The Lutheran Hour
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"Loved by Jesus"
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Text: Mark 10:20-21a
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! The Lord of Life saw us in our sin, and He saw the price which must be paid to secure our salvation. Today, The Lutheran Hour encourages you to look with love upon the crucified and ever-living Savior. See Him and know, for certain, you are loved by the Lord.
When I was very young my mother and father told me that I should love everybody. Indeed, I can’t remember a time when they weren’t saying: “Ken, one of the most important things you will ever do in life is love everybody.” That’s why when Valentine’s Day rolled around they made sure I had a card to give to everybody in my class. There were to be no omissions, no exclusions. When we had a birthday party, the entire room had to be invited. I was supposed to love everyone. I was supposed to love the person who gave me socks for Christmas. I was supposed to love the relative who always pinched my cheeks and said, “What a big boy you are; and what do you want to be when you grow up?” Well I grew up to believe that everybody was supposed to love everybody. And I’ve tried. I still believe that loving everyone is a grand and glorious idea. I also believe it’s easy to say and hard – no, make that impossible, to do.
About five years ago I attended a pastor’s retirement party. It was a beautiful day. At the end, I had the opportunity to visit with the pastor. I started out saying, “You know, they really love you. You must love them all.” He replied, “Most of them. Most of the time.” Then he added, “It’s not always easy to love everybody.” I asked him to share, and with a bit of a twinkle in his eye, he told me about the time he and his wife had gone to the hospital. They were seeing one of the members of his church; a mother who had just given birth. Before they popped into Mom’s room, my friend and his wife looked through the nursery’s large, plate-glass window. They looked upon, and this is his emphasis here: they looked upon: “the baby.” The pink blanket and pink cap said “the baby” was a little girl. This was “the baby” who had caused the remodeling of a house; “the baby” who had caused the rewriting of a will; “the baby” who now had a college fund; “the baby” who was the fulfillment of much hope and prayer. Having looked upon “the baby,” the pastor turned to his wife and whispered, “That’s the ugliest baby I’ve ever seen.” The minister thought 34 years of marriage would give him the right to say that kind of thing to his wife. “After all,” he reasoned, “it’s not our baby. I would never say anything like that about our baby. Not out loud, anyway.”
The pastor confessed he had reasoned wrongly. The pastor told me his wife looked at him with fire in her eyes, and said with steel in her voice, “Every baby is beautiful. Every baby is perfect.” The pastor didn’t argue. He didn’t say a word. He said he would have been taking his life into his hands to do so. In silence they went and saw the mother. There she was – battle weary but victorious, surrounded by flowers, cards, and button-popping grandparents.
The new momma asked two questions of her visitors: “Did you stop and see my baby?” That was easy. Yes, they had. The second question was harder. It was a killer. Momma asked, “Isn’t my baby the most beautiful thing you ever did see?” The pastor told me, and I hope I’m getting his words right, “I quickly looked down at the floor, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see my wife turning to me, waiting for my reply.” Then the pastor added, “You know, they say when you are about to die your life passes, in an instant, before your eyes. I don’t know if that is true, but I do know, in that split second I saw my entire future pass before my eyes. My honesty was weighed in the scale against having a happy home.” The happy home won out. The minister told the momma, “Every baby is beautiful. Every baby is perfect.” Together the new mom and his loving wife breathed a sigh of maternal satisfaction. Still, the minister confessed, “It’s not always easy to love everybody.”
As sinful human beings we are forced to agree. None of us loves everybody all the time. Oh, sure there are the Mother Teresas and the Albert Schweitzers who love a lot of people a lot of the time, but I simply don’t know anybody who loves everybody all of the time. I know we’re supposed to, and I’m working at it, but, it’s just that some people rub me the wrong way. In preparation for this message, I wrote up a list of people that I don’t love. You may not have written your list of wrong-way-rubbers down, but you probably have a list. It may be tucked away, somewhere way back in the dark recesses of your mind, but it’s there.
I can almost hear you thinking, “I wonder who is on his list?” I’ll tell you. I find it hard to love the young person who drives down my street in the boom box that he calls an automobile. You know the guy. He’s got a $300 car with $3,000 worth of stereo equipment. Amazingly, his car stereo has no volume control. The only switch it has, is an on-off button, and that button is broken – in the “on” position. As a result, his stereo is always on and it is slightly louder than the vehicles at a monster truck rally.
