You Still Lack One Thing

Luke 18:18-30

Key Verse 18:22

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

In the passage for today we have a case study which serves as an excellent example for us to learn in principle and practice what it is to be saved into God’s kingdom and inherit eternal life. One can learn how to swim in a classroom as well as in a swimming pool. In fact unless one learns how to swim in water, one's learning about swimming will never become complete. The early apostles then say, "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation." Acts 2:40 For all of us the real life here on earth in this 21st century represents a real swimming pool where we should learn what it is to get saved from this generation. With this in mind, let us think about what Jesus says in today’s passage.  

First, no one is good except God alone

In the passage a certain ruler came up to Jesus and asked, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" It has been said, "Life with a plan is life in demand." In order for anyone to become successful on any venture, one must first have a plan, not only a short term plan, but a long term plan. In the case of the ruler, he had a plan of life which concerns eternity. No wonder this man became very successful in this world financially or otherwise. 

In making a plan, one must put his focus on the right place. In the case of the rich ruler, it was good to see him having an eternal life plan, but the problem was that he did not focus on the right place. The minute Jesus heard the man's question; Jesus realized that his focus was wrong. So immediately Jesus said, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone." By this statement, Jesus corrected the man so he could place his focus on God, not on himself.  

Let us not forget that Jesus used the word "good" for the purpose of describing God's ability to give his children what is good. When Jesus said, "No one is good", Jesus did not mean that every one is all corrupt and good for nothing. All Jesus meant in my opinion was that no man is good enough to earn for himself eternal life on his own. It is only God the Father who can give his children eternal life. 

We can easily understand this concept when we think about the truth that God is the Creator and we are the creation. The Creator is on the giving end. The creation is on the receiving end. It is in this sense that Jesus said, “God is good and man is not”. 

For this reason each and every day we must fix our eyes on God who sent Jesus, not on us, because our goodness if at all is dependant upon the goodness of God who alone is truly good and good all the time. 

In Mark 8:33 Jesus explained the same thing to Simon Peter saying, "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Similarly the Apostle Paul said, "God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." 2Co 9:8 In the same way, Ephesians 3:20,21 read, “
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Second, sell everything you have, give to the poor, then come and follow me.

In order to be saved out of this corrupt generation into God's kingdom and inherit eternal life, there is another thing one must practically do: pull oneself "out" of this world, and come follow Jesus. In the case of the rich ruler, in order to pull himself out of this world and head for God’s kingdom, there was one thing he had to do: sell "everything" he had and give it to the poor, and then follow Jesus. 

As he was determined to inherit eternal life, he presented himself like a runner participating in the LA Marathon. The race covers a long journey. Just as a man who participates in the LA Marathon, he is now standing at the starting line. Question: is he ready? Jesus is the coach. When Jesus saw the man, the ruler had yet to lighten his body. Have you ever seen a runner participating in a marathon? Think about the way he is geared up. He is wearing the lightest kind of shoes. His pants are short. His T-shirt is made of thin and light material. He has his hair cut short. Of course he keeps his body well fit, so his body would only run into minimum resistance from the wind blowing the opposite direction. 

In the case of the rich ruler, Jesus saw that he got himself all tangled up with too much of the material wealth of this world. Of course Jesus did not see his tax return. Obviously this was the first time Jesus had seen this man. And the man did not disclose anything to Jesus. But being the Creator God, Jesus knew everything about the man. Without learning or asking Jesus knew that he was a man of "great wealth." 

So Jesus said, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." [Here 'treasure in heaven' refers to all the blessings that can be found in God's kingdom, such as the joy of salvation, peace and love, and most importantly eternal life.] Moses' Ten Commandments can be seen as a spiritual check-list which tells us in what respect each of us must be prepared for our journey to God’s kingdom. So Jesus gave the rich ruler a quick run-down of the list by saying, "You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'" Coming first on the list was the problem of "adultery". Having a spirit of adultery is a great hindrance to our spiritual journey. Hosea 6:3 which is the key verse for today's daily bread says, "Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." But before the Prophet Hosea urges the Israelites to press on in their journey back to God, he kept emphasizing the need for them to renounce their adulterous ways of life. But apparently the rich ruler did not have that sort of problem. A murderous spirit which is based on anger and hatred is also a great hindrance to the spiritual race. And the list goes on. And the man said, “Yes” to the five commandments Jesus listed up.  

But still this man lacked one thing: attachment to what is materialistic. He was a man of great wealth. God is in the business of giving all his blessings to everyone, so if the ruler is set to the direction bound for God’s kingdom, he must be in the mode of giving. 

But look at the kind of mode he was in. Look at verse 23, "When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth." Notice the word "very". He was not just 'sad', but 'very' sad. The word 'sad' is already 'sad'. But he suddenly "became" very sad. The word 'sad' refers to a feeling which is associated with grief or unhappiness. He became very unhappy even at the thought of giving something to his neighbor. Is he then fit for the spiritual race bound for God’s kingdom? Is he truly ready to inherit eternal life? 

