Dinner with Jesus - Week 5
October 5, 2008
Jesus, What Difference Can You Really Make In My Life?

(Cardboard Testimony Video link located below)

Mark 10:17-22 

It’s a great question. That was the question that my friend Bob wanted answered.

 Bob, lived next to me for about five years. He’s a great guy. He loves his wife. He has two great sons. He had a successful in his career in the military as a high ranking officer in the Navy and retired with honors. Bob is a fix-it kind of guy, he could make anything, do just about anything, build just about anything. One day our kids were with a baby sitter and one of our girls locked themselves in our bedroom. Babysitter was panicked and not knowing who to call, she ran across to Bob and he came over and did what any guy would do –took the door off it’s hinges! We love Bob! I could talk all day long to Bob about sports, politics, military, the weather and we would agree. But when the conversation turned to spiritual things, it was different.

 Bob didn’t have any real desire for spiritual things. Now don’t get me wrong. He wasn’t anti-Jesus. He went to church. He supported his kids going to church. He even volunteered from time to time. But Bob’s view was like so many people. He would say things like, “Craig, I’m doing OK. And I really don’t have any need for God in my life. I like my life just the way that I am.”

 There are a lot of people like that. Good people. Moral people. Hard working. But says, “That whole Jesus thing, it’s just not for me!” Maybe that’s you. You think, “I’m doing fine, I have a good job, have a decent marriage, I have great kids, I live in a nice house, have money in the bank. I’ve built a business or career. I’m self sufficient. What can Jesus offer me that I don’t already have? I want to talk to you about the difference that Jesus can make in your life today. And I want to take you to an encounter Jesus had with a guy just like Bob and Harvey and see what Jesus said to him. Take your Bible and open it to Mark 10.17-22

 “As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'" "Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy." Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.” Mark 10.17-22

 JESUS AND THE YOUNG GUN

We don’t know a lot about the man in the story. But what we do know is that he was a young gun. He was a climber. He was a guy who was on the fast track to success. This story appears in three of the four gospels. And when you look at all three accounts, we are able to put together a composite sketch of what this man was like. In Luke we are told that he was a ruler. He had influence. He was a leader. He was a guy who had power. People looked to him for decisions. He was gaining the respect of his business colleges and friends. He was always the first. A born winner. In Matthew we are told that he was young. He was just at the beginning of his career. Just starting out. He had visions and hopes, he had dreams of really making a name for himself. Probably just graduated from college with his Master’s degree – probably putting in late hours working his way up to influence in the company. He was probably your type A, self-sufficient, ambitious, over achieving kind of guy. In all three gospels we know that he had lots of money. Maybe he inherited it, or was born into a rich family –we don’t know. But this guy had whatever he wanted. He drove a nice car, lived in a nice house, had a healthy bank account. By all measurements, this guy had it all. The total package. He was living for success. He was living for power. He was living for money. He was living for accomplishment. He was living for what the world says is important.

 A lot of people are just like this man. They are living for all the things this world says is important. That may be you today. What are you living for? What is your purpose in life?  Is it to become powerful? Successful? Popular? Are you living to be rich, to live in a nice house and drive a new car? Are you living to be famous or make a name for yourself? Maybe your living to be married, have a good marriage and great kids? What are you living for? If you are living for anything of the things I just mentioned, then there is one big problem – none of those things will satisfy you completely!

 That was this man’s problem. This man had it all, young, rich, powerful –but he wasn’t satisfied.

 SOMETHING MORE

I remember a conversation I had with a good friend that was very honest. He had accomplished more than he ever thought he would have in his life. He had climbed to the top of his career. He was making more money than he dreamed. He had a great family. But he was struggling on the inside. He wasn’t satisfied.

 Bob Buford, in his book “Half Time” wrotet that he struggled with satisfaction, even after making millions of dollars. He said there came a time in his life when he stopped chasing after success and started searching for significance. He said, he realized that life was not just about getting more, accomplishing more. And he started thinking to himself, “There has got to be something more significant, or satisfying to life than what I have now.”

 That is what was going on in this man. He was looking for more. He was looking for significance. And the Bible says that he was so dissatisfied, that he ran to Jesus and fell on his knees and asked, “How can I have eternal life?”

