What must I do to inherit eternal life?
We were talking about just this at Alpha last Thursday, among other things. What is eternal life – is it ‘pie in the sky when we die’? Does it have anything to do with TIME? Is eternity to time what infinity is to mathematics?
Eternal life is the kind of life, the quality of life, that we have when we have a relationship with the God who is the God of life. God says, ‘I am the God of the living, not of the dead – let the dead bury their dead!’
The question asked by the rich young man is mistaken on two counts, at least. Firstly, he asks, ‘What must I DO?’ When God created human beings, he created them to be in continual, open relationship with him – unbroken communion with him, in fact. That is what eternal life is all about. And there is nothing that we can, or should, do to earn it! It is a free gift from God who loves to be in relationship with us. To obey the commands that ask us to love God with all our soul, heart, mind and strength and our neighbour as ourselves is as natural as breathing. It is what we were made to do!
The second mistaken aspect of his question is his assumption that eternal life is something to be inherited, like so many commodities that are passed down in families. That eternal life is something that comes to us because of our connections with the right people – the righteous, religious people that we know – people that we must therefore be very sure that we get to know. While it is true that it is possible to tell a lot about people by who their friends are, the quality of life that we have in relationship with God is not something that can be passed on from someone else. There is a very old adage that we were remembering in our small group on Thursday, that God has no grandchildren, only children. In other words, relationship with him is not a commodity that gets passed on, but rather a relationship that is developed with each person in turn.
The young man must have thought that he had finally found the person with all the right connections, who would help him with all the right answers! What Jesus does in fact, is avoid the question altogether by asking a question of his own. The young man has addressed him as good teacher. And Jesus, asking him why he calls Jesus good, answers his own question – only God is good. Jesus then shows his awareness of the young man’s religiosity (what he thinks it means to be good) – he knows the commandments – but the commandments Jesus mentions are all the ancillary commandments – those that arise out of the two greatest commandments, which are the essence of relationship – love of God and neighbour. All of the ancillary commandments the young man has kept since he was a boy. But anyone can keep the letter of the law. The Spirit of longing for loving relationship is missing!
Jesus says, ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. Jesus’ invitation is to eternal life, because following him, being guided by him, is the only way to get to the loving father, in whose arms we find that quality of life, that fullness of life, that abundance of life that changes everything. But it means trusting Jesus! (Danny’s comment about children last week) To sell everything and give to the poor is to show that you are able to truly put your neighbour first, because you know that you are not really losing anything. In fact, the parallel account to this one in Luke 10 is the parable of the good Samaritan. There Jesus answers the same question, ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ with the parable. The Samaritan was not even a member of the Jewish family, in order to inherit all of their religious customs. But he did what was right, nevertheless. Out of the abundance of the love in his heart he generously, and probably at some risk to himself, given bandits on the road in those days, saved the man set upon by thieves.
So Jesus says – leave behind all those things that you prize because they give you a sense of identity – sell them, let go of them, give them away. Give to those who really need it to survive – and then you will be free to come and follow me! ‘You have asked me what to do to inherit eternal life, and this is the answer! Follow me – but you can’t bring anything else with you. To follow me you must be free. You must lay down your loads. You must be able to dance and sing and follow your heart to the Father, through me. I will take you there!
To be rich is a human category. It is to have many of the things that are valued by other human beings. You might have a perfect collection of the first Barbie dolls, and I suppose that would make you rich. You might own some of the most famous of paintings – some of which the original artist could hardly give away – but now you are rich. Wealth in human terms is always based on what human beings value at any particular point in history. And that can change from one day to the next. The bubble can burst. For many people, what makes them feel rich is what gives them their identity. In fact, that is probably the way God created us to be. Do you feel rich because of your relationship with the loving God who made you? Then you have real riches, based on something eternal and unchanging, an identity built on the basis of the real human being that God made to love and serve Him and others.
The young man could not let go. And he lost the eternal life that he wanted to DO something to get. To simply follow Jesus means focussing on only one thing, so as not to lose sight of Him, without turning back!
Illustration from Nicky Gumbel.
Jesus then says something that we have been reflecting on on and off for some weeks. ‘Humanly, this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.’ Whether it is an impossible pregnancy when a woman is too old, or whether it is someone who in fact only thinks they are rich entering the kingdom of God – the realm of God’s rule, in other words – where they can experience loving life with God forever – all these things are possible with God.
Think of one thing that you think is impossible, and yet you know in your heart of hearts would be God’s desire for someone you know. Pray that prayer now.
Follow me, says Jesus – I will get you to the other side! Quechua chimpamuy! Who we are with makes all the difference.