The Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost ---- 14 October 2018

Mark 10:17-31

17 As he 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?" 18 Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 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.' " 20 He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth." 21 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." 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. 23 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!" 24 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! 25 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." 26 They were greatly astounded and said to one another, "Then who can be saved?" 27 Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible." 28 Peter began to say to him, "Look, we have left everything and followed you." 29 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, 30 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. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first."

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.

·       There are people who say these words refer to a gate – an unknown gate - in the wall of Jerusalem too small for a loaded camel to walk through. The camel would have to be unloaded and made to go through on its knees. I imagine that’d be pretty hard to do. Others have said it refers to the end of a piece of rope that would be very difficult to put through the eye of a needle. Why the end of a rope would be called a “camel”, I’ll never know. I think they’re reaching, trying to make Jesus’ words more acceptable to people.

·       Well, they’re not acceptable. They’re shocking and they should be. They should make us itch and “rutch”* around in our seats. They should make us uncomfortable.

          (* "rutch" - A Pennsylvania German term meaning "squirm" like a young child in             a seat.)

·       The shock of this statement of Jesus about the eye of a needle and a camel consists of its reversal of the common religious wisdom of the time. God blesses some people and you could tell who God had blessed by how much material wealth they had. This is why the disciple were shocked and said Then who can be saved? If the rich and the obviously blessed people found it hard to enter the kingdom of God, what about all the rest of us struggling masses, the people called sinners by the righteous? Jesus’ answer upholds the primacy and power of the grace of God above all else – whether righteousness or riches: For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.

·       Now you’d think that this idea of linking wealth to salvation might’ve gone away over time in the Christian era. I don’t think it has. The preaching of what is called the Prosperity Gospel shows that this idea is alive and well in our own time. There are those who link the Gospel to wealth, saying that faith in God leads to material blessings. It isn’t a long step to get a proportional idea of how much wealth equals how much blessing. This idea implies the opposite which equates poverty with faithlessness.

·       Then who can be saved? is still the question for all of us and the answer remains for God all things are possible.

·       It is grace that saves, not morals or money or devotion. All those things are possible and can be attained through effort… and they can be faked… and corrupted. The grace of God cannot be attained, earned, faked, or corrupted. It is not ours to be messed with.

·       Jesus spoke of the perils of riches even as the young man, whom Jesus looked at with love, walked away: How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" There are those who take Jesus’ further words about all things being possible for God as a sort of “escape clause”; God can do it, even if I remain rich. This appears to be a cop-out or an excuse.

·       The same holds for the perils of poverty. Poverty is tough and not a great life choice, especially if you focus on poverty… or on the lack of wealth.

·       Something is missing here. What did Jesus say to the young man with many possessions? …sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me. If any discussion of this passage leaves that last phrase out – come, follow me – the point is missed.

·       There are poor people who have followed Jesus and the Church has often held them up as examples of Christian life… and rightly so. There are wealthy folk who have followed Jesus as well – kings, queens, nobles, High-borne people in every age, who wore their wealth lightly. They often used their wealth to fund what needs funding. If you need an example, sing the Christmas carol, “Good King Wenceslaus” to yourself; all the verses.

·       So whether you have a full wallet or only two dimes to rub together, the call is then come, follow me. It will always be come, follow me. Then with that challenge, your priorities will fall in line.

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.