There are only two people in the world I know of whose name is Flip: our own Flip Eavenson and Flip Wilson.  Those of us who have been around for a while may remember Flip Wilson’s comedy show back in the ‘70’s.  One of the characters he portrayed was a black gospel preacher by the name of Brother Leroy.  In one skit Brother Leroy is leading a Sunday morning service that is not going so well.  After passing the collection plates along they came back empty.  So Brother Leroy passed them around again.  Same thing, empty.

Brother Leroy began to preach to the people.  "Now, I know that you all want this church to progress.  This church must progress."  No response from the congregation.  Brother Leroy shouted a bit louder:  "Now, before this church can progress it has to crawl.  This church has got to crawl."  And the congregation started getting excited and they yelled back, "Make it crawl, Reverend. Make it crawl!"  Brother Leroy continued, "After this church has crawled, it’s got to pick itself up and start to walk.  This church has got to walk!"  And the people yelled back at him, "Make it walk, Reverend, make it walk."

"And after this church has walked, this church has got to get up and run, this church has got to run."  And the people were worked up into a terrible frenzy, and they hollered back:  "Make it run, Reverend, make it run!"  And then Brother Leroy said, "Now brothers and sisters, in order for this church to run it’s gonna need some money, it’s gonna take money for this church to run!"  And the people yelled back, "Let it crawl, Reverend, let it crawl!"

People are funny about money being mentioned in the pulpit.  It’s okay to talk about faith and hope and love in the pulpit.  Sin and judgment and wrath are somewhat less popular.  But money is definitely a delicate subject for the pastor to preach in the pulpit.  But how does a biblical preacher avoid the topic?  Jesus had a lot to say about money according to one Howard L. Dayton, Jr., who did a little math on the subject.

According to him, sixteen of the thirty-eight parables are concerned with how to handle money and possessions.  In the Gospels, an amazing one out of ten verses (288 in all) deals directly with the subject of money.  The Bible offers 500 verses on prayer, somewhat less than that on faith, but more than 2,000 verses on money and possessions.  If a preacher is going to preach from the Bible, it is going to be a challenge to avoid the topic of money.

Our text for today is certainly one of the most indelicate regarding money because it seems to suggest that Jesus won’t be satisfied until we give every last cent we have.  And if that isn’t bad enough, I think I have already addressed another Gospel writer’s version of this encounter.  I suppose we could just ignore texts like these that offend our sensibilities, but then where would we draw the line?  Just about every text could offend somebody’s sensibilities.  If we neglected every such text we might as well not preach from the Bible at all.  Maybe a better approach would be to listen carefully to what God is saying through his Holy Word.  We might be surprised by what we hear.

As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him (Verse 17).  Who was this fellow?  In Matthew’s version of this encounter, he says that the fellow is young (Matthew 19:20).  Luke calls him a ruler (Luke 18:18).  Hence our text is often referred to as "The Story of the Rich Young Ruler."  But I tell you that it is the story of the would-be 13^th disciple, hence the title of our message for this morning, "The Lament of the Would-Be13^th Disciple."

What does Jesus say to Simon and Andrew as they are casting their nets into the Sea of Galilee?  Come, follow me…. (Mark 1:16).  What does he say to Matthew as he is sitting in his tax collector’s booth?  Follow Me… (Mark 2:14).  And they did right then and there, as in the case of James & John: Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him (Mark 1:20).  They left their homes, their livelihoods their possessions and their everything to follow him.  As Peter says later in our text, "We have left everything to follow you!" (Verse 28).

So when, in our text, Jesus says to the rich young ruler: "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, follow me" (Verse 21), what does that sound like to you?  It sounds to me like he is calling a 13^th disciple.  The only difference between this fellow and the other 12 disciples is that he cannot accept the offer.  At this the man’s face fell.  He went away sad, because he had great wealth (Verse 22).  Hence again the title of our message, "The Lament of the Would-be 13^th Disciple" (lament being defined in the dictionary thus: "To express grief for or about; mourn; to regret deeply; deplore).

But we get ahead of ourselves.  The rich young ruler falls on his knees before Jesus, "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" (Verse 17).  As wealthy as this young man is, something is still missing in his life that is leaving him unsatisfied and on his knees before Jesus seeking for fulfillment.  Jesus gives an interesting initial response: "Why do you call me good?"  Jesus answered. No one is good—except God alone" (Verse 18).

Hold on a minute, I thought Jesus was God—God incarnate.  That would make him good, would it not?  Of course it would.  We know that, but does the rich young ruler know that?  Jesus challenges his understanding by asking, "Why do you call me good?"  "If I am truly good, then I must be God because "No one is good—except God alone."  This is an important point that is absolutely critical to our understanding of what follows.

