Faith Venture

A rich young man came to Jesus. He was obviously troubled in spirit. But why? He was young and rich. What more could you want?

“How can I inherit eternal life?”

Ah, we learn right away that wealth does not bestow on us the assurance of a full life. The kind of life Jesus always talked about.

Well, you know the rules (commandments) don’t you?

“Yes, I have followed them all since my youth.”

Jesus did not reprimand him for pride, so he must have been a sincere rule follower.

We should pause here in the story.

What is eternal life? We know from the Gospel of John where Jesus says in a prayer, “And this is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” Eternal life, then, begins at the moment that we know God.

This man had wealth and he diligently lived according to the rules handed down from the time of Moses. And he did not have eternal life–or else he would not have asked.

We know from this that the way to eternal life does not lie in either wealth or in following the laws.

How many of our churches teach that very thing? Remember the “prosperity gospel” from the 80s? “If you become a Christian, you’ll become wealthy.” Vestiges of this gospel survive.

How many churches say, “If you follow all the rules such that we can see it, then we will accept you into fellowship and call you a Christian”?

Back to the story. Why did Luke add this story to his narrative? What group were Jesus’s biggest adversaries? The Pharisees. What did they teach? Follow the rules and you’ll be saved.

What was Jesus’s response to the young man?

Go and sell all your possessions, give the money to the poor, come and follow me.

The man could not do that.

Why, we may ask. It’s not the wealth (which preachers usually discuss). What is Jesus always interested in? The status of your heart. Where was this man’s heart? Tied up in his wealth.

He went away saddened. He now knew the way to eternal life and couldn’t change his heart to live it. We could hope that one day he realized the problem and changed.

Where is your heart today? Honestly, now, are we caught up in rules or is our heart in following Jesus.

“In my mind I’m going to Carolina.” — James Taylor

Actually, in my mind I was going to Amsterdam. In a rush to get things together for the trip, in my mind I wrote a week’s worth of posts. But with the six-hour time difference, I also thought I’d have time to finish up for the week.

In reality, I’m in Chicago. I thought I had time to renew my passport after returning from Europe. I was wrong–by three days or so. Wound up staying in Chicago (where we were flying from) in order to renew my passport so that we can try again later.

Then I checked my posts. Two of the four I thought I wrote are not here. I guess it was all in my mind.

It happens to us, right? We have great memories. But we were never there.

Lawyers and courts know that the worst evidence is eye-witness testimony because our memories of events is so bad.

Happens when we quote scripture and later discover that phrase was never written there.

Two lessons.

When you’re in a hurry, you overlook or forget things.

Being there in your mind isn’t the same as being there.

(Oh, we used the time to catch up with grandkids, see Hamilton (which was fantastic), visit the art institute, and have a couple of good meals.)

Standing on a mountain overlook seeing mountain peaks and tree-covered valleys. We just take it in. Without analysis.

Watching the sun descend over the ocean horizon with swaths of color painting the sky.

Some things we just take in with awe without analyzing good or bad.

I saw this quote this morning in my Plough daily email. We could with just such an attitude take in the commands of Jesus and just do them. No arguing. No rationalizing. Just doing and obeying.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Humanly speaking, we could understand and interpret the Sermon on the Mount in a thousand different ways. Jesus knows only one possibility: simple surrender and obedience, not interpreting it or applying it, but doing and obeying it. That is the only way to hear his word. He does not mean that it is to be discussed as an ideal; he really means us to get on with it.

Source: The Cost of Discipleship

“A tranquil mind gives life to the flesh, but passion makes the bones rot.”

Proverbs is more that just a huge collection of Henny Youngman one-liners. Read chapters 14-18 not so much for the punch lines but for the picture of a wise human–a role model, if you will.

Here is a person whose spirit is well grounded and runs deep. Who is not tossed from emotion to emotion, unstable, and foolish. Whose words are soft and thoughtful. Who is, in a word, tranquil.

We pick up in chapter 16, “One who is slow to anger is better than the mighty.”

Have you ever hung out with a friend whose anger is quick, hot, and ready to explode? Life can be interesting and also harrowing.

We read in chapter 18, “A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing personal opinions.”

Just when did Solomon live? Was it 3,000 years ago or this year? How did he know what would pass for conversation and social media posts in the year 2018?

Christianity has brought many, many improvements to civilization, but the heart of a human is still the same as 3,000, or even 4,000 years ago. Ancient wisdom is as modern as if written today. That is one reason why the wise study it and make it a part of them.

When I’m drivin’ in my car, and the man come on the radio

He’s tellin’ me more and more about some useless information

Supposed to fire my imagination…

I can’t get no satisfaction.

The Rolling Stones nailed it more than 50 years ago.

In my 20 years of driving to Chicago, I’ve occasionally had the misfortune of hitting a call-in radio show. It amazes me how many people are do eager to prove the old proverb in the negative, “Better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it.”

When I was a kid, I was quiet. People thought I was intelligent. Now my writings reach 10s of thousands. I, also, have proved the theory in reverse.

Solomon tells us, “Even fools who keep silent are considered wise.”

Maybe it’s time for me to be silent for a bit and let us consider our day.

Remember when there were laws at the local, state, and federal levels that specifically called out people with darker skins spelling out a list of rights they did not have?

I am old enough to remember the same attitudes toward Jewish people.

Heck, mom had some small degree of prejudice against Lutherans and Catholics. But that’s another story.

I remember the first Jewish people and black people I ever met. And talked with. And became friends with.

It was at the university. They were just people. Like me. Trying to get through school, get a degree, and make the families proud.

But institutional things had to change.

Martin Luther King, Jr. became the leader of the leaders. The preacher of the movement. The teacher of non-violence.

And change did happen. Laws have been changed.

This past year’s conversations show that the world still has far to go in terms of attitudes.

Most likely I identify with the Christian church in the US because of the witness of the civil rights movement.

Education and travel are keys to changing attitudes.

And so are teachers in the mold of Dr. King who hold the ideals in front of us.

I think Hunter is here.

No, not a dog. Or a guy. A “storm”.

In order for The Weather Channel to raise hype about potential weather, executives felt the need to name winter storms such as has been done for years for hurricanes.

So, Hunter is the next one. Get us feeling like it’s the next “Blizzard of ’78” so that we will stay glued to the TV and app. Oh by the way, ratings go up, advertisers are happy and sign up for more spots.

Accuweather has been hyping 8 inches of snow for several days while other services have suggested 1-3 inches. Where I live, three inches of snow means shovel it off the drive and walks and go to work. Eight inches will slow travel for a day. We dig that out and go on.

But I did gas up the snowblower for the first time in a couple of years and start it so that it’s ready to go tonight or tomorrow.

Feelings of insecurity?

Reading in Proverbs in my “chair time” this morning, I was struck by how often the security of the wise is contrasted with the insecurity of the fool or wicked. The writers don’t always use those terms, but it’s buried in the meaning.

Today I was reading about how the wise and righteous grow roots and therefore are not blown away by the wind.

I was thinking about all the times I’ve written on leadership and how an insecure leader is one of the worst to follow.

Insecurity in our personality is one of the worst emotions. When we have no rock of faith. We lash out in anger.

I had to delay writing this post today. There was a “badge” on the icon of the Settings app. iOS needed to be updated. For security reasons. We have insecurity everywhere around us. I hope not within.