October 3, 2016 – Words of Wisdom
Alvin Toffler

“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” Alvin Toffler.

“Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life? Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.” When the young man heard this, he went away in sorrow because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven…”” Matthew 19:21-23

Alvin Toffler was an American writer (Future Shock) and futurist, known for his works discussing modern technologies, including the digital revolution and the communication revolution.

The power of the story from Matthew 19:21-23 comes in the young man’s inability to realize he must unlearn his view of life – and that begins with his comment “What must I do to earn eternal life?” Jesus tells him to sell his possessions and give the money to the poor, and then he can follow Jesus. And the man goes away in sorrow because he is rich, and has many possessions. In first century Judaism, much like it is today, to have wealth and possessions was considered by many to be a sign of G-d’s blessings. To have money and possessions puts one into a different class. No one would consider it a good idea to sell your possessions and give all that you have to the poor. The poor were the poor – they were a class all to themselves and were never considered able to change their status. What Jesus was asking the young man to do was unthinkable – it went against everything he had learned about his society, his class, his status, his position in life, and his place in the “blessed” scale. Jesus is teaching a new way

The disciples will go on to ask Jesus “If what you are teaching is basically impossible for any of us to “achieve”, then who can be saved?” Jesus then drops the most important lesson on them: “For people it is impossible – for G-d all things are possible”. They must forget about their former teachings about blessedness and righteousness, and learn a new lesson – it is impossible to “earn” salvation – it is a gift rendered to us as faith. Paul will eventually seize upon the insight within a generation of the resurrection, and Martin Luther will finally discover he has to “unlearn” his understanding of earning G-d’s righteousness and “relearn” the understanding of faith that will lead us all to the reformation – that it is by Grace through faith that we are saved.

It takes daily focus on the Grace of Jesus Christ to remind ourselves to “unlearn” works righteousness, to unlearn the idea that it is “what we do” that makes us righteous – and to relearn and remind ourselves that it is what Christ has already done that makes us righteous.

Pastor Dave