No, I don’t love everybody, and you don’t either. If you were sitting in The Lutheran Hour studio with me you would have your own list of unlovables. It’s a flaw in me, in you, a serious shortcoming in all of us. Except for Jesus, the sinless Son of God, the Savior of the world. Jesus managed to love everyone. I don’t know how, but He did. Mark, in the tenth chapter of his story recounting the life and sacrifice of the Savior, talked about Jesus’ love. Now, if you look up that chapter, you will read how Jesus, in spite of His disciples’ interference, loved little children, picked them up in His arms and blessed them. You can hear Jesus warn people not to keep children away from His love. In that same chapter you can read how Jesus encouraged people to have faith in Him like a little child has absolute trust in his loving father or mother.
But those verses about Jesus’ love are not the words which are our focus. Today we concentrate on the event immediately following Jesus’ benediction upon the children. As Jesus was leaving the mothers with their beautiful little ones, a man came up to the Savior – actually, he ran up the Savior, respectfully knelt down and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” If you read the other Gospels – namely Matthew and Luke, which also tell the man’s story – you will find out that he’s rich, young, and may have been a respected leader of the local synagogue. He was the kind of man that parents dream their daughters will someday marry.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to get off task. As I said this rich, young ruler ran to Jesus and respectfully asked the Lord what he had to do to be saved. Looking at this fellow through the eyes of a Christian pastor, I have to confess that he seemed to be doing a lot of things right. Even though he was young, the rich, young ruler considered the search for salvation to be an important priority in his life. He wasn’t about to postpone such matters until he was old and gray. His is an example I wish everyone would follow. But there’s more. I’m pleased to see the man showed some respect for Jesus. No, he didn’t acknowledge the Christ as his Savior, but at least he didn’t pretend to be Jesus’ equal, or put on as if he was doing the Lord some kind of favor. No, this young man recognized that he was the student and Jesus was the teacher. The biggest difficulty I have with the rich, young ruler, is his question. If you weren’t paying close attention when I read it to you the first time, let me repeat. He asked, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What must I do to get heaven?” That is the question which has been asked in every generation by every person who seriously thinks about eternity. “What must I do?” The world’s religions have always been glad to answer the question. Famous philosophers, helpful humanitarians, and a multitude of moralists have considered, debated, and delivered their answers. Countless minds have provided countless variations to the question. Still, when these answers are compared, they are remarkably similar. They all agree: you must do something. They don’t know what something you must do, or how much something, or how long you will have to do the something; but they all agree, a person who wants to work their way into heaven will have to do something.
In contrast to all of these human answers, Jesus cut to the heart of the matter and rightly responded, “Why ask Me? God’s the only person who can give you a right answer.” And then Jesus gave the man God’s answer. “If you want to save yourself, here’s what you have to do. You have to keep God’s law perfectly. That means if you want to save yourself, you shouldn’t worship idols; you shouldn’t misuse God’s name; you shouldn’t commit adultery; you shouldn’t steal; you shouldn’t disobey those in authority; you shouldn’t badmouth others.” All in all, Jesus gave the man a pretty short list of things to avoid if he wanted to save himself. As Jesus was talking, I think the young man was running a mental checklist: Murder? Nope, haven’t done that. Idolatry, no. Cursing, no. Adultery, no, I’m faithful to my wife. Theft; unthinkable; disobeying parents, never, I’m a good boy, I am. Having run through the list, the young man breathed a sigh of relief and self-assuredly said, “Teacher, I’ve done all of those things since I was a kid.”
What happened next fascinates me. I’m intrigued in part by what doesn’t happen, and I’m equally mesmerized by what does. Let me explain; let me tell you what doesn’t happen. Jesus doesn’t take the man apart like a clock. Jesus doesn’t spend a few hours revealing the man’s internal sins – the sins of the heart. Jesus didn’t point out the times that the rich, young ruler lusted without committing the physical act of adultery; the moments when he had been envious without actually stealing; the times he had put something, or someone, before God without really bowing down before an idol. Jesus didn’t berate the man like He had so many other overly confident Pharisees. That’s what didn’t happen.
What did happen was this. Mark tells us, “Jesus looked at him (the rich, young ruler) Jesus looked at him and loved him.” Are you, like me, curious what the man had said which made Jesus look at him and love him? It finally occurred to me, that although I can’t be absolutely positive, I’ve seen that look, and that feeling of love, once before. It happened when a little boy, about three-years-old came up to his mother and said, “Mommy, when I grow up, I’m going to marry you.” Now the mother could have spent some time trying to tell her little boy why that what he had proposed wasn’t going to happen. She could have given him a dozen reasons why his idea was wrong. Instead of doing any of those things, she simply looked at her boy and loved him. She loved him because while she knew his heart was in the right place, what he had said was totally, terribly wrong.
