SERMON: LET'S MAKE A DEAL

3 June 2012

I.  Introduction

          -- turn in Bibles to Matthew 19:16-22

Matthew 19:16-22 (NIV)
¹⁶ Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
¹⁷ "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
¹⁸ "Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,
¹⁹ honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"
²⁰ "All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
²¹ Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
²² When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

           -- how many of you remember that old game show, "Let's Make a Deal" with Monty Hall -- when I was a kid, that used to be one of my favorite shows -- in fact, that's one of the things that I always looked forward to about summer -- since it came on in the mornings, I never got to see it when school was in, but in the summer, we got to sleep in late and then could get up and watch all those morning game shows -- "The Price is Right," "Hollywood Squares," and, of course, "Let's Make a Deal"

          -- that was a great show -- the people would dress up in the craziest costumes trying to catch the eye of Monty so he would pick them to go up on stage -- and then, when they got up on stage, he would give them a prize and ask them this question -- Now, do you want to keep what you've got, or do you want to choose what's behind one of these doors?
          -- and there would be three big doors on the stage or three big boxes on the stage and the contestant would have to decide what they wanted to do -- were they happy with what they had or did they want to trade in all they had for the chance to get something better?
          -- you never knew what was behind those doors -- it could be a new car or an entertainment center -- or it could be something that no one wanted -- like a live donkey or some other bad prize -- it was a chance they had to take -- did they want to give up what they had to try to get something better?

          -- Let's Make a Deal was one of the most popular game shows on TV -- the original show ran for over 14 years, mostly with Monty Hall as the host -- and now they've revived the show for a new generation with Wayne Brady as the host

          -- I think one of the reasons that the show was so popular is that it spoke to our hearts -- that question that Monty Hall asked -- do you want to keep what you have or do you want to take a chance on something better -- is something that we constantly face in our lives
          -- this question is what drives people to look for better jobs -- better homes -- better education -- better relationships
          -- are you happy with where you are -- with what you are doing -- with the job you have -- or do you want to take a chance and try for something better?
          -- but it's not only the world that asks us this question -- Jesus also asks this of us -- we see that right here in this passage in his interaction with the rich young ruler

          -- let's look at this again and let's see what we can learn from this passage

II.  The Rich Young Ruler

          -- if you would, please look back with me at verse 16

Matthew 19:16 (NIV)

16 Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"

          -- now this story about the rich young ruler is found in all three of the synoptic gospels -- Matthew, Mark, and Luke

          -- Matthew and Mark just describe him as a man here in the start of the story -- and then later on they point out the great wealth that he has
          -- but Luke goes a little farther in his account and says that the man was a ruler -- not a king, but probably a leader in his family or tribe or possible a leader in the synagogue or in some other setting
          -- what I want you to get right here at the start is an idea of this man's position -- in the eyes of the world, he had it all -- he was young -- he was rich -- he had power and prestige -- to use the vernacular, he had arrived -- he had it made
          -- we're talking Mark Zuckerberg here -- the founder of Facebook -- Zuckerberg just turned 28 years old last month and is currently estimated to be worth about $19 billion -- and that's billion with a "B"
          -- that's what I want you to picture in your mind as we go through this passage -- that's the kind of man we're talking about here

          -- so one day, Jesus is teaching and this rich young man comes up to Him and asks, "What good thing must I do to get eternal life?"

          -- notice what he's saying there -- what do I have to do? -- how can I earn eternal life? -- I've already got everything else but this -- so how do I get this? -- do I have to make an offering or do I just follow a checklist of laws or what? -- you just tell me -- I've got my check book right here and I'll just write a check if that's what you need
 
          -- now look at Jesus' answer -- verse 17

17 "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."

