GOSPEL MESSAGE & RECORDING
Growing up as an Orthodox Christian, even if it were only semi-serious on the part of our parents and ourselves, we become aware of certain obligations we have to fulfill, and in so doing, we feel a sense of accomplishment in fulfilling those obligations. I speak here of going to Sunday school and matriculating to receive a good Orthodox Christian education, of receiving the Sacraments, of keeping the fasting rules, of attending church, of being a lay leader in the church, of being in ministry, of doing gospel work, of honoring our parents, of loving our children, and of tithing. Of the “good” that we do in the church and outside the church, we must remember that we in ourselves can never become “good.” No matter how great our spiritual feats, because of our fallen nature, we can never be “good.” This is why Christ says today in the Gospel, “No one is good but God.” This is hard to understand, for the quest of many Orthodox Christians is to do good and to become a good person. We hear this mentality when something bad happens to someone who does a lot of charity or someone who has tremendously helped others. That is, the saying goes, “Why would something like this happen to him. He was such a good person.” Here I must define what “good” means; that is, to maintain a “quality-control” in life in terms of charity, in our treatment of others, in our giving, in our work in the church, in our love for family and friends…this is what it means to be “good.” In life or death, our quest is not to be good. In other words, we are not called to be good. We are, however, called to have a relationship with Christ.
We see this in the Gospel reading today, where the rich man was truly, based on his obligations, a good person. But Christ was not at all impressed with his spiritual or monetary accomplishments. Christ was looking to see if he had a relationship with the Father. In Christ’s examination of the man, he exposes his obsession with money. Money is not the issue here; but rather that he saw his accomplishments and obligations greater than a relationship with God. Money here represents the man’s reliance on his earthly and religious accomplishments, rather than pursuing a relationship with God.
You and I are no different. We tend to think that our religious and career-oriented accomplishments are great in the eyes of God. Let me say that God does honor such things; but, moreover, what he is looking for, above and beyond anything else, is our relationship with Him, with His Son—Christ. You could be a lay leader, doing a lot of charity work, attending church, etc. But if you do not have a relationship with God, then all of what we do is “rubbish.”
How do you have a relationship with God:
focus all of our efforts with Christ in mind and not ourselves
don’t put career above God
don’t put career above church life but rather find a balance
strengthen our relationship with family
being involved in ministry is not definitive evidence that we have a relationship with Christ, so make sure our ministry matches our prayer/fasting life.