Wealth and the Realm of God - Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 20B (Mark 10)
17 As 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?” 18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 You 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.’” 20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 21 Jesus, 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.” 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It 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.” 26 They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”
28 Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus 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, 30 who 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. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
********
Jesus has a tendency to turn conventional
wisdom on its head. That may be why we often ignore the plain meaning of his words (or simply focus on the birth story and Holy Week and forget the rest). Conventional wisdom offers a view of the world that is defined in terms of hierarchies. The world as we know it affirms the trappings of power, which is why we often stand in awe of powerful people. From time immemorial the assumption has been that wealth and privilege are marks of
blessing. Even if we don't embrace the Gospel of Prosperity, we still respect persons of wealth and distinction. After all, aren't they the job creators? If that's true, then maybe they deserve to pay fewer taxes than a secretary at the same company. When it comes to those who live at the bottom of the social hierarchy, the assumption is that they must be lazy or not very gifted. Why else would they be in that position?
I confess
that I am as guilty of this as anyone. I don’t necessarily
look at the rich with admiration assuming they must be virtuous or they wouldn't be so "blessed," but I may wish I was in their position. As for the poor and marginalized it's easy to ignore them or blame them for their situation in life. While it's easy to get caught up in such a viewpoint, Jesus seems to have had a very different perspective on life. That's why he tended to turn things upside down. To Jesus, the last should be first and the first should be last.
In the reading from Mark 10, a man comes to Jesus seeking information about what it would take to gain eternal life. That's a question many Christians have asked. What are the requirements for entry into the realm of God? While it does appear that this is a man of some wealth, he doesn't appear to be testing Jesus. His question seems rather sincere. We read about ambushes, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. This man is seeking the kingdom of God, but he wants to know if he's on the right track. Since Jesus has been preaching about the realm of God, the man wants his guidance. He wants to know what it will take to gain entrance. Isn't that something we all want to know?
The conversation seems to get off on the wrong foot when the man called Jesus “good teacher.” The man seems to recognize that Jesus is a man worthy of praise, but Jesus tries to deflect the compliment. He asks: who is good besides God? I know that some
take this to be Jesus’ way of identifying himself as a divine person, but I
don’t think that’s what is going on here. Having made it clear that God alone
is good, Jesus points the man to the commandments. It’s a good starting place.
The man told Jesus that he had been keeping them since his youth. This is a good guy. He’s
devout. He’s the kind of person we like having in our congregations. He would
make a great elder or board chair. He’s honest and forthright. If anyone is good—besides God—it’s him. Jesus
can see this in him because Mark says that Jesus loved him. That’s not
something that Jesus says about someone very often, if at all! So, what else is
there to say to him besides: “welcome!?”
If only Jesus didn’t say “but,
there’s one more thing.” Why does there have to be one more thing? Why isn’t
this enough? Unfortunately, Jesus adds another criterion. “Go and sell everything you have and give it
to the poor.” Hearing this, the man walked away because he had too much wealth. This was probably inherited wealth. Why should he give it away? That's a 100%
inheritance tax! After all, if
this was inherited property (cash or land), didn’t he have a responsibility to
preserve it for the next generation? If you don’t have anything to pass on to
the next generation, then you don’t have to worry about preserving capital.
When we read this passage, we
should, I think join the disciples in finding Jesus’ words to be
troubling. I expect most
of us don’t put ourselves in the place of the man of wealth. We want to be on the side of Jesus, but if we were in his position what we do? It is easy to get
self-righteous and cast shade on the rich and condemn their lifestyles. The
problem is that in many ways I am rich. I live comfortably in a nice house in a
safe neighborhood and a decent pension. I might not be Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos, but I live a reasonably secure life. So, would I follow St. Francis of Assissi and give it all up? Should I sell my house and give
everything to the local charity that cares for the poor so I could follow Jesus? Would I? Could I? Even if I
thought about doing this, what would Cheryl think about all of this? Even if we live
fairly frugally, we still have bills to pay. So, I'm not sure I'm ready to give it all up for Jesus even if that is the payment required to enter the realm of God.
It is probably good to remember that Mark is offering us a rather apocalyptic vision. The early Christians lived with the expectation that the day of the Lord, the day of judgment, was near at hand. If that's true then preservation of capital for the next generation is less of a concern. If Jesus is going to return at any moment to set up the kingdom then there's little need for wealth, insurance, family, or estate
planning. Of course, this apocalyptic
vision has yet to bear fruit. Jesus hasn’t returned so planning for the future (and purchasing some life insurance) might be wise. That's true whether you have a lot of possessions or not.
So, what do we do with a passage like this? How do we speak
of letting go, when we’re not sure we’re ready to do it ourselves? Is Jesus’ word
to the rich man an appropriate word for us? When the disciples hear Jesus’
directive they’re confused. If the rich find it difficult to enter the realm of
God, then what about them. They still can’t seem to get their heads around
Jesus’ message that the first shall be last and the last first. They still look
at the world through traditional eyes that assume that wealth is a blessing. It
is after all tangible. It can be passed on from one generation to the next. But
according to Jesus, it is easier for the camel to navigate the eye of a needle
than for the wealthy to gain access to the realm of God. Why? For the same
reason, this rich man walked away. It is nearly impossible to let go of one’s
possessions.
If this is true, then who can be saved? If the blessed are
unable to gain access who can? Of course, Mark knows. It is the one who lets go
of this world and follows Jesus. Leave mother and father and wealth and
position, and come follow Jesus on the road to Jerusalem. There is, of course, a caveat. What appears to be impossible for human beings, is possible for the God who turns things upside down. So, maybe there's still hope for the man who came to Jesus and for us.
Nevertheless, a light goes on in Peter’s mind. He realizes that he has indeed left everything
behind to follow Jesus. He left his boat, his nets, and maybe even a family to
follow Jesus. Mark doesn’t speak of this experience, but in Matthew's Gospel, we read of
Jesus healing Peter’s mother-in-law. Of course, a mother-in-law implies a spouse
(Matthew 8:14). Here in Mark, Peter tells Jesus that it appears they have chosen the right path. They've left everything behind and followed him. Jesus answers them by telling them that they had chosen wisely. They would receive their blessings, but they would also endure persecution.
It’s interesting that Jesus throws this last word into the mix. He tells them that whatever material blessings came their way, they would be accompanied by persecution (that doesn't mean laws against state-sponsored prayer in schools or businesses saying happy holidays instead of Merry Christmas).
It’s just the way things are on the road to the realm of God! In the age to
come, there is eternal life. Hold on to that, for that is the true
blessing. And the first shall be last,
and the last shall be first, for in the realm of God the structures of power
get reversed. That may seem impossible,
but with God all things are possible!
Image attribution: Tissot, James, 1836-1902. Rich Young Man Went Away Sorrowful, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56647 [retrieved October 2, 2021]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brooklyn_Museum_-_The_Rich_Young_Man_Went_Away_Sorrowful_(Le_jeune_homme_riche_s%27en_alla_triste)_-_James_Tissot_-_overall.jpg.
Comments