 You see, he knew instinctively that his problem wasn’t a money problem, or a social problem, or a psychological problem – it was a spiritual problem. He asked, “How can I have eternal life?” Today he might have put it this way - “How can I know God? How can I live out God’s purpose for my life? How can I know for sure that when I die I will go to heaven?” “How can I find real satisfaction in life?” He was asking the right question!

 You see the Bible says that there is more to life than just making a living, having a good life and then dying. The Bible says that God has put in your heart a desire for something that cannot be found in this world. If those things could satisfy the deepest need of the human heart, then why do we read over and over about celebrities whacked out on drugs, or professional athletes living self-destructive lives? If you chase after these things, your going to be like a dog chasing a car – disappointed when you finally get it. They all leave you empty.

 This was the story of a man in the Bible named Solomon. Solomon was the king of Israel during it’s most prosperous and successful season. At one point Solomon had it all – extreme wealth, women, power, influence. And to top it off, God has given Solomon supernatural wisdom. And yet when you read the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible he says, “it’s all meaningless” – it’s vanity – it’s empty. These things can’t satisfy the deepest needs of your heart. But Solomon also writes a very important statement.

 “He (God) has set eternity in the hearts of men” Ecclesiastes 3.11

 What does that mean? That means that God has put a deep desire in your heart to know him. He has put a longing for Him, a longing for eternity, a longing for something that is not found in this world in your heart. And your soul will not be satisfied until you find the God who made you and loves you. You see, the Bible teaches us that God created you to have a deep, meaningful relationship with you. God created you to know Him and for Him to know you! And when you ignore God. When you push God away. Or when you try to dull your hunger for God by stuffing your life with other things – you miss out on the greatest joy in life and you miss out on the purpose for why you were put on this earth. You may be looking for love today. You’re looking for a God who cares. Looking for meaning and purpose. Looking for something more. And that “something more” is a relationship with Jesus Christ.

 GOOD ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH

That is right where this man was. He was hungry for a relationship with God, but he didn’t know how to get it. And look at what Jesus says. (v19) “You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'" Jesus directed him to the Ten Commandments. And he told him to obey the moral law of God. And the man said, “I’ve kept all those since my youth”. It was as if the man was saying, “I’ve done all of that, and I’m still empty.” What was Jesus doing? Jesus was teaching this man a very important lesson – being good isn’t good enough.

 You see, most people think that if I will just try harder, be better, do more, be more religious, then God will love me. But Jesus is making it clear that you can be very moral, very good, even very religious and still be far from God. And let me tell you why.

 The Bible says that while God loves you and created you to know him, there is a problem. And that problem is what the Bible calls  – sin. Now, when we think of sin, we think of doing things that are really bad – like murder, lying, adultery, doing drugs, abusing people or something like that. But before sin was an action, it was an attitude. An attitude that says, “I’m going to live my own life, I’m going to call my own shots and do my own thing.” The Bible says, “We all like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.” ISA 53.6.  We have wondered far from God. And the result of sin is that we are separated from this God. The Bible says, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3.23 We’ve fallen short from knowing God and walking with God– we’ve all fallen short. And if you die like this, you miss out on ever knowing God. You may even feel that right now. You have a sense that you are far from God, separated from him. As if there is a huge chasm between you and God. And so you are trying to get to God by doing good things, trying harder, being better, getting your life back on track, trying to live a better life. But my friend – being better isn’t good enough.

 This was the realization this rich young leader finally came to. He realized that having all the stuff and even being good wasn’t good enough. He was still empty. Still separated from God. And right now, God wants you to understand that being good, isn’t good enough. Listen, God doesn’t want you to try harder – He wants you to turn to Him by asking him to forgive you and to lead your life!

 LETTING GO

I love verse 21. When this man finally came to the end of himself, Mark writes, “Jesus looked at him and loved him.” (MK 10.21) At that moment, Jesus saw this man’s desperation, his longing to know God, to be forgiven, to be right with God – and he was overcome with compassion and love for this young man. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t indignant. He loved him. Right now, my friend, I want you to know that Jesus loves you too. He sees where you are in life.  He knows that you are far from Him. He loves you so much that he brought you to this place, to hear this message so that you would know Him and love him back.