Although it’s pure conjecture, I think that may have been the look Jesus gave, and the love Jesus felt, for this young man. Jesus loved the man’s intentions, even if everything he had said was terribly wrong. Jesus loved the man’s willingness to do whatever was necessary to be saved, even if all his attempts were doomed to failure. And why was this rich, young ruler wrong; why was he doomed to failure? Simple. If that young man, if any of us are to be saved, it will not be because of something that we do. We, no matter how hard we try, no matter how long we work at it, no matter how good or sincere our intentions might be, are unable to pay the damning debt that sin has placed upon our souls. We may devote ourselves, day and night, to staying on the straight and narrow; we may struggle and strive to divest ourselves of sin’s straightjacket; but no matter what we do, we, like that rich, young ruler, will remain sinners. We were born sinners, and without the salvation that Jesus has won for us by His life, through His death upon the cross, and assured to us by His empty tomb, we are destined to die sinners. It is when, and only when, the Holy Spirit has given us the realization of our sinfulness that the Holy Spirit can lead us to Jesus where we plaintively plead, “Lord, will you save me?”
But the rich, young ruler never said those words, even as I imagine many of you may have never said those words. If that is true for you, know that Jesus, right now, is looking at you and He is loving you. If you think you can gain salvation by your own will and works, Jesus is looking at you and He is loving you. But until you know that forgiveness only comes to repentant hearts, that eternal life is given only through the blood of the Savior, looking at you and loving you is all Jesus can do. Jesus can’t heal those who think they have no need for a spiritual physician. Jesus cannot bring light to those who refuse to acknowledge the darkness which surrounds them. To sinners who maintain their innocence, all Jesus can do is look at them and love them, and keep sending His Holy Spirit to try and change them.
Jesus tried to change the rich, young ruler. After He had looked with love upon the man, the Savior, in effect, said, “Well, I can see you honestly think you’ve kept all of these laws. If so, here’s what I want you to do: I want you to give away everything you have. Then, when you’ve done that, come, follow Me.” Understand, Jesus was not giving a new commandment here. He wasn’t saying that everyone who follows Him had to become a pauper. He was simply trying to let the man see that there were things in his heart that had pushed God to the side. Jesus wanted the rich, young ruler to recognize his helplessness and need for a Savior. Jesus wanted the rich, young ruler to pray, “Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
If that had happened, I’m convinced spectators would have seen Jesus lift that man up forgiven, free, and possessing an absolute guarantee of heaven. If that had happened there would have been great rejoicing in heaven over the sinner who had repented. If that had happened, the blood of the Savior would have set another sinner free of his transgressions. But the rich, young ruler couldn’t bring himself to say those words. When he heard Jesus say, “Give away everything,” his face fell; he got up and he went home. Understand, he was still a good man; he was still a rich man and a ruler in the synagogue. He was still loved by Jesus. But he had not been saved by Jesus.
And Jesus, what did Jesus do? Did He run after the fellow? Did He say, “Hey, don’t take Me so seriously, I was just joking.” Did He call out, “Look, come on back. Let’s sit down. Maybe we can work out a compromise.” Jesus did none of those things. He merely looked at that man with love in His heart and watched him walk away. It wouldn’t be the first time; it wouldn’t be the last. When the crowds walked away from Jesus because He refused to be their earthly king; Jesus loved them as they left. When Judas walked out of the upper room to betray His Lord, Jesus watched Him go. I imagine, even as the traitor left, Jesus’ gaze was one of love.
I know Jesus looks at you with love. But please, don’t think just because He looks at us with love that He is willing, or able, to negotiate another plan other than His Father’s plan to save us. The wages of sin will always be death, and salvation will always and only come through the Savior’s substitution and sacrifice. Only Jesus’ blood has the power to forgive us of our sin. And that is what Jesus has done for some of you, wants to do for the rest. He wants to look at you with love, and more importantly, He wants to save you with His blood.
In the 1800s, one of the great Scottish Presbyterian preachers was a man by the name of Alexander Whyte. Loved by the congregation which he served for more than 40 years, Whyte never forgot that he was a sinner, a saved sinner. One day, a beautiful lady came to him and volunteered, “Dr. Whyte, I just love being in your presence. You are so saintly.” Whyte turned and looked at the lady, replying, “Madam, if you could look into my soul, what you would see would make you spit in my face.” Whyte’s words are true for all of us. But God’s Word is also true for all of us. Jesus, having looked into our hearts, having seen what was there, did not spit upon us – He was spit upon. Jesus did not desert us, but Himself was deserted. Jesus did not strike us down, instead He was struck down, giving His life as a ransom for the world. And with His resurrection, showing to that world that sin, death, and devil had been conquered. That is the Savior who looks upon you with love. If you need to know more about Him, call us at The Lutheran Hour. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for March 19, 2006
TOPIC: Follow up on Bad ParentsKLAUS: Hello, this is Pastor Klaus and with me in the studio today is Brian Contestible. Most of The Lutheran Hour listeners don’t know Brian. He’s one of the behind-the-scenes folks who brings The Lutheran Hour to you. Today, Brian and Mark Eischer, the fellow who normally sits opposite me for the Question and Answer segment have reversed positions. Brian is at the microphone and Mark is at the soundboard. Hi Brian.
