By Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy

v17As Jesus was starting on his way again, a man ran up, knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to receive eternal life?”
v18″Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone. v19You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not accuse anyone falsely; do not cheat; respect your father and your mother.’”
v20″Teacher,” the man said, “ever since I was young, I have obeyed all these commandments.”
v21Jesus looked straight at him with love and said, “You need only one thing. Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come and follow me.” v22When the man heard this, gloom spread over his face, and he went away sad, because he was very rich.
v23Jesus looked around at his disciples and said to them, “How hard it will be for rich people to enter the Kingdom of God!” (Read: Mark 10.17-31)*
Jesus and the disciples continued their ministry of preaching, healing, and teaching in Judea and across the Jordan river. He taught about relationship with community and God as he taught the crowd about the sanctity of marriage and about the care for children as he blessed these little ones. Our gospel lesson this Sunday tells us about his encounter with a righteous and rich man and from this episode more lessons about discipleship and the kingdom of heaven. Our story tells us that the rich man turns away from Jesus rather than surrender his wealth. If it is so hard to enter God’s kingdom, can anyone get in? Yes, Jesus tells the disciples, but only by God’s grace. This reminds me of a mother who told the story of the rich man to his son at bedtime. After the story the boy asked his mom, “how come rich people cannot get to heaven?” His mom told him, “You can go to sleep… we are not rich.”
***
Most of us think that money and success or power will provide the missing ingredient in life. Money will certainly open doors for us, but does it provide a reason to live? A psychological study made a few years ago discovered that the people who put money first in their thinking and their priorities are usually less healthy than other people. The money-conscious are more troubled by worry and anxiety and less likely to be in healthy relationships. A French story come to mind about a millionaire in his palace who spent his days counting his gold. Beside the palace was a poor cobbler who spent his days singing as he repaired people’s shoes. The joyful singing irritated the rich man. One day he decided to give some gold coins to the cobbler. At first the cobbler was overjoyed, and he took the coins and hid them. But then he would be worried and go back to check if the coins were still there. Then he would be worried in case someone had seen him, and he would move the coins and hide them in another place. During all this, he ceased to sing. Then one day he realized that he had ceased to sing because of the gold coins. He took them back to the rich man and said, “take back your coins and give me back my songs.”
***
Jesus was greatly impressed by the young man’s attitude and bearing. He was a person without guile. Unlike some Pharisees and Sadducees whom he had encountered, no sinister motive lurked behind this man’s query. There was no intent to entrap. Before answering his question directly, Jesus drew from the man an assessment of his own character. He steered their conversation to consideration of the Commandments. Jesus began to recite them. The young man interrupted before he could complete his recitation. “Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth.” Here was a truly good man, and Jesus loved him for being so. Unfortunately, the young man’s goodness was not good enough. It did not qualify him for the kingdom of God. His goodness was seriously flawed by a defect linked to his heart.
***
When Jesus tells the rich young man to give away his wealth, he wasn’t condemning the rich. Jesus knows what it will take for him to be happy. What this comfortable man needs is to love something so passionately that he will give up everything else for it. This is what is missing in his life; he has never found anything big enough to demand his everything.
This is what Jesus meant when he taught that we must seek the kingdom of God before all else. Until we care about God’s kingdom more than anything else, even more than we care about ourselves, we are no better off than the rich young ruler.
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Jesus is very clear that nothing must be allowed to stand in the way of those who are seeking the kingdom of God. That applies not only to the rich but to all of us. To miss the kingdom is to end up in such misery that we might as well be thrown into hell. On the other hand, life lived with God is so rich and joyful that no sacrifice is too great in the pursuit of God’s kingdom. Two Sundays ago in our gospel lesson, Jesus tells us that If your hand, your foot, your eye become stumbling blocks, better to cast them away than to miss the kingdom of God. In his usual vivid way, Jesus is telling his followers and listeners that the kingdom of God is better than anything else life can offer, and nothing must trip us on the way of that kingdom. IF your money, your material wealthprevents you of entering into God’s kingdom – give them away because you can’t buy your way to heaven. So, we ask ourselves: To what have I given my life? To whom have I committed myself? In whose service am I yoked? Where have I given my heart? In answer to these questions, if all we can muster or gather are petty pursuits and trivialities, then we are in dire need of something more.
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Christ offers us that there is something more. Christ offers us something to live for, something worth dying for. Christ offers us a way of loving that expands the limits of life. Christ offers us a challenge that demands our all and repays us a thousand-fold. Meaning in life does not come cheap. Purpose does not come without risk. To grasp the “something more” of life will often require us to let go of something else. Our gospel tells us of that something else as money and or material possessions.
That’s why the rich young man sadly walks away from Christ. For him, the price tag was too high. I wonder if he lived to be an old man. I wonder if he looked back over his life with this satisfaction or regret. In the rainy season of his days, I wonder if he found comfort and meaning in his wealth, or whisper to himself, “If only I had taken the risk. If only I had followed the Christ. If only things had been different.”Abundant life doesn’t come cheap. There is a risk and price for walking with Christ. But there is also a risk and a price for walking away from Christ.
***
A preacher once said that being rich and having a lot of money may not be our problem but all of us are invited to answer God’s call: ‘Come follow me.’ Jesus is asking us the same question: ‘Am I worth following?” Jesus is not asking us to admire his way of life but to live it fully and not as part-time followers. Discipleship is always costly and following Jesus makes very stark demands on our lifestyle. Our following Christ means making the best use of our present situation and placing our lives in his hands. We have only one life and Christ is inviting us to leave the world a better place for our presence than we found it. We achieve this by helping others and not by grasping everything for ourselves.
Let us pray.
Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow
us, that we may continually be given to good works; through
Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the
Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 23 Collect, BCP)