Jesus is teaching about what we must do to enter, be in and bring about God's kingdom, here and now. The first are to be last and servant of all. We are to be as little children - open and trusting in God's grace. This week Jesus encounters the rich young ruler, who asked what he must do to inherit eternal life. He has kept all the commandments, followed all the rules. By all accounts he is a good man. Yet he leaves Jesus disappointed. Why? He lacked just one thing. What was that?
Does God have something against the rich? Job was wealthy and stripped of all his possessions. Possessions. Why does Jesus say "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." What is true worth? What would we find out about ourselves if we gave up possessiveness? What is it to be possessed? What do we possess? What, or who possesses us? Remember what Jesus said about stumbling blocks and millstones. Look for the love and help Jesus offers us in this lesson.
In "How wealthy was the Rich Young Ruler really?" The Rev. Terry Parsons tells about true worth without possession(s). You have to read his story about the monkey. The Rev. Dr. Wiley Stephens in "Sticker Shock for the Soul" explores possessions, being possessed and , giving up possessions and being possessed. Will we be like the rich young ruler and miss the opportunity of a lifetime?
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