Saturday, October 13, 2018

Last Will Be First


For Sunday, October 14, 2018
As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him,
 ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Why do
 you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments:
 “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You 
shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.” ’ 
He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ Jesus, looking at 
him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the
 money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ 
When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many 
possessions.
 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for 
those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were
 perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard 
it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye 
of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were
 greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus 
looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God 
all things are possible.’
 Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ 
Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or 
sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake 
of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses,
 brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and 
in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last 
will be first.’ 

The line leader was always the teacher's favorite when I was young. The one who 
was regularly chosen was more organized, cleaner and more put together than the 
rest of us. The rest of us were relegated to the end of the line. We always worried
 that time would run out or play or the food would run out for us at snack time. 
We humans always jockey for the best place in line, we hate waiting in line to 
check out at the grocery, and we always want to be on the winning side. Truth 
be told, most of us are the also ran, the un-winners, the un-great and the not 
well to do. 

Jesus encounters the rich young man who has every privilege and done 
everything right. His privilege has stood in the way of his compassion and caring.
 He has lived by the rules, yet he cannot let go of his comforts and so therefore
 cannot live for others. Many who live at the "front of the line" have no idea what 
it is like to be left out, discriminated against, left aside and had nothing to live on. 
We are invited by God to turn around if we near the front and live for the others 
who are behind us. We will know the love of God as we give ourselves away.

Today I ask God to help me be generous in all things, living not for fame 
and gain, but for the love of others May we all turn and find joy as we share
 our abundance with those we have ignored and never noticed.

Collect - Proper 23

Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may 
continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives 
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.


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