October 26 2025 Pentecost 20

Joel 2.23-32     Psalm 65     2 Timothy 4.6-8, 16-18     Luke 18.15-30

All three of the Synoptic gospels put these two passages together – Jesus welcoming of the children and him speaking with the young ruler.  And both stories outline the conditions for entering the kingdom, the first with the lowliness and trust of a small child, the second is through self-renunciation.

Jesus tells us that all are welcome in the kingdom of God, and that we should approach that welcome, that entry, with the simplicity and absolute trust that is evident in small children and their caregivers.  They trust that their parents, their caregivers, have their best interests at heart, that all they need or require for life will be made available for them by these caregivers.  God, has our best interests at heart.  God will provide for us all we need and require for life, and Jesus tells us we need to accept that gift, all that God provides for us, with the simplicity and trust of a small child. 

It is hard for us in our modern society to understand the disciples’ actions in trying to stop the children being brought to Jesus.  These children were toddlers and babies, they were not running around the area and happen to bump into Jesus, they were infants and small children who were being brought to Jesus so that he may bless them.  And it is this familiarity, this intrusion into personal space, that the disciples are trying to protect.  And Jesus does not rebuke them for their actions, he simply calls the children forward.  And he takes them in his arms, he values them as ‘children of God’, he blesses them, and he tells the crowd that unless they accept God with the trust or simplicity of a child, they will not be able to enter the kingdom of God.

I wonder, does the ruler, does this rich man, ask his question because of what Jesus has just said about how to enter the kingdom?  Or was he always going to ask the question.  In the time of Jesus, being rich, being successful, was interpreted as evidence of God blessing you.  If you were poor you were like that because God is punishing you, but if you were rich, God was blessing you.  But despite this, this man appears to be searching for something that he feels is missing in his life.  He is blessed, he is successful, but he appears to have a ‘void’ or an emptiness in his life and he is asking Jesus what ‘more’ he needs to do.  And when Jesus gives him commandments 5-10, he is ‘yep’, ‘tick’, ‘done them since I was a little tacker’.  And it is then that Jesus gives him those very difficult instructions – sell everything and give the money to the poor – then you will have treasure in heaven and you can follow me.  And that was one step too far.  This man is happy to keep all the commandments, he is happy living a good and blessed life, but to get rid of it all is something he can’t imagine.  And that is because these possessions tell him who he is, this social status he has in the community gives him a ‘place’ to be, it tells him where he ‘fits’ in the scheme of things.  Without those things – he would be a ’nobody’.

And this prompts me to ask, what are the things that I cannot ‘let go of’, what is it that ‘ties’ me to this earthly life that is also stopping me from following where God is calling me.  Jesus is not asking this man to get rid of everything and live like a hobo, he is telling him to let go of those things that are tying him to an earthly life and preventing him from living a heavenly one.

Eternal life, the thing this man is asking about, is all around us.  We are living our eternal lives every day, and God is asking us to make room in that life for God.  Modern society is very ‘things’ focused, we live with and for our possessions, they make our lives comfortable, they make our lives easy.  But they can also make our lives God-less, because we can become so ‘things’ focused, so ‘earthly possessions’ focused that we no longer have space for God.  The reason Jesus says it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God is because most rich people value their possessions more than anything else.  Their possessions become the ‘be all and end all’ of their existence and that means there is no room for God.

Eternal life cannot be ‘bought’, it is a free gift given by God, but the catch is, you need to approach it with the trust or simplicity of a child.  Notice, Jesus tells the man that if he can give everything away, he will have ‘treasure in heaven’, and then he can ‘follow me’.  Following God, following Jesus, can only be done when we have broken ropes tying us to our earthly life.  The question this passage asks me is, in what do I trust.  Do I trust my possessions, do I trust my position in the community, or can I trust that God will provide everything I need to give me life.  Do I value material wealth more than spiritual growth.  Can I ‘let go’ of those things, those habits, those activities, that hinder me from fully following God. 

The response from the crowd who also heard Jesus’ statement to the ruler, and also saw his response is interesting.  They saw the ruler turn away, dejected, confused, and they heard Jesus’ words about the difficulty for those with wealth to enter the kingdom of God.  And they rightly ask – then how do we do it, if the rich cannot do it, if those who society says are ‘blessed by God’ cannot do it, then who can.  And Jesus’ response – what is impossible for humans is possible for God.  We cannot ‘buy’ our way to eternal life, we cannot achieve it on our own.  But eternal life is ours, we just have make God our priority for all we do in this earthly journey.  Eternal life is ours now, it is ours every day, we just have to make God our focus, not the trappings of a material world.