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“What Will They Say
After Your Gone” A wise professor once said that a preacher should preach on the hard scriptural texts because these texts challenge the preacher and the congregation to go to new places. Today’s text is one of those hard ones. In it a rich man asks a question that we don’t often ask in our busy lives or probably consider relevant -- namely “what must [we] do to inherit eternal life?” Many of us are at best ambivalent about the existence of heaven, the Kingdom of God, a Day of Judgment or eternal life. Even when we embrace the possibility of some mysterious form of eternal life, we don’t dwell on it much -- let alone consider how we might inherit it. What about Jesus’ answer to the rich man’s question about obtaining eternal life? Jesus says give up your wealth, your possessions, and your riches, “for 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.” Even accepting a bit of hyperbole in Jesus’ camel metaphor -- his message is clear – give up your wealth, if you want to get to heaven. At least that is what the text appears to suggest. This is an uncomfortable message in today’s culture with its high standard of living and expectations of success -- often measured by the amount of and the splendor of the things one acquires. Perhaps as a result of this seeming disconnect with reality, preachers have often sought to suggest that the text isn’t about riches and wealth at all. In some ways I would like to endorse that -- it would make this an easier sermon to write and one that might not hit home for me quite so much. But in truth it is about wealth and money but not simply or solely about wealth and money. To understand this passage we need to look closely at it. The first part of the story is a dialogue between Jesus and a man who we learn is rich. This is a good man asking a serious question. He wants to know what he must do to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, which is synonymous with gaining eternal life. Quite clearly this is a man of faith -- likely a Jew and a follower of Jesus. Jesus’ initial answer to him is the one we would expect. “Live your life in accordance with the commandments” – those bedrock rules given to the Israelites by God. And we discover that the rich man has followed the commandments since his youth. He is a good and pious man. It is not surprising that our text notes that upon hearing of the man’s exemplary habits, Jesus sees him in a new and positive light. In Mark’s words, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him …” If only the text ended there! The keeping of the commandments – not stealing, not committing murder, or not lying and honoring one’s parents – those are all do-able and relatively easy. Sure we don’t always live fully in accord with the commandments – sometimes we stretch the truth and sometimes we push loopholes and don’t cut square corners -- but we can see that a life obedient to these commandments is possible. And to be honest -- to live like that doesn’t really require us to change fundamentally what we do or how we live. We don’t really have to give up anything that we care about or do anything that changes the course of our lives. All we need do is to strive to be “good” folks and we can go about our life as before. But, of course, the text doesn’t end there – Jesus goes on to say “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.” This is the hard message. Why does Jesus say this? Must we all give up our possessions and become itinerant disciples? Logically, the answer must be no. The disciples and Jesus survived because they were the recipients of the hospitality of others. There were in Judea and Galilee those who had more than they needed and who shared it with others. Jesus knew this and, therefore, I have to think his point is deeper than simply the shedding of riches. Or to state it another way the lesson of this parable is not that one must buy eternal live through poverty. Let’s go back to the parable. Who was Jesus speaking to? He was speaking to a rich man. We know he was good by most measures but what we also learn is that he defined himself by his wealth. It is probably not an accident that we do not know his name. His namelessness is a literary device to highlight that this man was defined by his riches -- he was to us the “rich man” not Simon or Stephen. Riches were the central focus of his life and he could not let them go. The point is that the man was possessed by his riches rather than possessing them. The choice he was faced with was giving up wealth -- that which he placed at the center of his life -- and replacing it with following Jesus – that is in placing God at the center. And he could not do this. X X X What’s the problem with wealth? We accumulate it for a number of reasons but fundamentally we do it for two reasons -- for security and for self-esteem. We look at our bank and investment accounts and wonder whether we will we have enough. And, of course, it is appropriate to be concerned about having enough to pay for college tuition or to live on in retirement. But make no mistake the accumulation of riches does not bring security. Riches don’t prevent one’s child from