Why is it important for all Christian believers to study the profile of the rich young ruler? What was he like? What does his life and attitude teach us about our own lives? He is described as a wealthy, good-quality kind of person. Folks, he is us! A person with influence, who has made it in life by his achievements, and we can see it with the kind of respect he gets in the world. He has the right perspective too! He recognizes something valuable in Jesus the Son of God. He worshiped Jesus and asked him a significant question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Those of you who are checklist people, you would love the rich young ruler.
By the way, this is how I imagined him to be: He had cross-checked everything in his life! He had succeeded in many things, but this question of everlasting life was still daunting to him. Jesus was his perfect link to it! Of course, he had done well his religion homework ever since he was young! He had obeyed God’s commandments! That's exactly what Jesus asked him first! Let me see: Check! "
I did that". But, was it really enough for him to secure a place in God’s Kingdom? (He needed to check that too!) Jesus indeed loved him and his interest in eternal life. He issued an invitation to make a giant step of faith into a faith-filled spiritual adventure with him. As you know, one of the weaknesses of Checklist people is that we have a hard time making a decision that doesn’t fully appear on our list! It messes us up a great deal. He bailed out. Do we also bail out when Jesus offers us such invitation to let go of what we hold onto and follow him? If indeed we fit the rich young ruler's profile, how might we react differently than he did?
The human heart is amazingly complex! We have always acted in the same way for centuries… During the time of Jesus, capital punishment was done by crucifying criminals and now we use a lethal injection. We have the same heart that acts in the same way: The heart to commit crime. In Amos 5, I saw the profile of "a rich young ruler": Israelites' hearts went far from God when they turned to idols. They sought places where the Golden calf was, and became wealthier because they perverted justice and oppressed the poor. They took bribes from the rich and thought of it as doing the right thing. Let us be clear about one thing: We have no evidence that this rich young ruler’s wealth in the Gospel, was acquired by terrible means. But, something similar to Amos' time is here in our post modern world: we live in a world where it’s perfectly legal to charge astronomical fees and the poor get the brunt of it. The more concerned we become about our good fortune; the less important everlasting life becomes. The rich young ruler at least, was on the right path.
Now spiritually speaking: it’s hard for us to hide the condition of our hearts when our love for a good fortune is at all time high! When our sole focus in life is accumulation of wealth, we become the worst version of ourselves. This obsession to become rich quickly without work and sacrifices is tantalizing and tempting to us, whether it is a goldmine rush in California or South Africa or casino gambling. Suffering always comes as a result, and its impact becomes deep and wide. Our only escape is encountering Jesus who pushes us to be more like him, loving like Him, acting like Him. His invitation to us, (the rich young rulers of our time) is to focus more on selfless projects instead of self-serving projects. This is the faith-filled adventure; Jesus was calling the rich young ruler to join Him into God’s family.
Don’t be afraid of where Jesus is taking you in this faith-filled spiritual adventure! Let go of that false sense of security of our wealth size, beware of its seductive power! Often enough I have a hard time downsizing myself! A friend of mine once told me: "
if you have not worn it in a year, it has to go!" What can I say? I am a work in progress! The world ’ll keep saying to us: Let your heart get what it wants!
But Jesus is calling us to a life of surrender, a continual life of self-giving. Don’t ever be satisfied thinking you have arrived (or think that your righteousness checklist is so great that God has no choice but to admit you into His Kingdom). No, Don’t calculate (like the rich young ruler) how much loss you would incur if you follow Jesus, but rather look your creator in the face who is the ultimate giver of everything you own. Be wise about where you store your treasures: in heaven or on earth?
Pray like the Psalmist: “Lord, teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom!”
Amen.
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