Proper 23
by Lyn Reith
Mark 10:17-31
About a month ago, Time magazine ran a front-page spread called Does God
Want You to Be Rich? It was an expose, of sorts, of the trend in some
evangelical mega-churches to preach what has been called Prosperity Gospel
Lite. Its been given other names as well, like Health and Wealth or
Name It and Claim It Christianity where God's call to abundance weighs in
heavily over God's call to sacrifice. Im dreaming big, says George
Adams, a 49-year-old salesman who had hit bottom. After joining a Name It
and Claim It congregation, Adams is now a top salesman in his field. Its
a new day God has given me! Im on my way to a six-figure income!
Why
would an awesome and mighty God want anything less for his children?
There is an appealing quality to this question. After all, from the time of
Abraham, God has blessed his people and has promised them health, wealth,
and abundant living. Each of us hopes for a good life for ourselves and our
children, and often we pray for God's guidance, for God's intervention, for
God's blessings. In God's good creation, the possibilities for the cup
running over are endless. In the gospel of John, Jesus says, I have come
that you have may have life, and have it more abundantly.
But in todays gospel story, Jesus gives a different message. A man has
accumulated a lot of wealth; he has many material possessions. He is a man
of means. Ive never been a rich woman but I have fantasies of what that
might be like having the world at your fingertips, knowing that nothing is
out of your reach. This man must have felt something like that when he asks
Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. Here is a concept, a vision,
a possibility that this man does not have living forever, life beyond
death, immortality. And being a wealthy man who is used to getting what he
wants, he goes after it.
To be fair, he is also a man of integrity. He tries hard to do the right
thing and since he was very young he never lied, stole, defrauded other
people, messed around, or went around murdering people. He keeps the Ten
Commandments. He is a good man. Maybe, like George Adams, he believes he
can gain the whole world, plus (his) soul.
But Jesus disappoints him, to say the least, by telling him that he must
sell what he owns, give the money to the poor, and follow him. Later, Jesus
tells his disciples, How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter
the kingdom of God
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.
For the rich man and for George Adams and for us and for all who appreciate
a good life (however we may define it), this is a sobering thought. It is a
conundrum I love this word, I learned it at Princeton Seminary last week,
it means an intricate and difficult problem it is a conundrum that God
blesses us with material wealth and then tells us we must give it away if we
wish to enter the kingdom of heaven. Like babies being teased, we are given
the candy, then made to give it back lest we overeat or get cavities in our
teeth.
This is good scripture for our Stewardship Campaign because this is the
point where I tell you that you should give, reach deep within your pockets,
and give to church so the church can do the work of God. Each of us is
wealthy by the worlds standards and God calls us to give our wealth
away if we wish to be given the key to the gates of heaven. The ministries
of St. Lukes are God's fingers working in and through the lives of the
people, nurturing faith, reaching out into the community, making a
difference here and far away. I have the faith, hope, and trust, that each
of you will look prayerfully at your commitment to give and pledge a healthy
portion of your wealth to the work of the church.
But if you are like me, you may still be wrestling with the desire to enjoy
God's blessings and Gods call to give it away and you may be trying to
figure out why God would set it up like that. I doubt any of us here this
morning are filthy rich, and lots of us have probably struggled a bit to
make ends meet. It doesnt seem fair that as soon as we gain some financial
ground we should be asked to give it away again!
Maybe some of you have some stories about working your way up and out of
financial distress. I remember when I was hired to teach first grade by the
Bethlehem Area School District I was all excited to begin my new job, to
start over again so my youngest son and I packed up and moved ourselves to
the city. Well, we werent there for more than a week when the teachers
went on strike a strike that lasted more than a month and Brian and I
were left to live our new life without a paycheck. In the whole scheme of
things, I guess our poverty was pretty minimal compared to the worlds
standards, but it was scary for us. So it was with relief and gratitude
that we discovered some of God's angels in this community who reached out
and wrapped their arms around this penniless little family and helped us
through a pretty difficult time.
Camels dont fit very well through the eye of a needle, but every now and
then God shrinks the camel and it slips easily through. These friends in
Bethlehem had experienced some shrinkage that Fall and from my point of
view, at least, they slipped through that eye like greased monkeys.
Giving from the heart (no pun intended that happens to be the name of our
stewardship campaign this year) is a little like heart surgery. It changes
the way we are configured inside. It makes our physical and our spiritual
bodies healthier. When heart surgery is successful, it makes all of our
internal organs work better because after the surgery the heart can now
share all that good blood with other parts of the body that need it. The
heart gives away its blood, and the other organs pick it up, use it, and get
the whole body in better shape. Its the same way with our spiritual body.
When we give to do God's work, it pumps spiritual blood into every pore of
our being and into the cosmic air of all creation. Its infectious and
others receive what we have given and then give it away again. Contrary to
popular opinion, giving is a blessing.
Three thousand years ago, God blessed Abraham and Sarah he gave them a
son, many animals, much land, and lots of descendents the kinds of things
that were important to people back then. But God didnt bless them so that
they could just sit back and enjoy their wealth; God said he would bless
them so they would be a blessing. In you, said God, all the families of
the earth shall be blessed.
Here is the point that I think the Prosperity Gospel people forget, that
God's riches and blessings are given to us, not so we can hoard them and use
them to construct a citadel of pleasure around us, but so we can use them
for God's good glory. When God blesses us with good things, God then wants
us to bless others, to share our wealth, to reach out and give back what has
been given to us. When we find ourselves so fortunate that we live in a
free and prosperous country, that we hold a good job, that we are surrounded
by loving and caring family and friends, it is not because we are
particularly righteous, or smart, or deserving of such blessings. It is
because God has blessed us so we can bless someone else.
Humbling as it may be, we cant take credit for much of anything we do,
because all our power, all our knowledge, all our wealth, all that we have
comes from God and what we give is but a portion in return. God is doing
open-heart surgery on you and me, so our blood, our wealth, our gifts will
make the rest of the world healthy.
I dont think eternal life is a treasure that we earn and put in the bank;
for the rich man, its not just another possession he can inherit by doing
the right thing. Its more like a path that begins right here, and winds
through both the scarcity and abundance that we encounter in this life and
leads into the joyful feast of holy rest in the next. It is the
self-emptying of our material needs that allows us to give joyfully to
others. It is the path that leads to the heart of the eternal God who draws
us unto himself. The gift of eternal life begins now, before our death,
when we place God's kingdom above ourselves.
Our very small part of this kingdom is
why God brought you into this world,
why God watches over you night and day,
why God breathes spirit into your very soul,
why God puts love, fellowship, and success right across your path,
why God picks you up when you fall,
why God is your rock when there is storm at sea,
why God is your peace when you are afraid,
why God blesses you and gives you life...
why God has prepared a place for you in your death.
It is God's world, a world of possibilities, a world of blessing, of world
of giving.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit! Amen.