11-9-2018

 Good Morning All,

        Mark 10:25; “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

    What is the name of your camel?  I name mine “Clyde” partly to honor Ray Stevens.  Clyde might be a cute name for a camel but camels really aren’t cute.  They can be a lot of work.  They are expensive and need some special handling.  You might be wondering about this information.  Well, we all have a camel, whether we name it or not, whether we like it or not; we all have a camel.  The real name of that camel is sin and we all have a camel.

    In order for you to get into heaven, you need to get your camel to go through the eye of a needle.  Now a lot of theologians like to claim that this is a metaphor or a hyperbole or they try to explain it away.  I remember one time the thought was that the eye of a needle was a small door in the city walls that could be accessed after the main doors were closed.  In order for a camel to go through this opening, it would have to be unloaded and then crawl on its knees to fit.  This is an interesting story but completely misses what Jesus is saying here.  Jesus means exactly what he says.  It is easier to for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.  So if you want to get into heaven, you need to fit your camel through the eye of a needle.

    So how do you get into heaven?  You have to get rid of your camel.  The sins that we lead around, that weigh us down, that separate us from God’s love needs to be gone.  They won’t leave on their own; they’ll hang around and grow and last a life time.  But if you want to get into heaven, you have to fit the camel through the eye of a needle; good luck with that!

    So what chance do we have?  Well, by our own skill and ability; none.  You can never fit a camel though the eye of a needle and you can never get into heaven.  We aren’t good enough; we fail every time.  Yet this is where God shows his incredible love.  He sent Jesus to take care of your camel; to remove your sins as far as the east id from the west.  How do we get into heaven? Through Jesus and through Jesus alone. 

     While some may be offended that they cannot get into heaven on their own; we really can and should take comfort in that truth.  Jesus has already done the heavy lifting.  He has accomplished what we cannot.  It is taken care of, by Jesus.  We get into heaven because of Jesus and no camel, no level of sin, will stop us.  It is not dependent upon me and my goodness (which doesn’t exist).  Rather, it depends entirely upon Jesus’ righteousness (which does exist) and even if you feel you have a whole herd of camels; Jesus frees you from them and invites you into heaven with Him all you need to do is believe this is true and trust that it will bring you home.  God’s grace gives us hope, gives us comfort and gives us eternal life with Him.

Father of grace, you draw me into your family because of Jesus.  Give me the strength of faith to always trust this and always hold onto you.  Protect us from all the devil throws at us and lead us home.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret