His sake

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

HIS SAKE

Matt 19:25-30

25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who then can be saved?" 26 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."  27 Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?" 28 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.

NIV

Jesus had just stated how hard it was for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God and compared this to a camel and the eye of the needle gate. It does seem a little strange that his disciples were concerned about how hard it was for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, as they were most likely not rich. Although it is not so much about riches or wealth but more about putting more value on material things then on God. Jesus tells them that we cannot by ourselves give up placing some amount of value on things, but with the help of God, with the divine influence of the Holy Spirit upon our heart we can live in that kind of manner. Although we have much only because God has given it to us, as we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. That all sounds good, but we still struggle with having stuff. We still like the things of this world. We still want to have this or that. We enjoy good food, good clothes, a nice home, cars and toys of all sorts. Peter tells Jesus they have left everything to follow him. He then asked Jesus what will be for them. Our scholars would want us to consider that statement of Jesus as figurative. This would mean that he is not actually going to sit on a throne and the twelve will not have twelve thrones. It would also mean that all the rest are really not going to receive a hundred times as much. It is difficult to determine if his statement is literal or figurative. Yet the whole of the idea is that because we so in fact forsake this life in the world, living to please only ourselves, God will ensure that we have that which we need to live, not only here, but in the kingdom of God for all eternity. But this is the rub in some sense. We cannot follow Jesus for the results of having things. There are some who preach this type of theology. Accept Jesus because he wants us to live the good life. Accept Jesus and he will make us wealthy, he will bless us beyond our wildest dreams. Ask anything in his name and he will give it to us. Ask for a bigger house, a newer fancier car, more toys, more of everything, more money, more and more. But that is not what Jesus was talking about. Giving up this life, leaving everything behind seems a little extreme. Leaving family to follow Jesus seems really extreme. Would that mean a missionary should not take they family with them in the country they have been called to? Would that mean we have to leave a spouse that has not yet accepted Jesus? Would that mean we have to leave our field, our jobs to become a follower of Jesus? Would we have to become homeless and nomadic to follow him? That seems bizarre and thus it would be more appropriate to consider how we live a life of following Jesus while living in this world. It could be that neither of the two ways, following him for all the things he can give us, nor literally giving up everything to follow him is the correct way to look at his words. Certainly we need to live wherever Jesus has called us to live. In the world view of Christianity many believers do not live in the same manner as we in America do. Many believers live in what we would consider a third world country, not having all the material goods available as we do. Some live under oppressive governments, some under threat of death for their beliefs. But we sit in our comfortable homes, drive our cars to work, shop and church, having a closet full of clothes so we do not wear the same outfit day after day. Are we the normal? Are those others the normal? Does following Jesus mean different things in different settings? What it seems to mean is that we need not place too much, if any value on the things of this world, whatever that is. In all reality we are all going to leave everything behind at that moment we take our last breathe. So then why do we struggle to accumulate so much of it? It still comes down to following Jesus. What he does in our lives is up to him. If he blesses us with peace and contentment in knowing we will gain eternal life that should be enough. If he blesses us with the material things we need to live wherever he has placed us, then that should be enough. It is the wants, the desires, the temptations to have more and more, to look for security in the material rather than in God, that get us messed up. We cannot separate the material and the spiritual either. Jesus makes it clear that we need to put all aside for him. We cannot serve two masters. We cannot live a material life aside from our life in Christ. We cannot just add Jesus to our existing material way of living. We have to simply put Jesus first. Whatever happens as a result of that is enough. Our lives should be about his sake.