“Questions Welcome: 
Why Do We Give?”

Oh my!  What a challenge our scripture passage gives us this week: “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give your money to the poor…than come, follow me.” What is Jesus asking the wealthy man to do?  What is Jesus asking us to do?  Jesus says that if the man wants to enter the Kingdom of God, he must sell or give away everything.  Really? Jesus believes the man needs to sell all of his earthly possessions? It is my natural instinct to want to tone down what Jesus is asking of the man. I want to make what Jesus asks to be a little more comfortable, a little less demanding.

William Willimon, a renowned theologian, said: “Of course, if I had been Jesus that day, that’s not what I would have said.  I might have asked the well-heeled young man for an endowed fund for student scholarships, a bigger pledge for the church budget, not everything.” 

Now there are a few important things to get straight here. This man is a good guy.  He is asking how to be faithful.  I kind of want to defend him.  It feels like Jesus’ response is harsh.  Does the well-intentioned man really deserve that?  Is there some middle way here?  Part of me wants to protect him, but then I realize that also I want to protect myself.  Because if Jesus asks a devout man to give up everything.  What do I have to give up?

The conversational exchange between them starts off well enough with sincerity and humility. The man approaches Jesus on his knees and he calls Jesus- Good Teacher- acknowledging that he has something to learn.  He asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus then throws him an unexpected curve ball: “Go, sell what you own, and give your money to the poor…then come, follow me.”  I don’t know about you, I didn’t see that one coming!

Jesus’ challenge is not only difficult to hear, but also perplexing. During this time and place in history, wealthy people were celebrated. 

Their contributions and gifts to the community supported the temple rituals and practice.  It was assumed that God favored the wealthy.  Many thought that material wealth meant spiritual virtue.  Jesus’ words would have been shocking to hear during those days.  Not only did he ask man to give up everything, but he turned the man’s understanding of how his world worked upside down.           

And Jesus doesn’t end there!  It is not the only scandalous thing that he says.  When the disappointed man leaves, Jesus tells the disciples that it is hard for those with wealth to enter into the Kingdom of God.  In fact, he says that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of the needle.  What an absurd idea!  I think Frederick Beuchner captures the ridiculousness well: “Nelson Rockefeller [attempting] to pass through the night deposit slot of the Chase Manhattan Bank would seem to me a reasonable modern equivalent.”

Jesus utilizes the absurdity of his statement to emphasize his point that it is impossible to enter into the Kingdom of God alone.  Jesus’ comments here are not easily heard, perhaps especially by us.  In light of the challenge that Jesus provides, let’s remember that Jesus loves the rich man.  The intention of what the man said was not sinful and he did not mean to offend.  As a follower of Jewish law, the man really did want to know what he had to do.

Jesus is gutsy and loving to name the man’s weakness. I love what William Willimon had to say about this: “Jesus spoke an unpleasant word to the rich man because he loved him.  I fear that I…in the name of love have made people’s lives a little less miserable rather than a lot more redeemed.”  Jesus uses these sharp words out of love because he wants to help this man see things in a new way. 

Jesus wants to help the man and us to see that what he thinks is good in his life, in fact, is keeping him separated from God.

The man did not want to let go of his wealth because it made him feel secure and self-dependent. To clarify, what I see as holding the man back is in this story is not his wealth it, but his inability to let go of it. My father likes to tell the story of the man who bragged about being self-made until an exasperated friend finally said, “Well that relieves the Lord of a terrific responsibility.”  For this man of this story, the thing separating him from God is his dependence upon his privilege for a feeling of self-worth. 

My challenge the congregation today is: How we might relate to this story?  For some, we might intimately relate to the man. We feel more admirable than our neighbors because we have a flashy sports car or a large house.  For others, we might relate to the man in a less obvious way.  We might be fixated on helping our children be successful.  We want our children to pursue every opportunity.  However if we are so busy chasing every opportunity for the future, little time is left for family.  And some of us have no choice, but to rely on God because we have had everything taken away or nothing in the first place.

