All people are forever in God’s heart, and God needs to expand your heart to embrace that truth and live in it.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
The Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost, Lect. 28 B
Text: Mark 10:17-31

Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

You are forever in God’s heart, and nothing can change that.

That’s where we ended last week, and it’s still your truth, your hope, your life. But today God’s Word asks you to understand that lots of people are forever in God’s heart. All people, in fact.

This man is. The heart of this story isn’t that he walked away grieving. It’s these words: “Jesus, looking at him, loved him.” Jesus loved him. Whatever led him to walk away, his core truth is that he is forever in God’s heart. Because this Gospel reading isn’t necessarily about what you think it’s about.

We get distracted in this reading by what’s not the central issue.

Jesus asks this man to sell everything he has and give it to the poor, and then follow. In doing that, Jesus says, he will know God’s eternal life, right then and there. Right now he’ll be living in God’s reign.

But the man walks away, Jesus says it’s really hard for wealthy people to live in God’s reign, and the shocked disciples quickly shift into virtue-signaling mode. We gave up a lot to follow you, didn’t we? We’re OK, aren’t we?

And we quickly move into anxiety, too. Surely Jesus isn’t asking all of us to sell all we have and give it away to the poor? How much is really required? Can we set a percentage? Everybody can’t sell everything – then all would be poor.

We’re missing the point. Entirely.

You see, Jesus needs this man to see beyond his own faith and life.

He’s a good guy. He wants to “inherit eternal life,” whatever he means by that. And when Jesus refers to living in the Commandments, because for Jesus eternal life can be lived here, the man says he’s followed them since he was a child. He’s a good guy.

And Jesus loves him. Holds him in God’s heart. But he also knows something’s missing. This man asks only about himself. How do I live in God’s reign? How do I inherit eternal life?

But Jesus wonders, how can you tolerate a world where you are blessed by God, while others God also loves struggle to live? How can you celebrate God’s deep love for you if others God also loves are poor? You can’t know God’s reign, God’s eternal life here, if that inequity exists, no matter how good you are. So he asks the young man to answer with his love – if he has it – that by selling everything.

Jesus’ call is to start with love, not with what you’re giving up.

Until I was in second grade we lived next door to Bev and Dale, marvelous people. Their son Michael was and still is my friend. Bev was a wonderful cook, did miracles in the kitchen, but for this first grader, the greatest miracle of all was her amazing apricot half-moon cookies. She knew I loved them, and one day she brought over a box of them, marked “for Joseph.” And I put them under my bed so only I could enjoy them. If you’d asked me to share, I’d have anxiously worried about how many I’d have to give away. This Gospel says Jesus would ask me if my love for my sisters was Ok with them being deprived of something I enjoyed. Well, I was a first grader. I’m pretty sure I was fine with that. That’s why they were under my bed.

When I was a recent college graduate one of my closest friends came out to me. At this point, I hadn’t done any homework on this, no theological reflection, no biblical work. I assumed the Bible was against it, in all ignorance. And I remember him saying that “hate the sin, love the sinner” wasn’t an option, because God made him this way, and our friendship couldn’t continue without that truth. I remain convinced that the Holy Spirit gave me a gift here, because I was not at all prepared for this, and I was kind of a judgy person. It was God who showed me that my love for my friend was the only thing that mattered. After that I knew I’d have to figure out my theology, especially if I was going to be a pastor, sort out the biblical stuff, let go of things I thought true. But God showed me my only real question was love.

Love is the central question of this Gospel reading. If you can live comfortably in God’s heart while others in God’s heart are suffering, that’s the problem. Then there’s no point in talking about how much to give up.

So our problem with wealth is only solved by starting with our love. Or lack of it.

Jesus consistently called us out for our need for money and security, our clinging to our possessions. Wealth gets in the way of our faithfulness, and Jesus speaks of it all the time. But Jesus’ deeper question is: can you tolerate a world where some of God’s beloved are suffering? Do you love them?

Once you know that your heart won’t allow that, then you look at what needs to change. It might be your ideas or decisions. It certainly might be your wealth, if Jesus has anything to say about it. What are you clinging to that prevents healing in this world or even is part of causing the pain and suffering? If God’s abundance is enough for all, and all do not have it, and that’s not acceptable to you, what does that mean for you? With how you give in this place to the ministry we share together, or how you free yourself from your ties to possessions and wealth in other ways?

If we start with Jesus’ love question, and answer it with love of our own, the details of every aspect of our lives in this world sort themselves out. Not because of some arbitrary formula but because that’s what your love leads you to.

I really hope this young man eventually came back.

We’ll never know. But Jesus loved him. Jesus loves you. And nothing can ever take that from you.

Now God needs to help you know in your heart that divine restlessness that isn’t satisfied with a world of suffering, so many people in need and in pain. God needs to grow your heart to include everyone who is already contained in God’s great heart. Because once you share God’s heart, what you need to do will become clear. What we need to do together will become clear.

Until everyone knows they are forever in God’s heart and nothing can change that.

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

You are forever in God’s heart, no matter what. Trust that and live.

Pr. Joseph G. Crippen
The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, Lect. 27 B
Text: Mark 10:2-16

Beloved in Christ, grace to you, and peace in the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Don’t fall into the trap Jesus’ opponents set.

They’re not interested in Jesus’ true heart on this question, so they don’t receive it.

Because there are three things you can absolutely trust about Jesus, the Son of God, from this Gospel reading and also from the heartbeat of Jesus’ teaching and ministry throughout the Gospels.

