In the Name of Jesus,
Sergei, a highly successful Russian entrepreneur teamed up with a group of investors to launch a high-end restaurant in an affluent Moscow neighborhood. They did their research and believed they found the perfect niche for a successful business.
One of the most important decisions they needed to make was to hire the right chef. They advertised the position and set up interviews. One evening the stakeholders met to put together questions they would use during the interviews.
Their goal was to secure the finest chef in Russia. They asked questions such as where did you go to school? What are your specialties? They even asked candidates to bring a sample of their finest culinary masterpiece. One applicant stood out over all the rest, so they hired him. Sadly, after working in the new restaurant for a little over a month, the chef almost brought the new restaurant down in ashes through his lack of teamsmanship and general incompetence. He was fired. Sergei and his colleagues hired a consultant to help them find out where they went wrong in the hiring process.
After an interview with the owners, the consultant concluded in their hiring process they asked the wrong questions. They asked if the interviewee was a good cook rather than asking questions about his ability to accomplish necessary tasks, if he possessed the required skills to work in a gourmet, high-end restaurant, and whether he understood the high pressure environment of such a job. The candidate was a great cook, but he was not equipped for the job in this specialized market.
The late Peter Drucker, author, management specialist & educator once said, "The most serious mistakes are not being made as a result of wrong answers. The truly dangerous thing is asking the wrong questions".
The wrong question
Back to the man in our gospel lesson, he asked the wrong question about the most serious need in our life—our soul’s salvation!
This man was young, extremely rich, owned extensive properties, and he was a synagogue ruler or president (Matthew, Luke). Therefore, he was well acquainted with Jewish rabbinical teaching of his day and sadly the rabbis taught salvation through works and rituals.
This led the rich man to ask the wrong question of Jesus, and if you ask the wrong question, you never arrive at the right answer! You are led down the wrong pathway and farther from the truth!
The rich young synagogue ruler asked Jesus, “what must i do to inherit eternal life?” In Jewish society at that time, the inheritance was normally passed down only to the sons. The sons were full members of the family. They didn’t have to doubt their inheritance. On the spiritual side of things, based on his question to Jesus, “what must i do to inherit eternal life,” this rich young ruler betrayed his uncertainty about receiving his spiritual inheritance. He thought there was some good deed, some noble tasks he must perform to receive God’s inheritance of eternal life even though he was already considered a son of God through his Bar-Mitzvah. This is not where God wants us to be! He wants us to be absolutely certain of our salvation.
When we focus on our own works, what we have done, good or bad, as a determination of whether we are saved and will receive our father’s inheritance, we end up putting our trust in ourselves rather than in God. We are imperfect, sinful people no matter whether we are rich or poor, noble or wretched in the eyes of the community. Remember what Jesus said to the ruler? “No one is good except God alone.” Therefore, we can’t trust anyone to get us into heaven except for God himself. Period!
Jesus helped the rich man see this by telling him to sell all that he had and to give it to the poor because Jesus knew he had an idol, his great wealth. Because of this he couldn’t keep the 1st commandment which is “you shall have no other gods”! If he couldn’t keep this commandment, how could he even keep the other commandments? Jesus helped this young man see he wasn’t the great person he thought he was. He was really “wretched, poor, blind and naked” (Rev. 3:17), no better than the prostitutes and sinners he decried. He was a sinner who needed “radical rescue” to get into heaven because he failed miserably to keep God’s law, and if we can’t keep God’s law we’re doomed!
The right question
So, what is the right question to ask when we realize our total depravity before God?
The answer may be found in Acts 16, the story of the Jailer in Philippi. His question before God is phrased similarly to the rich young ruler’s but comes from a different heart attitude. The jailer in Philippi heard Paul & Silas’ testimony about Jesus all night in the prison. Then an earthquake hit, and all the prison doors opened. The jailer was sure all the prisoners escaped and that he would be executed so because of this he was about to commit suicide. Then Paul stopped him and told him that the prisoners hadn’t escaped. This jailer had been brought low, saw his whole life pass before him, and saw his grave condition. Then he asked, “what must i do to be saved?” He asked this question from the standpoint of a sinner desperate for God, not a Pharisee seeking honor for his “noble” works. Then the distressed jailer got the right answer. It involves no works, no gratuitous display of piety. Paul said, “believe in the lord Jesus, and you will be saved…”
When it comes to our salvation, the right question is always and only, Lord, how can a wretched, poor, blind, and naked sinner like me possibly be saved? And the right answer from God will always be, only through Jesus’ blood and righteousness. And then when we get the right answer, we receive certainty. Then we will not tremble as we face death or any other trouble but stand tall! Amen.
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