In the Gospel reading from Mark 10, we see Jesus having an encounter with a young man who has many possessions. We have come to know him as the Rich Young Man. He tells Jesus that he observes the commandments, and wants to know what else he needs to do to gain eternal life. And Jesus drops the big bomb on him. “Sell what you have and give to the poor…then come, follow me.” Not what the Rich Young Man wanted to hear.
How do those words make you feel? Quite honestly, they scare me. I’m perfectly comfortable in my current situation. But I think that Jesus’ message to us is not so much about selling all that we have, but being WILLING to sell all that we have. To detach from material possessions. There is a danger in attachment. We should not be attached to anything - or anyone - more than we are to Christ. And if these things are taken from us, we should not wail and mourn. This idea ran counter to the Rich Young Man’s sensibilities, and it runs counter to everything the world tries to instill in us.
Father, help us to be willing to relinquish our attachments to material things. Give us the desire to sell all that we have, that we may follow Jesus wherever He leads. Amen.
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