Saturday, February 28, 2009

Deeper Understanding

“How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” –Luke 18: 24-25
This, as some of you may know, Jesus says after the rich young ruler leaves Jesus sorrowfully because he can’t give up all he has for the poor and follow Him. I think I am truly beginning to understand why this is the case. For the most part, I have always seen this in connection with something else Jesus said in Luke 16:13, “No servant can serve two masters…You cannot serve both God and money.” Furthermore, I’ve understood it in connection with what Jesus taught and showed about serving the poor, being poor in spirit, etc. And the truths that I’ve previously found still hold, but I think God has shown me even more of what he was talking about.
It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God because it is hard for him to let go of himself, his riches, and what he sees as his righteousness and exchange it for Christ’s salvation, exchange it for full obedience and reliance on God, and exchange it for the real riches of the kingdom ((“he” being used for the universal of “humanity”)). The wealth becomes a barrier because we start to see it as our own kingdom. The wealth is the thing we start to turn to for strength, for power, for love, for all our provisions, our protection, and our needs and wants. We rely on our riches- our education, our medicine, our intelligence, our resources, and all we have- to make us righteous and give us a good life. Even in some circumstances we are like the rich young ruler who used his wealth in a way that kept him on a path of following/ keeping all the commandments. So while we serve money, we hold tightly to our riches, thinking we are righteous or at least heading towards righteousness. And sometimes these things look good, pure, and holy, and we don’t even realize that we have built up this false security in this kingdom of wealth. But really we just keep building a bigger wall and gap in front of the very kingdom that we think our riches have provided. We get so wrapped up in our riches that we put our hope and faith in these false gods of wealth, therefore refusing to put our faith in God and forfeiting our entrance into the kingdom.
On the other hand, when you are poor, when you have nothing, not much to your name, when all hope of a future is gone, when you are in a constant state of suffering and struggling, when you can’t afford an education, when you have to sell your body just for one fish to eat, when you have physically nothing that can change your circumstances or where you find yourself, God and his kingdom is the only hope and faith you have. You are free from the temptation and hold wealth and riches have on someone to build their own kingdom. You are free from building your own righteousness because God’s is all you have, and therefore, you obediently and whole heartedly accept and embrace Christ’s salvation, finding yourself on the straight and narrow path into the kingdom of God. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
-Matthew 5:3
For the rich, wealth and everything that comes with it, is an illusion that we believe gives power, respect, love, strength, and all things good. But when that is finally stripped away, in the poor, one finally sees and can embrace that the only one who really fulfills all this is God; prayer, the Word ((His Son)), and obediently following after Him is the only access we have.
A friend I’ve met while I’ve been here has really showed me this truth. Her name is Akorth.
Akorth lives with Ann and is the house help. She takes care of Chris and Cathis and practically keeps the house running. She cooks, cleans, and does everything in between. Basically her occupation is equivalent to what we would consider a nanny, but without the convenient appliances and living situations ((her work is hard)). She is always the first one up and normally the last one to bed. She comes from a family of 7 siblings, but two of her siblings have died. She is the second youngest with a younger sister that she helps support. Both her parents have died, leaving her a total orphan- her father when she was 10 years old and her mom just as she finished primary school ((which is equivalent to our 8th grade)). After school, she continued her education to become a dress maker. However, she has been unable to use this education due to financial burden to find a job to support her and her younger sister. This is how she ended up with Ann. Akorth is what we, the rich, would consider to be at the end of her rope. Her resources are completely exasperated. Neither her education nor limited income can change her situation. All of her time, energy, efforts, and finances go into supporting her and her sister. Her dream is to one day open a “shop” for her dress making. You may ask, “why doesn’t she save the money from her job and eventually raise enough to start something?” The answer is she can’t. There isn’t anything to save; there is nothing left. But as Akorth was telling me all of this, she finally said, “All I can do is rely on God. I know one day he will open doors. He hears me, and he will open a door some way…one day.”
Akorth has inherited the kingdom of God. There is no education to rely on to make something of herself; she can’t work harder and make her way up the business ladder. There is no such thing as a savings account to invest for the future, and there are no riches or material resources to save her from her predicament. God is all she has- her hope, her strength, her future, her entire being rests in Him. Prayer and faith are the only things she has, and WOW has she taught me how that is more than enough!!!
See what happens when we have wealth and riches, we get bogged down with the rags of this world, and we miss out on the true riches of the kingdom. Akorth is not bound by the rags, and she has real riches- righteousness is hers and she will inherit the earth.
It sounds like something we have all heard before, and yet it’s a different thing when it is actually realized in front of you. God is all we have, and until we are really willing to give up all our riches, I don’t think we will ever inherit the kingdom. And I don’t think it means we have to give away all we own to live on the streets; I don’t think it means we don’t go for an education; I don’t think it means we intentionally become unemployed; and I don’t think it means we stop going to doctors when we are sick. But I think we must ask ourselves, what riches are we clinging to, what walls have we let them build in front of us, how much are we relying on that next grade, or financial raise, or doctor visit, or popularity, or friendship, or what...It’s for you to decide. What is poor in spirit? What self-righteousness are you clinging to? And are you willing to lose the rags to find the riches? For me it’s been coming to a place of abandonment- a place completely outside of myself, outside of my schooling, outside of my resources, outside of my comfort zone, outside of my moral codes, outside of my acts of service, outside of everything that I thought was safe- in order to lose my rags. What is it for you?
Please be in prayer. Pray for Akorth. Petition for the door to be opened for her and the way be made clear. Please stand in the gap and pray.

2 comments:

  1. jenny i read this and thought its spoke to me i vling to friendship help me to not.

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  2. Dearest Jenny,
    We met tonight for covenant group and decided to read your blog before we started. We were amazed! You have such wise words and it sounds like you are having a great experience. Though we miss you, we understand your call to God. Please know we are praying for you! Thank you for your kind words. We miss you!
    Many blessings,
    Pillar

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