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Daily Scripture Passage: Mark 10:17-31

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, and follow me.”

— Mark 10:21

Whether we admit it or not, what God wants for us conflicts with the ways we have formed our lives around what we love: status, wealth, and power. Our sinful tendency to uphold racial, social, economic division, and hierarchy separate us from God and each other, loving something that does not love us back.

Jesus is calling upon us to discern self and to surrender to the love of God instead. Because Christ loved the rich man he told him to sell everything and give his money to the poor; for “the last will be first and the first will be last.” It seems richness and righteousness cannot go hand in hand. In telling the rich man to sell his possessions and give them to the poor, Christ is instructing him to reject and divest from his desire to maintain power.

Are God’s children comfortable with the growing homelessness, hunger, and violence permeating God’s creation under the direction of the most wealthy and powerful in society? Are we comfortable with our direct and indirect roles in that suffering? Christ tells us that this repayment of treasure in heaven comes with persecutions. It is no wonder we are devastated, like the rich man, to learn our riches gave us false security. Are we willing to be persecuted for working to bring about the kingdom, for our divestment from evil? Like the rich man, surrendering to the love of God means having faith we will be made whole, both as individuals and as a Christian community. It means putting the poor first.

Let us spiritually and financially divest from our roles in these structures which perpetuate the suffering of the poor. Let us discern self behind those pretenses and surrender to the love of God, so that when we follow Jesus we do not do so grieving and devastated, but rather overjoyed by the promise of eternal life.