First, Jesus cares deeply, irrevocably, for vulnerable people.

Second, Jesus cares deeply, irrevocably, about loving relationships.

And third, Jesus never tramples on God’s children with rules, even with God’s law. Hear that clearly. Jesus, one with the Father and the Spirit in the Holy Trinity, demonstrates that even the Triune God will break their own divine law if it injures someone. Remember, this is a huge part of what got Jesus killed. It’s why they try to test him today. He’s developed a reputation for being inclined to set aside even the ten great commandments for the sake of healing and love.

Before digging into this, there’s a huge elephant we need to ask to leave the room.

This Gospel text is problematic for reading in public worship. Not because it addresses sin. Lots of Scripture does. But on the surface it seems to name a sin that only affects some people. A fundamental rule of preaching is that you don’t proclaim God’s call to new life or God’s naming of a sin for just some of the people in the room. If what I hear God saying in Scripture doesn’t apply to everyone, including me, it’s not fair preaching. You never want some to sit back as if this one’s for other folks.

So, let’s level the playing field. The hardest part of Jesus’ teaching today is the private conversation with the disciples afterward, where he ties divorce and remarriage to adultery, one of the Ten Commandments. Most faithful Christians I know who have divorced and remarried have struggled with this.

But remember what else Jesus said? In Matthew 5, Jesus affirmed the commandment against adultery and said if you’ve even thought about being unfaithful with someone, you’ve committed adultery.

There. Now we’re all in the same boat. Maybe one or two of you can’t remember ever entertaining the idea, but we’re likely all guilty of adultery according to Jesus.

So there’s only one thing to do: ask God’s forgiveness and trust in God’s grace. Like we always do. And hear me now: you are loved and forgiven, even of this sin.

So what’s Jesus really saying about divorce here?

He’s right, his opponents already know God’s law. They just want to trap Jesus. And he angrily turns on them, saying divorce is permitted is because people are hardhearted. They don’t honor God’s creating of marriage. But there’s also deep injustice here. Men could get a certificate of divorce and kick their wives out of the house. Wives had no such power.

Now remember our third truth, Jesus’ reputation for not letting even God’s law trample on people. And also our first truth: Jesus cares deeply about vulnerable people. Divorce is one of the most vulnerable situations anyone can get involved in. But in those times, women would be destitute in such a situation, having no way to enter the economy and provide for themselves.

The opponents want Jesus to issue a once-and-for-all ruling, but Jesus refuses to reduce real human lives to one-size-fits-all answers that hurt people. Jesus, God-with-us, offered forgiveness and welcome to a woman caught in adultery, turning his judgment and critique on those men who sought to execute her. Every time Jesus is tested this way he gives an answer that can’t be pinned down as a forever command. Even if the Church too often tries to.

So if you really care about what Jesus thinks, here’s what’s true, based on everything Jesus taught and lived.

If you’re divorced, you are forever in God’s heart. It doesn’t matter to Jesus what the circumstances were. But still: If your marriage fell apart for complicated or simple reasons, you are forever in God’s heart. If you were abandoned in a marriage, you are forever in God’s heart. If you did the abandoning, you are forever in God’s heart. If you were so badly harmed in a marriage you had to leave, you are forever in God’s heart. If you were the abuser, you are forever in God’s heart. If you ended your marriage because of a truth about your identity that you had not known or had pushed down, you are forever in God’s heart. And if your spouse came out and that ended your marriage, you are forever in God’s heart. And if you’re in a marriage that is life-giving, or if you’re in a marriage that’s painful and you don’t know what to do, you are forever in God’s heart. And if you know the pain of loneliness, whether it’s because your beloved spouse died or you do not have a spouse, you are forever in God’s heart.

Do you see? Nothing can stop God’s love for you in Christ. And if you wonder about the sin, Jesus’ answer to you is what he says to the woman: You are forgiven, go and sin no more. Because in all things, you are forever in God’s heart.

This is all about Jesus’ deep love and care for vulnerable people.

That’s why he keeps breaking another of the Ten Commandments, the Sabbath commandment, for the sake of healing, or grace, or hunger. And that’s why, for the third week in a row, Jesus lifts up children. These children were so precious and beloved to their parents, as all children should be, that they want Jesus to touch and bless them. And the disciples tell them to go away.

Jesus is indignant. He’s already told them to welcome children as Christ, he’s warned them not to cause little ones who trust in him to sin. They still don’t get it.

But today it’s the very nature of children he wants them to grasp. Children are dependent. Children are vulnerable. Children lack agency, the ability to shape their world in a way that helps them. Children don’t have control of their lives. Children can only trust that someone will care for them.

That’s what it’s like to live in God’s reign, Jesus says. You put all your dependence on God, you risk yourself in vulnerable love all the time, you give up a sense that you can control or shape your world to your benefit. And you trust.

And that’s where this Gospel reading ends for you.

With an invitation to you to let Jesus, God-with-us, pick you up in his arms, embrace you in love, and bless you. Not because you’re perfect and never have sinned. Not because you’ve made yourself into something God might consider worthy. Not because you control God’s love for you.

But simply because the Triune God loves you fully and wholly as you are. Forgives you all your failings because you are beloved. Gives the law not to crush you but to guide you to a way of life that’s fulfilling and life-giving.

God knows how vulnerable you are in this frightening world, and God will always be looking out for you. Breaking rules if necessary. Hoping that you have loving relationships in your life that can sustain and bless you. Because, dear one, you are forever in God’s heart, and nothing can change that.

In the name of the Father, and of the + Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen