Release

“I watched Jesus laying hands on the children as the mothers brought them to him. He was so at ease, so approachable, so loving, so at peace within himself. Watching him was like watching personified shalom. He had what I had always wanted. It may seem strange to you to think that I wanted anything. History has dubbed me the “rich, young ruler.” From appearances, I had it all – youth and health, wealth and prosperity, class privilege and power. ‘God has surely blessed you!’ people proclaimed. Yet, I knew something was missing. I was religious, devout even. I lived a decent and wholesome life. I cared for the widows and the orphans, as was my duty, and even my pleasure. Yet, I knew something was missing, and I knew as I watched Jesus that he had what I was missing. So, as he drew away from the crowd, I approached him. ‘Teacher,’ I asked, ‘what good deed must I do, to have life aionios?” I use the Greek word because it has been translated eternal life. Translating that way, people tend to think I was asked about life that lasts forever, or about life after I died. Aionios doesn’t mean life that lasts forever, and I wasn’t concerned about getting into heaven when I died. Aionios means life that is Godlike, life like God has, life that has the character of God’s life. I could tell that he had it, and I wanted it. I was asking him about the life of the new age, this kingdom of heaven that he was preaching?’“

“His answer? The same thing that I have heard all my life, ‘Only One is Good. If you would enter this life, keep the commandments.’ Done. There HAS to be more. I have lived an ethical life, I have lived in right relationship with God and neighbor, I have honored my father and mother, I have loved my neighbor as myself. Done. So, what do I still lack?”

Jesus’ answer is the reason my story is told. ‘If you would be telios, go and sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.’

Telios – YES, that is what I wanted, that was what was missing. It is sometimes translated “perfect,” but Jesus didn’t mean perfect in the sense of sinless or without defect. Telios is the Greek translation of shalem, a form of the Hebrew word shalom that means complete or whole. I so desperately wanted to be complete, but I couldn’t.

I heard what he said, and I walked away. The Gospel writers will tell you I was sorrowful. I was despondent. I was so blessed, how could I ever release all that I was and all that I had? It wasn’t the money. It wasn’t the stuff. It wasn’t giving to the poor, I believed in charity. It was letting go of my blessing. People looked to me. I had responsibilities. I couldn’t just give it all away; it’s not that simple. The disciples were as shocked as I was. Jesus told them that everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands to follow his example will receive manifold and inherit the life of the kingdom of heaven. I couldn’t. I hope you can learn from my story.”

“He went away sorrowful,” Matthew tells us, “for he had great possessions.”

I have this muscle in my lower back that works really well. I have some curvature of my spine, so one side of my back is stronger than the other. And this muscle is a champ at holding me up. But if you have sat with me very long in a meeting, you will have noticed that when I stand up, it takes a second for me to get going again. It’s because when I am still, and I am not paying attention to it, this muscle does it’s job, it tenses up, but it has a hard time letting go. When it gets really knotted, I will have to lie down and focus on it. I used to go to physical therapy and get ultrasound heat therapy on it, I used to sit with a roll behind my back, I used to lay on a heating pad… but I have learned to pay attention to it when it starts to tense up. I have learned to focus my thoughts on just that one muscle, “Release, release, release…release, release, release…over and over again” And if it doesn’t release it lets me know that it is sorrowful.

As I reflected on the story of this one who meets Jesus and goes away still holding onto all he had, even though he knew he wasn’t complete and knew that the only way to BE complete was to let go, I kept coming back to my relationship with that muscle in my back. It tightens without me having to pay attention to it, but I have to work to release it. The muscle itself isn’t the problem. The tensing of the muscle isn’t the problem. The problem is its inability to let go. I have to focus on it, “Release, release, release…(breathe) release, release, release…”

Being rich is not the problem, it is the hold that being rich has on him that is the problem. Having power, is not the problem, it is the hold that having power has on him that is the problem. Release, release, release…

But it is not just the rich and powerful who grasp earthly treasures rather than responding to God’s invitation to a new way of life. Jesus names those who have left their houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands and says that they will receive manifold and inherit life in the age to come. All good things – houses and family and land – having them is not the problem, it is the hold that being blessed with a nice house, with good parents, born into a well-to-do family, blessed with children, blessed with land ownership, animals, wealth, status –

Dr. David Garland in looking closely at the young man’s grasp observes that he asked, “’What good thing shall I do?’ and insisted ‘All these things I have observed, what do I still lack.’ He assumes that entering into the kingdom of heaven is something that he can bid for and pull off on his own.” It is the prideful grip on blessing that is the problem. Release, release, release…

Self-sufficiency, independence, security, pride…release, release, release…

The more we have, the tighter we tend to grasp. Yet, Jesus calls us to let go so that we can follow him. Rev. Dr. Tom Long writes, “Some followers of Jesus leave their families and their homes to travel to distant fields of mission, and others leave their families and homes on Thursday evenings to tutor street kids. Some leave lucrative careers to become hospice workers and schoolteachers in troubled schools; others refuse to close on deals they know will hurt other people and decline to climb the corporate ladder by stepping on somebody’s back.”

Every one of us has been blessed. How tight is your grip? Every one of us has opportunities to follow Jesus that require us to release our grip on our blessings. Where is Jesus calling you to follow? Focus, and release. Hear again the invitation of the Psalmist, “O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!”