This World Or The Next?

And behold, one came up to him, saying, “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? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which?” And Jesus said, “You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have observed; what do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions.

Matthew 19:16-22

Are you willing to do the right thing, no matter how hard it is, no matter the cost?

That is not an idle question. It scarcely needs be said that doing the right thing frequently costs us material wealth and material comfort.

Doing the right thing has cost some people their lives.

It is an easy thing to say that doing the right thing is hard. It is an easy thing to say that we should not expect to be rewarded in this life for doing the right thing.

It is not an easy thing to put that idea into practice. Sacrifice often seems unnatural to us. Rationalizations abound as to why we should not forego comfort and ease for the sake of a principle.

How many reasons do you have for not giving money to a homeless person panhandling on the street?

How many reasons do you have for not intervening when you witness abusive behavior, or a crime being committed?

How many reasons do you have for not running towards danger?

To be sure, I do not know if you do these things or not. Certainly some people do these things at least some of the time. I do them some of the time.

I do not do them all the time. I doubt anyone does them all the time.

Should we do such things all the time? One could argue with conviction that we should.

We know we are called to have compassion for the poor. We know we are called to protect the weak. We know we are called to come to the aid of those who are in need.

Are we wrong when we do not do these things?

If we begin with a premise that we are called to help all who are in need, when we do not offer the help we cannot say we are answering the call.

Yet we are also called to take care of ourselves. We are called to present ourselves as a living sacrifice to God. We are called to be holy, for God is holy.

Without any doubt, we ourselves always number among those we are called to help.

Self care is a moral duty we owe both to ourselves and to God.

Where should we draw the line? When should we move from self care to self sacrifice?

I honestly do not know, not even for myself.

If I am being honest, I am quite likely to respond to Jesus’ counsel the same way the rich young man did—by refusing.

Will I be denied entry into God's Kingdom as a result? If God judges me to be one of the goats and not the sheep, that is exactly what will happen. Jesus tells us that will happen.

Will God judge me to be one of the goats and not the sheep? I honestly do not know.

Does it count if we at least strive to do these things? Will God still receive us kindly if we at least strive to follow His Law and answer His calling?

Proverbs teaches us that God does look at our intentions in addition to our actions. If we cultivate caring and compassion for others, that does count for something. Striving to show mercy and even basic respect matters, even if we do not always succeed, and especially if we make mistakes.

Priorities matter. Jesus quite clearly teaches us to put God and God’s Law above all else. If we will do this, we are assured that God will take care of the rest.

Jesus also warns us to be mindful about what we make important in our lives. If material wealth and prosperity are more important to us than following God’s Law and fulfilling God’s Will, such priorities will impact our choices and lead us down a path away from God.

We should not be deceived. We cannot merely pay lip service to the ideals within God’s Law, nor can we simply say “I tried”. Merely mouthing the words or saying what we think God wants to hear is rank hypocrisy—and we can be sure God will know when we are being hypocritical.

We are imperfect, we are going to make mistakes—we are going to sin—and so God in His Mercy does take into account that we at least strive to do the right thing. However, we must actually strive to do the right thing. Our effort has to be real and substantive, not simply performative. We have to approach our actions with the right heart and the right frame of mind. We have to do what is right not because we desire a reward, but simply because it is what is right.

We have to approach doing the right thing not with anger in our hearts, but with love—love of God as well as love for our fellow man. Not for nothing did Jesus admonish His followers to be reconciled with whomever they had even the smallest of disputes. Not for nothing did Jesus counsel His followers to leave their sacrificial gifts at the altar, and go first be reconciled to all who might have had reason to be angry with them.

We cannot rationalize away anger when it has filled our hearts. We cannot justify not feeling compassion for those around us needing a helping hand. We will have to answer for when we allow our hearts to harden even if we still go through the motions of doing what is right.

It might very well be that the rich young man speaking to Jesus understood this at least on some level. If he was being honest about himself, he was, by all normal human measures, a “good man”. Yet he still realized that something was still missing. All of his presumed “goodness” was not enough, and was not going to be enough. He knew he needed something more, and he plainly sought Jesus counsel about that “something more.”

Jesus responded by setting a high bar for moral excellence, and then inviting the rich young man to become one of His disciples. The rich young man declined the invitation.

He was not prepared to surrender his cherished creature comforts for the sake of doing that which was right and righteous. He was not willing to part with his material wealth, not even for the promise of spiritual wealth in the hereafter.

When presented with the choice between the pleasures of this world and the joys of the next, the rich young man chose the pleasures of this world.

We are always being presented with that same choice: pleasure now or joy later. We are always having to decide between this life and the life to come. Whether the moment is small, such as giving money to the homeless, or large, such as running towards danger simply because people are in danger, we are called to make a choice.

Which world shall we choose? Shall we choose this world or the next?

My prayer on every day is that, in that moment of choosing, I will make the right choice. My prayer on every day is that, in that moment of choosing, I will be strong enough to rise above the temptations around me, strong enough to ignore the thorns in my flesh, strong enough to keep to the right path. My prayer on every day is that, in that moment of choosing, I will be inspired to choose to follow God, to follow His Law and bend to His Will.

My prayer for you on every day is that, in that moment of choosing, you also will make the right choice. My prayer for you on every day is that, in that moment of choosing, you also will be strong enough to rise above the temptations around you, strong enough to ignore the thorns in your flesh, strong enough to keep to the right path. My prayer for you on every day is that, in that moment of choosing, you also will be inspired to choose to follow God, to follow His Law and bend to His Will.

When presented with the choice between the pleasures of this world and the joys of the next, the rich young man chose the pleasures of this world.

We are always being presented with that same choice: pleasure now or joy later. We are always having to decide between this life and the life to come. Whether the moment is small, such as giving money to the homeless, or large, such as running towards danger simply because people are in danger, we are called to make a choice.

Which world shall we choose? Shall we choose this world or the next?