Voices of Lent: The Rich Young Ruler

Thanks so much to Craig Stephens for sharing his encounter with God on a loooooong ride home! Thanks also to Johnny Sayer for a moving portrayal of the Rich Young Ruler! It was a great day to be together at Mooresville Church of God! I hope you're all planning to be with us over the next two weeks as we turn our eyes toward Easter! This coming Sunday (Palm Sunday!) we will hear a testimony from Terry True and experience Abby Crump's portrayal of the servant girl who confronted Peter on the night Jesus was arrested! Then we move into Holy Week with our Maundy Thursday Sedar meal and footwashing service, our Good Friday observance and our Easter Celebration! Don't forget that this Saturday, April 4th is our Great Big Egg Hunt and Pancake Breakfast! It should be a lot of fun!

Luke 18:16-30
In Luke's account of the encounter between this rich young ruler and Jesus it begins with Jesus speaking to the crowd (likely including this young ruler) and telling them, "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it". Immediately after Jesus teaches this to the crowd the young ruler approaches Jesus and says, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Now I don't want to be disrespectful to this wealthy young man, but my first thought here is...DUH!!! I mean, Jesus just said, "if you want to receive and enter the kingdom of God you must become like a little child", and in the next breath this young man says "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Well, either he didn't hear Jesus (which is possible) or he DIDN'T WANT to hear Him (which is likely).

This young ruler had a lot to lose (from his own perspective), but from God's perspective he had EVERYTHING to gain by following Jesus. So Jesus plays along for a bit and says, in essence, "follow all the commandments contained in the Jewish Law". The young ruler replies that he has flawlessly done this for many years! Then Jesus, in essence, asks him to follow the "Great Commandment" - to love God and love his neighbor - by asking him to sell all that he has, give it to the poor and come follow Him. Because this rich young ruler had so much worldly possessions to lose, he goes away saddened, dejected and spiritually lost.

Jesus essentially asks the rich young ruler to become like a little child when he says, "sell all that you have, give it to the poor and come follow me". We know this because what do little children inherently have? Money? No. Knowledge? No. They really don't have much to offer anyone do they? About the only things they can truly offer those in power over them is the ability to love them, the reality of needing them, and the hope of learning from them as they grow. And isn't this what Jesus was hoping for from this wealthy young man? Jesus wanted him to love God and love others. Jesus wanted him to need only what God could provide (salvation!) And Jesus wanted him to come, follow and learn from Him.

So as we ask the question, "What must WE do to inherit eternal life?" We can focus on these thoughts as we decide whether to respond to Jesus or not:

1) Become like a little child: Need Him, Love Him, Cry out to Him when you need Him
2) Depend only on God: Whatever God provides for you, go with that! You don't need more! The rich young ruler depended more on his own wealth, ability and comfort.
3) Obey God and receive what you need: Within the gospel of Jesus Christ we "get to give". That's how it works. When you obey, God provides, and you give, share, serve.
4) Learn Generosity: "For God so love the world he GAVE..." God wants us to grow in our generosity. The rich young ruler didn't want to learn that lesson.
5) Follow Jesus and Learn from Him: Jesus says to us - "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

What must we do to inherit eternal life? Jesus call to us is to become like a little child, to essentially have nothing except what we depend on Him to provide. This is a very freeing, liberating and spiritually potent act! "Come", Jesus said, "follow me".

In His Grip,

Pastor John