The Gospel of Losing Things

This morning my Bible lesson was a familiar one as it was the Parable of the Rich Young Ruler. Most of us who have attended church for awhile have probably heard sermons on the parable many times. All three of the synoptic Gospels record the story. Simply put, it is about a rich man who asks Jesus the most important question one could ever ask, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

There are many important lessons to glean from this story. More often then not, it is preached as a warning about not letting money be what controls our heart or some other similar thought. But this parable is much deeper than just money. It is about what things we hold on to that prevent us from making Jesus what He must be in our hearts; our Lord and our King. This parable brings me deep conviction and causes me to pause and consider my own heart. What is the condition of my heart?

This morning the lesson did its usual work on me and I will ponder its implications all day. I will pray that the Holy Spirit will lead me away from my love of stuff and direct me towards loving Jesus with all my heart, soul, and mind.

But I saw something new this morning in this parable. Not sure how I missed it and I don’t think I’ve ever heard it preached exactly like this. As I listened to Jesus speak to the young man in the story, I realized that the Gospel is not just about what we gain from it, though the blessings of salvation are the greatest blessings one can know. The Gospel must first be about losing things.

This must change how we preach the Gospel. We need to stop telling people how great their life will be if they “accept” Jesus. We must stop telling ourselves this, (preaching the Gospel to ourselves must be a daily practice), and start telling ourselves that we need to let go of what we possess.

Again, this isn’t a story about money, it is one about what captures our hearts. What has priority in our lives? The greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”- Matthew 22:37-38

Many things possess our hearts. We must lose them all. Salvation requires death to self and to all our selfish desires. To obtain eternal life, we must give up our grip on everything else. Everything.

This convicts me. It scares me honestly. It drives me to prayer. I am blessed with an abundance of wonderful things. If Jesus told me to give it all away, would I? Could I?

We justify ourselves by telling ourselves that, yes, we would, but then we say that He hasn’t asked us to. So would we? Really?

The truth is this; none of us really know our own hearts. We think we do, but the Bible says differently. Jeremiah 17:9 says this about our hearts, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Our hearts lie to us and we cannot understand them. That is a fact.

So how can we find any peace in all this? How do we not spend the rest of our days worrying because we have many things? The rich man went away sad, yet he appears to have done all the right things. He came to Jesus seeking eternal life. He humbled himself, he publicly ran to Him, which was a huge no-no in that culture. He followed the commandments. He did everything we would expect one to do. This seems hopeless. But wait. It seems to get worse as Jesus follows the story up with this scary thought.

Luke 18:24-25
Jesus, seeing that he had become sad, said, “How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!  For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Jesus seeing that the man was sad, said that to Him? That ought to scare all of us Americans, because we are all wealthy compared to most of the world. Camels cannot go through the eye of a needle. It’s impossible. This is speaking right to us.

But finish the reading.

Luke 18:26-27
Those who heard it said, “Then who can be saved?”  But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

Salvation is impossible with us, we cannot do this. But with God? Salvation is possible.

My hope does not lie in ANYTHING I do or say, but in God.

So today as I meditate on these words, I will bow my head in confession that I am a sinner and I will lift my head to God and simply ask Him to save me. I will ask Him to remove the heart in me that deceives me and to replace it with a heart that lives in submission to His Holy authority.

That is the Gospel. It is not what I gain but what I lose that will bring me the greatest blessings of all. Praise God for His grace and His mercy. It is my hope.

God bless all of you.