Destroying Altars; Luke 18:20-23

Delivered during the Sunday Morning Worship Service, 12/8/2024. In this message we will continue to make our way through the "living parable" of Jesus' encounter with a rich, young ruler, focusing on the high drama of their meeting. In response to the man's question concerning what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus recites a carefully abbreviated and ordered list of commandments he must keep. Seeming to ignore the young man's self-righteous claim to have kept them all, Jesus concentrates on what He knows is the young man's idol-- his great wealth. We will carefully analyze the reason Jesus required the man to divest his wealth before following Him and why the man went away sad. We will also answer several other poignant questions that arise from the text and are particularly relevant in a modern context. But ultimately we will realize that our God is a jealous God who will not allow His people to worship other gods, but requires all those who will follow Him to destroy their altars and worship Him alone!