Business 301: be sure they can deliver

This isn't about business at all.  You have already figured that out, but once we start talking about wealth and possessions we put on our version of a business suit and start thinking like a bunch of MBAs.  This story grabs us right in our wallet, as it should, but let us not stay there. We are talking about the story of the rich man who turns away from following Jesus presumably because 'he had many possessions.'  Mark 10

Perhaps it is good for us to admit how difficult this story is for us.  How crazy we find it.  How we can't possibly give up all our stuff and follow Jesus - even if we wanted to, and we are not sure that we want to.  I believe that wrestling with this story is am important part of our spiritual development.  It seems that it should lead us into some serious conversation with God, good and necessary conversation.

Yet there is this.  The rich man asks, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"  What must I do?  Have I done enough?  Have I forgotten something?  Have I concentrated too much on this when I should be doing that?

At some point we have asked the same question.  What must I do to satisfy God?  (for Lutherans reading this, that is the perpetual question of the Law and it drives us to confession)  We really can't help ourselves.  It's what we know; what we have been taught.  For each phase of our lives there is a checklist to be completed.  The question has been asked with every tone of voice from incredulity to earnestness; from entitlement to frustration; from humility to hubris.  What more do I have to do?

Getting it right is critical in many situations.  To perform surgery we need to prove we are qualified.  To drive a car we must pass the test.  To buy a house we need to qualify for a mortgage.

But not with God.  It's not about what you do.  It's about who God is and how much God loves those God created.  God reached out to us through Jesus; God invites us into a new life through Jesus.  God defeated death in Jesus.

Or, to quote the story  'and Jesus, looking at him, loved him.'  Knowing that this rich man would not be able to leave behind the glory of this world for the promise of another, Jesus, looking at him loved him....as he walked away, as Jesus died on the cross, as the days or months passed.  Jesus loved him, and continually invited that man.........and each one of us...........to leave behind the stuff that only leads to death.  Put it down.  Come to me.

In the end, this gracious, life-giving love will be worth more than anything to which we cling in this lifetime.  The love of God costs us nothing, it is freely given.  Yet it is the gift for which we will give everything we have and we are.

Bonhoeffer writes in Cost of Discipleship   "Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has.  It is the pearl of great price to buy for which the merchant will sell all his goods.  It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him."

Listen for the Spirit to guide you along this path towards life in the Divine.  The love of Jesus calls you. Today and tomorrow.