Sermon given on Mark 10:17-31 at St. Matthew’s Parish October 11, 2009
Anyone who knows me knows that I love Scripture. I love reading
it. I love listening to it. When I prepare a sermon I bathe in it,
going deeper and deeper into its many layers of meaning.
As a member of the clergy I follow the Daily Office with prayers
three times a day. These prayers include daily readings from
Scripture. While I have been known to miss an office or two, they
are an important part of my life.
Often, when I am troubled or concerned about something, there, in
one of the reading of the day, is my answer. Through Scripture,
God speaks to us.
But his message is not always clear. Sometimes I have to really
work, and pray, to understand what God is saying to me. That was
certainly the case with today’s gospel reading.
I have always struggled with the idea that, “It is easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into
the kingdom of God.”
A few years ago I was on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and, while
in the walled city of Jerusalem, I was taken to the Gate to
Damascus.
There I was shown the eye of the needle. It was a small opening
along the bottom of the gate to allow travelers to enter the city at
night after the gates were locked.
You can imagine my delight when I realized that I could actually
pull a camel through that opening. If I unloaded my “baggage”
first, humbled my camel and myself, we could both move through
the eye of the needle on our knees.
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It would mean a little work. It would mean a little risk…after all
some one on the other side could take my treasure and block my
entrance, but I could do it. I could enter the eye of the needle; I
could enter the Kingdom of God WITH my modest portfolio.
Then I heard another interpretation of this passage: the eye of the
needle was indeed the sewing needle. Apparently the Aramaic
word for camel was very close to the word for “cable” or “rope.”
That posed a bigger challenge. I was no longer within my comfort
zone.
What is God telling us in this passage? Are we really called to give
up our wealth to follow Jesus?
Scripture gives us mixed messages on wealth. Some of our
Christian brothers and sisters use Scripture “bites” to debate their
position on an issue. Misguidedly I followed that trail and came up
with some comforting passages like John 10:10, “I have come that
they may have life, and that they have it more abundantly.” Surely,
abundant life includes financial peace of mind. But a little voice
whispered, “Go deeper, Brian, go deeper.”
So I tried to understand the message in the context of when it was
written. Jesus’ disciples believed that wealth and prosperity were
signs of God’s blessings. That’s why they were troubled by Jesus’
words and responded with the question, “then who can be saved” if
not those blessed by God?” That’s what I love about the disciples:
they were so human, so thick!
This passage has had its ups and down throughout the history of
the church. The earliest followers of Jesus took Scripture literally.
They lived in expectation of his return, and given the persecution
of the Christians that took place at that time, they went
underground and lived in a communal society, pooling their
resources. They believed that it would be a short-term proposition
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as they expected Jesus to return during their lives. Still, there were
patrons who supported them with places to meet and other forms
of material backing.
By the forth century Constantine was in power. Christians were no
longer persecuted--they went mainstream. To counter this
development, a monastic movement arose and those who followed
it again took this passage literally.
From this movement came the religious vow of poverty. Many
Christians chose to take on a life of radical renunciation of
possessions and total dependence on the providence of God. But
they did not impose their ways on others in the Christian
community.
Following the reformations, a symbolic and generalized reading of
this text applied this teaching to all disciples, but they no longer
took it literally. Most interpreted its spiritual meaning to be that
we must root out of our lives anything that might hinder our
following Jesus, such as lust, pride and selfishness. So the issue is
not money. The issue is placing God first in our hearts.
At that point I began to look at the rich man in question more
closely. Initially I sympathized with him, wondering why Jesus
was so hard on him. After all, he lived a good life according to the
norms of his culture. He lived according to the Torah, as
understood at that time.
What made him different from those who chose to be disciples? He
came. He heard. He received a call, but he didn’t fully understand
the unique message that Jesus gave us.
Then the truth began to surface. I observed his arrogance: he
claimed to have kept all the commandments. Really? That selfrighteous statement sounded a lot like the Pharisees. He, like they,
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asked, “What must I do?” This question was clearly based on selfinterest rather than on a single-hearted love of God.
