Do you ever think that yeah, you're a good enough person?
Do you ever justify yourself by thinking that hey, you've never killed, you've never stolen,
you're doing ok?
Do you ever wonder where your spiritual life is supposed to go next?
Hey everybody this is Steve and God invites us to inherit His Kingdom.
In this week's Gospel reading we see, not a parable, but a real interaction between
Christ and a ruler who wants eternal life.
And in this week's Epistle reading, we see some beautiful thoughts on unity and oneness.
You may have noticed something interesting about this week's Gospel reading: it starts
pretty much exactly like the reading we covered in episode 8.
In that reading, a lawyer asks Jesus what he needed to do in order to inherit eternal
life.
And Jesus responds with a conversation about the Law, the two fundamental commandments
to love God and neighbor.
In this Sunday's reading, a ruler asks Jesus the very same question.
And Jesus, once again, responds with a conversation about the Law, citing the Ten Commandment:
do not kill, do not steal, and so forth.
On one level, that seems like a non-answer.
After all, what do these rules have to do with inheritance; or, specifically, with inheriting
life?
Well, we see this connection in a really interesting place: in the Book of Deuteronomy in the Old
Testament.
As Moses neared the end of his life, God warned him that the people would soon forget the
Lord, and begin worshipping other gods.
So Moses composed a poem, known as the Song of Moses, and taught it to the people to remind
them of the Lord and His commandments.
When he finished this song, he offered the people a warning:
"Take to heart all the words that I am giving in witness against you today; give them as
a command to your children, so that they may diligently observe all the words of this law.
This is no trifling matter for you, but rather your very life; through it you may live long
in the land that you are crossing over the Jordan to possess."
(Deut 32:46-47)
Moses died before the people of Israel reached the Promised Land.
Yet he wanted to make sure that the people did not turn their back on the Lord.
Because the Promised Land was for God's Chosen People.
And if they were really going to be His Chosen People, they needed to act like it.
They needed to *be* a certain way.
In Christ, this question of inheritance takes on an even deeper meaning.
Because we aren't merely called to be God's chosen people: we're called to be His children,
His adopted sons and daughters.
So we inherit what is God's, His eternal Life by virtue of this relationship, by being members
of the household of God.
But if we're really going to be God's children, then we need to resemble Him.
Because children don't just look like their father, they act like their father.
Their reflect their father, not simply in their faces, but in their hearts.
When the ruler hears all this, when he and Jesus talk about the commandments that help
us to be like our heavenly Father, he gives a surprising answer: he says he's obeyed them
all.
He hasn't committed adultery, he hasn't killed, he hasn't stolen, he's honored his mother
and father.
Yet Jesus doesn't end there.
He says there's one more thing the man needs: to sell all he has, to give all that wealth
to the poor, and to follow Christ.
We really have to take the man at his word here: Jesus doesn't contradict him, He doesn't
say that the man has actually broken any commandments.
Jesus accepts that, before the law, the man is blameless.
Yet He still says that the man needs something more.
And to understand why, we need to take a closer look at this week's Epistle reading.
When you read the passage, it's amazing how many times Paul speaks about unity and oneness.
Again and again: he speaks of the unity of the Spirit; that there's one Body, one faith,
one baptism.
And in the midst of all this talk of unity, Paul suddenly transitions and begins speaking
about the Holy Trinity.
"There is one body and one Spirit...one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father
of all..."
(Eph 4:4-5)
You see, our unity reflects the unity of the Trinity: the Spirit, the Lord (or Jesus Christ),
and the Father.
And it's maintained as we undertake this walk of faith, as we "lead a life worthy of the
calling to which [we] have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience,
bearing with one another in love..."
(Ephesians 4:2-3)
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul writes about how the Law is, without a doubt, important;
but we have to remember its proper place: it's a teacher, a guardian, given to us to
help guide us to Christ.
(Galatians 3:24)
And in the Gospel reading, we see a man face to face with Christ.
