“The three steps of a listening heart:

Childlike openness;

Youthful courage;

Mature communion.” – David Steindl-Rast

Let’s begin with prayer as we ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in our words and reflections on our passage from Mark 10. This prayer is adapted from a quote by Benedictine monk David Steindl-Rast. Let’s pray. God in heaven, may we hear your word with a listening heart. Give us 

Childlike openness and youthful courage as we seek mature communion with you. In Jesus name, Amen.

There are so many adjectives in the English language — so many beautiful, descriptive words we can use to describe ourselves, others, and the world around us. When I was in maybe fourth grade, I read so many books that I developed a pretty wide vocabulary. My favorite book was the dictionary, and my second favorite book was the thesaurus. I wish I had even half that vocabulary now. It’s amazing how vocabulary can dwindle away if you aren’t using it regularly. It seems like everything today is “great” or “amazing,” but very rarely do I pull out words like “exceptional” or “outstanding.” Anyway, my mom tells a story about a time when I was talking to another kid who was in the same grade I was. I was rambling on about something, and using all of the adjectives I had learned from reading all those books.. While I was talking, the other kid’s eyes glazed over, and when I was finished, he said to my mom, “I have no idea what she just said.”

I loved putting together words, whether they were big words or small words, because I believed that the words we used could create a beautiful world to live in. I still believe that’s true.

I wonder what words you would use to describe yourself. What adjectives would you use? In your bulletins, there is a blank page. Turn to that page, and take a moment to write down words you might use to describe yourself. Fourth grade me might have chosen words like “studious” or “creative.” I might have chosen “shy” or “insecure,” or maybe “academic” or “musical.” What words would you choose to describe yourself?

Look over your descriptive words a moment – all those adjectives – and then let’s turn our attention to the man who approached Jesus with a question. What words might you use to describe him? Maybe things like “law-abiding” or “devout” or “wealthy.” 

We don’t learn a lot about the man in this short interaction, but Mark tells us the man had been keeping the law since childhood. Jesus didn’t laugh at him or disbelieve him when he said he had been working hard to keep the commandments. Instead, Jesus looked at him and loved him. What we tend to remember about the man is that he went away sad after Jesus told him to sell what he has and give the money to the poor. We remember that Jesus used this as a teaching moment about how difficult it can be for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. He says it would be easier for “a camel to go through the eye of a needle” than for a person with great wealth to enter the kingdom. We remember this story as a warning against wealth and an indictment on people who choose wealth above following God. 

This week we are beginning a new series we are calling “Fill My Cup, Lord.” This series is a “reverse stewardship campaign.” Typically, during the month of October we ask you to prayerfully consider how you might be called to give of your time, your talents, and your gifts to God. A few months ago, as we were praying about and planning upcoming sermon series ideas, we felt strongly that over the last two years, people have given more of themselves than they ever thought possible. So many of you have poured and poured and poured your efforts, time, money, prayers, and energy into the church and into keeping yourselves healthy and well with all of the stress and struggles of Covid, unrest in our nation, grief, and worries about what might happen to the church or other organizations that are important to you as they all were forced online for a time.

I’ve often heard it said, “You can’t pour from an empty cup,” and I believe that is true. I also believe these words from Psalm 23: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” When David wrote Psalm 23, he talked about things like lying down in green pastures, having his soul restored by God, finding a table to eat at, and being pursued by God’s goodness and mercy. Because of the mercy and care of God, David’s cup was filled to overflowing even as he went through the toughest seasons of his life. The fruit of David’s overflowing cup was this psalm–a psalm that has nourished people’s weary spirits for centuries.

We cannot pour from an empty cup, but when we allow God to fill us up, we will overflow in a way that allows us to share what we have with others. For the next few weeks, we will gather around the Scriptures every Sunday and ask God to fill us up so that we can overflow. And then on November 21, we will have a Celebration Sunday where we will see how God might be calling us to use our overflowing cups to bless others and the church with our talents and our tithes.

