Jesus Looked at Him and Loved Him! By Wayne Miller

Jesus Looked at Him and Loved Him! By Wayne Miller

 

Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“I prayed, and prudence was given me; I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me " (Wisdom 7:7)

“…the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword...” (Hebrews 4:12)

“…Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth." (Mark 10:20-21)

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, "You are lacking in one thing.
Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."

Piety

Abba Father, thank you for looking at me and loving me!  Thank you for accepting my lame excuses for piety and relationship with you for so many years.  Thank you for continuing to send prophets and priests my way until I finally hear what you are saying to me and what it means to live every day in the Kingdom of Heaven with You.

Study

For so many years I was such a “good guy” that I really had no need for a relationship with God through Jesus.  I was so “good” that theft or murder or adultery or lying never crossed my mind, and I always honored my father and mother. Why did I need a personal relationship with God? I was already sinless. And every time I read Mark 10 and watched the downcast young rich man turn away, I pitied him for his obsession with wealth, but never understood my obsession with my “goodness”. But years of “goodness” only left me more and more empty, the greater my accomplishments. Finally, one night while reflecting on scripture that some caring brothers suggested, I heard the voice of God speak directly to my heart in a way that I could not refute (see Revelations 3:15-17). For the first time in my very successful, “good” life, I knew that God knew me. And, although it was more threat than loving invitation, it was exactly the wake-up call that my “good” mind and heart needed to recognize that obsession with “wealth” comes in many forms and I was not immune. The one thing I was sure of was that I had no interest in being spewed out of anybody’s mouth, especially not God’s!

I know now that every shred of my life – every bit of professional acumen, every nickel I’ve ever accumulated, every square foot of my beautiful Virginia home and all the precious articles in it, every breath I’ve ever drawn – are my wealth and His Gift to me.  And I must be ready and absolutely willing to say “YES” to a completely irrational command to give it away.

I want to be ready to blurt out a resounding “YES” to any request that comes from the Loving Glance of Jesus. I felt that glance this week in the face of a young, inspired web developer who is working on an application to capture words and phrases of obscure, dying languages into a dictionary that can support the proliferation of sacred scripture to the ends of the earth. He did his best to explain the thousands of lines of code that make a cell phone screen come to life and allow a person on the other side of the world to collaborate in building the dictionary. I don’t remember anything of the complexities of that code, but I will forever treasure the joy and warmth of the young man’s love for Jesus that motivated every keystroke. Instead of spending his life grinding out the next “Black Ops” video game, he said “YES” to a magnificent journey applying the precious wealth given to him for the greater glory of God! He blessed me with a totally unexpected 3-and-a-half hour Closest-Moment on a cramped cross-country flight and reminded me again that God’s Love is alive and active in our world everywhere, every day.

Action

Encounters like this encourage me every day to see whatever I am doing and whoever I am engaged with through the loving eyes of Jesus. Sometimes I have “wisdom” to offer. Sometimes, all I can give is admiration, encouragement, and sincere supporting prayer.

Next week I begin a new engagement supporting Navy headquarters in the never-ending challenge of crafting a budget that will support the world’s greatest Navy as it protects our precious freedoms. Pray that I can see every bit of the analysis that I do with the same loving glance that my young web-developer friend gives to his work. And may my loving presence help every one of those men and women know their precious, intrinsic worth in the midst of the everyday Pentagon chaos.

I am so thankful that I have a wife and trusted brothers that stand with me in this loving quest. Thank you all!

De Colores!