March 11, 2012

The familiar story of the “Rich Young Ruler” depicts a wealth man approaching Jesus and asking, “What must I do to find salvation?” Jesus outlined a twofold process: (1) first, keep the commandments. This echoes a theme from last week. Abraham had a “covenant” with God because he “walked blamelessly before the Lord.” After the young man professed that he has done this, Jesus gave the second condition, (2) give up everything you have and follow me. This, the young man could not do, for he was exceedingly wealthy. The teaching, as I hear it, is putting our priorities with God, and not being attached to the material world. This is echoed in the Sermon on the Mount; “Lay up for yourselves Treasures in Heaven” and “You cannot serve two masters.”

Exploring this twofold process will be the theme for Sunday. The first scripture lesson will be from Exodus 20 where we will review the very familiar “Ten Commandments.” The New Testament lesson comes from John’s gospel where Jesus tosses the moneychangers out of the temple. He quickly closes the metaphor, indicating that he is referring to the “temple” of his body. Finding “Inner Peace” is the second movement in this scheme of Spirituality.