SCRIPTURE: Matthew 19:21
(TM) - (larger lesson 19:16-30)
"If you want
to give it all you've got," Jesus replied, "go sell your possessions;
give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come
follow me."
STORY:
Kierkagaard in "And I looked around and nobody was
laughing" says this, "I went into church and sat on the velvet pew. I
watched as the sun came shining through the stained glass windows. The minister
dressed in a velvet robe opened the golden gilded Bible, marked it with a silk
bookmark and said, "If any man will be my disciple, said Jesus, let him
deny himself, take up his cross, sell what he has, give it to the poor, and
follow me."
OBSERVATION:
There seems to be a disconnect between our lifestyle and our
desire to be Christ’s disciple as illustrated in the Kierkagaard story. There
is a cost related to being a discipleship per our scripture reading for today.
The problem that confronts us is how to bring them together into a meaningful
whole.
Does Jesus expect us to literally go and get rid of
everything that we own for the sake of the poor and the needy? This has been
the spiritual struggle for centuries and my response is, probably not, because
then we would become a problem for others to deal with and a drag on society.
The Desert Fathers gained fame and a following by literally getting rid of
everything, living in caves out in the desert and relying on others for their
daily needs – which wasn’t much. From them we gained great wisdom and insight
to the spiritual journey. Should we follow suit? It worked them, but for others
… probably not.
Each of us has to find our own “place” within the spiritual
walk of discipleship. The deeper question, I believe, is this: What is standing
between a deeper level of discipleship and us? For the young man in the Bible
story it was his wealth. For someone else it could the degrees hanging on their
office wall. For others it could be what they consume – food, desserts – or a
wide range of other issues and things. The so called “stuff” of our life.
What is the one thing that we cherish most in our life …
that is THE thing standing in the way of a deeper walk with Christ. If we
confront that, deny its importance in our life we would then move into a
stronger and deeper discipleship. But within the context of this stronger
discipleship we will make another discovery. We will be confronted with
something else that will require our emotional, mental, physical denial because
it too stands in our way. There will always be a new issue to deal with, a new
discovery, a new problem. The deeper we walk with Christ the more honest we
have to be with ourselves and the more we will learn about ourselves.
The journey into discipleship is a life long process. We
will make new discoveries at each turn. We will learn new things about
ourselves. And, we will be confronted continuously with the “wealth” of our
life which must be placed aside so that we can walk deeper with the Lord.
For me it is the control of chocolate on my appetites.
Anything chocolate is hard to pass up. It is the wealth of my soul. How about
you?
PRAYER:
Reveal the truth about our lives and what is presently
standing between us and you. We want to be a better disciple. Help us remove
those things that are standing in the way … even if it means giving up
chocolate.
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