Lectionary Year B
October 12, 2003

Mark 10:17-31
Contemporary Address

Step VI - Contemporary Address

A. Goals

(JFC) A sermon from this pericope could try to clarify God's Word's expectations of putting in proper perspective the differences between material and spiritual wealth.

B. Describing the Audience

(JFC) It is sometimes Stewardship Season when this sermon gets preached. And, were I to preach this Sunday, the elements of personal sacrificing in the lection might get emphasized in approaching the pinnacle of the passage, the "receiving a hundredfold . . ."

C. Address

(JFC) A sermon entitled for this working draft, "God's Word To Us Today"

Introduction
God's Goodness is all around us - weather, local blessings, good news, re: local events.

I. God Is Good
A. Eternal Life is promised for "the age to come". Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951), Austrian philosopher, says, "If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present." So, we might better take eternity to be everlasting life and live in it?

B. Salvation is a given in and through Christ. Calvin believes sinners merely and passively receive salvation from God's mercy, according to Seeberg's Textbook of the History of Doctrines, volume 2, page 405.

C. The Reign of God relieves us from having to rule our lives and/or anyone else's, too.

II. Jesus' Goodness
A. Jesus answers the man. Even though the man is mistaken, Jesus never scolds him or even corrects him. Rather, Jesus broadens his horizons and points to greater services.

B. Jesus, as astounded as He is at the disciples' misunderstanding, nevertheless, patiently, He explains to them. He draws them a metaphorical picture = camel and a needle's eye.

III. Answers To Our Questions
A. When we naturally wonder how we are to behave, re: thanking God for our blessings, God has words to guide us.

B. When we wonder how our model, Jesus and, further, His disciples, act properly, Scripture draws us pictures.

Conclusion
God's goodness exceeds our awareness of what good is. God's ideas of goodness are larger than our ideas of goodness. God's goodness is for all creation and all created.



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