Giving things up is something we do every day. We give up some our money to the electric company so we can have the conveniences that electricity brings. Then there are more heroic “givings up.” A soldier who risks his life for the sake of his country, goes beyond the usual things we give up. Mothers give up their sleep, some of their leisure activities, and even their jobs for the sake of their babies and small children.
In chapter nineteen of St. Matthew’s gospel, we are confronted with the question, “What am I willing to give up to enter the Kingdom of heaven?” Listen to what Jesus has to say about this (Matthew 19:23-30).
“Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again, I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.”
It was difficult, if not impossible, for a large camel to squeeze through the narrow gate that gave entrance to a city. Large trucks do not try to go down narrow alleys because they don’t fit. Jesus taught that the gate into his Kingdom is narrow and requires making great sacrifices. Most of the rich would not fit through this gate because their attachments to possession would hold them back.
The disciples were astonished at these words of Jesus and wondered if anyone could be saved. Jesus replied:
“For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
Then Peter opened up the “giving up” question.
“We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?” Jesus said to them. “Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in this new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones…”
Jesus was living as a poor man and so were his disciples. They faced many inconveniences and persecutions. He promised that, in the end, it was all worth it. Though they were looked down upon in this world, they would have high places in the Kingdom.
Then Jesus extended his teaching to all of us.
“…everyone who has given up houses, or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life.”
Family ties run deep, even deeper than riches. And which of us would be willing to give up our homes or valuable possession? It would take an amazing amount of grace to go this far. Yet true love for Jesus is so powerful that people through the history of the Church have given up everything so they could follow him. It is not the “giving up” that is important but the “sake of my name.” The love behind the “giving up” is what’s important. For whose sake are we making sacrifices. Jesus says that those who make heroic sacrifices for the sake of his name will have “a hundred times more” than what they gave up, and beyond this will inherit eternal life.
Few of us are probably ready to make heroic sacrifices for Jesus right now. Therefore, we pray that our relationship with him grows so deep, that we are free to give up anything for his name’s sake.
“Jesus Christ became poor although he was rich so that by his poverty you might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
