Proper 23B 2015 - Amos 5:6-7, 10-15; Ps. 90:12-17; Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31
If you like statistics, you may find it interesting that, according to one analysis, of the 38 parables in the New Testament, almost half pertain to possessions and giving. You may be astonished to know that there are over 2100 verses on the subject of possessions and giving, far more than the 371 on prayer and many more than the 272 verses about believing in Jesus. And in Mark’s gospel, Jesus’ longest sustained discussion of any one issue is, you guessed it, about wealth—permeated with language of inheritance, money, poverty, treasure, possessions, wealth, land, precious goods and relationships.
Far more than right belief Jesus cares about the right use of our wealth and like the rich man, most of us would rather ignore this uncomfortable topic than pursue the implications of it for our lives. Somehow possessions have a way of possessing us and few things are harder to overcome than our preoccupation with wealth and material possessions. We are obsessed with how much money we have and nothing shakes us as much as the prospects of the stock market crashing, home foreclosure, losing our IRA’s, or having to hand over our savings—especially if we think hardship will follow. Discussion how much we put in the offering plate and whether or not we tithe are taboo topics.
We are not unlike the rich man in today’s gospel. The story begins with a man who runs out and kneels before Jesus, asking him the critical question, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” I think that unlike the Pharisees from last week who come to Jesus to test him, this man is sincere. He really wants to discover the answer to his question and believes Jesus has the answer—which he does, just not the one the man expects to hear.
For starters, Jesus is clear that God alone is good and God is the source of all that is good. Jesus then responds to the man’s question by reviewing some of the Ten Commandments—the ones regarding human relationships. But also adding “do not defraud” which is not one of the ten but is related to the probable actions a wealthy person might commit in order to maintain or increase his wealth through injustice and oppression. In response the rich man declares he has kept all these commandments.
It’s at this point in the story I wish I could see their faces—the man’s sincerity and Jesus’ love—for the rich man is the only person whom Mark explicitly tells us that Jesus loved. So it is in this moment between the two of them that Jesus presses the man into a deeper understanding of commitment by telling him, lovingly, that he lacks one thing—selling what he owns and giving to the poor. The teaching to be learned is that following Jesus, requires sacrifice, self-denial and sharing. And that by selling and giving away his wealth, the rich man will receive treasure in heaven.
What Jesus is asking is too much for the man, who walks away dismayed and grieving. Christian tradition assumes the rich man went away sorrowful because he was unwilling to sell his possessions and give his money to the poor. Another possibility, which I don’t adhere to, is that he went away sorrowful precisely because he had decided to sell what he owned and follow Jesus and the resulting emotional letting go of his possessions was painful for him.
I am one who holds out hope for the man, wanting to believe he leaves this encounter with Jesus knowing what he has to do but not yet ready for that deeper level of faithful commitment. I say this because I am this man and would venture to say we all are. Compared to the rest of the world, being North Americans we are wealthy. Compared to the rest of the world, we are wealthy not only in what we own but in the freedom to make choices about how and where to spend our money. For example, have you ever had the opportunity to choose:
• Where to live
• How to earn a living
• Where your children will go to school
• What you wear
• Whether you will eat today
• Where you will eat today
• Where you will sleep tonight
• Whether you will buy medicines prescribed for you or your family
• Whether you will save money and how much you will save
• Where you will go on vacation
• How you will make your home more beautiful or more comfortable
• Whether you will repair what is broken in your home
• Whether you will own a car
• What you will do with your inheritance
Most people in the world do not get to make these choices and with our wealth it is problematic to distinguish necessities and luxuries. But in a world where the diets of pets in wealthy households are significantly better than the diets of many children in poor households, something is terribly wrong. Ordinary middle-class people in the United States can easily spend more money on a single meal in a moderately upscale restaurant than the majority of the people in the world spend in a week to feed their families. Can you imagine what would Jesus say to the rich man today who wears a $10,000 designer watch while there are so many in the world who have no coat to protect them from the bitter cold?
Neighborhoods that are safe, beautiful, convenient and private rarely define neighborhoods for the poor. Health and life insurance, savings and investments, and job security are too often available only to those who are well off, wealthy—like us. As wealthy as we are, we would be hard pressed to say that our affluence is not a barrier—a barrier to loving God and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves.
But I do believe there is a side of us, like the rich man, that wants to respond to Jesus’ invitation. I think it grieves many of us that we are unable to let go of our wealth. We know we are too attached to our possessions, addicted to accumulating more and more and more. We have all winced seeing the faces and bellies of impoverished children and squalor that turns our stomach knowing people are living in it. We squirm reading about the injustice of disproportionate wealth.
This story in Mark’s gospel speaks to the heart of the matter. It speaks of anxiety, of yearning, of love, of invitation, and then, finally, the difficulty of letting go. We can’t possibly leave here this morning without some spiritual struggle as we hear these extreme demands, extreme judgement and extreme promises portrayed in this story.
And so back to that moment in the story when Jesus looking at the man, loves him. Loving the man as he does, Jesus must tell him the hard truth that his wealth is standing in his way. Paradoxically the man’s abundance has created a lack, a deficit, an emptiness. He is being lulled into self-sufficiency of his possessions or he wouldn’t have asked the question. The man knows it and Jesus knows it. Being captive to his wealth the rich man is settling for less. So Jesus invites the rich man, as an act of love, to unload his burden, to give away his wealth, to free himself from that which is holding him back from the infinite joy God has to offer.
This truth about wealth is hard to hear. The man comes so close. He wants to say yes but can’t quite take the leap. Truth is none of us can take this leap alone. It is only by God’s grace we are able to let go of our wealth. It is only with God’s help we are able to open our hands and hearts to the ways God wants to use our wealth for good and not selfish gain. To tithe, sell what you own, give to the poor? “Impossible”, you say? Oh my friends, for God, all things are possible!
Sermon sources: commentary in Feasting on the Gospels by Scott Bader-Saye, Bridgett A. Green, John Stendahl; pp. 128-131 in Say To This Mountain by Ched Myers, et. al. commentary in Preaching the Gospel of Mark by Dawn Wilhelm pp. 176-182