LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1995, Page 75

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76 150TH ANNIVERSARY BIBLE STUDY

Now on page 7 of the little manual, our authors indicate —

three objectives for the study of justification, and I am

going to talk to them at the very end, but I want to read

them. now.. “By the power of the Holy Spirit working
_ through God’s Word, we will .

1. affirm justification by:God’s grace through faith in Christ

:Jesus.as the key teaching of the Christian church;

2. affirm the need for a proper understanding and teaching of

justification; and ,

3. rejoice in the church’s past, present, and future proclamation
of this chief teaching of God’s Word.” :
Yesterday afternoon we wanted to announce or ask that
you bring your Bibles along today, but as good Lutherans I
know all of you have them with you anyway. The first text
that we are going to look at is from Matthew 19, verses
16-26: “Behold one came and said unto Him, ‘Good Master,
what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”
And He said unto him, ‘Why do you call Me good? There is
‘none good but one, that is God: but if you will enter into
life, keep the commandments.’ He said to Him, ‘Which?
Jesus said, ‘You shall do no murder, you shall not commit
adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false wit-
ness, honor your father and mother, and you shall love your
neighbor as yourself.’ The young man said to Him, ‘All
these things I have kept from my youth up. What do I lack
yet?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go and
sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have
_ treasure in heaven, and come and follow Me.’ When the
young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for
he had great possessions. Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Ver-
ily, I say to you, a rich man shall hardly enter into the king-
dom of God. Again, I say to you, It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the
kingdom of God.’ When His disciples heard it, they were ex-
ceedingly amazed, saying, ‘Who then can be saved?’ Jesus
looked at them and said, ‘With men this is impossible, but
with God all things are possible.’”

And here is the big question. What happens when I die?
How can I get on good terms with God? What must I do to
be saved? The rich man said it this way, “What good thing
shall I do that I may have eternal life?” No mention of the
“” word, justification, here or anywhere in this text. Simply
asking the question. It’s a question that crosses the mind
of everyone who believes in an afterlife. And even those
who deny the existence of God, even the agnostic who is not

sure whether there is a God, whether there is an afterlife ©

still thinks to himself, “But what if there is a God? What if
there is an afterlife? What if there is a judgment?”

Some don’t know. I recall many years ago, during the
days when I had a parish, visiting in the home of one of my
members one evening. The man of the house was there. He
didn’t belong to the church, and I asked him about his spir-
itual life. He said, “You don’t want me in your church.” I
thought I knew what he was getting at, but I said, “What
do you mean?” “Well,” he said, “I am member of ...” and
then he mentioned the lodge—a secret society. I said, “Let’s
forget the lodge for a minute. But just let me ask you the
question: What are your views about God, and how you get
on good terms with God? How do you think you are saved?”
He was smoking a cigarette, and he started walking back
and forth, pacing the living room three or four times. Fi-

pally, he.said, “I don’t know.” And, of course, it gave me a __
wonderful opportunity to talk to him about Law and
Gospel. He didn’t know. He was not living out somewhere
in the wilds of some far-off island, but right in the middle of
metropolitan Milwaukee.

About that same time our mission director and I were
going to canvass around a neighboring town in the hopes of
establishing a mission, a mission which, by the way, is today
a flourishing congregation. We wanted to see what the
prospects were like, and right near that town was a lake. On
a very warm day, morning and afternoon, he and I tramped
all around that lake to ask people—I think it was customary
in those days to say something like—‘“If you were to die
tonight, why should God let you into His heaven?” or some-
thing like that. I don’t know how many hours we tramped
around that lake, asking people that question. And during
all those hours we had three people who talked about Jesus.
All the rest gave the answers that you and I have heard too
often: “Try to do what’s right.” “Live according to the Golden
Rule.” “Be a good person,” and so forth.

The big question! Now who was this man in the text who.
asked the question. He was young, we are told later. He
had great possessions, the story says. And Luke says (both
Mark and Luke have this story as well) he was a ruler, an
officer in the synagogue.

His intention seemed honorable. Unlike the lawyer who
in Luke 10 came to Jesus, and the Bible says, stood up and
tempted Him and asked almost the same question, “What
good thing shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” Not
this young man. He’s a serious fellow. Mark, in fact, says
that he came running and kneeled before Jesus. So, in sum-
mary, he came in good faith. He was a pious person. Obvi-
ous is the fact that at a very young age already he had be-
come a ruler in the synagogue. He wasn’t a scoundrel. And
perhaps he thought, as many did in those days, that in
order to really find favor with God one had to be able to re-
cite most of the psalms by heart, or had to particularly
show a kindness to the aged. If we were to put it in mod-
ern terms, we would say that he drove home in his Lexus
every night and got in the driveway right at 5:30. All the
children in the street waved at him. He was a respected
member of the community. Belonged to the Rotarians and _
the country club. He was in church every Sunday. And of
course, he rooted for the Green Bay Packers.

Jesus’ answer? “Why do you call Me good. Obviously you
don’t believe that I am God. There is only one who is really
good. That is God. Keep the commandments.”

Is that the way you would answer? That’s strange. Jesus
said, “Keep the commandments.” Why didn’t he answer like
St. Paul did when that jailer fell down before him, trem-
bling and terrified at the earthquake, and said, “Sirs, what
must I do to be saved?” Paul said, “believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” But
no, Jesus said, “Keep the commandments.” Why the differ-
ence? Yes, this man saw no need for forgiveness. Saw no
need for the Messiah. And so he says, “Which ones? Obvi-
ously, you don’t mean the Decalog of Moses. How many
points do I get for being a ruler of the synagogue? Would it
help if I offered to be a delegate to the synodical conven-
tion? Give me something hard to do.” Like Naaman, when