13 Oct SUNDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2024
To me, today’s gospel reading is one of the scariest in the entire New Testament. Scary because the message seems to be that whatever we do in an attempt to please God will not be enough. And I also happen to loath “all-or-nothing” scenarios. You must sell what you have, give the proceeds to the poor and follow me.
Like the story of the Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister, the wise octopus, who in this case is named Jesus, has given his best and most sage advice. “Give one of your beautiful shiny fish scales to every fish who doesn’t have one or who desires to receive one from you. Only then you will discover the true meaning of friendship and find the secret to happiness.”
The only way to become acceptable is to deny yourself, to humble yourself to the point where you own nothing, give everything that you have away, and follow Jesus. This is how Dietrich Boenhoffer defined discipleship, too.
So when a devout man who claims to have obeyed God’s commandments since the time of his youth and who had since been lucky enough to prosper as an adult knelt before Jesus and asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” My first question is, “Does this guy ask because he hopes that he’s done enough and is seeking affirmation, or does he ask because he fears that his efforts up to this point might actually be lacking?”
In either case, it seems fair to say that his intentions are pure. Like the rainbow fish, he knows that he possesses many objects of beauty he may rightly consider his own. He feels lucky and unlucky at the same time because he senses that something’s missing in his life. He fears that he is set apart for the wrong reasons, that he’s being left out or left behind, that he may not be invited to the party where others are sure to arrive.
It does appear that the man and the rainbow fish want an honest answer from the octopus teacher, Jesus. They sincerely desire and perhaps need to know what they must do to inherit eternal life, to be accepted, get a passing grade or better yet, an “A”. In any case, they wish to know, “What must I do to get promoted into heaven, to be included and counted among those whom you yourself will recognize as followers?”
Poor guy. The first thing Jesus the teacher does is grab his marking pen. Right off the bat, Jesus circles the fact that the guy has called Jesus good. He immediately deducts a few points off and directs the student to recall that only God alone may be referred to as such. “Remember the lecture given during the first week of class entitled, “Only God is good,” Jesus reminds him.
Then Jesus addresses the next portion of the test, saying, “Yes. I see here that you know the commandments,” putting a check mark beside each of the six which have to do with how humans ought to treat each other. The guy feels pretty good after acing that part. “Yes. I’ve followed the commandments you’ve pointed out, since my youth,” he says.
But then the man is taken by surprise. He didn’t realize that there was more to the test. He never thought to flip over the first page to see if there was a back side or perhaps he did wonder if he had missed something more because what had been required thus far seemed doable so perhaps that’s exactly why he asked Jesus, “What more must I do to excel and inherit eternal life?”
There’s no way he could have anticipated what came next. “Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” I don’t know about you, but I am terrified at the thought of getting rid of all that I own and giving all the proceeds away. It’s quite a lot for some folks to give things away and not receive a tax deduction.
I’ve noticed that downsizing to the extreme is one of the hardest stages of life. And dying is even harder when we are forced to realize that we can’t take anything with us and as the psalmist says, “Even our thoughts will cease to exist.” No wonder the poor guy with many possessions was shocked and went away grieving. Lord, have mercy. Is that what’s really required of us in order for us to gain eternal life and enter heaven?
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.” Here is the key!!! No one can be saved by anything they do or fail to do. Only God is capable of giving all and being satisfied with nothing. Even the rainbow fish was allowed to keep one shining glittery scale after giving away the rest in order to understand the meaning of friendship and discover the secret of true happiness.
Peter reminds Jesus that his disciples have already taken the advice given to the wealthy man literally, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus assures him by saying, “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.”
What do those words mean? That whatever we give up for Jesus’ sake and for the sake of the good news will be restored to us a hundredfold on earth? Are we to expect that with the restoration of houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields will come persecutions?
Must we come to understand (like the devout adult who had prospered) that in the case of eternal life, the order of our priorities and indeed what gives us status in this world must be flipped on their heads in ways we are completely unlikely to either accept or expect? Yes. That’s it. That’s why I find today’s gospel reading so terrifying.
The order of our priorities and indeed what gives us status in this world must be flipped on their heads in ways that we are completely unlikely to either accept or expect. What are your priorities? What is it that gives you status?
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t wish to give up wealth or stature to any degree. My priorities at the moment are fairly selfish. I’m focused on having enough money to live on once Steve and I both retire. And I’d like to help my children succeed by facilitating the inheritance of generational wealth.
In fact, Steve and I are just now experiencing the feeling of having enough and being people of status who are looked up to for the first time in our lives. We like having things to call our own: a home and car, enough food to eat, some savings in the bank, and dreams of leisure in the future. We went through a time of leaving house and family for the sake of the gospel and we’re feeling the blessings of those things now returning.
So what might come next? Persecution? Being deprived and doing without or suffering in some other way? Perhaps. But where is the gospel message for those like the wealthy gentleman who feel they can do no more but turn away and leave feeling grief-stricken? Or for those who must face not having choices anymore, who must leave everything behind in order to survive or do what comes next which might include death?
For the gospel message of today’s reading, let’s return to the one liner Jesus delivers at the center of his dialogue with those closest to him and see it as the heart of the matter. “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’”
Here are today’s take home lessons according to Jesus, the teacher:
- It’s important that we understand what and who is good, to acknowledge God as being uniquely above and beyond any high standards we hold.
- It’s important to know and to follow God’s commandments.
- It’s important not to accumulate more than we need.
- We ought not ignore those who don’t have what they need.
- We should help them enjoy the same things that we enjoy.
- We can’t do anything to inherit eternal life.
Let us pray. Lord, help us untangle any confusion, pride or ambition regarding our status or that of our families. Guide our values and what we are putting into place as priorities. We don’t wish to disappoint you or be disappointed at not fulfilling your desires for us or at having our desires fulfilled. Please continue to teach and advise us while providing whatever is needed. Following you, we pray these things in your holy name. Amen.