CONTESTIBLE: Hello, Pastor.
KLAUS: And what has caused this unprecedented change of rolls?
CONTESTIBLE: Well, Pastor, for a number of years I worked on another program here at Lutheran Hour Ministries called Woman To Woman, hosted by Phyllis Wallace. And that program dealt with all kinds of issues and very often some of those would touch a nerve with me.
KLAUS: And today?
CONTESTIBLE: A few months ago you answered a question that came from someone who had had what I think she called, “truly evil parents.” And, by truly evil they meant that there had been incidents of physical, verbal, and mental abuse. Maybe even molestation of some kind.
KLAUS: I remember the question.
CONTESTIBLE: Well, the question I thought some people might ask, even though they might not write in, would be, “How come God gave me such evil parents?” And thankfully, I have to say God has blessed me with loving parents, but for those that were not, I think they would ask, “How come God decided to single me out, afflict me with such a life? I didn’t deserve it, did I?” And I just wanted you to follow up on that one if you could.
KLAUS: Maybe that’s not such a bad idea. Some years ago I was talking about God being a loving, heavenly Father. And the next day, a lady of my church came into my office for a heart-to-heart.
She said something like, “You know, pastor, when you talk about God being my Father in heaven, I cringe. The only father I ever knew beat me, shouted at me, and made me do some things as a young girl I’d rather not talk about. I hated my father, and didn’t ever want to think of God that way. He’s my God, but I have a tough time praying to Him, or listening to Him when He’s presented in the role of a father.”
CONTESTIBLE: Yes, that’s what I was thinking.
KLAUS: That was one of the saddest conversations I ever had. Here was God, trying to explain His relationship with us, and described Himself as what should be a great example, a model of what we humans know. It should be something reliable, trustworthy, caring. And because of sin, and the evil in some fathers’ hearts, that peace which God is trying to give is wiped away. It’s sad.
CONTESTIBLE: It is sad. You know, Pastor, as I sit back at the recording controls, I have often heard you say we shouldn’t judge the Master by the shortcomings of the servants. I think that might be true in this situation.
KLAUS: You know, I agree. It is a bad thing to judge God by the sad examples of people who call themselves Christian. God does ask His people to reflect to others, as clearly as they can, as often as they can, as far as they can, the love, forgiveness, peace, that they have received through faith in Jesus.
It’s tragic when the protector of a child becomes his or her persecutor. Especially then it’s dangerous to judge the Master by the servants. I was thankful that lady in my church years ago didn’t turn away from the Lord because of the sins of her father. And I pray that our other listeners who may be in a similar situation may follow her example. But back to your question…
CONTESTIBLE: Or at least the question that I had thought some of our listeners might be asking.
KLAUS: Yes: “Why does God give some children such evil parents?” And once again, we’re not talking about parents who occasionally do some things which make their children upset.
CONTESTIBLE: No, we’re talking about parents who are actually, really sick and almost evil incarnate.
KLAUS: Exactly. Here’s the best answer I can give: God never wanted you, or anyone, to have sick and evil parents. God loves you. He loves you so much He allowed His Son to carry your sins. Satan, the world, our own sinful natures have done that. All of us are sinners, but some of us give free rein to that sin. That’s what that father did. That’s not God’s intent. He, who wants you to live eternity in heaven does not want your life to be lived here in hell.
CONTESTIBLE: I think some people might really have needed to hear that.
KLAUS: I hope they need to hear the rest, too. If you are being abused and molested by a truly evil parent, you should know God does not demand that you remain in such a situation. Talk to a responsible adult who is in authority. If you have done that and been ignored, or told to forget it, or you’re imaging things, don’t stop. God does not want you to be stuck in this physically and spiritually dangerous situation.
CONTESTIBLE: Thank you, Pastor. And, as Mark would say, this has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Saw Ye My Savior?” traditional American. From Trav’ling Home by the Boston Camerata (© 1996 Erato Disques, Paris)
“Ride On, Ride On, in Majesty” by John Behnke. From For All Seasons, vol. 3 by John Behnke (© 2004 John Behnke) Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Von Gott will ich nicht lassen” by J.S. Bach. From Cramer & Resch at Kramer Chapel by Craig Cramer and Richard Resch (© 2001 Concordia Theological Seminary)