The Sermon That Changed Everything

“Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” — Matthew 19:21 (KJV)

About seventeen hundred years ago, in a village in Egypt, there lived a boy called Antony. His parents were Christians and quite wealthy. Antony was a quiet boy. Athanasius, who later wrote his story, says he didn’t much like school or mixing with other boys, but he went to church with his parents and listened carefully to what was read.

Then, when Antony was about eighteen or twenty, both his parents died. Suddenly he was responsible for a large farm and for his little sister.

Less than six months later, Antony was walking to church, thinking about how the apostles had left everything to follow Jesus, and how the first Christians in the book of Acts sold their possessions to help the poor. As he walked in, the Gospel reading was the story of the rich young man. Antony heard Jesus say: “go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor … and come and follow me.”

Athanasius says Antony felt as though the passage had been read just for him. He went straight out of church and gave away his family’s land, three hundred acres of good farmland, to the people of his village. He sold everything else and gave the money to the poor, keeping a little back to provide for his sister.

Not long after, he heard another reading in church: Jesus saying not to be anxious about tomorrow. So he gave away the rest too. He arranged for his sister to be cared for and brought up by trusted Christian women, and he began a new life wholly given to God.

That was the start of one of the most famous lives in Christian history. Antony lived to be about 105. Thousands of people followed his example, and his story spread across the world.

This book’s author, Athanasius, was the bishop of Alexandria, Egypt’s great city. He was a fearless defender of the truth that Jesus is fully God, and he was driven out of his city five times by emperors who disagreed with him. During one exile, the desert monks hid him for six years. It was out of those years that he wrote Antony’s story.

Not everyone is called to do exactly what Antony did. But every Christian is called to take Jesus’ words seriously. Antony heard a Bible verse and acted on it immediately. What would it look like for you to do that?

One thing to do this week: this week, read a Gospel passage each day. Ask God to show you one sentence that is “for you”, like Antony’s verse. When you find it, write it down and do one practical thing about it straight away.