Word of Salvation – Vol. 35 No. 04 – January 1990
Kingdom Payments
Sermon by Rev. John Vanderbom on Mark 10:28-31
Readings: Psalm 119:57-64; Luke 18:15-30
Singing: Psalter Hymnal 89, 462, 484
Brothers and sisters, friends,
This morning’s Bible reading is a passage about Kingdom payments. Peter had asked something, which (we get the impression) he hardly dared to ask. His question was concerned with “what would they get out of it?”, or “what’s in it for us?”
Some Christians have been hard on Peter: “How dare he ask that?” However, Jesus’ response should reassure us. He didn’t condemn Peter. Without rebuke, Jesus says: “Are you interested to hear more about your wages, the rewards of a kingdom worker, Peter? I can give you the straight figures! Nobody who has left home, father and mother, and fields for Me and the gospel will fail to receive one hundred times as much in this present age.”
Jesus couldn’t have been more straightforward. There are few statements in our Bible which are so direct and positive.
Are you a kingdom worker? Have you suffered hardship, given of your time, your sleep, and money? Jesus says: you’ll get it back to the full, even one hundred times! The Good Shepherd says that He has come to give us life in abundance (John 10:10).
So then, congregation, if this was your question, we have got a quick answer, and we could go home after a very short sermon. Receive the blessing of the Lord. Go home in peace! The kingdom pays well! Or do you still find it hard to believe? Does Jesus’ word sound too good to be true?
We all feel that there is more to this issue. That’s why we add a sermon to it! And we should do this, because Jesus Himself said a little more.
Therefore, firstly, we note that
(1) The Kingdom Pays Well!
However, Jesus knew (just as well as you and I) that there is another angle to this. As soon as we start discussing the rewards of kingdom service, we hear people raise their buts and ifs. It seems that not everybody is too happy with what we see of the payments. This may be a reason why many are so hesitant to enrol and enlist for kingdom service. Have you met those who have abandoned their ships, as the disciples were willing to do?
In our reading (Luke 18) we have been reminded of a painful illustration of this fact, in the story of the rich young ruler.
He stands out as the clear-cut case of a person who felt that he must think 3 or 4 times before he can make his “decision for Christ”. He was an honest young chap. Nothing wrong with him – sincere, clean-living. He came with a serious question: he would like to have the eternal quality of life.
The Bible says that Jesus liked him. That means, our Lord had time for him. He called him and showed him the way. What a privilege, to get so close! “Sell what you have, and follow Me.” This was Jesus’ altar call.
And yet there was no deal! No decision for Christ! “Sell what you have, and follow Me. A treasure is waiting in heaven!” We are sure that this man could pay the price, and yet there was no deal! Apparently Jesus’ word and promise was still not good enough for him. He loved his possessions more than that glorious future, which so often is called a pie in the sky!
We can see the twelve disciples astounded, their mouths hanging open! They were waiting for something great to happen, another cure, another miracle! These young men had seen so many people being helped and healed: lepers and blind people, deaf and dumb and demon- possessed. There always was a cure! But for this good man…? No cure? Was he happy? Oh, no; yet, he went away. No decision for Christ!
This is what puzzled Peter, and why he questioned, “Isn’t the price very high? Don’t you ask the impossible? And, what will we get out of it, we who have left everything?”
We must be thankful to Peter for asking the question. But also thank Jesus for His positive answer!
No, I cannot be hard on Peter. Peter’s question is my question, and it may be your question too! You can be sure, congregation, that even our ministers have their questions. One day they rejoice: “Who am I that I may serve You, Lord Jesus?” The next morning, they may sit down and wonder: “Was it really worth it: the time I have given to some people; the money, the sacrifices I have made for the church?”
But Jesus’ answer is definite and positive. Not a pie in the sky…! No, Jesus says: the kingdom pays well, right here and now!
However, Jesus adds something very significant. And this is my second point:
(2) The Kingdom Pays Well… With Persecutions!
What does this mean? Let’s read the verse again:
“No one who has left home or brothers and sisters or anything for Me and the Gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come eternal life.”
It simply means this, that in order to be a follower of Jesus you must stick your neck out, my friend, and then you will find out! You’ll find out that the way of Jesus is always the way of the cross! The way of Jesus is very different from the hurray-and-hallelujah gospel, the gospel of material prosperity, the gospel that when you believe, you will be happy…!
If you wish to be a Jesus-man or a Jesus-girl, you must be prepared to sell everything for Him. So stick your neck out! Then, you will know, that you are not on Broadway but on the narrow road. Many people will stare at you and laugh at you. They may think, and say, that you are stupid. Sometimes, it will make me say: “That way is impossible! Must I go through the eye of a needle?”
But remember that there is the other aspect as well! What did Jesus say? In the new fellowship of Jesus, you will make new friends, mothers and sisters and brothers…! Just think of the life of the apostle Paul. Would you call him a loner, a loser? Look at him, the prisoner, as he arrives in Rome. How many friends were waiting for him?! He was persecuted, but not forsaken! A clay jar, yet carrying such a treasure! (2Corinthians 4). These are the paradoxes of the Christian life!
This is what Jesus wants us to remember. He wants all of us to know that the cost of discipleship must be paid. But also, that the kingdom pays an incredibly high return! “A hundred fold!” But it comes “with persecution”.
We could say it the other way round. That, even though there are persecutions, they are only the “little afflictions of the moment”, to prepare us for the 100% “eternal weight of glory” (2Corinthians 4). This is Paul’s way of describing the balance. And there is nothing that can separate us from the love of Christ!
So rather than the text making one simple point, Jesus actually says 3 things:
(1) THE KINGDOM PAYS WELL;
(2) THE KINGDOM PAYS WITH PERSECUTIONS;
(3) THE KINGDOM PAYS WITH SURPRISES!
Jesus adds: “There are last ones who will be first and first ones who will be last”. This is the surprise factor! Who is in the front row? Am I still first? Or am I running late? In our Western world, in our “lucky country”, it costs us a lot, not to assume, that we, believers, have a priority position. We keep the Christian heritage, with all its traditions and privileges. We seem to be entitled to the first place!
But then, when thinking of the rich young man, and of Judas, the disciple with the money-box, we should wonder! The first place where? Hadn’t Judas also sacrificed a lot?
The first place in Jesus’ kingdom is for those who have been willing to pay the price! Where do we find the poor in spirit, who mourn, and who hunger and thirst for righteousness? It is painful to say this, but the cry for the Word of Life, in the Third World countries, rather than in our lucky country!
We think, we have the lot. And we want to have the lot. But how many, even in the Australian church, are prepared to pay the price?
We want to live as tourists, rather than as pilgrims. We wish to be seen in Broadway, not on the narrow road.
However, the world cannot satisfy. The devil cannot make you rich. What the devil has to offer, his “horn of plenty”, is an empty horn! The blessing of the Lord makes rich. And blessed is the man, who over against a watching world keeps saying: ‘Lord Jesus, in You do I find all my delight. I will not count the cost.
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
that were a present far too small!
Love so amazing, so divine
demands my life, my soul, my all!
AMEN