[Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Hebr. 4:12-16; Mk. 10:17-31]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ? Amen.
A man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him,
“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mk. 10:17b)
What must I do to inherit/ get/ obtain eternal life?
The anonymous man wanted to know how he could insure his place in the afterlife, and he was asking Jesus how he himself could make sure he would get there.
Jesus -as so often is the case- answers the question with a question,
‘What have you been doing so far to inherit eternal life? What about the Ten Commandments?’
‘Check, I’ve kept those since my youth.’ is the reply, with a hint of pride.
We’ll have to take the man’s word for it.
‘How about completely reorienting yourself, your thinking, your habits and your attitudes?’ Jesus suggests to him. ‘How about leaving your comfort zone, giving up in this case financial security and follow me?
Sell everything that you have, give it to those in need, and follow me.’
Shock.
Disappointment.
That wasn’t the answer the man had been hoping for.
It’s likely he was used to getting what he wants more easily.
He had knelt before Jesus, a sign of humility, which of itself was already a big deal because if you’re rich you don’t have to kneel before others, now do you.
He wanted to know what he could do to inherit eternal life, and perhaps he had thought that his wealth would be an important tool in getting his way.
And why not, aren’t material riches supposed to be a sign of God’s favour, of his blessing?
Some Christian groups still pander these teachings in the so-called Prosperity Gospel: the more you give to God, the more richly he will bless you. The only one seemingly getting blessed there is the preacher’s bank account.
Instead, Jesus asks our petitioner of today to leave his money to the side, what’s more, he wants him to get rid of it altogether.
Jesus is NOT saying that we should buy our way into heaven!
This is what we mean when we say that good works don’t save.
What Jesus is saying here is,
‘Look, I’m standing in front of you, follow me, not on Instagram or Twitter or Facebook, no, follow me and I will teach you and show you a new way of living, a newer fuller way of being human.’
Follow me, literally change direction.
‘Put your faith, your trust in something else than money or social status.
Let go of anything that distracts you, anything that burdens you, that has you in its hold. Let go of anything which creates a false sense of fulfilment, lulling you into a false sense of security, but which in truth is a mirage, a false idol taking up your time and demanding your loyalty while all the time draining your energy and ultimately disappointing you and betraying you.’
‘I’ve come to set you free from all that’ Jesus says, ‘Free to then give to the pour, to invest in other things than the things you were taught or may think that are important.’
Justification by grace through faith because of Christ alone.
It was the slogan of the Reformation, and it’s still its most vital contribution to the whole Christian Church today.
The good works will follow, God’s very confident about that, confident we’ll try and do our best and live in response to this great gift of free salvation.
And should we happen to be lazy or complacent about the tasks the Lord asks of us, we can rest assure he’ll let us know of his dissatisfaction, he’ll let us know if he’s unhappy. That’s just good parenting.
Parents very often have to reprimand their children, teach them, debate with them.
Parents also are supposed to encourage their children, allow for their children to make mistakes, and put them back on track.
Parents are there to stimulate their children to explore their gifts, their abilities.
And what about the children so to speak, the disciples?
“For God nothing is impossible.”, Jesus reassures them, because he has them worried with all this talk of camels and needles.
Peter voices their concerns.
They had made huge changes in their lives, radically changed direction, and if the rich man won’t inherit the Kingdom, then how do they -poor fishermen among others- stand any chance at all? What has it all been for?
‘You’ve all dug deep,’ Jesus tells them, ‘and you’ll have to dig deeper still.
But for God nothing is impossible. God will guide you to reach this potential. You may not think it, or you may not grasp it now, but the many who reckon they rightly should be first will be last, and the many who feel they don’t have what it takes will be first.’
The rich man and the camel, it’s a pity that Jesus didn’t elaborate on the theme, told a complete parable about it.
That would’ve been a great story.
A great story with a great outcome no doubt, about God opening up all possibilities for those who feel limited or held back by their circumstances or by the interference of others.
A great story about how those who feel self-important are told to take a step back and change direction. After all, it’s easier for the camel to pass through the eye of the needle, but not impossible, there’s still hope, there’s always hope.
It’s not up to us what we’ll have to do in order to inherit eternal life.
Jesus came to bring heaven down to earth, to connect eternity to the present.
If life’s eternal, then it includes the here and now.
The inheritance is ours.
Keep the Commandments, give to the poor, do good works, because when we hear Jesus’ call, we change, we change directions. God’s call changes us.
No more disappointment, no more being greatly astounded, no more anxiety if you will.
‘Follow me,’ Jesus says to all of us here today ‘and together we’ll enter the Kingdom of God.’
And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep you hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.