Eternal inheritance ...

Hear the word of the Lord:

Mark 10:17-31

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'"

He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth."

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!"

And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

They were greatly astounded and said to one another, "Then who can be saved?"

Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible."

Peter began to say to him, "Look, we have left everything and followed you."

Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age--houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions--and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."

The gospel according to Paul and Leroy

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the world. For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers, asking that by God's will I may somehow at last succeed in coming to you. For I am longing to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift to strengthen you — or rather so that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as I have among the rest of the Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish — hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, "The one who is righteous will live by faith."
Romans 1:8-17 - NRSV

Last night, Troy and I listened as Leroy Garrett preached this great text. Our brother in Christ reminded us that the gospel is, after all, a very simple and powerful thing. It is a word about God. It is, in sum, three things: the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This, as he reminded us, brings about the threefold response described by our forebears in the Restoration Movement: faith, repentance, and baptism. Our obedience brings us into the blessing of three powerful promises: forgiveness of sin, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and eternal life.

There it is, in one paragraph, the simplicity of the gospel. That is the preaching, the kerygma, to those who are not yet in Christ. Yet for those who become Christians there yet remains learning the teachings (didache) of the church, our doctrine. Now teaching is an enterprise not accomplished in one paragraph. Actually a lifetime of study would not complete the task; the teachings of the church continue to grow as the world changes and new challenges require new responses.

How is the gospel alive and well in our lives today? How does it affect our world view, our actions, our words? How does it shape our interactions with one another and with those who have yet to claim it? As Leroy put it, “Let us treat others as Jesus Christ has treated us.” That is enough of a challenge for any of us on this good day, this day that God has given us.

Grace, and peace,

Ron