The Treasure Beyond Riches
“Good Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”
Oops!
Here comes a young man with everything going for him. Wealthy, religious, respected. He’s kept all the commandments since his youth. And he’s asking the right question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
This isn’t a trick question. This isn’t the Pharisees trying to trap Jesus. This is genuine spiritual hunger. The young man has followed all the rules, done all the right things, and yet … something’s missing. His soul is restless.
Sound familiar? How many of us have been faithful Orthodox Christians our whole lives, yet find ourselves asking the same question: “What am I missing? What more must I do?”
Ugh!
Jesus looks at this earnest young man and loves him. Mark tells us that. But love sometimes means saying the hard thing:
“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
And the young man’s face falls. He walks away sad, “because he had great wealth.”
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: his riches had become his security, his identity, his god. What he thought was “blessing” had become “bondage.” The very thing that made him feel secure was the thing keeping him from true security in Christ.
And Jesus doesn’t chase after him. Jesus lets him walk away.
Brothers and sisters, this hits close to home. Because we all have our “great wealth” – the things we cling to that keep us from following Christ fully. Maybe it’s not money in the bank. Maybe it’s our reputation, our comfort, our way of doing things, our need to be in control.
What are you clinging to that keeps you from following Christ with your whole heart?
Aha!
“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Here’s the breakthrough: Jesus isn’t asking us to earn our salvation through giving everything away. He’s offering us something infinitely better than what we’re holding onto.
The young man asked about eternal life, but he was thinking like an accountant: “What’s the minimum payment required?” Jesus was offering him abundant life: “Come, follow me.”
True treasure isn’t what we accumulate – it’s what we participate in. It’s not what we own, but Who owns us. It’s not what we achieve, but what Christ accomplishes through us.
In our vision here at Holy Apostles, we talk about stewardship as discipleship, not bill-paying. That’s exactly what Jesus is offering this young man – and us. The chance to stop seeing our giving as an obligation and start seeing it as an adventure.
Whee!
Imagine – and this is where our vision comes alive – imagine a parish that’s free from survival fundraising. Free from constantly worrying about keeping the lights on. Free from being known primarily for our festival or our bake sales.
Imagine a parish where our financial stewardship flows from our spiritual discipleship. Where people give joyfully because they’ve discovered that following Christ is the greatest treasure of all.
Imagine if instead of asking “How do we raise enough money?” we asked “How do we follow Christ more fully?” And discovered that when we seek first the Kingdom, everything else gets added unto us.
This is the vision God has given us: to be a parish known for our commitment to Christ, not our fundraising events. A parish where stewardship isn’t about paying bills, but about building the Kingdom.
When we let go of our “riches” – our old patterns, our survival mentality, our fear-based decision making – we discover something beautiful: we’re free to follow Christ with abandon.
Yeah!
So here’s the question Jesus is asking each of us this morning, the question that will shape how we live out our parish vision:
What am I clinging to that keeps me from following Christ fully?
Maybe it’s the comfort of doing things the way we’ve always done them. Maybe it’s the safety of small dreams instead of Kingdom-sized ones. Maybe it’s the fear that if we really trust God with our stewardship, there won’t be enough.
Maybe it’s the reluctance to be known as “those Christians who actually live like they believe this stuff.”
The rich young ruler had a choice. He could cling to his wealth, or he could cling to Christ. He chose his riches and walked away sad.
We have the same choice. We can cling to our old ways of being church – survive, fundraise, repeat – or we can embrace Christ’s call to be a parish of healing, discipleship, and bold love.
The young man walked away from treasure beyond his imagination.
But we don’t have to.
Because in our vision, we see what he couldn’t: that when we let go of what we’re grasping, our hands are free to receive what God wants to give.
Healing in Christ, together as one body.
Not because we earned it. Not because we paid for it. But because we opened our hands, opened our hearts, and followed Him.
What would it look like if our parish lived like we truly believed that following Christ is the treasure beyond all riches?
Let’s find out together.
Amen.