Inheriting eternal life has nothing to do with wealth and money. Rather instead it has everything to do with being in relationship with God and with one another. It has everything to do with realizing that we cannot and we do not earn God’s love. Rather it is about responding to that life giving, world changing love by sharing it with others because we cannot do anything else. This love is not ours to hoard or to keep. It is to be shared, to be given, used to empower, to make justice, to care for the least of these. This love, God’s love is the vehicle which brings transformation, helping us to become the people God created us to be, calls us to be for a time such as this.
July 6, 2025
“You are Lacking One Thing”
Mark 10: 17-31
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
Mark 10: 17-3
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.”
You are Lacking One Thing Mark 10: 17-31
There is some trepidation in sharing this text given what happened in Washington DC this past week yet oddly enough, I know that as we professed just a few moments ago, this is the word of God for the people of God for a time such as this…Because this text challenges us to realize that the Gospel is much less about what we think is right and much more about what we are unwilling to do. Let me say that again…as followers of Jesus Christ, for us, the harsh and uncomfortable Truth is that the Gospel is much less about what we think is right and much more about what we are unwilling to do. You see, time and time again, Jesus showed this in his ministry. He told parables about seeds falling on different ground…some would be choked by the weeds, some would start to grow and then wither and die while others grew strong and produced fruit. Jesus told stories about the great wedding banquet where the king invited all his friends and family but instead of accepting his invitation, they offered their excuses. Time and time again, Jesus showed his disciples, showed his followers, shows us still today that discipleship is not a one size fits all venture, that each of us are called to take up our crosses, whatever they may be, and follow him. Time and time again, Jesus showed his disciples, showed his followers, shows us still today, that discipleship is not about following the letter of the Law. Rather discipleship is about radically following Jesus by serving others, by embracing our connection to each other as community, by living out an understanding of what it means to be the Body of Christ here and now for all of God’s people in word and deed. Time and time again, Jesus showed his disciples, showed his followers, shows us still today that following Jesus leads us to the margins, not the mansions.
But that is not how our world works. That is not how our world operates. The mode of operation for our world is in any given place, in any given conversation, in any given relationship, the mode of operation for our world is power, money and greed. To gain these things, people are always trying to get ahead, people are always trying to make sure that they get what is theirs, no matter the cost, no matter who they oppress or destroy to achieve these things.
In our culture, in our society, in our nation and in the world around us, the mode of operations is checking all the boxes, the right car, the right house, the right schools, no matter how much debt these boxes accumulate. It is all about the supposed rewards. It is about me and mine, not ours. No relationship. No connection. Just keep our heads down. Do what needs to be. Just tell me the bare minimum requirements so I can get on with my life.
This narrow mindset, this bare minimum requirement mode of operation has filtered into our churches as well. It has saturated our understanding of discipleship. Like the young man in our text, we simply want to know what we need to do to inherit eternal life. We walk into the sanctuary, already setting the agenda, saying… Preacher, just tell us the top 3 things we need to do to be good Christians, to be good people. Don’t complicate it with all that faith stuff. Don’t try to push us out of our comfort zones. Don’t give us anything too difficult like loving our enemies or caring for the least of these. Don’t even try telling us that we need to accept everyone, not just the people who look like us, or think like us or act like us. And Preacher, don’t give us anything too difficult like we are called to be in authentic relationship with those around us, seeing them as children of God, created in the image of God, valuing them for who they are and whose they are instead of what they can give us. Just give us the top 3 things we need to do so that we will be good Christians, so that we can leave this place and nothing that is said here, preached here, shared here, experienced here changes anything about our life, so we can leave this place and go about our week, feeling good about ourselves. Preacher, don’t complicate it with all that Jesus talk. Just give us the top 3 things we need to do so that we will inherit eternal life.
Okay…so here it is…As followers of Jesus Christ, we 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.’ As a religion, as a culture, as a society, as a nation, we have these down pat. We have these things posted everywhere including classrooms and courthouses. We are passing bills left and right to make sure these commandments are displayed so everyone can see them.
Yet we still lack one thing…In order to inherit eternal life, we as the followers of Jesus, are called to feed the hungry in the very same schools in which these commandments hang. We, as followers of Jesus, are called to make justice in the very same courthouses where these commandments hang. We as the people of God are called to love the stranger, for we were strangers in the land of Egypt, not to build concentration camps and call them Alligator Alcatraz.
In order to inherit eternal life, we as followers of Jesus, are called to care for the orphan, the widower, the aged, the stranger, the immigrant, the child in foster care, the drug addict on the street, the homeless vet, the gang member, the prisoner behind bars, the transsexual, the adoptive family, the young pregnant teenager, and everyone else I didn’t mention or name because the labels don’t really matter. As followers of Jesus, we are called to care for all. We are called to help them thrive, not just survive. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be the heart and hands of God in real and tangible ways in the very community, culture, society and nation where the 10 commandments are visibly displayed.
Because you see, the flaw in the young man’s question when he came seeking what he needed to do to inherit eternal life, the flaw in our question when we come seeking what we need to do in order to be good Christians is this…when we ask these types of questions, we are thinking in terms of wealth and deeds, in terms of power and money, in terms of prominence and getting ahead, modes of operation which run counter to everything about the Gospel mess and God’s Beloved Community.
The ironic thing is the word inherit has nothing to do with any wealth and deeds, power and money. Inheriting is not about earning something. It is about belonging. It is about relationships. It is about sharing what we have to care for those around us. And if we remember somewhere else in our sacred text, Jesus talks about inheriting eternal life, he just uses a few different words and it goes like this…”For God so loved the world that God gave God’s only Son so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
Inheriting eternal life has nothing to do with wealth and money. Rather instead it has everything to do with being in relationship with God and with one another. It has everything to do with realizing that we cannot and we do not earn God’s love. Rather it is about responding to that life-giving, world-changing love by sharing it with others because we cannot do anything else. This love is not ours to hoard or to keep. It is to be shared, to be given, used to empower, to make justice, to care for the least of these. This love, God’s love is the vehicle which brings transformation, helping us to become the people God created us to be, calls us to be for a time such as this.
Inheriting eternal life is about recognizing that what gets us ahead in this life is not what gets us ahead in the Kingdom of God. Inheriting eternal life has nothing to do with only concerning myself with me and mine and everything to do with joining in the building up of God’s Beloved Community here on Earth for all of God’s people. Because that is the promise given to us by our God, our God who loves us so much that God gave God’s only Son so that we might live, so that we might become, so that we might experience the Beloved Community of God here on Earth for all of God’s people here and now.
In other words, in order to inherit eternal life, as followers of Jesus, we are called to radically follow Jesus by serving others, by embracing our connection to each other as community, by living out an understanding of what it means to be the Body of Christ here and now for all of God’s people in word and deed. In other words, in order to inherit eternal life, as disciples of Christ, we are called to follow Jesus to the margins and not the mansions. May it be so. Amen.
See also: Theology Tuesday for Sunday, July 6, 2025 – You are Lacking One Thing Mark 10: 17-31.
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