Sometimes, I dream of winning the lottery. I amuse myself by imagining what I would do with the windfall, how I would spend the money, give it away, enjoy it.
When the rich young ruler comes to Jesus seeking eternal life, I think he wants Jesus to proclaim to him that eternal life is a free gift, like a guaranteed lottery prize. Imagine his shock when Jesus implies that to get the future benefit, he has to pay!
God’s grace is a free gift, but it comes to us via the great sacrifice that Jesus gave of his own life. If we claim the grace without understanding the cost, we cannot fully reap the rewards.
For the rich young man, who has likely been freely given everything he has, Jesus challenges him that to truly understand God’s grace here and in the hereafter, he must learn to sacrifice. For as St. Francis said, “It is in giving that we receive.”
Lord, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. —