Think about a time when there was an obstacle between you and something that you wanted. I have a friend a couple of years older than me who came up two courses short of getting his college degree. Two courses! This friend took the courses, but he failed them both. He was told that he would have to take them again in order to graduate. Like any good college student, he decided to see if anyone else at the college taught the courses. He discovered that the original course instructor was the only one on the college faculty that taught the courses. He refused to take the courses over under that professor. He decided he would wait out the professor. Unfortunately for my friend, that professor was early in his career and he outlasted my friend. My friend never completed the courses. He never received his degree.
That professor represented an obstacle between my friend and his goal of getting a college degree. When you think about it, the course wasn’t so much the obstacle. The real obstacle . . . actually two obstacles . . . were fear and pride. This friend feared he would never be able to pass the courses under this professor. The pride was in the fact that he wasn’t going to cave to this professor . . . he wasn’t going to let that professor win. The end result is he never got that degree completed. He never graduated college. He never reached his goal.
So, did you think of a time when there was an obstacle between you and something that you wanted? What did you do?
In our reading this morning, Jesus is talking about obstacles. In particular he is talking about obstacles that keep us from fully accepting, receiving, and living in the love of God. We know the story . . . a man runs up to Jesus, drops on his knees, and asks: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” To which Jesus responds with a list of commandments to keep. The man responds that he does all of those things. Yes, but . . . says Jesus to the man and tells him that he lacks one thing. The man has great wealth. Jesus tells him to sell it all, give it to the poor, and come follow him.
As I said, the man had great wealth. This challenge did not make him happy, and he went away with great sadness.
One thing! One thing kept that man from reaching his goal.
In this passage Jesus is focusing on the need for us to unburden ourselves of whatever it is that might be keeping us from relying on God. It could be material, or it could be spiritual. This is not about salvation. Remember, there is nothing we can do to receive salvation. We’ve already got salvation. Salvation comes from God’s love and grace alone . . . God’s mercy. There is not much of anything we can do to inherit the eternal life except to rely upon God’s mercy, grace, and love for us. As Jesus says, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” God loves us . . . God desires us . . . wants to be in relationship with us. Jesus wants to know whether or not we are willing to fully step into that relationship, believe, and rely upon God and God only.
What is that one thing that keeps us from reaching that goal? Of being fully vested in God and God’s presence in our daily lives . . . in how we live . . . in how we relate to others . . . in how we walk the walk of Jesus? What is that one thing that keeps us from fully realizing this gift of mercy, grace, and love? A gift once received and embraced will bring us “treasure in heaven.”
When I think about my friend, I come to realize that he is not much different than the man in our story this morning. There is a sadness in my heart that my friend could not set aside the obstacles between himself and his degree . . . that he could not move beyond his fear and pride to reach his goal. That he could not sit down with that professor and ask the question of what he could do to pass those courses. It was more than he was willing to give up.
The man in our story had it all . . . spiritual goodness and wealth. At the same time there was a fear within him. Maybe it was the fear that if he sold everything that he had that he would have nothing in the end . . . even though Jesus assured him he would find great treasure in heaven. As spiritual as he was, he could not completely let go and trust God . . . trust that God would be with him no matter what. Thus, he was holding back. Jesus asked him to remove that “one thing” that separated him from fully receiving God.
I think that this story serves as a reminder for all of us to consider our own lives and whether we have fully committed ourselves to that relationship with God . . . fully trust in God . . . fully believe. Are we living our lives fully vested in God in such a way that we are loving God . . . loving others . . . as Jesus loved? Or is there an obstacle . . . that “one thing” . . . blocking us from reaching our goal?
Jesus sends the man away. Sends him away to consider what it is that Jesus is asking . . . complete trust in the mercy, grace, and love of God for him. In the same way he sends us out to contemplate our own relationship with God . . . to contemplate whether or not we are living one hundred percent in God’s camp. Fully vested to being the children of God. And, if we are not, are we willing to remove whatever obstacles stand between us and God, us and others in love?
God loves us. Jesus loved the man. One hundred percent the Holy is in our court. In return the Holy desires us to be fully vested . . . one hundred percent in its court. Let us not allow “one thing” to ever separate us from God or one another. Let us not break the heart of God. Amen.
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