This passage prompted me to think about my own relationship with wealth and privilege. This is not a parallel, but here is one way that I relate to this story.  I traveled to far away corners of the world, including Ecuador, South Africa, and Bangladesh.  I went to these places to provide assistance to those less fortunate than me.  These opportunities were moments of great growth and learning for me.  The rich man is a good person trying to do the right thing, a person of privilege wanting help others. I was going to these places wanting to help people, and yet, ironically, I was able to do that only because I was privileged.

Along our dependence upon “these things” can come the dangerous assumption that one does not need God or others people. We begin to think that we earned what we have without the help of God or others.  We don’t reflect upon the gifts that we have been given.  Can you honestly tell me of something you received in your life that did not involve the help of someone else? Wealth might feel like freedom, but it actually can end up limiting us because we are left with the illusion of self-sufficiency. If we have the illusion of self-sufficiency, then we think that we do not need God or others.

Jesus gives us the invitation to break away from our dependence upon these things, but we have to be courageous to receive his extended hand. Paul J. Wadell astutely observes that: “The unsettling upshot from this Gospel passage is that, yes, it may indeed be hard to enter the Kingdom of God, but the source of difficulty comes not from Jesus, but from us.”  It is the wealthy man that chooses not to accept the Kingdom of God, not Jesus who chooses for him not to.       

The difficult question is unavoidable: Is Jesus instructing us to give away all of our wealth?  I don’t think so.  He is asking us to let go of those earthly things that give us the illusion that we can make it on our own.   Joining the Kingdom of God is about the transformation in character that can happen when we make room for God instead because, “…for God, all things are possible.”

Taking this first step, any first step, can be difficult and feel risky, especially when we are wadding into the unknown.  But the commitment to take the second step, third step, and fourth step are even more difficult and important.  We love to praise first steps.  For instance, there is an old proverb, “The longest journey begins with a first step.”  And of course that is true. But where are the proverbs and words of praise for second steps and third steps and fourth steps? 

Those many be even more important. 

The focus is here is not on the amount, but the change in practice and the character that happens.  It is committing a monthly pledge to the church, or regularly donating to the Yankee Fair, or annually providing offerings for Neighbors in Need.  It is not a one-time deal.  It is about making that commitment over and over.  It is about waking up every morning and dedicating your day to doing God’s work. 

It’s hard, but the good news is that Jesus does not expect us to make this commitment by ourselves.  In fact he actively discourages it.  Our transformation is only possible with God or with others who help us to recognize God’s presence. The Kingdom of God is reached in relationship because transformation is a process and based within an ongoing dialogue of commitment. 

In response to the man’s questions about eternal life, Jesus moves the focus outward.  He does not directly address the man’s question about his own salvation.  Instead Jesus redirects the conversation to his gracious behavior to others.  The man asks a question about salvation- about a spiritual matter- and he gets a response about possessions- an earthly matter. Jesus’ response is not a total non sequitur, as it may first seem.  Rather Jesus is trying to help the man see that earthly matters are spiritual matters, and visa versa.  The distance between the Kingdom of God and us may be closer than we think.  The Kingdom of God might be found among us in how our relationships challenge us to be the best versions of ourselves. 

The passage concludes with the lauded line: “But may those who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”  We all fall short of entering into the Kingdom of God.  We definitely cannot get there on our own because we need each other to discern God’s presence and to transform into the people we are called to be.  This may be muddled theology, but maybe Jesus just is telling us to that how we enter does not matter.  We can enter into the Kingdom in no particular order and all together at once. Clearly we are not expected to enter the Kingdom of God single file.  In fact, we cannot.

 

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Mark 10: 17-31: The Rich Man

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?’ ¹⁸Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. ¹⁹You 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.” ’ ²⁰He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ ²¹Jesus, 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.’ ²²When 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!’ ²⁴And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵It 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.’ ²⁶They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ ²⁷Jesus 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.’ ²⁹Jesus 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, ³⁰who 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. ³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’