Pentecost 19

Pentecost 19 Proper 23 You lack one thing.

He had it all. He was young. Strong. Rich. Righteous.

Other people admired him, envied him, wanted to be like him. But, he sensed he was missing something. He was good but he feared he was not good enough. He felt an unease. He felt a lack. He felt lost.

So he came to Jesus. He just didn’t come casually or calmly. He ran. He ran with the urgency that burned in the depth of his soul. He fell at Jesus’ feet in a sign of great humility. The scripture records few similar examples of people running to Jesus and then kneeling before him.
The young man even addresses Jesus in the most reverent and defferential way. He says. " good teacher". Then, he does what so few did. He does what even Jesus’ closest disciples seldom did. He asks a question. Not just any question. He asks the ultimate question. What must I do to be saved?

At this point he is so close to the answer. So close, and yet so far. He is so close because he comes to the right person, at the right time, with the right attitude. But, he comes with the wrong question. He asks "what?". He should be asking "who?"

Now, there are no bad questions. Jesus not only welcomes all questions he invites them. And, Jesus knows that the first level of questioning comes from the confusion of the mind. There is an internal and an external source to this confusion.

In our day we call the external source of confusion information overload. Since the time of Noah there has never been a civilization in such a state of information overload as ours. Yet, even in the pre technological world of first century Judea there were dozens of conflicting claims to truth and thousands of conflicting laws, schools, teachers and religious systems.

Jesus understands all of this and he cuts to the quick of the matter when he asks the young man to move into greater clarity, to move from the question "what?’ to the question "who?’
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus asks. Only God is good. Only God is good because only God is eternally self existing steadfast holy love. People live from the place of self will, fear, and pride. People live with the illusions of dualism. The greatest of these illusions is that God is about rewards and punishment.

Jesus’ question to the young man is designed to reach past the confusion of a mind on information overload. It is a question designed to penetrate deep past the level of emotion and will. It is a question for the soul. For that place that defines who we are and gives shape to who we aspire to become.

Jesus’ question is an invitation to journey into the depths of the soul. It is there that we discover who we are. It is there that we discover the darkness of separation. And, it is there we discern the pattern by which, through which and for which we were created. That pattern is the co-eternal Word of God. That pattern is incarnate in Jesus Christ.

And, that is why the young man’s question must move from "what?" to "who?"
Salvation is not about credits and debits. It is not something we can earn. It is not a fundamental human right. Salvation is a relationship. Salvation is the total immersion of the soul in the eternal love of God in Jesus Christ.

Jesus prepares the way by reminding the young man of his right actions. You know the commandments, Jesus states. You know the standards of behavior. According to the religious experts of the day the young man was righteous through his right behavior. But, he still felt the emptiness. He still felt the fear. He still felt lost.

I suspect there is a plaintiff cry of desperation in the young man as he looks at Jesus and says: I have done all of these things since childhood. The unspoken plea is: why is this not enough? Why am I still lost? What more do I need to do?

He is looking for a law he may have missed. He is looking for a book, a ritual, a spiritual discipline. He is looking for one more thing to do to assure him he has done enough. He has come to the right person at the right time with the right attitude but with the wrong question.
Jesus knows that the more he follows this path of striving the less satisfied he will become. He needs to get off the path of striving. He needs to surrender his belief in a God of rewards and punishments. He needs a personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ. He needs the total immersion of his soul in divine love and compassion.

So, Jesus starts by answering the "what?’ question first. What must I do to be saved? The young man asks. Jesus replies, "what" you must do is sell all of your possessions and give your money to the poor," Jesus replies.

I’m not sure the young man heard the second part of Jesus’ answer. The real power is in the second part. It is there that Jesus reveals the Great Mystery of divine love. It this there that Jesus affirms the young man’s deepest longing.

Follow me," Jesus says. Follow me. Salvation is not about laws or rituals or schools or disciplines. All of those things have their place. Salvation is not in selling your possessions. The possessions are the obstacle to what you seek. For you, you cannot find what you seek until you remove the barriers to self understanding. You cannot even understand that the question of salvation is not "what?’ but"who?"

It is here that Jesus re affirms his basic message. I am not here just to tell you the truth. I am the truth. I am not here just to show you the way, I am the way. I am not here just to examine the rules that govern life, I am life.

The young man received an answer to a question he was not ready to ask. It was the answer to his deepest longing and most profound need. But, at least at this time, he could not follow Jesus into the soul to perceive the state of his soul.

The obstacle was more than the possessions. The obstacle was the young man’s desire to achieve salvation as a work that merited him reward. To give up his wealth was to give up his belief that righteousness is something I do that requires God to bless me. The obstacle was his belief that the wealth was the blessing.

The choice was to preserve the "I" in the question: "what must I do to be saved."
He had constructed that "I" with his actions and his wealth. It was that "I" that kept him from God. It was that "I" that Jesus asked him to surrender by selling his possessions. Salvation is not a reward. Salvation is a relationship. The relationship produces a new way of living, a new life, a new "I" that finds its true nature in communion with Jesus Christ.

He was so close. He identified that he had a lack. He identified the one who could help him. He made a real choice to walk away from his moment of grace. He chose to keep his belief and trust in his own actions and in his own wealth. He chose to remain lost in his own self will, fear and pride. He lacked the faith that Jesus not only had the answer for his question but was the answer.

He wasn’t the first to walk away. He won’t be the last. In the internal commentary of scripture the disciples are bewildered. After all, they, too, believed as the young man believed. They too believed in a God of rewards and punishments. They too embraced a consumer religion that would give them the things they desired. Despite their confusion, they made a choice the young man did not make. They chose to follow Jesus.

We don’t know what happened to the young man after he walked away from Jesus. We know Jesus loved him. We know the Holy Spirit continued to offer the young man opportunities to come to Jesus. We don’t know the result for him.

The real question is not what happened to the young man. The real question is have we chosen to follow Jesus? What obstacles stand in our way from receiving the gift of reunification with the Father, through the Son by the transforming presence of the Holy Spirit? What do we still lack that inhibits our joy in the new life Jesus offers us?

Jesus speaks to us today from the words of the scriptures. His message to us is an invitation to move beyond the confusion of the mind and the conflicting desires of the heart. He invites us to come to him with the questions that reside in the depth of our souls.

The portal to the soul Jesus offers us today is the place of need, the place of discontent, the place of feeling lost. You lack one thing, Jesus says. Come, and follow me.