Matthew 19:16-26
We are all attached to many things in this life – we are attached to people (parents, siblings, spouse, children, friends, partners, co-workers…); we are attached to things (house, property, car, heirlooms, collectibles, tools, toys, foods, drinks, valuables…); we are attached to activities (work, hobbies, pastimes, games, sports, internet, screens…); we are attached to ideals (reputations, lifestyles, careers, interests, opinions…). This list could go on and on. However, the spiritual life is about detaching ourselves from the things of a secular nature, which are worldly, and passes away; and instead attaching ourselves to the Kingdom of Heaven which is eternal.
As we all know, this is a difficult thing to do, and in today’s Gospel, we have an example of just how difficult it is. A young man comes to Jesus and asks what he must do to be saved. After pointing out the necessity of keeping the commandments, Jesus then says to the young man, “Go, sell all that you have, give it to the poor and come and follow Me.” The young man, went away greatly sorrowful, for he was quite rich. Jesus, seeing this, said to the apostles, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.”
This wealthy young man was attached to his wealth, and when he was confronted with the requirement to break that attachment, he was greatly saddened, for while he desired seriously to be saved, to enter the Kingdom of God, as evidenced by his strict keeping of the commandments (for he told Jesus that he had kept all of them from his youth up), still he wanted also to be able to hold onto those things, which he was attached to in this world as well. Anything to which we are attached to, in this world, becomes for us, our “master,” that dictates what we do and how we do it. Jesus told us, “No man can serve two masters…you cannot serve God and mammon (like worldly wealth)”. When we embrace Christ, we have to let go of everything – we cannot hold onto Him and onto the world at the same time.
The ancient desert ascetic fathers, took this necessity quite literally – they sold all that they had, gave it to the poor and then withdrew into the desert where there were no distractions, and began to live lives exclusively devoted to prayer and Christ. However, not everyone (and indeed very few in these latter times) is called to such a severe and extreme life. How then do we put this one-sided love and devotion to Jesus Christ into action in our lives? How do we let go of the world; how do we “sell all that (we) have … and follow (Christ)?” At this point, we need to look at our lives, at how we live, and what determines that; another words, we need to reassess our priorities. We have to reorder our lives so that everything in them works toward the same goal — toward the Kingdom of God.
St Ephraim the Syrian gives us an example of this kind of focus on the Kingdom of God. “If a person takes a sack of money in hand and goes to the cattle market to buy oxen, will he diligently attend to the swine? If again, he wishes to purchase donkeys, will he go looking for dogs? All of his attention will be focused on that which he wishes to purchase, and that alone will he examine with care, so that he be not cheated and so that he not carelessly lose the money which he has in hand. So then, when we go to the holy Church and stand before God, let us raise all of our thoughts to Him and let us attend only to those things which refer to Him, thinking only on these, so that we might gain thereby our salvation and enjoy the good things of Heaven.“
This then gives us something that we can follow. Let us take all that we have in this life, our “bag of money”, and use it all, for the purpose of purchasing that which we desire – that is, the Kingdom of God. First, we must let go of the idea of our “ownership” of any of those things to which we have been attached and remember that they do not belong to us, but to God – He only “loans” us all the things that we have in this life, so that we can use them for the working out of our salvation.
This is how we “sell all that we have” – by transferring ownership from ourselves to God. Now, it is up to us to use all of His property for the purpose that He has ordained for it. Good Stewardship!
We must “give it to the poor”. Sometimes this will be a literal “giving” where we give to someone who is in need. Jesus said, we should give to him who asks of us, without any qualification about whether or not that person is deserving. Saint Gregory the Dialogist tells of an abbot who had gathered in the harvest of grain, for the monastery. He unexpectedly went to inspect the threshing floor and happened upon three thieves who were preparing to steal some of the grain. The abbot, instead of crying out and apprehending the thieves or at least chasing them away, undertook to help them fill their sacks with grain and sent them on their way. He did not ask if they were hungry or if they were in need; he didn’t try to “teach them a lesson” or give them some kind of sermon about morality and mercy – he simply gave to them that which God had given to him.
It is this kind of approach that lies before us – all that we have is given to us by God, it all belongs to Him, so let us give freely out of what has been given to us.
Secondly, sometimes this “giving to the poor” is not quite so literal. Sometimes what this means is that we must retain what we have been given, without being attached to it. We must use it for Christ’s sake.
Have you been given wealth? Then use it for the welfare of the Church (by this I mean not only the building that we call the Church, but more importantly the people of the Church, the Body of Christ.) Have you been given knowledge? Then use it for the uplifting of the Church. Have you been given a skill? Use it for the care of the Church.
Everything that you do from this point on, must be centered on the Church, remember, His Body. Just as we consider everything we have, as belonging to Christ, so also we must consider that everything we do must be done for His glory.
St Nikolai of Ochrid, concerning this Gospel says, “Wealth is not evil in itself, as nothing that God has created is evil in itself, but men’s bondage to riches, lands and possessions is evil: and the destructive passions that riches empower and invoke … are evil.” So if these things are not evil in themselves, why must we “sell all” and “give” it all away? Why can’t we just keep everything and our way of life and use our position as a “wealthy man” to do good, or our position of power and influence in society, to benefit people. Why can’t we just stay where we are and enjoy the “comforts of home” instead of having to let go of all these things?
St Nikolai continues, “Few there are who have the strength to resist the temptation of riches and to be in control of their wealth rather than becoming its servant and slave.” We are indeed weak and like the fathers of the desert, because of our weakness, we must flee temptation.
The Optina Elder, St Anthony, recognizing this says to us, “Of course, it would be easier to get to paradise with a full stomach, all snuggled up in a soft feather-bed, but what is required, is to carry one’s cross along the way. For the Kingdom of God is not attained by enduring (only) one or two troubles, but many.” Our own natural desire is to have a “full stomach” and be “snuggled up in a soft feather-bed” but our Lord called us to “deny yourself, to “take up your cross” and follow Him.
It is necessary first and foremost to detach ourselves from everything of this world. Only having done this, will we be able to follow Christ for He leads us out of this world and into the Kingdom of Heaven. Let us therefore, leave this world behind and follow Him that we might “gain thereby our salvation and enjoy the good things of Heaven. “
Remember Christ is still King and we are still His!
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