The Ties that Bind

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Matthew 19:16-22 (NRSV)

Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

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I realize I don't want to be a miser
Confide wisely you'll be the wiser
Young blood is the lovin' upriser
How come everybody wanna keep it like the kaiser?

"Give It Away," written by John Frusciante and Flea, recorded by The Red Hot Chili Peppers, from Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik


The horror of the story of the rich, young ruler is that he is torn between two lovers. He wants to be faithful to the Lord our God and he wants to keep his stuff. He wants both things so very badly that when confronted by both the wealth of the future and the wealth of the present he really doesn't make a decision.

Matthew's gospel tells us that the rich young ruler went away grieving. It doesn't say he told Jesus to buzz off, got into his big fancy car and went home to his hot tub and servants. He went away grieving. He wanted to go with the Lord, but at that moment he couldn't bring himself to leave his stuff. And scripture doesn't tell us whether or not he returned to his stuff satisfied that he made the right decision. Scripture says he grieved as he went away.

While scripture says he went away, it doesn't say the Lord left him. The Lord is steadfast.

To paraphrase the Peppers, the young man knew he didn't to be a miser. He confided wisely, but unfortunately he did not choose to be the wiser; at least not at that moment. He wanted to follow Jesus, but he couldn't pull the trigger and give it away.

But there is an open door, the rich young ruler may not have done as Jesus asked at that moment, but maybe--just maybe--later--he did.

He was drawn to the Lord, and he grieved when he faced the ties that bound him to his wealth, but I wonder if he didn't choose to do as the Lord demanded later. It is written that on that day, the rich young ruler did not have the faith to move mountains and trade current wealth for the treasure of heaven. But let us not lose faith that he did not give it away later.

Everyday we are faced with choices just like the ones the rich young ruler faced; in some of them we choose well, in others, not so much. Sure, like the rich young ruler we do the right things on the whole, but we aren't doing everything our Lord wants us to do.

Beware of the things that tie us to our current lives because these are the ties that bind us in ways that are neither to our advantage nor what God wants for our lives. Whether they be wealth or attitudes.

We can always hope the rich young man became wiser, chose better, and cut the ties that bound him. And we can always hope the same for us.