Homily

It is so often the case when talking about this Gospel that the focus falls on the rich man, or the interaction of the rich man with Jesus. And that’s very understandable because there is a lot that can be said. I admire the fact, I am impressed, that this young man has kept all the commandments and also that he desires eternal life, because the last thing on the mind of most young people is eternal life. But let’s step back from the young man for a second.

If people even think about the possibility of eternal life I believe they usually think of themselves in terms of two lives. There’s this life and then there is eternal life. Of course if we compare the two, this life, the life in this world, is only THIS BIG. Eternal life is THIS BIG. Now, where should we direct all of our attention? The young man believes he is interested in eternal life, but discovers that is not really so true after all. He is stuck in this life, stuck in this world, stuck in the securities that his money can provide for him and the safety that wealth seems to offer to those who have it.

But what if it was me standing there before Jesus? Would I be willing to ask the question, “What good must I do to gain eternal life?” I would not even be able to say “Oh, I have kept all the commandments,” as he did. Not even that much. And I am certainly not a rich man, and even more certainly not a rich young man. But what if Jesus said, “Give up the money and possessions that you do have, and come and follow me.” And I would say, “Even my phone? Will we be going places where I can recharge it?” If I am standing in front of Jesus, what will I be willing to give up in order to gain eternal life? My car? Micro-brews? Warm clothing? A solid roof over my head? Vacations? Facebook? Pizza? What would I be willing to give up? What about you? What would you be willing to give up? Husband? Wife? (Okay, maybe I should not have started there.) Give up your children and grandchildren? Your 501K plan? Your vacation cottage in Dexter? What would you be willing to give up for eternal life? It seems like such an easy question in theory until you really get down to the point where you would actually have to do it.

Most of the items we would have to consider giving up would fall under two categories—things that bring me comfort or pleasure and things that make me feel safe and secure. We might be willing to give up some of those things that bring comfort, and indeed sometimes we do that even now, but when it comes to our sense of safety and security how easy is it to give those things up? Our plans for our future well-being, our health insurance and retirement funds, our jobs, our bank accounts, our homes. All those things that we work to put in place in order to feel safe and be secure—which ones would we be willing to give up in order to follow Jesus, Who promises eternal life to all who faithfully follow Him? How important is He to us? How much trust can I truly put in him? Is Jesus enough for us? Oh, what a good question! The rich young man balanced life with his stuff versus life with Jesus, and life with his stuff won out.

Immediately after this reading in the Gospel today, after the rich man walks away, Peter says, basically, “We left everything and everyone to follow you. What are we going to get from it?” No doubt with great patience Jesus does not take offense at Peter’s question. I surely don’t think I’m better than Peter and that his question would not also be on my mind. What am I going to get from all this?

Perhaps it’s not a bad question after all, especially if you join it to that earlier question I mentioned: What do I expect to get from all this and what am I willing to give up in order to get it? I think these are good and important questions!

But if we honestly ask those questions of ourselves, we should ask them as the rich man did, standing before Jesus. Because without Him there is never enough grace to correctly answer these questions and to follow through with life that matches the answers. But with Him, we can work to shed our trembling need for self-assurance, worldly security and comfort, and instead invest our lives more completely in Christ, and continue to grow up in holiness, because that is our real and true vocation, and that is what will lead us to life everlasting.