Dear friends,

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God bless,

Friends, on 14 June 2017 a high-rise fire broke out in the twenty-four storey Grenfell Tower block in North Kensington. The fire burned for sixty hours, and we will probably all remember, sadly, a number of people lost their lives in the fire and more people were injured. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to have been stuck in one of those flats. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for the firefighters who fought to save each and every trapped person. However, I guess we might be able to imagine the relief that a trapped person felt as a firefighter appeared in front of them. The smoke clearing for a second, the shape of the firefighter running toward them, the outstretched hand, and the invitation: ‘Come, follow me!’ However, if you can imagine the relief can you imagine one of those trapped people looking at the firefighter, seeing his outstretched arm, and hearing his invitation: ‘Come, follow me!’ turning around and saying: ‘Sorry I can’t, I’ve got too many nice things in my flat. Can you see the paintings I’ve collected, the new sofa I just got, and my extra large TV; can’r leave those behind. Thanks but I think I’ll stay!’ It’s ridiculous isn’t it, no one would say that, and I bet no one did on the 14th June in North Kensington. But we hear something similar in our Gospel reading.

Today, we continue our studies in the Gospel of Mark. Last week’s reading ended with the disciples trying to stop the little children coming to Jesus, I guess they thought Jesus was too important to be bothered by small children. However, it seems the disciples are quite happy for a rich young ruler to walk straight into Jesus presence! This guy is at the top of the tree, he’s got what the world tells us we all want. Money coming out of his ears, looks good enough to cut glass, power to do whatever he wants, and, unlike some people, this guy has integrity. He is everything you’d want you daughter to marry, but today, he is looking worried, and he’s decided to come to the one guy everyone is talking about: Jesus. We’re told he: ‘fell on his knees before him. ‘Good teacher,’ he asked, ‘what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Who knows what’s brought him to this point. Maybe someone he knows has died. Maybe he’s been ill and thought his time had come. Maybe he heard one of Jesus’ sermons and it’s got him thinking. Whatever it is, he’s worried. Despite everything in life going his way, this guy isn’t certain of things ending well for him. Jesus seems to give a sort of stock answer, the kind of answer any rabbi might have given or in fact many today might give; Jesus at first glance seems to basically say ‘be a good person’. ‘You know the commandments [said Jesus]: “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honour your father and mother.”’ On hearing this the guy smiles and says: ‘Teacher,’ he declared, ‘all these I have kept since I was a boy.’ You can imagine the guy thinking: ‘I’m in, I’m safe, I’m fine. Good people get eternal life and I’m a good person.’ However, in thinking that, the man has missed the heart of what Jesus is saying. Have you?

When I prepare people for Confirmation I give them a task to do. I ask them to think of their life and give themselves a score out of one hundred. One hundred is: I’m perfect, never done anything wrong. Zero is: I’m the worst person who has ever lived. I reckon someone like Mother Teresa might be on eighty-five and some of the dictators of the last century maybe on fifteen. I give myself a score of fifty; somewhere in the middle. I then ask those thinking about being confirmed to give me their scores if they feel able to. I wonder that score you’d give yourself? If we’re honest it isn’t one hundred. No one really thinks they’re perfect. Jesus points this out to the man before he lists the commandments. He says: ‘No one is good – except God alone’. No one, says Jesus, gets one hundred percent. Here is the bad news: if God is good, is God is perfect, to be with Him, to have eternal life, well we need to be perfect too. And that’s bad news because, as we’ve JUST admitted, no one gets one hundred percent. Even a person, like this rich young ruler who has always followed the laws even they aren’t perfect, why? Because we all hold something back from God; that is, we all hold back our whole hearts. To try to help the young man see this, to try to help the young man understand the real answer to his own question Jesus gives him a test: ‘Give up your money’. ‘At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.’ Here is a man who for some reason is worrying about dying, it is, as if, he is stuck in a burning building, and he has seen the smoke, he has seen the flames, and he has run to the nearest firefighter. The firefighter holds out his hand and says: ‘Come, follow me, I will save you.’ And how does the man respond: ‘Sorry I can’t, I’ve got too many nice things in my flat; the paintings, the new sofa, my extra large TV; can’t leave those behind.’ ‘He went away sad, because he had great wealth.’ Now it may not be riches for you, it certainly isn’t that for me, but everyone has something. Maybe it’s our reputation, after all, what if our mates found out we followed Jesus. Maybe it’s our independence, we like to do things our own way, can’t have Jesus calling the shots. Maybe it’s our family, your wife doesn’t want you becoming what she calls a ‘religious nutter’. We all have something which keeps us from following Jesus whole-heartedly; what is it for you?

OK we’ve dealt with the bad news, well time for some good because, maybe after realising no one is one hundred percent good, you’re asking the disciples’ question: ‘Who then can be saved?’ Jesus answer is cryptic to the disciples but good nonetheless: ‘With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.’ The disciples can’t work out the answer because for them it hasn’t happened yet, but we can read the end of the story. When Jesus died on the cross he took our test score, our 50, 60, 70 or whatever percent, on Himself, and He gave His 100 to whomever follows Him. The firefighter takes off his suit, mask, and hat and gives them to us, so that we can walk out of the fire. Anyone who follows Jesus receives ‘eternal life’ not because we’re good enough but because He is. This great swap is how God makes the impossible possible. The only question we’re asked by Jesus is whether you’ll ‘Come and follow Him’. This morning, let’s not be like the rich young man. Let’s not let anything hold us back from following Jesus. Jesus is offering to save us, let’s not let money, family, reputation or independence leave us, as it were, stuck in a burning building when we could have followed the Saviour and made it out safely. This morning hear Jesus’ plea and respond when He says: ‘Come, follow me.’ Amen. (from Fr Mike).