As he was setting out on a journey a man asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” A great question begins this Sunday’s gospel. Fred Craddock, who teaches about preaching, once wrote, "The man asked a big question and he got a big answer; small answers to ultimate questions are insulting."

The man asked Jesus. “What must I do to inherit eternal life.?” Jesus’ big answer to that question: “Change your life and come follow me.” Not give a little away…change a few habits…but change your entire life…and come follow me. The Scripture says that Jesus looked at him in love, saw right into his soul, knew who he was, and gave him the ultimate truth in love.

And the man, the gospel tells us, was shocked. I’ve always imagined him saying, “You don’t mean my American Express Card? My I Phone? My laptop? No more texting?” He walked away, grieving for he had many possessions. Did he come back later, having changed his mind…we don’t know.

Katharine Grieb, who teaches New Testament at Virginia Theological Seminary, wrote, “today we might describe Jesus' word to the rich man as an intervention, love bold enough to step between an addict and his addiction: first things first; changing one thing changes everything.”

When I read this gospel there is an old piece of advice that comes to mind: never ask you don’t want to hear the answer to. ‘Do you really love me?’ is one of those questions, as well as ‘How do I look?’ When questions like these are asked it’s because the person asking the question already has in his or her mind…the answer they want to hear…the answer that will be acceptable to them. The answer they need to hear.

So in the gospel today when the man asked the question, ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ he may have been wanting Jesus to say, “You’re already doing it. You’re in. You have nothing to worry about. Carry on as usual.”

But as we’ve learned about Jesus, his way is to turn things upside down, catch people off guard, and challenge them to rethink their lives.

Yet another way of looking at this story is to wonder what was going on in this man’s life that caused him to ask that particular question. Was he beginning to question his life or the way he was living it? And why did he walk away really -– was it such a stumbling block to give up his possessions or was it that he would have to change his way of life?

Jesus answered his question and at the same time issued an invitation: come, follow me. Here’s a reality of that encounter: Jesus was calling him out from what was familiar and comfortable – to a new place, a new way of thinking and being.

Perhaps this situation could be the same with us. We get to certain places in our lives where we should finally feel quite comfortable, contented and at ease with our lives. Instead the ground shifts – and we feel as though we are off balance, and that even though we have accomplished much or own much – there is a deep, deep yearning for something else…something more…because we sense that we are not yet complete. I like to think that it is God in Christ, calling us out of our complacency into a deeper and more active life…to be lived in out in a community which speaks and acts in love.

If you have been feeling a little restless, incomplete, sense a deep longing in your heart for something more, a question you might ponder within yourself is ‘to where or to what in my life is Jesus calling me?’ You might even picture yourself asking that ultimate question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Be open to an answer.

Now, also in this story and hard to hear, is Jesus’ comment about the power of riches. “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God.”

Well, it’s true. Life can be complicated for someone who has a lot of money. It’s easy to equate self-worth worth with the amount of money one has, or what is owned or worn. A person may wonder if she or he is liked because of their money or because they are who they are. There are those who abuse the power that can come with money, trying to buy loyalty or self-worth, or worse, as we have seen in the past few years, just taking care of themselves in obscene and extravagant ways.

Jesus was pointing out the pitfalls of having too much money or of perhaps not using it well. Money can be an enslaving power and if you’ve seen any of these reality shows on TV about people who hoard things, which is how they chose to use their money, it is also true that our possessions can certainly possess us. I want to make it clear as you get to know me, that I do not hoard…I collect.

Here is my take on money: I like it. I want it. I am good at spending it. I owe it. I have not always managed it well and I confess, at times have squandered it.

I have never considered myself a person of wealth. But when I packed to come up here I had two garage sales and there was still too much stuff left over. I went to a party and took a huge basket of ‘stuff’ that I wrapped and asked people to help themselves. I was still giving things away on my last Sunday. Take my stuff, please. I gave away 2/3 of my library. And yet when I moved up here I have a ‘I don’t know what to do with it’ room that is filled with books, more books, a lot of assorted stuff, and even more books.

Most people in the world do not have the luxury of owning their own books. They live on less than $2.50 a day. Several people may live in a one-room house. They certainly don’t own computers, TVs plural, electronic game devices, or microwave ovens. While I can wash clothes any time I want, others just yearn for clean drinking water. By these comparisons I am extremely wealthy.

Money, I have come to believe, is that which gives us the opportunity to make choices we otherwise might not get to make. And money does not make one person better than another.

Here is a thought: with friends around the dinner table or at home with family – talk about what money means to you. What were you taught about money as you were growing up?

I grew up in a very small town in Florida where my father was one of 15 doctors. Everyone knew him. If I wanted something, I would just go in to the store and say, “Charge it to Dr. Davis.” When I was in Jr. High, I walked home one day, passed by the local hot dog stand, got a foot-long hot dog and a milkshake, and said, “Charge it to Dr. Davis.” They called daddy and they all had a good laugh. And it is a funny story, however, you can quickly see that I was not being taught a respect for the use of money…which impacted how I used or abused it over the years.

How were you taught about money. How have you used it? When has it been a blessing, and when has it caused you to stumble? If you are a parent or grandparent, what are you teaching your children about money? What in life is really helping you to get to where you are going and what is just holding you back? I imagine it will be an interesting conversation.

As a man was setting out on a journey he asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life.” We are all like that man, pilgrims on a journey. What questions do we need to be asking, discussing, mulling over, responding to in order to follow Jesus?

Let us say together the last verse of Will you come and follow me.

Lord, you summons echoes true when you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you and never be the same.
In your company I’ll go where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow in you and you in me.