encountering Jesus with our longing

i was on a flight to JHB this morning, to be a supporter for one of the men being ordained this afternoon. as usual, i miss being at home. as we were flying, I wrote a few thoughts in my journal which i share with you...

to the rich young man (matthew 19; luke 18) jesus says:

• go, sell your possessions
• give them to the poor
• then come and follow me

the question that has stayed with me all week, regarding this passage of scripture is:
how can this be good news?

Now, someone who doesn't think much of Jesus can easily dismiss this advice to the young man. But I regard Jesus as the supreme teacher, the one who will lead me into fullness of life. Jesus embodies the good news of God - so either this is Jesus getting it wrong, or I need to search deeply till I grasp how this can be good news - for the young man, and for me!

Will you wrestle with this passage till the good news is found (like the pearl of great price - or the lost coin that the woman searched for till she found it...)?

A few observations:
the rich young man asks "what must I do to get into heaven?" - meaning what's the minimum requirement. Jesus doesn't focus on minimum requirement - the Jesus way is the way of Abundance. Jesus asks him (and us) "how much do you think you can let go of?" Not minimum requirements, but maximum surrender?

Which begs a further question... how much do we trust Jesus and his teaching? I would think that if I trusted Jesus, I would do as he said.

We long for security. Money and Possessions and Control and Influence come and try to convince us that they will give us the security we long for. But they lie. In that sense they are the new idols - other gods. They try to be, but cannot be an ultimate security because none of them have overcome death. So, even if they give us a measure of security in this life - death will come and undermine them! Speak to people who are close to death - they are either struggling to come to terms with losing their grasp - or they are peaceful because they know a greater security.

Jesus is offering the young man a new security, a new community of sharing and a new way of life, free of fear of losing. Jesus offers the valuable things that money can't buy. And when we trust him enough, we'll being the amazing journey away from Control and Power and Possessions (the path of Holding On) and into Surrender and Trust (the path of Letting Go).

May we have the shared confidence to hear and see and trust the Good News! and find REAL SECURITY...