Commemoration: Onesimos Nesib
Almighty and everlasting God, we thank you for your servant Frumentius, by whom your Church was first planted in Ethiopia, and for your servant Onesimos Nesib, whom you called to minister to the Galla people of Ethiopia. Raise up in this and every land evangelists and heralds of your kingdom, that your Church may proclaim the unsearchable riches of our Savior Jesus Christ; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
We cannot doubt the sincerity of the rich young man. He came to Jesus desiring to do that one "good deed" through which he might "have eternal life." He had kept the commandments, or so he said, down to their last detail. But, in his heart, he knew this was not enough. "What do I still lack?" he asked.
But the young man's sincerity could not hide his blindness to his imperfection. Even if he had kept all the commandments perfectly, observing even the most obscure details of the law, he would still be falling short. His legalistic mindset had made him self-centered. His initial question, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" betrays him. He is in it for himself, not for others. The law is merely a vehicle for his own self-congratulation. Eternal life is something he wants for himself, with no thought of sharing the gift with others.
In his heart, he knew he still lacked something, but his heart was in the wrong place. Jesus exposes his shortcoming by telling him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."
A loose translation of Jesus' instructions to the rich young man might be, "If you are who you say you are, prove it by demonstrating what a self-giving, self-sacrificing person your perfect adherence to the commandments has made you. Give of yourself for the sake of others and put your trust in me, and me alone, to provide for your needs."
But this is more than the rich young man can handle. Hearing this, Matthew writes, "he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions." Keeping the commandments had not made him perfect. In the end, it only made him sorrowful. Legalism is not the way to eternal life. There is no "good deed" the rich young man or anyone else could do to have it. What the young man lacked was not a good deed, but a living faith. For if he had faith, he would have responded to Jesus' command with joy, not sorrow. Faith awakens charity, not the other way around. As Paul states so powerfully, "the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law . . . the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe."
The law did nothing for the rich young man except to make him self-centered and self-reliant. He could not understand that the law was not about him! The law was about God! It was a reflection of his holiness and his righteousness; a holiness and righteousness that the rich young man, a fallen human being, could never attain through his self-centered ways. God alone is holy. God alone justifies, and he does so as an act of mercy; as a free gift of his grace. The only response one so justified can offer is the response of faith; and faith manifests itself in acts of self-giving, giving of ourselves for others just as God, in Christ, gave of himself for us.
Let us plead for faith alone
Faith which by our works is shown;
God it is Who justifies,
Only faith the grace applies.
Active faith that lives within,
Conquers hell and death and sin,
Hallows whom it first made whole,
Forms the Savior in the soul.
Let us for this faith contend,
Sure salvation is the end;
Heaven already is begun,
Everlasting life is won.
Only let us persevere
Till we see our Lord appear,
Never from the Rock remove,
Saved by faith which works by love.
- Charles Wesley
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