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; Honour 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.
- Mark 10:17-22
None of us can possibly be good enough to earn our way into God’s grace and favor. That is the point of this story, I think, the one story that makes wealthy Christians squirm more than any other. (Jesus trots out the trouble with the camel going through the eye of the needle just a couple of verses later, to make sure we get the point). It seems hopeless that this good man, who follows the law so faithfully, falls so short. Jesus has to “take everything” in order for him to be saved. How unfair.
But we miss the point Jesus makes at the beginning:No one, not even me, is good. Only God is good. I am reminded of one of The Reverend Andy Thayer’s favorite declarations from the pulpit: “There is nothing you can do that will make God love you any more… and there is nothing you can do that will make God love you any less.” Jesus always meets us where we are in our particular sinfulness, and where we are (in a variety of ways) is in a terrible state of separation from our Source. Sins don’t hurt God's feelings; sins are just the things that keep us separated from the reunion that God and her children so desperately desire. “This is the way to God”, Jesus tells the man, not because it makes you good but because it is your path. And we easily miss that Jesus does not actually tell him to immediately sell everything he owns and become destitute. He tells him to make a significant act of charity, knowing that once he gets a taste of true giving (not just a token, but the kind of giving that actually costs), he won’t want to stop. And then he can follow.
Sometimes I think of God like a campfire glowing deep in the woods and the work of my life is to find my way there. Somehow, if I could find a way to the light I now dimly see through the trees, I would be warm and safe forever. But the way is long and we are all lost in our own ways in our own forests. We only differ in the sorts of barriers we build, or the trees that happen to fall across our trails, obstacles that only God can break down - if we ask. Those of us who are blocked by a certain (very leafy and green) tree fallen across our trail must see that giving back what God first gave to us is not transactional. It is not only (or even mainly) about helping a poorer person in need, or keeping the lights on in church, though these are lovely side benefits. It is nothing less than the giver’s path to God, the only way for him to thread the needle. Because Jesus knows that the fallen tree across the path of a wealthy person’s trail to God is formidable and it is made of money. Jesus loved this man, and pointed the way around his tree. Instead of turning back in despair, all he really needed to do was to make a start.
Musical Reflection - Good to Me - Porter's Gate
Lord God, help me to remember that nothing I possess is truly mine, that all things start and end with you. Make me generous with those treasures you entrust to me for a season, and bring us all home together in your good time. By the love of Christ, Amen.
Login To Leave Comment