Jesus continues: "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 (Verses 19-21).  Jesus loved this guy, and why not?  He has fallen on his knees at Jesus’ feet.  He has kept the 10 Commandments.  Well, technically he has kept at least 6 of the 10 commandments because Jesus only mentioned 6 (if you count the one about defrauding as a violation of the 10^th about coveting since the latter invariably leads to the former).

But this begs the question, why did Jesus only mention 6 of the 10 Commandments-- and why the last six, leaving out the first 4?  The first 4 Commandments have to do with our relationship with God (having no other gods before him, not making idols, not taking his name in vain and keeping the Sabbath).  The 6 Commandments Jesus mentions have to do with our relationships with one another (honoring mother & father, and prohibitions against murder, adultery, stealing, lying and coveting).

The rich young ruler has kept all the Commandments governing his relationships with others, but Jesus is about to make the point that he has not been able to keep the first and foremost Commandment of them all about having no other gods before the Almighty.  Jesus (aka God Incarnate) asks the rich young ruler to sell all he has and give to the poor.  The guy has great wealth, he can’t do it, his face falls and he goes away sad.  He has put a lesser god called Mammon (a biblical name for an idol called money) before Almighty God.  He has violated the First Commandment.

Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters.  Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and Money (Matthew 6:24).  Jesus puts the man in the awkward position of choosing whom he is going to serve: the idol Mammon or God Incarnate.  And Jesus puts us in that awkward position today.  He is asking us to voluntarily part with our money as a condition for following him—as a condition for being among his band of disciples.

Are we going to lament our failure to put God before Mammon in violation of the first and foremost commandment, or are we going to show ourselves to be true disciples by gladly giving because, as St. Paul puts it, God loves a cheerful giver (II Corinthians 9:11)?  The rich young ruler went away sad, but he could have gone away glad.  How could he possibly be glad about giving up everything to follow Jesus?  Jesus makes a promise in our text: "I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age… and in the age to come, eternal life" (Verses 29-30).

Jesus does not ask us to make financial sacrifices so that our lives may be diminished in any way.  Quite the contrary, Jesus asks us to give so that our lives can be blessed in every way—so that we can receive a hundred times more than we are asked to give.  The real tragedy of the rich young ruler, the would-be 13^th disciple, is that he and we never discover what he might have received had he made the sacrifice to follow Jesus.  And, of course, we will never discover what we stand to receive if we fail to make the sacrifices we are called to make.

Jesus promises us a hundredfold blessing in return for our sacrifices.  He prefaces that promise with these words, "I tell you the truth.…"  Shall we take him at his word?  Heavens no, we’re talking about money here.  Why should I believe anybody when it comes to money?  Anybody can promise anything.  I want proof.  If Jesus proves to me that he will return a hundredfold blessing, then I will gladly give because that will represent a wise investment on my part.  Otherwise, I’m keeping my money.

Oh, I filled out a Faith Promise Card for 2007, but I did not increase it over my 2006 commitment to the church.  Why?  Because in 2007 I will be paying college bills for not one, but two students.  If anything, I have a good reason for reducing my Faith Promise.  But you know, last year in a moment of rash exuberance over a daughter returning for homecoming from college I increased my Faith Promise at the last minute by $100—because I felt so blessed by God to have such a fine daughter in college.

Has God blessed me in return for that extra hundred dollars?  Yes indeed he has because I now have a fine son who has been accepted to two colleges so far, and if you would have struggled getting my son through high school as I have you would understand my joy.  My boy did not do as bad as his old man in high school, but he was heading in that direction.  But now he is motivated and making a very strong finish and he has a future about which he is increasingly excited.  And no one could be happier about it than me.

Is there a connection between that small sacrifice I made on Loyalty Sunday last year and the hundred-fold blessing I have experienced this year?  You draw your own conclusions; I’ve already drawn mine.  I’ve put the Lord to the test regarding his promises and he has convinced me that I made a fantastic investment in last year’s Faith Promise campaign.  So I am going to act upon that proof and add another hundred dollars to my Faith Promise Investment for this year.  I can hardly wait to see what that will yield.

What’s an extra hundred dollars to me?  I will do a wedding this afternoon and make that much.  If I had perfect faith I would give everything to the Lord.  In Matthew’s account of the rich young ruler Jesus says to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions…" (Matthew 19:21) etc."  Well I’m far from perfect, as was Paul who wrote, Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me (Philippians 3:12).

We may have a long way to go toward perfection, but let us press on toward the goal.  Let there be no "Lament of the 13^th Would-be Disciple" for us.  By the gladness of our giving let us show ourselves to be true disciples of our Lord and Savior, true followers who keep him first and foremost, and true believers in his sure promises to us.