Matthew 19:16-30 NIV

• Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” (17) “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” (18) “Which ones?” the man inquired. Jesus replied, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,

Matthew 19:16-30 NIV

• (19) honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’“ (20) “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” (21) Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (22) When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Matthew 19:16-30 NIV

• (23) Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. (24) Again I tell 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.” (25) When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

Matthew 19:16-30 NIV

• (26) Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (27) Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?” (28) Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Matthew 19:16-30 NIV

• (29) And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. (30) But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

Bob Buford tells a story in his best-selling book Halftime

• Apex of success at 44• Cable empire• Driving a Jaguar• Luxurious homes• Traveled wherever &

whenever he wanted• Atop Everest

– At the top of the world– More aware of wind &

cold than view

Buford’s self-assessment

• “All my life, I had been great at developing strategic plans for business. Now, I realized, I needed a plan for me. I spread out my jumbled dreams and desires, lists of perceived strengths and weakness …

Buford’s self-assessment

• … things to do and things to abandon. It was a quagmire of both complementary and conflicting ambitions … What should I do now? I wondered …

Buford’s self-assessment

• … Where should I invest my talents, time, and treasure? What are the values that give purpose to my life? What is the overarching vision that shapes me? Who am I? Where am I going?”

Buford met management consultant Mike Kami

• Directed planning of corporate giants

• Atheist• God used him to ask

Buford a question: • Kami: “What’s in the

box?”• Buford: “What are you

talking about?”

Kami related his experience with Coca-Cola executives

• Kami: “What’s in the box for you? What is the mainspring of your business, the driving force, the ruling consideration for you?”

• Coke: “Great taste.”

Coca-Cola executives conducted taste tests

• Better tasting formula• April 19, 1985: “New

Coke” – one of most famous marketing gaffes in history

Coca-Cola called Kami back

• Kami: “Let’s try again. What’s in the box?”

• Coke: “American tradition”

• July 10, 1985: Reintroduced original – later called Coca-Cola Classic

What’s in the box?

Mike Kami said to Bob Buford:

• “Bob, I’ve been listening to you for a couple of hours. You’ve told me a lot about your interests and passions. I’m going to tell you what’s in the box for you. I can tell that for you, it is either money or Jesus Christ. If you can tell me which it is, I can tell you the strategic implications of that choice. If you can’t tell me, you’re going to oscillate between those two values and be confused.”

Bob Buford:

• “No one had ever put such a significant question to me so directly. After a few minutes (which seemed like hours), I said, ‘Well, if it has to be one or the other, I’ll put Jesus Christ in the box.’”

Buford’s later observation:

• “To put Christ in the box, I found, is actually a paradox. It is to break down the walls of the box and allow the power and grace of his life to invade every aspect of your own life. It follows the same wonderfully inverted logic as [Christ’s] ancient assertion that it is in giving that one receives, in our weakness we are made strong, and in dying we are born to richer life.

Buford’s later observation:

• I chose to make Christ my primary loyalty, and found that he did not insist upon exclusive attention. I still had loyalties to my wife, to work, to friends, and projects. Now Christ became the center of all that, but in a way that gave my life balance and wholeness.”

Another stood on the summit of success with a yearning

• Q: “What must I do to get eternal life?” • A: “Do not murder, commit adultery, steal, or give false

testimony. Honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

• Q: “All these [commandments] I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

In other words: “I’m doing all the right things”

• So why don’t I feel my life is significant?

• How do I get that “eternal” quality of life you’re talking about?– Health & wholeness?– Grace & goodness?– Peace & power?

• “What do I still lack?”

Jesus answered: “You don’t have the right thing in the box”

• You have to take out what’s in there and put in something else

• In your case, you need to go, sell your possessions & give to the poor & you will have treasure in heaven

• Then come, follow me

But the text says that,

• “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth”

• More to the point, his wealth had him

What’s in your box?

What drives your life?

• Money & possessions– If you have more, life will be good

• Approval– If you can please everybody, life will be good

• Order & control– If you can get organized, life will be good

• Knowledge– If you learn enough, life will be good

• Power – If you get the upper hand, life will be good

Early Christians said everyone’s box had one of three things

• Anxiety:– Worry that I’m not perfect enough, not loved

enough, or not competent enough

• Fear:– Everything’s going to fall apart, my whole life

is threatened if I don’t protect myself

• Anger:– Resentment that things are not as they should

be, that I’m not being treated as I ought to be

Matthew 7:13-14 NIV

• “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. (14) But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

A lot of people want an eternal quality of life

• But we’re like camels laden with burdens that won’t fit through the gate to the kingdom of God, which is as small and narrow as the eye of a needle

• “When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, ‘Who then can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.’”

Christ in the box

Jesus comes to do what only God makes possible

• He wants to change the formula in our box– That will change the shape of our lives

• Only transformation enables us to walk through the gate & into eternal life

• If we want a better life, we must allow Jesus himself to replace what is in our box

Let Jesus replace whatever is in your box

• Anxiety – let Jesus take its place:– “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.

Let not your hearts be troubled … trust in God and also in me.”

• Fear – let Jesus take its place:– “Do not be afraid … Have no fear,” for “I am

with you always.” (17 times in the NT)

• Anger – let Jesus take its place:– He’s shown us how to really love our enemies

Will you let him take the place of what haunts and harries you?

• Or will you do what the Pharisees did? – Jesus challenged their boxes:

• You believe you’ve reached the summit of success• You feel it is mostly others who need changing• Woe to you … hypocrites! • You are like whitewashed tombs• Beautiful on the outside• Full of bones on the inside• I have seen inside your box• Change your formula & repent!

Presented with that chance for new life

• They sealed their box tighter– They said: No, we’d rather just crucify you

• Are you willing to put Christ in the box?– Rich man – get things out of the way & obey

• Sell possessions & follow Jesus• For him, Jesus was asking too much

– For us – get selves out of the way & obey• Repent & be baptized

• Or is he asking too much for you?