Holding On Tight And Not Letting Go

Not long ago, my father-in-law related a story of how he came bounding up the stairs of his house from the basement level to the top floor to do something. He felt very proud of how quickly he came up the stairs…and had forgotten why he’d even come upstairs in the first place!

Forgetting is often a central theme in the scriptural tradition.

In the reading from Ezekiel 24, we hear a passage from the middle of a longer text where the prophet is speaking the word of  God about the unfaithfulness of the people. They have wandered far from the original covenantal promises that they made and find themselves collectively worshiping “idols”.

It’s important to remember that when the Hebrew scriptures speak of idol worship, it does not necessarily mean people bowing down before a statue. It means that their lifestyle, their priorities and their communal agreements have changed.

They had forgotten how to care for the earth.

They had neglected caring for one another.

They prioritized money and power over people.

They were distracted by things.

I often think of our culture when I read the critique of the Hebrew prophets because much seems to resonate with where we find ourselves collectively.

Especially related to money and things. Which brings us to our gospel.

A young man engages Jesus in Mt 19 and asks, “What good must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus seems slightly annoyed by the question but answers and says, “keep the commandments.” The man pushes further and says, “Which ones?” Jesus spells out the commandments which were part of the Hebrew tradition and the man says, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?”

It’s hard to know if the man in this story was so full of himself thinking that he’d kept all of the commandments or if he sincerely believed (and for the most part) had kept all the commandments. But either way, Jesus introduces a little cognitive dissonance into the situation when he says, “If you wish to be complete (often translated as “perfect” but that’s not always a very helpful word), sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

The reading tells us that, “When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad and distressed for he had many possessions” (one translation says, “He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go…”).

He was holding on tight to a lot of things and couldn’t bear to let them go.

Just sit with that phrase for a minute.

I don’t know about you but this reading hits pretty close to home for me.

It gets me thinking about all the things that I can’t bear to let go of that get in the way of my following Jesus and even being able to hear God’s word in my life.

It gets me thinking about how I may identify myself as a “good person” and yet may be missing some of the fundamental urgings of our scriptural tradition for generosity, hospitality or justice.

It gets me thinking about wealth and money as forces that require constant scrutiny because they can take on a life of their own.

It gets me reflecting on choices I have made that prioritize things I know may not be good for me (or for the world) but are convenient or easy.

I wonder what it gets you thinking of?

When I step back from the scriptural traditions a bit and look at the readings from Ezekiel and Matthew, I can feel God’s pain a little more acutely because it is a pain most of us will feel in a relationship where we experience a form of betrayal. It is essentially the feeling of, “I can’t believe that you chose that over me…”

Our readings today (and pretty much every day) hold up a mirror for us related to our personal and collective choices and priorities and, perhaps, ask us some pretty important questions.

And as we see in our gospel today, even if we have “followed all of the commandments,” there is always another deeper invitation that is offered to us if we are willing and able to go there with God.

For today, maybe we explore what we might be “holding on tight to and can’t let go” (this could be emotionally, physically or spiritually) that gets in our way of being open to God’s call in our lives.