          -- Jesus begins by redefining value -- Why do you ask Me about what is good? -- there's only One who is good

          -- do you see what Jesus is doing there? -- this man defined value based upon the world's system -- he determined what was good based on whether it was deemed valuable by this world -- money and power and prestige -- and in his eyes, he was good because he had all of that
          -- but Jesus says, "You don't know what good is -- there's only one who is good, and that is God -- only Godly things have value, and they are reflected in your heart -- not in your bank account
          -- if you want to live -- if you want to truly increase your eternal wealth -- then you must obey the commandments that God has given"

          -- verse 18

18 "Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,

19 honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'"

20 "All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"

 
          -- I like the response of the young man -- it was direct and honest -- "Which ones?" -- isn't that just like us? -- just cut to the chase, God -- just go ahead and tell us which questions are going to be on the test -- we don't want to do them all -- we just want to focus on the ones that are important
          -- what is the least that I have to do and still get in? -- what is the least that I can pay and still receive eternal life?

          -- so Jesus lists out several commandments for the man

          -- if you notice, Jesus didn't list all of the ten commandments because He's trying to make a point
          -- Jesus didn't even mention the first four of the ten commandments or the one that He said was the greatest commandment of all -- the one that summed up all four of these -- Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength
          -- in other words, put God first in your life -- make God the most important thing -- value Him above all else
          -- and Jesus also left off the last commandment -- you shall not covet -- you shall not desire what you do not have -- the Greek word actually carries the sense of grasping for what you do not have -- of making the pursuit of this desire the most important thing in your life
          -- you see, despite how valuable this young man thought he was -- despite all the wealth and power and prestige that he had accumulated and how well he followed all of the other commandments -- he was still falling short in these areas
          -- it's a fair assumption that this young man was Jewish -- and as a Jew, he would have known the commandments -- they would have become part of him -- something that he had memorized and studied since he was a child
          -- so when Jesus lists out the commandments here, he would have realized the ones that were left off -- but there seems to be no conviction on his part -- no "Aha!" moment where he realizes his shortcomings
          -- instead, he replies, "I have kept all of these -- I have already checked these off my life -- what else is required?"

          -- verse 21

21 Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

          -- here's where Jesus goes all Monty Hall on this rich young ruler

          -- you're standing there with your earthly prize -- you've got the money -- you've got the name -- you've got the position -- you've got the power
          -- so, do you want to keep what you've got or do you want to trade it all in for what's behind door number 3?
          -- Jesus gets right to the heart of the matter and says, "Your problem is your wealth -- your problem is your heart -- you have made an idol out of money -- you have replaced God with wealth -- if you want eternal life, you have to make a deal
          -- you have to trade all that you have -- you have to give up all your possessions -- for something that I am telling you has even greater value and that is truly good because it is of God"
         -- the young man hears what's required and goes away sad because he is unwilling to trade something that he and the world think is valuable for something that has a value that he has yet to grasp

          -- it's easy for us to read a story like this and to go, "Uh huh -- look at that foolish boy -- not willing to give up worldly wealth in order to find eternal life -- I'd never do that -- if Jesus asked me, I'd give up all that I had to follow Him" -- but would we? -- do we?
          -- how much of our time and energy is spent chasing after things that only have value in this world -- after things that have an expiration date?
          -- how easy is it for us to be satisfied with what we have when God offers us so much more if we'll just pick Door Number 1?
          -- C.S. Lewis had a quote on this matter that I've always like -- he wrote: “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak -- We are half-hearted creatures -- fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us -- like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a [vacation] at the [beach] -- We are far too easily pleased.”
          -- that was the problem with the rich young ruler -- he was too easily pleased -- he was happy with what he had in his life -- the wealth and the power and the prestige -- and he didn't want to give it up -- he didn't want to take a risk on what Jesus offered

III.  Closing: Bigger and Better

          -- What do we miss out on in life because we simply don't ask or trust God to provide? -- What are we unwilling to let go of because we don't trust that God offers so much more in return?
          -- I guess the question that really faces us is the same question that faced that rich young ruler -- do I believe that what God has to offer is more valuable than what this world has to offer?
          -- let's go over to Matthew 13:44-46 and we'll end there
 
