Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s passage from the Gospel of Matthew relates the story of the rich young man. He asks Jesus what good he must do to gain eternal life. Jesus tells him he must follow the commandments and love his neighbor as himself. But when the young man asks what he lacks, Jesus tells him to sell his many possessions and give to the poor and “Then come, follow me.” And the young man walked away sad. The Scripture says this young man had many possessions which leads me to believe that what Jesus was asking of him was no small request. Then I began to think about what I would do if I were that young man.
Of course it is not all that common for Jesus to ask a person to give up all their possessions, but if I really look at my life I see more than a few areas that I know I have been asked to change and still have not been able or willing to change. But Jesus meets me exactly where I am—fully aware of my capacity to grow and aware of what areas of my life need healing and change and forgiveness. So although I may not be called to poverty, I am called to something specific this day that will contribute to my personal salvation and the reign of God’s Kingdom. Wow! This is no small matter. It is not something that will likely be accomplished in in day a week or next month. If I am honest, I will realize my work is a lifelong project. Even the apostles, having accepted Jesus’ call immediately, struggled through their conversion. While I do not want to make excuses or cut myself a break or take God’s gracious mercy for granted, I do believe that, as long as I draw breath, my specific call remains before me. I am sure God provides the grace and means for me to fulfill this call. The variable in all of this is all on me—the depth of my love for him, my willingness to change, and my acceptance of who I truly am in God’s creation. What will I do this very day to move forward in the direction Jesus is guiding me? What precise actions will I take that will express my turning towards Jesus—instead of walking away sad?
I do not like walking away from Jesus even in the smallest way. But I find each day that I do so in one way or another. The struggle is ongoing and sometimes making progress seems out of reach. This may sound discouraging. But it need not be. I am convinced that it is grace that allows me to even reflect on this particular aspect of being a Christian and the Spirit of Jesus that I have come to know never withholds his transforming grace. Keep on moving. Just keep on moving forward and trust. Trust that, even if I am not able to let go or become ‘perfect’ all at once, God is with me and will always walk with me on this journey. For me, it must not be about how often I walk away from Jesus. It must be about how often I turn back. It must always be about begging for the grace to keep turning back to the Living Christ, reencountering Jesus, and knowing he will welcome me home.
--Gail Lyman