Then I observed that Jesus did not address the first four
commandments with him, the commandments dealing with our
relationships with God. Jesus referred only to the last six
commandments, the commandments dealing with our relationship
with others.
Through the omission of the first four commandments, Jesus made
his point, albeit subtle. While it is expected that we “do onto others
as we would have them do unto us,” the spirit of these
commandments is guided by the first four commandments and it is
summed up best in the words of Jesus.
When the Pharisees asked which commandment in the law was the
greatest, Jesus answered, “You shall the Lord your God with all
your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is
the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: You
shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:34-40)
If we place God first in our lives we see everything through a lens
of light, of love… and not through selfish concerns. That’s the key
to everlasting life and that understanding comes to us through the
grace of God.
Now, what do we do with that lesson? Well, it just happens that the
lectionary placed this reading during our Stewardship campaign.
So let’s talk money.
Scripture has quite a bit to say about money. Since money is a tool
that can be used for both good and bad, it is important that we
understand how we are to use our treasure.
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Or is it our treasure? The Book of Genesis states that God was the
creator of heaven and earth and as a result, everything belongs to
him. He gave us the raw resources we need to live and the ability
to harvest them.
The concept of tithing comes up in the Book of Leviticus (27:32).
In instructing the ancient Israelites how to manage their financial
affairs, God said, “all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of
the land or the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the
Lord.”
God allows us to keep 90% of the physical blessings he provides
us. He asks only that we return a tenth to Him in acknowledgment
that he is the source of all good things.
Initially God instructed that the tithe be given to the Levites, who
were responsible for taking care of the tabernacle (Numbers 1:5053). After receiving the tithes, they, too, were expected to tithe.
The physical priesthood of the Levites was replaced by the
spiritual priesthood of Jesus and his ministers were given the
responsibility of serving God’s people.
Early in the history of humankind, God intended for us to be our
“brother’s keeper.” Though Cain failed to understand this principle
(Genesis 4:9), God made it clear in his instructions to Israel:
“For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I command
you, saying ‘you shall open your hand wide to your brother, to
your poor and your needy, in your land.’” (Deuteronomy 15:11).
When we give to people in need, we follow the example of our
Creator, whose nature is to love others (John 3:16; 1John 4:8). God
wants us to develop the same loving, caring concern He has for all
humankind.
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Jesus tithed and encouraged his followers to “lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and
where thieves do not break in and steal (Matt. 6:20).
And so my beloved, the question is not “What must we do to
inherit everlasting life?” The question is “What can I do to be an
instrument of God’s will?
By tithing, we honor and make regular offerings to our Creator.
Our hard-earned dollars provide the resources to care for each
other and in doing so; we are able to care for others.
This is what Jesus has called us to do: to love God with all our
heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind. And to love our
neighbor as ourself. That is the key to the Kingdom of God, both
on earth and in heaven.
Amen.
Amos 5:6-7,10-15
Seek the LORD and live,
or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire,
and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it.
Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood,
and bring righteousness to the ground!
They hate the one who reproves in the gate,
and they abhor the one who speaks the truth.
Therefore because you trample on the poor
and take from them levies of grain,
you have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not live in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
For I know how many are your transgressions,
and how great are your sins-you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,
and push aside the needy in the gate.
Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time;
for it is an evil time.
Seek good and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you,
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just as you have said.
Hate evil and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
Hebrews 3:1-6
Brothers and sisters, holy partners in a heavenly calling, consider that Jesus, the apostle and high priest of
our confession, was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses also "was faithful in all God's
house." Yet Jesus is worthy of more glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house has more honor than
the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was
faithful in all God's house as a servant, to testify to the things that would be spoken later. Christ, however,
was faithful over God's house as a son, and we are his house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride
that belong to hope.
Mark 10:17-27(28-31)
As Jesus 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?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but
God alone. 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.'" He
said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth." 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." When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had
many possessions.
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!" 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! 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." They were greatly astounded and said to
one another, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but not
for God; for God all things are possible."
[Peter began to say to him, "Look, we have left everything and followed you." 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, 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.
But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."]
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