Today, in Mark 10, we get down to the very basics: our identities. Who are we really? How do we define ourselves and what are we worth? Take a look again at all those adjectives you wrote down to describe yourself. How many of those things would you say are central to your identity? For the man who fell on his knees before Jesus, he found his identity in his ability to keep God’s law and in the wealth he had inherited. And, his commitment to his wealth was most likely not just about himself. In the world he lived in, the wealth you accumulated was the way you took care of your family after you were gone. Without an inheritance, his family would be left with nothing. 

When Jesus asked the man to sell all he had and give it to the poor, the man was faced with an identity crisis: who am I if I don’t have my wealth? His wealth was not just something he had, it was his way of being in the world. He counted on it, and not merely for selfish reasons. He identified himself with it, and he went away sad when he found out he needed to separate himself from it. 

Most of us – if not all of us – have something, or a few somethings, that have become central to our identity. These things are not bad in and of themselves. Where the trouble comes in is when these things become where we find our worth. Take a look again at the describing words you wrote down for yourself. Have any of these words become the central place where you find your sense of worth? When all of those adjectives are stripped away, what’s left?

This week, in our Fill My Cup, Lord series, we are leaning into this prayer: Help me find my worth in God. Even when we are at our lowest, even when all those adjectives are stripped away, the truth is we are still God’s children. We are beloved of God. We belong to God. That’s the core of who we are, and everything else we do and have flows outward from that. Or, as Henri Nouwen once wrote, “Every time you feel hurt, offended, or rejected, you have to dare to say to yourself: ‘These feelings, strong as they may be, are not telling me the truth about myself. The truth, even though I cannot feel it right now, is that I am the chosen child of God, precious in God’s eyes, called the Beloved from all eternity, and held safe in an everlasting embrace.’”

In Mark 10:24-25, Jesus says this: “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.” This is the only place in Mark’s Gospel where Jesus refers to his disciples as children. Typically when I read these verses, I get stuck on the absurd image of a camel trying to fit through the eye of a needle, but this time around, I paused on the word “children.” Why would Jesus choose that word?

If we back up just a few verses and look at the story just before the one we’re looking at this morning, we find the story of Jesus welcoming in the little children. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” What is it about children that makes it so much easier for them to receive the kingdom? Why is it easier for children than for the man who kept the law, who loved God, and who had great wealth for himself?

I’m convinced that this is the reason: children know they are dependent on others. The smallest of children know they are too small to reach things that are up high. They know they cannot make money, or buy food, or get a good job. They are 100% dependent on their parents and other adults around them to keep them safe, to feed them, and to take care of them. As we grow and develop skills, we begin to take care of ourselves. It doesn’t take long before we forget that we are still deeply in need of being cared for by God and by others.

We can get tripped up on wondering what we’re going to do for a living when we grow up. Or, if we’re already in a career or have retired from one, we may wonder what our identity is now that we’re not actively making money in the workforce. The story from Mark 10 is an invitation to us to fall on our knees before Jesus and ask him to remind us that our truest identity, our truest self is in him.

I came across a story about a man who went to see a psychiatrist. The story goes like this: The man says, “Doctor, my brother’s crazy—he thinks he’s a chicken.” The psychiatrist responds, “Well, why don’t you bring him in?” And the fellow replies, “Oh, I would, but we need him out there laying the eggs.”

The question “Who am I?” can be confusing and challenging. And once we think we’ve figured it out, we might cling so tightly to it that we forget what’s underneath all of it, what’s holding us up no matter what we go through. Take a look again at all those adjectives you’ve written down – so many adjectives. Many of those adjectives are very good things, but they aren’t all of who we are. 

As we fall at the feet of Jesus, may we find assurance that our identity is in Christ. May we find confidence in knowing that whether we hang onto these adjectives for life, or they are fleeting and change from day to day, our belovedness and worth in God’s sight doesn’t change. And may we find rest in knowing we do not need to earn the love of Jesus by the things we do. Jesus  looks at us and loves us, just as he did that law-abiding wealthy man on the road. 

Let us go from this place rejoicing, rather than sad, knowing that our worth comes from God, and all these adjectives are merely ways we can serve God through gratitude for what Jesus has already done for us. Amen.