The Great Ends of the Church: Salvation

Mark 10:17-31

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; Honour 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.’

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The first of the "Great Ends of the Church" could be a sermon series of its own: "the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind." In these first words, we grapple with the balance between euaggelion (yoo-ang-ghel'-ee-on), good news, and salvation. Perhaps the faithful people who crafted the "Great Ends of the Church" arranged these words in such a way because they knew you could not turn a page in the Bible without running into the gospel and the message of salvation. The question for us today is what is this good news, the gospel, and how do we integrate it into a holistic vision of salvation and grace? We are people after all who have heard the gospel, but do we know what to do with it? 

I mean, what are we to do with this message of salvation? The gospel, the good news, is not something that is new to us per se, yet we gather each Sunday and ask the question of how we translate this good news into a transformational moment of salvation. And here enters the man (the rich man) who asks Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" It's clear that the man knows the good news, the gospel, and perhaps like us, they want to make sure that they have everything in order, and on the surface, it looks like they have their life together. They have a reputation and wealth and appear on the surface to have good moral character; what else could they need to obtain salvation? But there's something not quite right about this individual. 

There is this uncanny valley situation at hand, where something about the man feels familiar. Perhaps it's because this individual could be the person who taught Sunday School, served on Session or served as a Deacon. But, on the other hand, the individual before us could be a longtime volunteer or that child that proudly displays their Sunday school attendance pins. Yet, at the end of the day, it's not a matter of "if" this man is like us because they are, and that is where we feel discomfort beginning to grow. The disquieting feeling stems from the fact that the man who seems to have everything put together (a perfect faith?) is exposed for who he really is. 

The ask from Jesus is too much to bear. Jesus is asking the man, asking us, to cast aside all of our works, our status, our position, and our wealth for the sake of obtaining the salvation our hearts desire. Salvation is not something that can be bought, and it is also not something that can be earned. How do we know this? Because the text says, Jesus looked at the man and "loved him." It didn't say Jesus "liked him" or "tolerated him"; it said, "Jesus loved him." Jesus could see his smugness and pride and his sense of entitlement, yet nevertheless loved him. That is the gospel message and salvation rolled into one package. 

Though we should be clear that salvation is not a one-time act, salvation is an ongoing process (or conversation framed differently). The rich man couldn't be saved even though he knew the gospel because he was unwilling to embrace the high cost of salvation. The grace of God is free, and the good news is free; however, the act of salvation requires a life-long investment and sacrifice that some are unwilling to make. Personally, it's why I'm hesitant to make any claim about the moment I was "saved," because I know that my salvation is ongoing work as part of my response to God's grace and the good news of the gospel. 

The type of salvation worthy of proclamation is costly grace, not cheap grace. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, "Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks wares... Costly grace... is costly because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life." (The Cost of Discipleship) That is the mystery of God's grace and salvation; it is free yet costs everything. We ask then why we continue to do what we do. Why show up to church? Why discipleship and mission? Because these are things that contribute to our lifelong faith and sense of salvation. We are granted the gospel, and we are given the gift of eternal life and salvation; all it takes is our responding in faith by following the lifeway of God. 

I want us to take a moment and consider the gospel, the good news, and salvation as it relates to our church. I hope that you take time later to reflect on how all this relates to your individual spiritual lives, but I want us to take a moment to reflect corporately. We're going to take a moment and reflect on the words of our current mission statement, and I want us to see where the gospel and salvation as the first "Great End" fits:

The Church on the Hill Is a family of faith,
Guided by Scripture and God’s “Amazing Grace”. 
Walking forward together in worship and prayer,
Serving God’s children With humility and care. 
Come Grow with us!

Within these words, do you feel a sense of the gospel or salvation, or is something missing? By the end of this series, it is my prayer that we can take some time to craft what a new vision for our church might look like in our current context. The gospel is good news that is life-changing and life-altering, and we are reminded today that our salvation requires an ongoing conversation with God that continues to inspire our work as disciples and as people who are willing to give our all for the One who gave all.