HOMILY FOR THE 28TH SUNDAY IN THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR B
Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi
The Gospel has a lot to teach us about discipleship and the way to follow Christ. It tells the story of a rich young man who enthusiastically wanted to follow Jesus, but walked away in sadness when he was presented with its demands. Having tried his best to be a good man, Jesus gave him the ultimate call of the very one thing remaining: Go, sell what you own, give it to the poor, and you will have treasures in heaven; then come follow me. This one-thing sentence represents the hand of God that calls and directs us, and in it are five models which represent the five fingers of the hand.
1. Go (the movement)
The young rich man was told by Jesus to go. And in this we see the first finger of the hand of God that calls and directs us. This finger represents this word of command: go. Before we can follow the Lord closely, we have to firstly go. This movement is one that does not end in a mere leaving the Lord’s presence; it is the movement of mission. We are sent. It is in the movement that we draw closer to perfect discipleship. That movement signifies the initial acceptance and response of the call of God. And indeed, the formula of Divine call and mission is made vivid in this same word. The follower of Jesus is always on the move to draw closer to the most admirable point of his/her service.
The Old Testament’s God’s calling and institution of his reign on earth clarifies this. The first is the initial call of the Patriachs. Abraham, the father of faith was instructed to ‘go from your country and your kindred’ (Gen. 12:1). Moses in his call was also instructed to go and assemble the elders of Israel (Exodus 3:16). The second is seen in the initial call of the High Priest, Aaron. The first instruction when he was called was to ‘go into the wilderness to meet Moses’ (Exodus 4:27). The third is in the call of the Prophets. Isaiah was called to ‘go and say to the people’ (Is. 6:9). Jeremiah was called to ‘go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem’ (Jer. 2:1). Ezekiel was called to ‘go to the house of Israel’ (Ezek. 3:4). In preparation of the enormous task ahead of leading the people and being vessels of God, these men were required to move. The movement may not be a palatable one, but it is a very necessary step in becoming divine vessels. We need to reconsider asking ourselves the movement associated with our calling.
2. Sell what you own (duty)
The young rich man was told to go and sell what he owned. What a terrible condition!!! We can imagine how vulnerable we can be when we decide to have nothing that we can really call ours. This man had seen the importance of his riches and how his riches contributed to his earthly happiness. But he had not known that those riches could be made to become tickets for another kind of happiness that endures for ever. This is when riches are used to add value to the lives of others. In his scale of preference, his earthly riches mattered more. He become the direct opposite of the wise writer of the First Reading (Wisdom 7:7-11) who extolled wisdom and understanding over riches (gold silver, health beauty). Christ was showing this young man what it really means to be a wise follower but he could be thinking that selling everything would show him foolish. Only the wise choose wisdom as the highest in their scale of preference. It is our duty to do this. It is our decisions to make. However, we still have got a responsibility.
3. Give it to the poor (responsibility)
Here comes the responsibility attached to the duty. The young man was told to give the proceeds of what he would sell off to the poor. It was not for himself. It was for the poor. His conversion has to benefit others. His conversion has to put some smiles on the faces of some others. His conversion has to enrich others. Are these too not what our conversion and discipleship should achieve for others? It is our responsibility to allow the poor around us feel our discipleship. Sell your possessions and give alms (Luke 12:33). The life of the early Christian community is a clear example of how the Christian life can make the rich and the poor be happy together, selling individual possessions and sharing them in common with no consideration of who donates better than the other (Acts 4:34.35).
Like the young man, we too dream of a better and a more authentic Christian life. We rush to Jesus daily to follow him. We desire to be sent. We dream of a nice way of following Him, but are we prepared to act? Are we prepared to let go of our possessions to enrich the people around. Are we prepared to use our treasures, time and talents for the worshipping community? Yes, are we prepared to go, sell what we own, give it to the poor, as an insurance for heavenly treasure, and continue to follow Jesus? Doing these things may surely be discomforting, but from that earthly discomfort comes the heavenly comfort. We shall be rewarded.
4. The treasure in heaven (compensation)
We all expect to have our pension after our work/retirement. Well, for God, the case is not so different. There is hope of compensation and reward. The possessions that are given out are not wasted. They are banked for use as our insurance. Yes, I loose yet I gain. This is the paradox of following Christ. This young man does not most probably understand what it means to have treasure in heaven. What a hold possessions can have on the human heart. How easily they become our gold; how they can take over our lives, absorbing our time, energy and attention, so that we become enslaved to them. The young man went away sad because he had not want to convert the earthly treasures which he saw into heavenly treasures which as he might have thought, he had not seen. Treasures are best stored up in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal (cf. Matt. 6:20).
5. Come, follow me (total care)
The best assurance is that having done all these, we become the associates of Jesus. In this association, there would be no more distraction, no house to sell, no land to sell, no car to sell, for having sold anything and given them to the poor, we become poor ourselves and are left to the total care of Jesus. Jesus becomes our owner and everything. It is in this state that we truly become poor in the spirit. Nothing counts again if not Jesus whom we follow.
The young man who had come with the initial tone of flattery turned away sad-faced from the way of Jesus. Jesus then released the very ground breaking truth to the disciples: how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Riches that were thought to be signs of blessing have now become signs of hindrance. Little wonder then the apostles quickly asked Jesus: who then can be saved? And Jesus made them aware that salvation is far beyond human effort. Salvation is the prerogative of God. It is a gift, and only those who can gladly accept the gift of God more than the gift of the matter can be saved. We are left to answer the question: are we willing to offer up material riches so as to grow ready to embrace and accept the gift of God? O Lord, make us know the shortness of our life that we may gain wisdom of heart. Happy new week. God bless you.
Good one, Father
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