“I’m gonna be a mighty king / so enemies beware.” Remember this? “I’m gonna be the mane event / like no king was before / I’m brushing up on looking down / I’m working on my roar.” That little scamp Simba, a lion cub singing about the inevitable ascension to the throne as the king of the jungle. “No one saying ‘Do this!’ / No one saying ‘Be there!’ / No one saying ‘See here!’ / Free to run around all day / Free to do it all my way.” Who wouldn’t? Who doesn’t want to be king? To make all our own decisions, to rule to world?
Well, me for one. Maybe you too. I’d rather be the kind of king where everyone else makes all the decisions! I left out Zazu’s commentary on Simba’s aspirations. That little hornbill just adds a dash of reality to the dream that we could do without. Don’t you think? We just want to be captains of our own fate, charters of our own course. Right?
I went to see dad today, that’s why I’m late. He told my sister that he was having some technical problems and felt cut off again. Computer wasn’t working, cell phone stumped him. He needed help. So, I drove down today and put things right again. There was nothing really wrong, just wasn’t working the way he thought it should. And the answer to your question is, he’s fine. Really, doing pretty well, adjusting to the setting ... somewhat. Resigned anyway. But what rankles him the most is that he isn’t in charge. Of his schedule, of his decisions, of his choices, of his life. And that doesn’t make him happy.
Which is understandable. We all want to be king. Of our own kingdom, at least. Of our own stuff. That’s one of the reasons why stuff appeals. It gives us the illusion of control. Of being able to define our own existence. Of having the power to shape the world to our design. And if not this latest thing, then the next thing. That gadget, the upgrade, the bells and whistles, will make it all happen.
Pastor Tom Berlin calls that gravity. That pull of the stuff in our lives. We are launching our next series this week. It’s our Stewardship Series at Aldersgate. That time of year when we think about our commitment to the church. An important and somewhat delicate time. But stewardship is more than just meeting the church budget. Always has been. It’s a spiritual issue. Jesus thought it was important. The two things he talked most about were the Kingdom of God and money. Funny that, given what we spend all our time debating. But for Jesus the effect of money, of riches, of stuff is potentially so dangerous, so destructive, so antithetical to faith that he spent a lot of time warning us. Pay attention, he says, to the gravity of wealth.
Matthew 19:16-22 Then someone came to him and said, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" 17 And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." 18 He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; 19 Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 20 The young man said to him, "I have kept all these; what do I still lack?" 21 Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." 22 When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
He went away grieving. The pull of the gravity of his stuff was too great. He couldn’t break away. He was offered a place in the pantheon of heroes we call apostles. Come and follow me. He had an invitation to the greatest party on earth. And the burden of what he owned made him walk away. In Mark’s version of the story he includes a detail that Matthew left out. Maybe insignificant in the greater scheme of things. And yet, a nuance that we often overlook. Mark says after the young man says “I’ve kept these commandments all my life” that Jesus looks at him and loves him. Then he says there is one thing you lack, go and sell and follow me.
He loves him. That’s why he wants to help him. That’s why the young man’s pain is important to Jesus. Because he loved him. What a difference that would make if we approached those who are lost, who are hurting, who are burdened by an unsustainable life with love and not judgement. Or maybe it was that Jesus knew that the only thing that could overcome the gravity of the riches of this life is a force stronger, a greater pull. Love redeems, love rescues, love wins. He knew that. He knows that. He loved him. Even though it didn’t seem to work. The young man walked away, grieving. The burden on his heart increased, instead of lightened. He had the antidote, he had the prescription. But the medicine was too bitter for him to swallow.
Good thing we know better, right? Good thing we aren’t sucked in the ownership cycle. The wanting of stuff. We’re smarter than that. Samsung is out five to eight (depending on who you read) billion dollars because of the failure of the Note 7. A lot of people wanted one, no one needed one. I enjoy my Samsung phone, and at times panic when I forget it, think I can’t live without it. That little clutch in my chest I feel when I drop it is the effect of gravity. The pull of something that shouldn’t matter all that much. But no one can deny that we all feel the effect of the weight of our stuff. I suspect I would have walked away from Jesus grieving if he had said the same thing to me. Luckily he didn’t.
Or did he? If you keep reading in Matthew’s Gospel the next few verses you’ll find the seriousness of the weight of wealth. That’s where we get contortionist camels and impossible entrances. That’s where we get the generosity of the Kingdom that clashes against the generosity of this world. Here was want fair. But there, in God’s Kingdom we get grace enough.
Jesus wants us to have grace enough. Enough to float free from all that encumbers us, all that weighs us down. Jesus wants us to leave our kingdoms behind, leave behind the desire to be king of that kingdom and enter into His Kingdom, where we will know riches beyond imagining, where we will know grace enough.
Zazu is right, you know. Being king isn’t all that we imagine it would be. Maybe it is better that we find a better King to follow than ourselves. Maybe we need grace enough to be set free to follow.
Shalom,
Derek
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