02-18-2024 Walking Away From Transformation (Mark 10:17-31)

Walking Away From Transformation Mark 10:17-31 Mark 10:17-22 17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not defraud; honor your father and mother.” 20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 But he was dismayed by this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father and mother. You lack one thing ... What is keeping you from totally relying on God?  The focus of this story is not the act of selling possessions. It's about the fact that when you have nothing, you open yourself to be vulnerable to God. The rich young ruler cannot follow because he cannot bear the transformation that following Jesus would bring.  Transformation seems elusive because we can't control it. Transformation begins when we leave one story for a whole new story with Christ at the center. Transformation is the impossible giving way to the impossible.