As a teen of the 80’s, I can remember waiting expectantly for the next Michael Jackson video to premier on TV. Excitement roared through my friends and I as we watched Thriller, Beat It and many other hits play on our TV screens. Our mornings waiting for the school bus were full of all of us giggling ecstatically as we shared the latest dance steps and learned new moves and beats. So, as with most of the world, I was taken aback last week when Michael Jackson was pronounced dead at the age of fifty.
As I met with friends and family during the weekend, I was amazed that this pop icon had transcended so many generations and so many cultures. It was as if his song “Black or White” had rung true, and we had learned how to become a melting pot of society, sharing our joys and sorrows, memories and whisperings with each other despite our upbringing and social or economic classes.
Michael Jackson certainly had an effect on this world. Besides the dance moves, he performed many thought provoking songs that challenged us, including Black or White; We are the World; and Man in the Mirror to name a few. These songs inspired us to consider life differently. Perhaps we could all get along cross-culturally. Maybe we could make a difference in the world hunger crisis. And maybe we could change things by beginning to change ourselves.
Within minutes of his death, the news was heard around the world. The “King of Pop” was gone.
In the end it didn’t matter how many lives he had changed, how many positive or negative influences he had had on the world, how many people he fed, families he helped, number one songs he had, for none of these things could stop the one thing knocking at his door… death.
Such is the lesson Jesus explained to the rich young ruler.
Jesus had been teaching and healing people in the crowd throughout the day. He had just finished blessing the children and explaining that unless you had the faith of a child, you would not enter the kingdom of heaven, when the rich young ruler approached him.
The question is simple, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus replies that a start to being good would be to follow the commandments.
Almost arrogantly, the ruler answers back “I have kept them all for as long as I can remember.”
Then it gets hard, Christ tells him to sell everything he has and give it to the poor, for he will have riches in heaven; and when he is finished selling and giving away everything, then follow Christ.
This was the last thing the young ruler expected to hear. He was very rich and became terribly sad. He was holding on tight to a lot of things and not about to let them go.
Seeing his reaction, Jesus said, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who have it all to enter God’s kingdom? I’d say it’s easier to thread a camel through a needle’s eye than get a rich person into God’s kingdom.”
“Then who has any chance at all?” the others asked.
”No chance at all,” Jesus said, “if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.” (Luke 18:23-27, MSG)
Michael Jackson reminds me of the rich young ruler. He has or had lived a relatively good life, until recently. He gave away many of his things, his time, and his money to help those less fortunate than him. He even sang songs inspiring us to change ourselves. Such is the song Man in the Mirror:
I’m Gonna Make A Change
For Once In My Life
It’s Gonna Feel Real Good
Gonna Make A Difference
Gonna Make It Right…
As I, Turn Up The Collar On
My Favorite Winter Coat
This Wind Is Blowin’ My Mind
I See The Kids In The Street
With Not Enough To Eat
Who Am I, To Be Blind?
Pretending Not To See Their Needs
A Summer’s Disregard
A Broken Bottle Top
And A One Man’s Soul
They Follow Each Other On
The Wind Ya’ Know
‘Cause They Got Nowhere To Go
That’s Why I Want You To Know
I’m Starting With The Man In The Mirror
I’m Asking Him To Change His Ways
And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And Then Make A Change
I’ve Been A Victim Of
A Selfish Kind Of Love
It’s Time That I Realize
That There Are Some With No Home
Not A Nickel To Loan
Could It Be Really Me
Pretending That They’re Not Alone?
A Willow Deeply Scarred
Somebody’s Broken Heart
And A Washed-Out Dream
They Follow The Pattern Of
The Wind, Ya’ See
Cause They Got No Place To Be
That’s Why I’m Starting With Me
I’m Starting With The Man In The Mirror
I’m Asking Him To Change His Ways
And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself And Then Make A Change
As admirable as this song is, and as much as it inspires us to make a change starting with ourselves, without Jesus change is just not possible; not in a way that will make a difference as we enter into our final moments here on earth. See, the issue was not the wealth of the rich young ruler, the issue was that is what he trusted and believed in when push came to shove. If we only believe in ourselves, or our money, or our ability to be good, or our benevolence; then we are in the same place the young ruler was, unable to obtain eternal life.
Prior to the young ruler’s question, Jesus stated that “unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” (Luke 18:17, MSG) I believe there is a huge lesson for us all in the context of this verse.
Children trust their parents for everything. They don’t ask how the lights will be turned on, what food will there be to eat, will they get baths or clothes, or be taken to school. Children have faith that their parents will provide for their every need, every want, every hope, and every desire. God wants us to have the same faith in Him. Not in our finances. Not in our jobs. Not in our relationships. Not in ourselves, our willpower, or our abilities. He wants us to simply trust in Him and then we will inherit eternal life.
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