Gaining By Losing

𝐀𝐔𝐆. 𝟏𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝟐𝟎𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐉𝐠𝐬 𝟐:𝟏𝟏-𝟏𝟗

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟏𝟎𝟔:𝟑𝟒-𝟑𝟕, 𝟑𝟗, 𝟒𝟒 “𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐬 𝐎, 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓 𝟏𝟗:𝟏𝟔-𝟐𝟐

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏.” (𝒗.21)

The sense of security begins in childhood. Haven't you noticed children who hold onto something and wouldn't part with it? Because they find security in that. Do you still remember when you love to hold onto your favorite pillow when it thunders.

Children also feel secure in the loving arms of their parents. But as we grow up this sense of security also progresses from that little toy we wouldn't part with to something more satisfying, e.g., comforts of home, stable job or business, latest model car or SUV, jewelry, fancy clothes. We feel secure with our wealth as it gives us a sense of fulfillment of being able to acquire anything that money can buy.

We feel good with this sense of security and satisfaction, and we look towards enjoying these forever and we entertain the idea of living in eternity. The fear of getting old with lines and wrinkles appearing on your forehead sends you running to salons and spas that entices you with always-young and no-aging packages.

And we see it in the young rich man in 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟏𝟗:𝟏𝟔-𝟐𝟐 who asked Jesus what he has to do to have eternal life. If you will stay still for a moment and reflect on the response of Jesus you'll find that you'd be spending your entire lifetime trying to follow his commands not to kill, not commit adultery, not steal and, honor your father and mother. And Jesus tells the rich man and he's also telling us now to sell our possessions and give it to the poor and the rich man sadly left.

Indeed, many of us may also feel disillusioned by this last command of Jesus because this is giving up on our temporal security. But the eternal life referred to in this gospel passage is not about living forever. It is about living with an attitude of loving and sharing what we have with others.

What Jesus is actually saying is that if we can do what He did in that He loved us to the point that He gave up his life for us, this act of sacrificial generosity is what will bring us into the heart of Jesus and this fusion of our nature with the character of God is what eternal life is.

We talk of eternal life, and we think of it in terms of happiness, peace of mind, security in wealth and possessions. The eternal life used in this gospel passage is from the Greek word 𝒂𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒔 which means "𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒐𝒅'𝒔 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔." When we can do that, it makes following Jesus Christ easy.

This is what the rich man failed to understand and hopefully we will not make the same mistake because there is more to this Gospel reading than what Jesus said to the rich young man which is what he is saying to us now: “𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕, 𝒈𝒐, 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒐𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆, 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒆.” (𝒗.21)

         What Jesus said was a turn off not only for the rich young man depicted in this passage and who wouldn’t be. Because even for us now in the 21st century if Jesus were to tell this to us, I am sure that many of you will have second thoughts as it is not easy to just give up something we have worked for in our life. For many of us here and now, the purpose of education is to eke out a living not only for us but also for our family.

         We strive to have a good education as an insurance towards a flourishing career, a business perhaps and out of these will come the fruits such as a house, cars, travel, the capacity to clothe ourselves with branded clothes, jewelries and all the perks of what a good life is.

         And we are no different from the young man in this Gospel passage. He was apparently young, well-mannered and educated and seemingly well-off for he was portrayed as a rich young man. There was no doubt he was honest and above reproach because he told Jesus: “𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒑𝒕. 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝑰 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌?” (𝒗.20)         He was a man who had everything but there was something he was looking for. There was something he hungered for. Basically, this is the same with us. Don’t we often hear people say, “been there, done that.”

         And in this age of package tours and discounted travel opportunities, we see young people shuttling to and from tourist destinations whenever they get the chance. Spas are filled on weekends with young junior executives who just want to relax after the hustle and bustle of the week as competition has become so fierce that it puts pressure on these young people. But the question is “are they happy?”

         We will most certainly draw varied responses if we dare ask that question. Some will say they are happy, and some will say they are not fulfilled. And somewhere down the line, there will be some who may have accomplished what they have worked and yet will remain in search of that joy that will never end just as this young man did.

         Do not be mistaken that Jesus condemns wealth because he doesn’t and will never do nor does the Scripture condemn the accumulation of wealth but Jesus on several instances told the people to be aware of the lure of wealth (𝐌𝐤 𝟒:𝟏𝟗) and he also warned that no one can serve both God and money (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭 𝟔:𝟐𝟒).        

         So, we should view this Gospel passage as an advisory that should serve as a guide whenever we reach the point when our possessions can only bring us to a certain point. Having the means to enjoy life will give us momentary happiness but as we long for that eternal joy we will realize that even our wealth is not enough to acquire eternity and at some point in time we will also ask “𝑻𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝑰 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆?” (𝒗.16)        

        And Jesus’s response will still be the same – “𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒐𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔.” (𝒗.17). There are many rich young men today and many have also acquired sizeable assets. We see homes with imported furnishings and fixtures. As with this rich young man in the Gospel, Jesus will challenge us to detach from our possessions and make God our one true possession and treasure.

         As God Himself is the greatest treasure we can ever have, Jesus wanted the rich young man and he is telling us now to give up everything in our hearts and replace it with God who should be the only treasure in our hearts.

         Selling all that we have could mean many different things – letting go of attachments, friendships, influences, jobs, entertainments, styles of life and even the way we deal with others especially if these are opposed to Christian values – anything that might stand in the way of our loving God first and foremost in our lives and giving him the best we can with our time, resources, gifts, and service.

          His disciples were amazed because he reversed the common Jewish belief that prosperity was a symbol of a good man because God rewards good with prosperity. What Jesus meant was that men who are attached to their wealth and possession tend to fix their interests to this world as it makes them think of everything in terms of price and costs and not in terms of value.

          Jesus clearly wanted to convert the young man’s mindset as he probably wanted to use him in his ministry but when Jesus told him to give up everything he had, the rich young man “𝒘𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉.” (𝒗.22)

          In what is yet another great paradox, Jesus is telling us in this Gospel today that we can lose what we keep and we gain what we give away. Generosity will be amply repaid, both in this life and in eternity (𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐯 𝟑:𝟗-𝟏𝟎, 𝐋𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝟔:𝟑𝟖) and what Jesus is offering us in today’s Gospel is an incomparable treasure in exchange for our decision to surrender and give up all our possessions that do not have any value in God’s Kingdom.

          What should ring clear in today’s Gospel is that the man who trusts in himself and in his possessions can never be saved as it is only the man who trusts in the saving power and redeeming love of God who can enter the Kingdom of God and enjoy the eternity that comes in putting God at the center of our lives. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘈𝘶𝘨. 18, 2025)