 Look at what Jesus said to him. He said; "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

 The key phrase here is “follow me”. This was the phrase used to call people to himself. It was an invitation to know him. It was an invitation to be forgiven and to start over. It was an invitation to no longer life for this world, but live for me. Don’t follow this world, follow me. And it is the same offer Jesus makes today. You see, the Bible says that while you and I were still in our sins, separated from God – Jesus died on a cross to pay for the things we have done wrong. On that cross he paid the penalty for your sins and mine. All the things we have done were put onto Jesus and he paid for them with his own death. And today, you can find acceptance, forgiveness, a new beginning, a new start in life and an intimate relationship with God by following Jesus.

 But get this, Jesus knew that there was as barrier holding this man back. For him, it was the love of money and possessions.  It’s not that money itself was bad. It’s just that money had become his god – it was what he loved the most. His possessions were possessing him. So Jesus said, get rid of it. Walk away from it and follow me.

 What’s holding you back from knowing Jesus? What is keeping you from really having a deep intimate relationship with Him? It might be Pride, or questions, or control, or self-sufficiency, or money, or old friends, addictions, old habits, your old lifestyle you are not ready to give up? In order to follow Jesus, you have to let go of you old life, in order to receive the new one Jesus wants to give you. Jesus said, “whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” MT 16.25 The Bible calls that “repentance” –turning from your old life to follow hard after Jesus!

 This story really is a tragedy. Look at verse v22. “At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.”  The man was so close to forgiveness, to a new life – but he wasn’t willing to let go of what he loved the most and follow Jesus. He left Jesus the same as the way he came. There was no change in his life. No transformation. And he disappears into the pages of history. What a tragedy! Don’t let that happen to you. Today, don’t just leave the way you came. Don’t just listen to Jesus, hear his invitation and walk away unchanged! He wants to make you a new person, forgive and restore you, give you a relationship with him, and give your life real meaning a purpose.

 KNOWING JESUS

There is another story in the Bible about another young man. Like the first one, he was young, powerful, brilliant, aggressive. He was on the road to success in every way until he came face to face with Jesus. But instead of holding on to his life, this young man left everything to follow Jesus. And Jesus changed his life forever. He became a new person. And years later, looking back on that decision to leave it all and follow Jesus, this is what he wrote. “…all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant…I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him.” (Philippians 3.7-9 The Message)

 The man who wrote those words was the apostle Paul. And God changed him and then he used him to change the world! What can Jesus do for your life? He can give you a relationship with himself that your soul longs for. He can forgive your sin, he can change your life, make you a new person and he can offer you eternal life in heaven with him forever! That’s the difference Jesus makes! And that happens, not be trying harder, being more religious. That happens when you ask Jesus Christ to forgive you, come into your life and change you.

 CARDBOARD TESTIMONY

If I could condense my story down to a few sentences on this piece of card board, I think my life before Christ would be described as “Knew about Jesus”. You see, I grew up in church, with godly parents. And as far back as I can remember, I heard about Jesus. I heard about Jesus love for me. And I noticed other people around me that had a relationship with Jesus Christ in a deep and personal way. But I didn’t. I was on the outside looking in. The one day, I was in church like you are today. And the pastor was talking about how Jesus can forgive me and change me – how he died on a cross for me and how much he loves me. And my heart was beating out of my chest. It was as if he was talking straight to me! After the service, I met with a pastor. I got on my knees and ask Jesus to forgive me and lead me, change me. And he did! And now the other side of my board says, “Knows Jesus personally…and Jesus knows me”. My life has never been the same! Your life won’t be the same either! But I’m not the only one that has be changed by Jesus!

 We have looked at two men today – one that said no to Jesus and one that said yes to Jesus. One that walked away the same as he was before, and one that walked away changed forever. Today, I beg you – don’t walk away from Jesus! Don’t leave here the way you came! You can be changed. You can be forgiven. You can know God in a real, personal way. Not by trying harder – but by turning to Jesus and asking him to forgive you and lead your life right now!