"You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

So the question for us today is "What is this one thing which I still lack?" Is it a spirit of adultery? Is it one or all of the seven cardinal sins like greed, lust, anger, laziness, envy, pride, and gluttony? Or is it just a bad habit? Or is it just one of the many relationship problems? Regarding the things we need to throw off in preparing ourselves for the race, Hebrews 12:1 says, "[L]et us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." 

Again a good preparation produces a good result. Lately several brothers and sisters are going through the water-melon program. After the Genesis group Bible studies, and then the one week rally, we would like to put together a "get away" program. Shepherd Jason and Shepherd Jonathan are working on the details. Most likely they are going to come up with a nice camping trip which involves a hiking trip as well. Apparently they already picked several places to go. And in making a plan for a hiking trip, there are a lot of things to prepare: hiking shoes, a back pack, a flash light, bottled water, snacks like power bars, and much more. How much more do we need to get ourselves ready for our spiritual journey to God's kingdom?!  So let us think about what Jesus said to the man, “You still lack one thing.” 

Third, come, follow me.

The third thing we need to do is to come and follow Jesus. At the outset the man called Jesus "Good 'teacher'." Apparently this man did not know that Jesus is the Messiah. Most likely he must have thought that Jesus was just another good rabbi. But the Bible says that Jesus is the Son of God who came to lead us to God’s kingdom. In John 14:6 Jesus directly says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” 

Naturally Jesus said to the man, “Come and follow me.” So let us stop and think about the meaning of coming and following Jesus. Here "coming" and "following" are closely related, but first things first, that is, daily one must come (out of himself and this world) to Jesus, and then follow him daily. Obviously coming and following must be continuous. And we must continue to do this as long as we breathe. 

Now what does following Jesus mean? In all practical terms following Jesus means learning from Jesus in every way possible, and doing whatever Jesus asks us to do. As we know, Jesus is not a small person: he is a great person. His love and power, his grace and mercy, are truly great. According to Isaiah 9:6, Jesus is the "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." 

Again, learning is for doing and, doing is for learning more. And as we learn to do his will we get to know Jesus better and deeper, and the promise to inherit eternal life becomes increasingly real. 

For the sake of learning and doing, we learn and do not just what is easy but what is challenging. The early apostles explain this truth saying, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." Phi 3:10 The Apostle James also says in James 1:2, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds." Then the Apostle Peter says, "In this [hope] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials." 1 Peter 1:6 So let us pray to participate in the remaining sufferings of Jesus, particularly in feeding sheep, and making disciples of all nations. 

Fourth, what is impossible with men is possible with God.

In meeting the challenges involved in our spiritual pilgrimage there is one thing we must always keep in our heart, that is, absolute faith in God. One of the billboards alongside the California Freeway system says, "Never leave home without the American Express Card." Likewise, we should never embark on our journey without the special credit card called "FAITH." When Jesus challenged the man to make necessary preparations, the man became sad. Jesus quickly noticed that the disciples had the same problem. So in the hearing of the disciples Jesus said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." 

Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?" What was Jesus' answer? Look at verse 27. "What is impossible with men is possible with God." Here Jesus asks his disciples to live by faith in God. Practically then what is it to live by faith in God? This is a good question. So let us stop for a moment and think about this question particularly in connection with the two questions that came out in the passage.

In the passage we have two fundamental questions of life: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" and "Who can be saved?" The first question focuses on the issue of “what” and the second “who”. The first question concerns “eternal life”, the second “salvation”. But both questions are one and the same, just as a tree and its fruit are one and the same. The question of what talks about [good] deeds (or 'fruit') and the question of who talks about [good] person. And what you do cannot be separated from who you are, for Jesus says, "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit." Luke 6:43 In Matthew 12:33 we find the same thing: "Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit." 

Now in answering the first question, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said, "No one is good -- except God alone." By this statement, Jesus already indicated that no man is good enough to earn eternal life on his own; one can receive eternal life only because of God’s grace found in Jesus the Lamb of God.  

In responding to the second question, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus said, "What is impossible with men is possible with God." By this answer, Jesus directed our attention to who God is, and what God can do, rather than, who we are or what we can do.  This is what “faith” in God is all about.

Speaking of the same truth, Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Then Hebrews 11:6 reads, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." 

Now, inspired by Jesus' words, Peter asked Jesus, "We have left all to follow you." Matthew 19:27 is more direct on what Peter said: "We have left everything to follow you. What then will there be for us?"

What was Jesus’ reply? Look at verses 29-30. "I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life." This passage ends with two words: eternal life. The case study for today then started out with the question of the way to inherit eternal life, and it ends with the promise of the eternal life. And we thank God that Jesus teaches us the way to inherit eternal life in principle and in practice.

One word: there is still one thing you lack

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