When Jesus heard his answer, he said, “There is still one thing you haven’t done. Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Luke 18:22.
Ever taken someone with you on a trip of some sort–maybe camping or hiking in the mountains or going to a foreign country? Only to find out that they are miserable on what you thought was going to be an extraordinary adventure. Sometimes people are not cut out for the things you love.
Reminds me of the person that said to Jesus, “I’ll follow you anywhere.” Jesus warned the would-be traveler that “foxes have dens and birds have nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” I can almost hear Jesus saying, “Still on board with your offer?”
Jesus’ warning, both to the rich man and the would-be follower, is even more pertinent as he walks toward Jerusalem and the last day of his life. “Take up your cross…” was the expectation Jesus laid on his followers then and now. It’s the thing that the rich man did not understand. He wanted to take up his U-Haul and follow Jesus, not sell all he had.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all contain accounts of Jesus’ instructions to his disciples on their first mission. Jesus instructed them, “Don’t take any money in your money belts…. Don’t carry a traveler’s bag with a change of clothes, or even a walking stick.” In other words, “Travel light.”
I think he’d tell us the same thing today because it is what he basically told a rich young man and a wannabe disciple. “Travel light.” We are told the rich man turned Jesus down because he was very rich and could not escape the bindings of wealth. I think it is a difficult decision for anyone in the first world – privileged, wealthy, free.
Who would ever give away everything. “You’d have to be crazy,” we say.
Prayer: Lord, we want to follow you. Well, at least we think we do. But how difficult to take up a cross, sell all we have, and take nothing with you that slows you down and hold you up. Please help us to take more seriously your call to join you on the way to a cross. Amen.