Reading: Mark 10:17-31 Proper 23B
By The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt,
St. Jude's Episcopal Church, Cupertino CA 10/15/00
Jesus said to his disciples: "With God, all things are possible." (Mk.) I don't know about you, but from time to time, when I am in the car and scanning through the radio stations, I sometimes stop and listen to Dr. Laura. Dr. Laura is a pseudo-therapist who gives free advice to those who are struggling in relationships. While I do not always agree with Dr. Laura, I can pretty much predict what advice she will dish out. For instance, if a young woman calls about struggling in making a decision whether to marry an immature or irresponsible boyfriend, Dr. Laura will tell the woman to "dump him." Usually the woman responds with, "but you don't understand the whole situation," at which point Dr. Laura says, "dump him." If a man who is divorced calls up Dr. Laura for advice on whether to move to another part of the country to take a great job, she will ask him where his children live. If they live locally, Dr. Laura will tell him not to move and to be an integral part of their upbringing." Usually the man responds with, "but you don't understand the whole situation." At this point, Dr. Laura will say, "don't move; take care of your kids." Today's gospel story reminds me of a typical encounter with Dr. Laura. Let's take a closer look.
A wealthy man runs up to Jesus to ask him some religious advice. He must have been following Jesus around and heard him speak such that he took the time to seek after Jesus' wisdom. Afterall, he could have gone to the local rabbi and get his questions answered. But instead, he calls up Dr. Jesus. Now if you know anything about Jesus, he has a lot of compassion for the poor. He is pretty clear on issues of stewardship and regularly denounces hard-heartedness, selfishness, stinginess, and hypocrisy. So it is pretty predictable that Jesus will be very direct with those who display any of these characteristics. And sure enough, he does.
The rich man asks Jesus, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" At first glance, this might seem like an odd question for a Jew to ask. After all, Judaism is focused on life in this world, not in the next world. But if we were to explore the Greek word "eternal life" (aiwnion zwan), we would have to expand our notion of what eternal life really is. Eternal life comes from the word meaning 'vital force'. In other words, eternal life is a life with God. We know that life with God does not end in the physical realm and so eternal life also has a connotation of eternity. So the rich man is asking Jesus, 'what must I do to experience a life with God?' Jesus sizes him up, evaluates what the barrier is that stops this man from experiencing God, and says, "Sell what you have. Give it to the poor. And follow me." Now if that isn't a "Dr. Laurism", then I don't know what is. We don't know whether the man responded with a "but you don't understand". However, we do know that he did not take the advice and as a result, went away sad.
How a person interprets and reacts to this gospel story has a lot to do with one's socio-economic position in life. If one is rich, it could be a painful story. Rich folks are apt to interpret this story as a single event happening to a particular person, with no widespread implications to Christians in general. To those who are poor or to those who freely share their possessions with the poor, it is a hopeful story; a story which encourages all Christians to be very generous and compassionate. Both interpretations are possible. But what I would like to focus on today is the concept of eternal life and what Jesus would advise us to do, both individually and as a congregation, to fully experience a life with God. Let's go back to the rich man in today's story.
The rich man claimed that he was already obeying the commandments. If he truly loved his neighbor and loved God, it might have been puzzling to Jesus, why this man was not already experiencing God in his life. However, knowing about the economics of the surrounding region, Jesus quickly identified the core of the issue. Society in 1st century Palestine was a limited goods society. One person's wealth meant poverty for others. A person could only acquire wealth by inheritance, fraud, or by taking advantage of someone else's 'tough times.' Not too different from buying up all the houses in a neighborhood during an economic depression, leaving many homeless. Sure it may be legal, but does it reflect God's will? Since this man was not experiencing God in spite of following the letter of the commandments, Jesus pointed to the one thing that was out of balance in his life: his obsession with wealth. I don't think it is unusual for a person who has accumulated great wealth to sit down one day amongst all the stuff and ask: "Isn't there more to life than this? Why do I still feel empty inside?" This was the plight of the rich, young, man.
Now let's take this gospel one step further. What is your plight in life? What are the barriers in your life that prevent you from fully experiencing a life with God? Let's pause for a minute of silence and ask God, "What must I do to inherit eternal life? What must I do to fully experience God's presence in my life?"
Fifteen years ago, I asked this very question at the depth of my being. On the outside, it looked as if my life was going well. I had a good job, dear friends, a nice place to live, and I was about to receive a graduate degree. But on the inside, something was missing. I was not experiencing real joy or peace in my life. I didn't make decisions based on money, so wealth wasn't my issue. But I still carried around old grudges and was judgmental. At times, I felt as if life forces were out of my control and I was simply a pawn in a cosmic joke. Since Jesus wasn't walking by my neighborhood so that I could ask him what I needed to do to inherit eternal life, I had to put aside some valuable time for retreats, prayer, therapy, and life enhancing seminars in order to hear the answer. The answer finally came. "You must live in the present moment. You must work through a process of forgiveness and let go of the past. Then you will feel empowered to share your gifts freely for a new future." So I ask you again, "What do you need to do to inherit eternal life?"
Yesterday, the vestry and I met for a planning session to set the goals for this parish for 2001. Let me tell you, that you have a great group of caring folks who represent you on the vestry. At the core of our discussion was a desire to set goals such that the whole congregation might experience God more fully. We did a bible study on Joshua (1:1-11) and the Hebrew people who had wandered through the desert for 40 years. At this point in the story, they were now standing at the edge of the Jordan River ready to cross. Joshua gave his final marching orders: 1) Be Strong. 2) Be Courageous. 3) Be Faithful. As the vestry members spoke about their own fears in leading this congregation into the next stage of growth, goals were set to offer more opportunities for prayer and spiritual development. If we as a congregation deepen in our spiritual maturity, we will naturally grow as a congregation. This is because a person with deep faith becomes a mature Christian. A sign of maturity is reproduction. When any animal or organism becomes mature, it means that it can reproduce.
To experience God more fully, goals were set to enhance our worship and music program. To experience God more fully, goals were set to improve our facilities, especially for our outreach programs to the Senior Day Care Center and the Rotating Homeless Shelter. To experience God more fully, goals were set to offer opportunities to discern our natural gifts, to develop leadership, and to enhance ministries. To experience God more fully, we as a congregation must believe that "with God, all things are possible."
What must you do to inherit eternal life? What must St. Jude's do to inherit eternal life? The answer will come when we are willing to get on our knees and humble ourselves before Almighty God. Let us not follow the rich man and go away sad.