Running Out of Excuses
Rev. Ron Hughes
Job 23: 1-9, 16-17 // Hebrews 4: 12-16 // Mark 10: 17-31
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God.
Amen
We all know that, as Christians, we are called to be disciples of Christ, to take in his teaching,
obey his commands and follow his lead. That is an easy fact to speak, but it is not always, I
might even say, not often, an easy thing to do.
Today’s Gospel reading, about how hard it is for a rich person to enter the Kingdom, is one of
those cases where any one of us, all of us, might have, will have, a hard time hearing Christ’s
message and putting it into practice. Many have tried to soften the message, to make it more
palatable and easier to align with the “Good News” Jesus is supposed to be bringing. Here are
a few examples of such attempts to make the text less harsh that I discovered while trying to
find my own way to taking hold of a burning-hot handle.
1) Jesus, with his amazing clairvoyance, knew that the rich young man didn’t actually keep
the law as perfectly as he claimed, so the suggestion that he give up his possessions was just a
way of calling his bluff.
2) Nobody can keep the law so perfectly, so nobody can give up everything either; it’s just a
rhetorical device to call our bluff, and once we grasp that, we’re off the hook.
3) It was a command to this particular man, because Jesus doubted his sincerity. The mans
act of turning away, proved Jesus right.
4) It was a real command, but it applies only to the rich. We all know that there are people
richer than us, so it doesn’t necessarily apply to us.
5) God gives us a way out in the end, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all
things are possible.” So, we really don’t need to worry about it.
And just one more…centuries ago, there was a man who claimed that there was a small gate
in the walls of Jerusalem, used to allow access when outside threats wouldn’t allow for the
main gates to be left open. This gate was said to be so small that a camel had to have its
burden removed, carried through separately and reloaded once inside. Thus, the suggestion
that the rich man give up all his wealth was just temporary; he could reload his treasure
chest after he followed Jesus. (Jesus does speak of gaining more, later).
The only problem here is that there is no reference to any such gate existing anywhere in 5 historical records.
There are many more, I just picked up the commonly heard ones. But they are all just as
easily challenged as these if we stick to the information given in Mark’s telling of the story,
which we must do, because anything else added to it is fallible speculation.
We did not hear that Jesus saw into the man’s soul which gave him knowledge we weren’t
given. Jesus didn’t call him a liar so he could have done well at keeping the law.
Jesus did say “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” so
it wasn’t specific to this man.
Yes, we all know people wealthier than us, but then we know people poorer, too, so where is
that line drawn (if it exists at all)? Jesus doesn’t tell us. And, as far as all things being possible for God, that circles back to the man’s first question “what do I have to do…” and Jesus’ response, “You lack one thing…” Yes, all things are possible for God, but we are still participants in bringing the Kingdom to fullness, and in our own
salvation.
So where is the softer side of this story? Where can we find the warm, comforting, assurances
we so desire in our relationship with God and Christ? Where is the grace that gets us off the
hook of doing hard work and making hard choices for the sake of the Kingdom?
The uncomfortable truth is, there isn’t a way to soften this story. And any attempt to do so is
a distraction from Jesus’ message. It is hard to hear, but like so many of Jesus’ words, it isn’t
to be explained in a way to make it compatible with what we want the “Good News” to be,
rather, it is meant to be experienced in the context of the Good News of the coming Kingdom
of God.
As I said in the beginning of today’s message, we are called to be disciples of Christ, to take in
his teaching, obey his commands and follow his lead. And that isn’t always easy. But who
would we be, or what would we be, if we simply remain snuggled into the comforting
assurances of the Good News if we aren’t willing to accept the challenges that come with it?
What are we if we gladly receive the hundredfold return on our sacrifices if we’re not also
willing to have “fields with persecutions”?
The story is a wake-up call, a call to be attentive to the demands of discipleship along with
the rewards; to keep our focus on the new ways of living in a community called the Kingdom
of God; and to do so fearlessly, holding on to the assurance that, “for God all things are
possible.”
Amen