He's satisfied all the commandments, he's done everything he thinks he needs to do,
and yet it turns out he's still missing something.
So Christ blows him away with a simple request: sell everything you have, give it to the poor,
and come follow me.
Several times during His ministry, Christ encountered people who wanted to follow Him.
And He refused, telling them to stay where they were.
Remember the demon-possessed man from episode 5, for example, who wanted nothing more than
to sit at the feet of Christ.
Yet He sent the man home.
Here, Jesus is inviting the man to follow Him, to be with Him each and every day.
This is a precious invitation, and the man...refused.
Because, though he obeyed the Law, he hadn't yet achieved the unity that's the whole point
of the Law.
He wasn't united enough with his neighbors to sell all he had and give to the poor.
And he wasn't united enough with God to give everything away and follow Christ.
At the beginning of this week's Epistle passage, Paul calls himself a prisoner for the Lord.
Someone who was literally in bonds, in chains, tied up for the Lord.
Yet this ruler was a prisoner to something else: his wealth.
The man couldn't take that critical step to Christ because he was held back by his wealth.
Wealth that could've become a means for him to come closer to God by imitating God's charity
and compassion, but instead, it became the barrier between Him and God.
Christ wanted the ruler, just as He wants us, to have eternal Life, Life that comes
only from being united to Him.
He wants us to inherit all that the Father has to offer us when we are united to the
Father in the Son through the Spirit.
And He knows which things hold us back from that unity.
For many of us, it may be our material things, our wealth.
For others, it may be pride or gluttony or lust.
Whatever it is, Christ is constantly inviting each of us to turn our whole lives over to
Him, to let Him be the Lord not just of the things we find it easy to offer to Him, but
of everything we have and do and are.
So why does the Scripture give us such a bummer of a story, an encounter with the Lord that
ends up with the guy leaving rather than following Christ?
Well, notice that, when the man turns down Christ's invitation, the Lord doesn't get
mad.
Instead, He sorrowfully recognizes, that, yeah, it's really hard for someone like this
to find salvation.
But, at the same time, Christ is always offering Himself to make the impossible possible.
If only we will allow Him.
And, for someone like me, someone who turns down Christ's invitation to give not just
what is easy, but everything to Him on a daily basis, someone who finds it really hard to
seek salvation, someone who would rather be chained to my own desires and passions than
to be chained to Christ in love, the words of Jesus offer both comfort in my disappointment
and a reminder that I really need to do better.
Maybe I'm much more like the ruler than I care to admit.
We've covered a lot of ground today.
And to help work through what this all means for each us, we'll end as we always do: with
3 questions.
First, what are the ways you're using the law to justify yourself?
Do you ever find yourself adopting a vision of the Christian life that's fine with things
being "good enough?"
Do you ever deflect calls to prayer and deeper acts of love or ignore sins you think aren't
so bad by reasoning "hey, at least I have killed anybody?"
Second, how are you turning down Christ's invitation to follow Him?
Maybe you're not attending services as often as you'd like.
Maybe you're not following through with a daily prayer rule.
How are you missing opportunities to encounter Christ, and what can you do to start accepting
that invitation?
Third, like the ruler was tied to his wealth, what are you a prisoner to?
What is holding you back from dedicating your life to God?
What is holding you back from encountering Christ, from following Christ, from truly
entering the household of God?
We may not all be called to sell everything we have and give to the poor, but there may
be other things that we're not willing to let go to follow Christ.
We'll be back with a new episode on Monday.
And my buddy Christian will have a short response video up on Thursday as he wrestles with these
questions.
I hope you'll read the Gospels and Epistle passages we covered today.
And, whether it's with family or friends or a Bible Study group, I hope you'll talk about
what we've covered and wrestle with what God has for you, in your life.
Most importantly, I hope you'll celebrate with us this Sunday and every Sunday, to hear
the beautiful Scripture readings proclaimed during the Divine Liturgy and to learn how
you can Live the Word.
Thanks for watching.
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