Let it go...

There was once a little boy who had got his hand stuck in a jar. He started to call his Mum for help. When she came to help him, the little boy asked, ‘Mum -would it be easier if I unclenched my first and let go of the money that I am holding on to ?’

I think that it must have felt a bit like that for the man in our gospel reading this morning. The man we know as the rich young ruler. This is quite strange as he is never actually called the rich young ruler. In the gospel of Matthew we are told that the man was young, in Luke we are told that he was a ruler but we are never told all at once that he was a rich young ruler. Anyway, that is not the most important bit of the reading we have heard.

This man went to Jesus and in many ways he might have seemed like the perfect candidate to follow Jesus. Firstly, he came to Jesus recognising who He was. Secondly, when Jesus challenged the man on the commandments he showed that he had stuck to the commandments and been faithful to God all his life. Perfect you would think, but Jesus knew that something was holding this man back. That something was his riches. 

The comment made by Jesus in this passage is not about riches being wrong, it is not about selling everything so that you can buy your way into salvation it is about priorities, it is about freedom and a radical transformation. The man would never be able to give up everything and follow Jesus. He was stuck like the little boy with the jar.

The rich young ruler wasn’t being told to sell everything, he was being told that he needed to change his life. That Jesus needed to come first. It is the same for us, we aren’t being told to sell our possessions but we are being told to think about the priorities in our lives. What comes first? Is there something that you are holding onto that stops you from trusting God completely?

The young man needed to not just believe the right things, he needed to show his beliefs. St. Francis of Assisi was completely changed after a sermon he heard on this command of Jesus. He was a rich young man, he was challenged by a sermon on this command to change his life and to re-prioritise. I am not suggesting that this sermon will do that for you – but I hope that as we all hear those words of Jesus to the man to give up everything and put Him first we will want to transform our lives, to be free of all that hold us back. 

The gospel reading reminds us of the need to let go. The incident scared the disciples, they were concerned as to whether they were doing enough for God. You can almost sense the pleas – Jesus we have done all this for you and you want more? Jesus responded by explaining that they would be rewarded for all that they had done. This reward was to know God.

Jesus wasn’t saying that we have to cut ourselves off from people but once again He was saying to the disciples the same he said to the man and the same He says to us we have to let go of all that stops us from putting Jesus first.

The film Frozen captured the imagination of many and there is one part of the film where one character Elsa sings a song called, ‘Let it go’. I am not going to sing the song but the title is good for us. Jesus called the young man to let go or like the little boy to unclench His fist, He called the disciples to leave anything that stopped them from getting closer to Him. Jesus calls us to do the same – To let it go. 

What type of things do we hold on to ?

Maybe we hold onto certain viewpoints of other people. The people we might have a grudge against. People who have hurt us or, someone we love. We may be holding onto the pain of an event that was so bad we can’t move forward. 

Maybe we are holding onto tradition – afraid to try something new. As we move into ministry areas I know that people will be a little unsure. Change is difficult for us all but we need to let some things go in order to move on. It can hurt but the joy afterwards for outweighs the pain now. I expect that there were people who didn’t want to let go of the use of candles instead of electric lights or heating – can you imagine life without those things now ?

Maybe we are holding onto a desire to look after ourselves before helping others, after all we are told to always prepare for a rainy day. That’s why whenever there is the slightest mention of snow supermarkets sell out of bread in record time.

Maybe we are holding onto something that someone said to us once in Church which has made us not like that person very much. Maybe someone is so different to us we don’t know what to say to them so we avoid them.

God asks us to give our everything to Him, this means that He asks us to put Him first. When we let go of anything that is stopping us turning to God completely then something radical and transforming can happen. 

We can hold onto so many things and that is not a problem in itself but when it stops us turning to God then it is. 

Jesus tested the young man by checking that he was living by two simple commands. They were – love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind, and love your neighbour as yourself. Basic, but radical life changing words – love means to offer to a person everything we have, not for the person to take those things away from us, but for that person to show us how we can best use them.

The young man needed to let go, we may need to let go so that we can truly love God with all we are and to love others the same. The way that we show our love to God is almost certainly by us turning everything over to Him. We can trust God, and we just need to let it go and let God take control. 
May we be willing to turn everything over to him trusting that in him we will be radically transformed to enjoy the everlasting peace which he offers us.AMEN