Ordinary 28B
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Warsaw, VA
Mark 10:17-31
17As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” 20He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 21Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.23Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” 26They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” 27Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”28Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” 29Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
I need to let you in on what has been weighing on my mind this week. It’s been a week that has seen another devastating storm cause additional flooding and incalculable damage in the Philippines, on the heels of terrible earthquakes that have afflicted folks in Indonesia and Samoa as well as American Samoa and other islands in the South Pacific; but on a closer-to-home level, a friend received word Thursday that her three year old granddaughter died as a result of injuries received in a car accident in Mexico caused by a drunk driver, and I had to deal with a woman and her 10 month old baby daughter last night who were beaten by the baby’s father – the mother to unconsciousness, the baby hit, shaken, and thrown to the floor – the man is now in jail and will most likely be kept there for a long time, hopefully – hopefully – to exorcise his own demons rather than continue to be one for other people in his life.
With all that, to address the problem of evil – why do disasters and events like those happen, why do people DO those things, if God is a God of love as well as an all-powerful God – over and against the question of discussing how Christ viewed human wealth – there is a certain relief in dealing with something that is not so close to the heart after the week that has been. Hopefully we can address that other topic at another, not too-distant time. When we have had a chance to reflect on the events.
Let’s get one thing clear from the beginning:
I would generally not consider myself to be someone who believes the Bible was ever intended to be read and understood one-hundred percent literally. Depending on the text, some things are written as metaphor, some as poetry, some as song lyrics, some as allegory, some as mythology, and some IS intended as an historical record.
Today’s passage is, I believe, an example of the last.
I believe this is the case because this story is, as one scholar framed it, ‘untamable’. It is discomforting, it is demanding, it is uncompromising. It just makes us so uncomfortable that THAT, in and of itself, is enough to convince me that these words DID, in fact, come out of Jesus’ mouth.
It is just as unsettling as the text from Psalm 22 that we read as our responsive reading, because we don’t ever want to think of God as having forsaken US – Jesus on the cross is one thing … but … US?? Never!!
To hear Jesus say, “it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich person to enter heaven …” is just as unsettling … because when we think about it – operative word being WE – in this interconnected world where we are aware of exactly what conditions are LIKE in other areas of the world, we cannot get around the fact that in comparison, WE really ARE wealthy in a way that a sizeable portion of the world cannot begin to grasp.
And in case you were wondering about that supposed gate in the wall of the city of Jerusalem that was cut into the wall shorter and narrower than the other gates, requiring camels to be put through almost crawling, with no cargo on their backs – please just put that thought away. There never was such a gate. Jesus is using simple hyperbole – an overstatement or exaggeration to get the point across – he’s talking about a REAL camel going through a REAL eye of a needle…
What IF he means us? What IF he means ME?
We can stop a moment and examine the man who runs up to him – the one who is commonly referred to as the ‘rich young ruler’ … he knew what to do … he knew the correct answers – he would fit our definition of someone who is … faithful. He followed the law since childhood, since his youth. But he knew there was MORE to it than just that. On some level, he knew.
Here is a deeply religious person so well-attuned to his practices that he can sense that there is more out there than what he has experienced so far. He asks Jesus about the "more," but his question focuses on what needs to be added. He seeks the limit, or the next step, but discovers instead that eternal life entails the surrender of one's whole self.
You’ve heard – and I pretty sure I’ve preached – that Jesus, being the son of God, knew what was in the man’s heart, and pegged him with the command to go and sell everything he had and give the proceeds to the poor because he knew that THAT was the man’s weakness. That may well have been. But I don’t think that was all that was going on. I think it goes even deeper than that.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve heard Jesus again and again tell his disciples that, in order to follow him, they must give up any pretense they have of obtaining ANY reward in this world – reward, or position, or renown – and make themselves nothing. Serving everyone in order to become his followers. The first shall be last and the last shall be first, remember?
