The Rich Young Man
The Rich Young Man
by Jerry Fuller, OMI
I don't think we have to worry about Little Dan making his way in the business world. We hope, however, that he doesn't become like the rich young man in the gospel. That young man, with all his material possessions, still admired Jesus and wanted to have a part in Jesus' group. "Good Master," he began, "what must I do to attain eternal life?" (Mark 10:17).

"Why do you call me good?" Jesus replied. "No one is good but God only" (Mark 10:18). Jesus was picking the young man up on his first dishonest ploy, which was using a complimentary epithet to win the favor of Jesus. Jesus was having none of it and made a point of it right off.

Jesus knew the young man was sincere, however, and went on to address his question seriously: "You know the commandments, 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother' " (Mark 10:19). This was the Law, the basic Ten Commandments. Had the young man done this? Jesus is asking. The young man said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up" (Mark 10:20).

Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me" (Mark 10:21).

The young man thought he had done all needed to be a good Jew. Now Jesus was holding up before him a goal of perfection that no Jew had before thought of. True, perfect spirituality, Jesus is saying, is giving up all your possessions to the poor and coming to follow Jesus.

Unfortunately, the young man was not prepared for this answer. He had too many possessions, and he was attached to them. "At these words he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property" (Mark 10:22).

We may wonder why Jesus asked such a radical renouncing of material goods from this young man. He did not ask this of his friends, Lazarus, Mary and Martha; nor did he ask it of the rich businessman, Zacchaeus. Why this young man, why now?

Jesus saw the goodness in him. That's why the text says, "Jesus looked on him and loved him." Jesus really wanted this young man to be one of his followers. But Jesus had to be straightforward with him. Unfortunately, the young man was not where Jesus hoped he might be.

This seminarian realized that he couldn't do it alone, but looking at the loving face of Jesus, he could do it. His personal relationship with Jesus helped him overcome his attraction to material things.

The rich young man in the gospel did not have this relationship, although he must have admired Jesus greatly to have asked the question he did; and he was the recipient of that loving look that Jesus gave him. Nonetheless, he thought that, just as he amassed his material possessions because of something he did, so all he had to do to be a follower of Jesus was to do something. He was not at the point of realizing that it's not what he could do to make himself worthy of being a follower of Jesus, but it was how he could admit his nakedness before God and let God do it all in him.

The thought of giving it all up, of, as the saying goes, "letting go and letting God," was too new and too threatening to this rich young man.

Those of us who live comfortable lives in the "First World" are bewildered by such generosity. Which of us could so calmly and easily give away half of what we have? We consider ourselves generous indeed if we give away ten percent, a biblical tithe. Studies of giving show that the higher a person's degree of wealth, the lower the percentage he or she gives to charity. There are probably many reasons for this, but one might be the awareness of one's own neediness in relationship to God and one's own willingness to depend on God. (3) When we think of some of our modern ways of talking, we might conclude the devil has won. We speak of "cooling it" whenever the topic of religion is brought up, and we call anyone who seems on fire about his religion a "Holy Joe" or a "Holy Roller." As long as we can demean anyone who seems serious about religion, we can salve our own conscience for not taking religion seriously.

Such a woman, on fire for Jesus, might be the relative one author speaks of. He says:

Perhaps when we develop such a close relationship with Jesus that we are more impressed with his love for us than with what he is asking of us . perhaps then we will ignore the cost of giving up everything to be with him; perhaps then we will know the joy of living in Jesus, having nothing and no one but Jesus as our lot in life. (5)

References:
  1. "The best little salesman in the world," Connections, October 15, 2000.
  2. Rea McDonnell, "The healing word," Homily Service, 33 (7): 36 (Homily Service, The Liturgical Conference 415 Michigan Ave. NE, Suite 65, Washington D.C. 20017-1518) October 2000.
  3. Kathleen Spears Hopkins, "Prosper the work of our hands," Markings (The Thomas More Association, 205 West Monroe St. -- Sixth Floor, Chicago IL 60606-5097) October 15, 2000.
  4. C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters.
  5. Fr. Joseph Nolan, "The Commandments - long and short," Good News, 27 (10): 378 (Good News, Liturgical Publications Inc., 2875 South James Drive, New Berlin, WI 53151), October 2000.