becoming seriously ill. They don’t ease the pain of the death of a loved one. Nor do riches bring us real recognition or esteem. I attend and participate in a lot of memorial services. And while sad occasions, they are often also celebrations of lives well lived. In all of those services I have never once heard someone eulogized or remembered because of the wealth they accumulated. Rather what you hear are words about acts of friendship, of commitment to worthy endeavors, of good humor, and of kindness to others. Esteem does not come through the accumulation of things. Indeed, in my experience those who are defined by their riches tend to be self-focused -- cut off from others and even from God. The problem for the rich man in our parable was that he couldn’t take the last step. It was as if he fully prepared himself for a voyage of faithful living but he couldn’t step into the boat with Jesus because he could not leave his riches behind. I said earlier that this parable is not simply about riches and it’s not. It’s really about those things, which possess us -- that prevent us from taking that last step into the boat with Jesus. The parable could just as easily been written about a powerful man. Power is just as difficult to give up as riches. We also acquire power for security, self-esteem and status. Like riches, power can possess us and become an end in itself rather than a vehicle for the good that wielding power and influence can do. Like the riches in our parable, the pursuit of power and status can also separate us from God. The message of the parable is that to truly enter the Kingdom of God we must not let these things take over our lives. They cannot be at its center. We must take that radical step to follow Jesus fully. X X X Now we might be tempted to dismiss this message as not particularly germane to our everyday lives. But as our passage makes clear the Kingdom of God is not simply a place and circumstance in the hereafter. What Jesus is also talking about is what we will receive in “this age” -- what our lives can be in the here and now. The actions Jesus seeks would have changed the rich man’s life immediately -- not simply given him eternal life. The radical step Jesus seeks of us will also change our lives now and for the better. So what is the message here about riches and all those other things that can take over our life? Must we shed them all? Let’s be clear some of us will have more riches than others. Some of us will have more power. The point is not to deny that reality. Rather it is all about how we understand power and wealth. If their pursuit and accumulation are the focus of our lives -- if we are possessed by them -- then there is no room for God at the center. Quite simply the hard lesson of today’s scripture is that those who focus on the accumulation of wealth and power cannot truly follow Jesus. Those who do may live good lives but not faithful lives. What are we to do? How are we to live? The 4th Century Saint, John Chrysostsom, said “wealth is like water, it grows bad if it stands still.”[1] Wealth and power are possessions not to be held and coveted but to be used and used in furtherance of faithful principles. Sounds good to me, at least I don’t have to shed everything. Yes, but I think it also means that we need to also to think about how to use our riches and power in different ways. I need to ask myself honestly-- How many shirts, suits and electric gizmos do I really need? Isn’t my two-year-old tennis racket fine? How much do I really need to live faithfully? Have I really used my resources to help eliminate poverty and discrimination or have I simply gotten by trying to be a good person? To reject the pursuit of wealth and power as ends in themselves is not easy. In 1960 my family moved to Des Moines, Iowa. Not long after we arrived the president of the most desirable country club in the community invited my father and our family to join. It was an amazing place with immaculate tennis courts, a golf course that hosted PGA events, multiple pools --you can picture it I am sure. Most everyone who was anyone belonged. It would have been a wonderful place to spend time and a place to make connections that would have been helpful to my father and to the church. My father agonized over the invitation. I didn’t make it any easier – I wanted him to join. I had friends at the club and had been invited to play on its tennis team. But in the end he said “no”, explaining that until his friend the Rabbi of the neighboring Reformed Temple and the African American judge in town could become members, he could not join. I tell this not to suggest that my father was somehow a saint, he wasn’t. But I mention the story because what Jesus asks us to do and to be is at times difficult –as difficult as what he asked the rich man to do. At times we must give things up that matter to us-- that bring us pleasure, power, status and even wealth. The path to follow Jesus is not easy and it’s not simply being a good person. Inheriting eternal life is an abstract idea. Instead think about what do you want people to say and really think when you’re gone? What would you hope Jesus would say? Amen
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