          -- verse 44
 
Matthew 13:44-46 (NIV)
44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.
46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

          -- these two parables -- the story of the treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of great price -- are stories about what is truly valuable -- about what has true and lasting wealth

          -- in each of these parables, we see a similar situation
          -- in the first one, a man goes out and finds a treasure hidden in a field -- he realizes what he has uncovered, so he buries it again and goes out and sells he has to buy the field and receive the treasure
          -- in the second, we are told about this merchant who obviously trades in pearls -- he goes out and looks for pearls that he can buy and sell -- when he finds a pearl that is so much more valuable than any he has ever seen before -- so valuable that he sells all he has just so he can buy it

          -- there's a lot of depth in these parables that we just don't have time to go into today -- but the point that Jesus is trying to make here is the same in both parables

          -- the kingdom of heaven is worth more than all the wealth in this world -- and the truly wise would sacrifice all they have in order to gain the treasure that God has offered behind the door that we know as Jesus Christ
          -- these two men -- the man who found the treasure in the field and the pearl merchant -- were willing to do what the rich young man was not -- they were willing to sacrifice all they had and to give up all they possessed in order to gain true treasure that would last for eternity

          -- as Christians, Jesus calls us to play the game "Bigger and Better" -- do you know that game? -- did you ever play it as a kid?

          -- the concept of this game is that you take something that doesn't have much value and then you try to trade it up for something that is bigger and better
          -- for instance, I read about this guy in Canada named Kyle MacDonald -- back in 2005, things weren't going well for him -- he had just graduated college and couldn't find a job anywhere -- he was about to give up when he remembered the game, "Bigger and Better," and he thought, "Why not?"
          -- so, he took the red paperclip that was holding his last resume together and offered to trade it on Craigslist to someone who would give him something of more value -- he got a pen -- he traded the pen for a doorknob
          -- he traded the doorknob for a Coleman stove -- he traded the stove for a generator -- and so on and so on until one year later -- in July 2006 -- Kyle was contacted by a city manager from Canada -- they wanted him to be the honorary mayor of Kipling for one day and would make him an honorary lifelong citizen -- and, on top of that, from that day on July 12th would be known as One Red Paperclip Day in honor of Kyle's Bigger and Better game and he would be given a 3-bedroom house on Main Street in downtown Kipling
[Source:  "One Red Paperclip" http://www.wealthcreator.com.au/business/advice/one-red-paperclip]

          -- how many of us would have quit before we got the house? -- how many of us would have said, "I'm happy with what I have -- I'm done" -- and have walked away with less than what we could have?
          -- that's what Jesus is trying to break us of -- Jesus doesn't want us to settle -- He wants us to move forward -- to trade up to bigger and better things
          -- that might mean giving up things that the world tells us have value in order to acquire something that has no tangible value here but that will be priceless in eternity
          -- as Bob Goff points out, Why wouldn't we do that? -- "Jesus is basically saying, “Look, none of the stuff you have is going to last, including you. You’ve only got about a dime’s worth of life now. Come and trade up, come follow Me, and you can know God.”
[Source: Goff, Bob (2012-05-01). Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World]

          -- what is that you are holding onto so tightly that you can't make room for God? -- what is it in your life that you just can't let go of or that you think is so valuable that you won't give it up to get what Jesus offers behind Door Number 1?

          -- for the rich young ruler, it was wealth -- for you and for me, it may be something else -- what is the idol in our lives that we are worshiping and valuing more than God?

          -- we have to know in our heart of hearts that Jesus wants the best for our life -- we have to trust -- in faith -- that when He tells us to die to self -- to give away all our possessions -- and to follow Him -- that it will lead to something greater than we can ever imagine -- a treasure hidden in a field -- a pearl of great price

          -- we have to be willing to trade up -- to give up what we think is valuable to gain something that is even greater -- in order to make a difference in this world for Him

          -- let us pray