1-18-2019

Good Morning All,

           Luke 18:22; “When Jesus heard this, he said, “There’s one more thing. Sell everything you own and distribute the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.”

    This is one of those stories that require a little deeper digging.  A young man comes to Jesus and asks what he must do to have eternal life.  It was probably an honest question.  We are not told that the man was trying to trick or trap Jesus like Scriptures does in other places.  He says he keeps the commandments and we have no reason to doubt he is a decent guy.  There is one tiny thing; the young man is rich and he likes being rich and he wants to stay rich so he goes away sad because Jesus told him to sell what you have, give away the proceeds and follow me.

    What is Jesus doing?  Is he testing the man?  Perhaps.  Is Jesus declaring wealth as evil? I don’t think so.  What is Jesus doing?  I think he is telling the young man to flee from sin.  The young man keeps the law for the most part but he fails miserably in that he chooses money over Jesus.  In what I believe is a loving and kind tone of voice, Jesus is telling the young man to flee from your temptation and follow me.  We would say he needs to repent, to turn from the sinful, selfish and destructive allure of the world and turn to Jesus and be safe from sin.

    It is always somewhat ironic when we talk of sin; we often feel like God is picking on us because he asks us to give up our favorite activity and to follow him.  It may be wealth, it may be gossip, it may be lusting after the opposite sex, it may be jealousy of what the neighbors have but there is something that we need to give up.  Jesus isn’t telling the young man to walk away from wealth in order to punish him.  Jesus tells him this because it is his love of wealth that causes him to sin and thus separates him from the totality of God’s grace.  Sin separates; it pulls or drives us away from God and away from God’s loving shelter in order to torment us in sin.

    While we may look at the young man and shake our head; we really should see that we are the young man.  We all have sins that keep us from keeping the law.  We all need to remember that we need God’s mercy.  We cannot earn our way in; we will get in only by God’s tender grace.  That is the entire point of Jesus; God’s grace revealed to mankind in the person of Jesus.

    Jesus came into the world to give us weak and failing creatures a way in.  It is a simple enough concept.  Trust that Jesus’ death is total payment for your sins.  Seek his mercy and live under the shelter of his protective wings and cling to him always.  We always need to remember that to walk away from Jesus means to walk away from life.  We are to walk with Jesus striving to be like him.  Will we make it? Not in this life time.  Yet God’s mercy is poured out upon us because he loves us and desires to save us.  What must I do to have eternal life?  Believe that Jesus is Lord and that God has raised him from the dead to reign eternally. 

Father, your mercies are new to us each day and we praise you for the hope that we have because of Jesus.  Keep our eyes always focused on your grace and tender care.  Guide me to walk in your holy will.  In the precious name of Jesus, we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret