To inherit eternal life, one must follow the way of Jesus. Eternal life is not an afterlife nor is it a metaphysical one though the meaning of “eternal life” can very well be taken as something opposite to death or impermanence of life. Eternal life is also not a physical or spiritual place to enter but a way of living. Living in the presence of God here and now goes beyond spacetime (or a sense of time and space) that we are simply present with God who is our ultimate reality. Then what are the obstacles that get in our way to live or enter the kingdom of God? At a superficial level, these two obstacles in the lesson are wealth and ideology, but these two are rooted in the same issue of grasping to self rather than letting it go and letting God be.
Let’s first talk about wealth. Jesus specifically talks about what wealth does to us. It’s impossible to enter the kingdom of God, to inherit eternal life, to live the life of Jesus with wealth. Giving away wealth is not to be considered a prerequisite. The life of Jesus just doesn’t work with wealth. One may try to live like Jesus but cannot. In the case of a rich man who Jesus “loves,” he says he has kept the Ten Commandments since his youth. I think we should give him credit because there would be lots of rich people who don’t. On the other hand, for a rich person like him, keeping the commandment of not stealing or killing might not be that challenging. It’s difficult to imagine that he’ll be in a financial situation where he’s tempted to forcefully take something away from others. He’s already born into the system that he has fewer chances to deal with those who are socioeconomically disadvantaged. Suppose he has given up all his possessions, his entire world would become very different, not just in a material sense but in a spiritual and mental sense. Wealth, not God, protects him much more practically. Wealth is the keeper, not God, for his own sake. What wealth does for him weighs more than Jesus’ invitation to the kingdom of God. The second obstacle is ideology. Ideology helps create self-image. We subscribe to certain beliefs or -isms to shape and recreate who we are in society. But when it becomes dogmatic, rigid, and legalistic, there’s no openness to differences. Religious fundamentalism can be an example of doctrines turning to a strong ideological belief system. It creates its heaven and hell and its shareholders decide who belongs where. Doctrines are not understood as signposts that help us follow the way to the cross. Thinking that believing in doctrines and policing others in the name of doctrines or their version of God can grant a ticket to God’s kingdom is like collecting signposts and believing that one has arrived at a designation. Also, merely following Jesus like his disciples but not really following how he lives his life for the sake of others according to God’s will on earth is not a guarantee to God’s kingdom either. This can certainly lead us to a danger of complacency as Jesus warns his disciples, “…many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” These two poles of wealth and ideology, as mentioned previously, are rooted in the fundamental issue of self-idolatry or self-grasping temptation. What I mean by self-idolatry is not about worshipping oneself explicitly. No one does it unless one wants to appear to be narcissistic. Self-idolatry is unnoticeable and subtle in that one constructs one’s own version of the kingdom with -isms or doctrines. It comes out of existential anxiety that one wants to grab, grasp, and cling so much to something more definite and certain. Wealth is measurable. Ideology provides a mental container as well as solutions and answers to issues one faces in life. But see, this self-grasping lifestyle is never freeing. It’s fear and anxiety-driven. Jesus calls all of us to the life of freedom that is not chained by the sense of self, and this isn’t an easy way of living. Let’s not forget that he’s transparent on how hard it is. Those who follow him will receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields “with persecutions.” His commandment of love of others as ourselves is the question and answer that we live by and with to really experience what it means. These are not two separate things but when there’s no division between them and me, love is born. Our default self-grasping behavior or self-idolatry is a restraining force for us to be on the way of Jesus. So, now what do we do to get away from self-idolatry? Let’s practice gratitude. When we thank others, things, and God, we’re not stuck in ourselves. We get out of ourselves and start looking outwardly. Also, we spiritually position ourselves not as a victim but as a victor and a wounded healer who doesn’t dwell in the past of hurts and pains but hopes and loves. This is why the Eucharist which literally means “thanksgiving” is the essential practice of our Christian faith. Amen. “I Will Not Die an Unlived Life” by Dawna Markova I will not die an unlived life I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which came to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which came to me as blossom, goes on as fruit. |
Paul"...life up your love to that cloud [of unknowing]...let God draw your love up to that cloud...through the help of his grace, to forget every other thing." Archives
January 2025
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