Gordon Stewart, 74, was a retired cabinetmaker and ponytailed loner who was often seen pedaling his bike around the streets of Broughton, in the U.K., picking up cardboard boxes and bags full of rubbish.

One day, when neighbors hadn’t seen Stewart emerge from his home for several days, they called police. Officers broke in, only to find a house so full of trash that the only way to get around was through an elaborate series of tunnels running through the filth. The stench was so bad that a police dive team using breathing apparatus was called in to search for Stewart, who was found deep inside the unholy labyrinth. Police believe Stewart became disoriented in the mountains of collected stuff and died of dehydration. "Human mole dies of thirst … lost in his own tunnels of trash," read the headline in The Sun.

Stewart suffered from Compulsive Hoarding Syndrome, a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder that causes people to acquire and hold on to stuff that’s useless or of limited value -- stuff most of us would call "junk." Compulsive hoarders stubbornly hold on to old newspapers, magazines, old clothing, bags, books, mail, notes and lists, as well as other accumulated junk and even garbage, because they believe they might somehow need those items in the future.

The homes of compulsive hoarders become dumping grounds, where piles and piles of stuff choke out living space to a dangerous point. It doesn’t take long for the clutter to start spreading onto the floors, countertops, hallways, stairwells, garage and cars. Beds become so cluttered there’s no room to sleep. Chairs become so buried there’s nowhere to sit. Kitchen counters become so cluttered that food can’t be prepared.

But while syndrome sufferers represent extreme cases, we might argue that much of Western culture is no less focused on the accumulation of stuff. No, it may not be "junk," and it may not clutter our homes to the point of madness, but the constant drive to acquire bigger homes, cars, televisions, gadgets and other high-end stuff may be symptomatic of a larger and more pervasive human disease — call it greed or avarice, or maybe something such as "chronic wealth syndrome."

Whatever the name, it has the potential to be no less debilitating or even deadly to sufferers. When the overwhelming desire to accumulate and hold on to material things begins to dominate a person’s life, whether you’re holed up in an apartment or living in a mansion, it’s a serious problem.

Our Gospel lesson from last week offered a case study of one so afflicted. He’s often called the "Rich Young Ruler," a title that’s really a fusion of descriptions cobbled together from each synoptic account. In Mark, we know only that he’s a rich man who had "many possessions." We also know he’s a bit of a perfectionist, at least when it comes to how he perceives himself in relationship to the commandments. "Good Teacher," he says to Jesus, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"

Jesus gave him a quiz on the Ten Commandments, well, at least five commandments, plus another that deals with human relationships, and the rich man was able to check all the boxes.

So far, the man is perfect. "I have kept all these since my youth," he tells Jesus. He has managed to maintain a perfect standard, at least in his own eyes, while also managing to accumulate a good deal of stuff. In Hebrew thought, prosperity was associated with God’s blessing, which was the result of faithful living. To the casual observer, this guy had it all.

But, as comedian Stephen Wright once quipped, "You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?" Eventually, we learn that having it all becomes more of a life-choking burden than a blessing. When we start to believe that our worth is bound up in all we achieve and accumulate, we become trapped in a maze of our own making.

Jesus, however, offers a therapeutic solution. While compulsive hoarders need some serious psychological intervention, most people with chronic wealth syndrome really need only one prescription. Jesus spells it out for the rich man: "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

Many people read or hear these words recorded in Mark and say, "Well, thank goodness I’m not rich! Wealth must be someone else’s problem." Like the neighbors who walked past Stewart’s home day after day, we might observe our own wealthy neighbors and think they’re the ones with a possession problem.

But the truth is that if you live in the United States and have even a very modest home and income, you’re still wealthier than the 2.7 billion people in the world who make less than two dollars a day. By that standard, almost all of us are rich and, very likely, want to get richer. So these are words of caution for us.

Some people think Jesus isn’t really asking us to give up everything we have. They consider these words an exaggerated figure of speech. Surely, this man’s problem with possessions required a much more radical intervention than we need.

Well, maybe. But Jesus’ words here seem to have a more universal application. Even the disciples caught the force of it. "Look, we have left everything and followed you," they said to Jesus. Jesus’ advice/command to the rich man wasn’t lost on those who had indeed done exactly what Jesus was recommending. Somehow, we expect that discipleship shouldn’t cost us that much; we think we can somehow maintain our consumerist lifestyle and still call ourselves followers of Jesus.

Jesus challenges that assumption directly, and his words are convicting for all who want to be his followers. He calls us to think about how we continue to hoard and hold on to things in our own lives. The question is whether we’ll seek health and wholeness by learning to give up our stuff when we’re asked, or whether we’ll continue to cram our houses and bodies full of the junk that our culture says we need.

But we live in a world that continues to place personal wealth and individualism over and against the Word

of God and a life that’s dependent on Christ. Satan tempts us to believe that you can serve two masters: worldly wealth and God’s Word. Jesus says "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." The stacks and stacks of stuff that people accumulate as a means of validating their worth can create an ever-narrowing pathway until, eventually, it’s impossible to squeeze their way out.

And the current financial tough times remind us that God’s grace takes all of us, our material concerns, and the seemingly impossible situations that many of us find ourselves in, and moves us to God, with whom all things are possible. He saves the rich and the poor alike by His grace. It’s only when we’re willing to let go, to see all our stuff as belonging to God, will we begin to see the light of the kingdom break through all the clutter.

Jesus clearly declares that entering God’s kingdom is impossible for people based on human merit and activity. But what is impossible for people is possible for God to grant us in Christ.

Our hope is not in ourselves or in our stuff. Our hope is in the One True God, Christ Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Healing comes new every morning as we rise and see the sun shining.

Healing begins with the forgiveness of sins. For all things are possible with God. You cannot ask for any greater assurance and hope. You cannot ask for more than what Christ did and earned for us on the cross. Where there is forgiveness, there is salvation and eternal life.

There on the cross, Jesus died not only for our sins of seeking out the material things of this world, but for all of our sins. It is important to remember every day that we are joined the Christ’s death and resurrection through our Baptisms. By grace through faith, Christ’s righteousness is given to us so that as we return to our Baptism, as we confess our sins and receive absolution, our old Adam dies and becomes less and less part of our identity.

At the altar of our Lord, we receive Christ’s body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. Through the Word of God in Scripture, we are directed to the promise of forgiveness in Christ crucified.

In a world that seeks to suffocate Christ, we are empowered to witness to the One who left the riches of heaven and came to seek and save the lost and that the riches of this world pale into insignificance to the riches of living the life of Christ and the eternal life that is already ours now, but not yet.

To die in a squalid pile of junk is a humiliating end. But all of us will die eventually. The question is whether we’ll be found trying desperately to hold on to stuff we can’t take with us, or whether we’ll be found having given the best of ourselves and our material blessings to the service of God, who ultimately owns it all anyway.

May each of us remember that we can’t serve two masters. As we live the life of Christ in this world, may we remember that by God’s grace, through faith alone, all things are possible. Amen.