Mothers’ Union Devotion for Sunday 10th October – Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity

’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. Mark 10. 20-22

From time to time in our lives we encounter that rare person who just seems to get us. Someone who seems to be able to see into our soul. To see beneath the mask as to what really motivate us, what are the real reasons for our actions. Look at the encounter with the man who ran up to Jesus full of enthusiasm and knelt before him. He wanted to know what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. He wanted clarification, a path to follow. A path made up of rules and regulations. Instead, Jesus looked at him, loved him and told him that his path was to give up all of his many possessions. As a result of Jesus’ words, he went away shocked and grieving.

This man was called to give up everything because of something that Jesus saw in his deeper soul. That is, his motivation for his wealth and possessions. Because when he stood before Jesus asking his seemingly well motivated question, Jesus saw something different. In his nakedness, laid bare before Jesus, he could not hide his love of all his money and possessions. He could not hide the way he approached life, how he made his choices, what was truly important to him. He could not hide his self-reliance, that it was for him and him alone to achieve his goal of eternal life.

The man wanted a clear path laid out before him. But such a path does not exist. As Jesus reminded the disciples after the man had left: God alone saves. It is not our efforts that bring about our salvation but the grace of God. We need to allow Jesus to look at us, love us and call us to let go. We need to allow Jesus to question our motives, challenge our false assumptions and show us the way to let go of our own personal obsessions. Allow Jesus to help us to cast aside the things that maintain our hardness of heart and our distance from the one who alone can lead us into eternal life.

With all my love and prayers

Revd Sandra