about the parables. He answered them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been granted to you, but to those outside, everything comes in parables so that
they may look and look,
yet not perceive;
they may listen and listen,
yet not understand;
otherwise, they might turn back—
and be forgiven."
The pastor poised the question of whom Jesus was talking about when he spoke of the ‘outsiders’? (No, the answer is not Ponyboy and his friends in the book by S.E. Hinton)He was suggesting that those on the outside were actually those who were thinking they had the inside track to God. You see the Sadducees and Pharisees of the day were the Jewish religious leaders thought they held the monopoly on knowing God – strict dedication to the Law. They felt they had a divine inside track to God because they were descendants of Abraham.
In the minds of these leaders those who were poor, sick or oppressed obviously did not hold God’s blessing because of sin in their lives and were therefore unholy, lost sinners – outsiders.
Jesus suggests that those who believed they had divine right to God and worked hard to earn it were the outsiders as they could not see the truth that we are saved through faith in God and are willing to accept the Glory He longs to bestow upon us.
In Matthew 5:5 Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” Why the meek? Because they are the ones who understand that they cannot do it alone. They know that they rely on God’s goodness and mercy. They are the insiders. They can accept help. Really, we are all meek – we all need God’s help, it’s just that some of us choose to accept that we need it while others instead choose pride. Perhaps it should read, “Blessed are those who know they are meek.”
So… this got me thinking. We like to be independent. We like to know that we are able to handle things on our own. Consider little kids – they are so proud when they can do something without help! It is build within us. My mind wandered (I know, hard to believe – look, a bird!) to the story of the rich young ruler in Luke 18:18-25. Jesus told us through this story
“How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." (Luke 18:24b-25 [HCSB])
Many people believe that wealth is the ticket to security. There is much that can be obtained through wealth but it is easy to come to rely on it and begin to rely only on your money to take care of yourself. The rich can easily come to hold to money the same way the Pharisees and Sadducees held to their laws (although the Sadducees had both!).
Suddenly it hit me! That which we cling closely to in order to find security can actually be what trips us up and stands in our way of finding salvation and the list is way longer than money or obsession with the Law. We who work hard to be independent and do everything on our own are at risk of letting stubbornness stand in our way of all that God wants to do in our lives.
Ouch.
We need to accept our need for God. We need to remember we are not going to make it if we do not realize our desperate need for God and His Grace, his Love and His Mercy! Now amount of money, pride, independence or good works are going to make us for all we stand to lose if we do not realize just how meek we really are!!
Luke 18:18-25 (HCSB)
A ruler asked Him (Jesus), "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Why do you call Me good?" Jesus asked him. "No one is good but One—God. You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and mother. "
"I have kept all these from my youth," he said.
When Jesus heard this, He told him, "You still lack one thing: sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me."
After he heard this, he became extremely sad, because he was very rich.
Seeing that he became sad, Jesus said, "How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God."
