Sermon 10/12/03
Mission: Impossible - Job 23:1-9, 16-17, Mark 10:17-31
(view lectionary notes for this text)
The devil was on the prowl one day out to get the Christian. When he saw the Christian he shot one of his fiery darts and it struck the Christian in the chest. The Christian had on the breastplate of righteousness so he wasn't harmed. The devil shot at the Christian's head but that was protected by the helmet of salvation. The devil figured everyone has an Achilles' heel, so he shot at the Christian's feet that were shod with the gospel of peace so no harm was done. The Christian smirked and turned around to walk away. The devil fired an arrow into the Christian's wallet and killed him. (1)
What's that you say? The Stewardship Campaign hasn't started yet? I'm not supposed to talk about money for a couple more weeks yet? Well, unfortunately, Jesus isn't working with our calendar. Did you know that fully 40% of what Jesus teaches about in the Synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 40% of these teachings are about money or use economic metaphors? How is it that we like to spend so little time talking about our money, when Jesus focused on money and faith so much? As Christians, we seem to get ourselves all tangled up in three or four verses that talk about homosexuality, or a few passages that talk about women's roles, or that refer to slavery in some way - we make these issues so important, but we like to stuff all the money talk into a few weeks when, by necessity, we must have a stewardship campaign. And we don't even like to talk about it then very much.
But as I said, Jesus doesn't seem to cooperate with our schedules and priorities very much - he's got some plans of his own, some lessons that are so important that he tries to teach us again and again and again. Today, a rich young man approached him and asks, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus tells the man the commandments, those from the 10 that deal with social behavior: you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not lie. Honor your parents. The young man responds by saying that he has kept these all long. He has obeyed the laws, but he must feel a sense that still, something is missing from his life, from his relationship with God. "Well," responds Jesus, "you're missing this: if you want to go to heaven, sell everything you have, give all your money away, and then come follow me." This wasn't what the man wanted to hear, and walked away, shocked and upset. So Jesus told the disciples, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter God's kingdom. Hard words! Impossible tasks. Is it really this hard? Does Jesus mean what he says?
Pastor Bruce Prewer (2) writes that he had come across two ways to interpret the metaphor of the camel and the eye of the needle that might make Jesus' metaphor more bearable. First, he shares, "some interpreters of the Bible suggest that apart from the large gates into Jerusalem, there may have also been one small gate. This narrow gate, [easier to use than opening the big city gates, and] just high enough for human entry, was called the "Needle's Eye." Maybe a camel might be able to squeeze through if the beast hobbled in on its knees. As you can see," he explains, "this tames the words of Jesus a little, and would suggest that a rich [person] humbly on [his or her] knees might be able to enter the kingdom of God. The one response to this interpretation is that there is no hard evidence for the existence of such a gate." So he shares a second possible interpretation: "A second interpretation hangs on the undisputed fact that in the Greek of the New Testament the words for camel and thick rope cable are similar. Camel is "camelos" and rope cable is "camilos". Maybe the later copiers of the New Testament got the words mixed up. This is a plausible theory. But it does once more blunt the words of Jesus." What to make of these possible options? Pastor Prewer concludes, writing, "I have a question: Why should we need to soften the words of Jesus? Why should we want to make his saying more palatable? Given the insidious ability of money to corrupt people (even those who are comfortably well-off rather than very rich) I am extremely wary of interpretations which lessen the impact of that cartoon of a camel trying to squeeze through the eye of a needle."
Yes, our first reaction may be to exclaim that Jesus simply cannot be serious. Surely he must mean something else, surely he must be exaggerating. Must we really sell all we have? Must we give away all our possessions? Does God really require everything of us?
Yes! Yes! And Yes! God does indeed require everything of us. Jesus did not mention to the young man the greatest commandment of all, which is that we are to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and all our strength. That sounds like everything to me, everything we have, and everything we are, it all belongs to God, and God asks us to give it all back to our Creator. In this framework, tithing suddenly seems like a better alternative, if our other option is giving everything to God altogether! God wants it all, wants our all. Who would not get discouraged and walk away, like the young man who had so many worldly possessions? Jesus is clear: we can obey the commandments he lists, but we are still lacking if we are not willing to part with our things, our riches, our abundant wealth.
With these troubling words from Jesus that we are just not allowed to ignore, we can feel overwhelmed and helpless. With the disciples we echo the plaintive, longing sentiment, "Who, then, can be saved?" We start to connect with poor Job from our Old Testament reading, so overwhelmed, and so alone. But Jesus brings us a word of peace and comfort too, even as we struggle with the sense of what we know we must do. In response to the worried question of the disciples, Jesus says, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible." All things are possible! We are such sinful people, and like the rich young man, instead of seeking to meet the tasks Jesus sets before us, we become consumed with sadness at how much God requires, and sadly walk away, grieving what we can't or won't do for God. But Jesus gives us a word of hope, a word of grace.
Ultimately, Jesus tells us that though the task is hard, we're not on our own. We already have the one gift that will make it possible for us: the gift of God's grace, the gift of God's love for us despite the fact that we are sinful, despite the fact that we don't want to share, that we don't want to give, that we don't want to be made uncomfortable, even for Christ's sake. Jesus doesn't try to tell us that we must earn eternal life by our works. Writes Rev. Richard Fairchild (3), "Inheriting eternal life is not something that we can earn - nor is entering the Kingdom of God something we can work for. There is nothing we can give to obtain it. It is free gift. All we have to do is hold out our hands and accept the gift. It's both the easiest and the hardest thing we can ever do: the easiest - because the gift is free; the hardest - because our hands are so often filled with other things." Jesus tells the rich man to sell his possessions - not because this will earn God's grace - the man already has the free gift of God's grace - but because selling his possessions will empty his hands, free up his life to give him room to accept this precious gift.
So what is in your hands? What are you carrying with you, that you are unwilling to give up, that keeps you from experiencing the fullness of God's grace? What is more important to you, more valuable than you, than being able to grasp with both hands God's amazing, unconditional love? What is it in your life that you value more than God? Theologians Jeff Krantz and Michael Hardin (1) ask us these questions: "Why do we value colored paper and worthless coins? Why is everything else in turn valued by this colored paper and worthless coin? What is money? Money is a form or medium of exchange. It is a form of substitution. And because it is so clearly so, it is also a sign of the sacrificial system. We exchange ourselves for money. With money we make an exchange called a purchase. Ergo, we exchange our selves for our purchases. We are the things around us. Since we value ourselves so highly, we value our exchanges just as highly, and viola!, our relationships with things around us becomes the focus of our desire." It's so easy for us to find ourselves in the same spot as the young man that came to see Jesus. So easy for us to misplace the focus of our desire.
"Who then can be saved?" Can we? Yes, says Christ, for us there is this hope of salvation. For us, there is this gift of grace. For where things for us are impossible, for God, everything is possible, and in Christ, we are offered the most valuable gift of all. All that we must do is empty our hands to reach the gift. All that we must do is make room in our lives to accept this present. All that we must do, is give our all to God, so God can give the All to us, all the love, all the grace, and all the possibilities. Amen.
Notes:
(1) See http://preachingpeace.org for 10-12-03 Sunday in the lectionary cycle.
(2) Prewer, Bruce. http://www.alphalink.com.au/~nigel/doc/20031012.htm
(3) http://www.rockies.net/%7Espirit/sermons/b-or28su.php Ibid.