Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Shocked by what I possess...

MARK 10:17-22
As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'" He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth." Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

O Lord,
you really do set the bar high.
The life of righteousness is not a check list:
Do not murder -- check...
Do not commit adultery -- check...
Do not steal -- check...
I've done (or not done!) all of this.

You push beyond check lists;
You challenge us where we are most in need:
Our stuff.

The one thing we lack is our stuff.
O Lord, not that we don't have stuff.
But because we HAVE STUFF,
or rather our stuff HAS us.

The one thing we lack
is the willingness to let go
of our stuff --
our clothes,
our cars,
our fine furniture,
our wealth,
our 401k's, ...

Maybe the storms of late will remind us:
stuff comes and goes
but our dependence on You remains!
Help us dig out
from under the rubble of our stuff.
Help us learn to give away.
Indeed you did say,
"It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35)

We, who have much,
have a great opportunity to be
blessed by giving.
Help us claim the blessing that comes from giving.
Amen.

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