But here Jesus seems to put it in terms that we can all too easily understand. Basically, he’s saying in a loving manner (check verse 21), “put your money where your mouth is”. Jesus is not simply leaving it in the abstract – in the ‘apply it as best you see fit’ way that we can sometimes read into what he says. THIS time he is being WAY too specific for us to even begin to try to interpret it in a way that we can draw comfort from. In the middle of the health care debate that is gripping our country, we get to read that Jesus is telling this wealthy man to redistribute his wealth – to change the very NATURE of his relationship with the poor in a FUNDAMENTAL way – one that would make them equal with him in a way that is antithetical – that is opposite – to how he had always been taught to believe – that wealth was a visible symbol of God’s favor on him … and if we think about it, that understanding and that VIEW of wealth has not changed that much in the past two thousand years. We still, with the occasional exception, regard wealth in the hands of a pious, faithful person as a gift from God.
I’m not saying it ISN’T. I AM saying that we need to examine the text and be open to just what it is that Jesus is trying to tell us here.
I would draw your attention to the fact that he didn’t say it is impossible for a rich person to enter heaven … it is just REALLY difficult.
Remember, Jesus was speaking this story into a context where material wealth was a DIRECT indication of God’s favor. The love of God was expressed most directly in one’s physical wellbeing – health, emotional, monetary. So for Jesus to tell someone who WAS rich that God’s love was NOT shown in that manner – indeed – that that very thing – wealth – would KEEP YOU from experiencing God’s love, was (again) revolutionary. For THAT day and age AS WELL AS this one.
So we still need to wrestle with what he means … and that may be summed up in his own words – what is impossible for man is always possible with God.
Peter’s question comes from his being at a loss – he and the other disciples being at a loss – they had also bought into – in reality they had most likely BREATHED it in – the idea that wealth equals favor, and he’d just heard Jesus put that on it’s head. His question was as much for himself and the disciples as it was for the rich young ruler himself – if HE can’t be saved, then who CAN??
Jesus’ answer again points to the fact that salvation BELONGS TO GOD. It is God’s to grant. Nothing we do or don’t do will affect our standing before him. Save our faith and trust in him. Peter points out that he and the others had already given up everything to follow Jesus. And Jesus responds that … THAT is what he expects.
“There is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mothers or fathers or children or fields, – that is our definition of wealth - for my sake and for the sake of the good news, 30who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.”
It’s as much a heads-up as it is a warning. This is what you can expect: persecution. Paul spells it out later. Beating. Imprisonment. Suffering. Hardly adulation or popularity.
Welcome to the life of discipleship. It is not for the faint at heart.
What does this mean for us at Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton?
You tell me.
We are called to serve. How do we do that? How can we do that better or differently? We are called to minister. How do we do that? How can we do that better or differently? We are called to give up what we have. How have we done that? How can we do that better or differently? We are called to be a community of faith sharing the love of Jesus with the world around us. How have we done that? How can we do that better or differently?
This past week, as Cliff commented at the beginning of the service, we had an opportunity to experience not just a renewal or an added time of reflection each evening, but it gave us reminders that we are part of a greater community – both of faith as well as just being a part of a greater community generally speaking. And insofar as the fellowship that was shared on each of those evenings as well as last Sunday morning and around the tables at the luncheon, and during the musical presentation that afternoon, were reflections of what we can hope the Kingdom looks like, we meet those criteria. We minister, we reach out, we love.
The final question I would pose to us all is Jesus’ own question: How would WE respond if WE were the rich young ruler, and Jesus told us to go, sell everything we have and give the proceeds to the poor and come and follow him?
It is not an easy question, because it doesn’t stop. It doesn’t give us a parameter where we can say “good, I’ve done this, I’m done. I’m in. No. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about giving ourselves totally and completely to God.
Pray with me.
Our very nature calls us, O God, makes us want to compartmentalize what it means to serve you. What it means to be a person of faith, practicing in this culture, in this place, at this time in history. And we know that that translates into spending a certain amount of time here at this time and in THIS place each week, and that it also involves other activities during the week. Help us, O God, not to limit your possession of our lives to certain hours, or to certain activities, but that we would be WHOLLY given to you, so that ALL we do, ALL we say, ALL we are, belongs to you.
Through him who gave himself completely for us, even Christ Jesus our Lord.
