ORDINARY 28

Wisdom 7:7-11

Hebrews 4:12-13

Mk 10:17-30

It doesn’t make a lot of difference whether a bird is tangled up in thick rope or a fine thread, it still cannot fly. The thrust of today’s readings is challenging us to focus on those things or people that prevent us from living the life of discipleship. However large or small they may be they can paralyse us.

The gospel story is about a rich man who approached Jesus looking for the secret of finding eternal life. In the Greek and Roman culture that surrounded Jesus, riches were considered to be a religious asset, not a liability. It was believed that the wealthy could be initiated into more and deeper religious mysteries, and that they were in a position to offer bigger and better sacrifices to support the prayers to the gods.

In Jewish culture, the possession of great wealth was seen as a sign of God’s blessings, and as God only blessed the righteous, those who were wealthy were obviously righteous.

However, later Jewish writings questioned this connection between riches and having a right relationship with God. The Book of Wisdom was written about 50BC and in these writings it is the possession of wisdom, not riches that is seen as being central to the spiritual life. Wisdom is considered to be a semi-independent power which has existed for all time and is the agent through which creation took place. Wisdom is also the intermediary between God and the world. It is wisdom that reaches out from God to bring God’s presence into the realm of human experience. Those who possess this divine wisdom experience God, and that is far better than possessing riches.

For the Christian Church, wisdom came to be identified with the one who came from heaven to reveal God himself to us. Jesus Christ is the one through whom true union between God and humanity was achieved. He won our redemption through his sacrifice on the Cross and brought the light of the Kingdom of God into our darkened world. St Johns gospel describes him as the Word – the Logos- who has existed for all times and through whom the creation of the world took place. For Christians, the wisdom of God that the Jews sought is found in Jesus.

The epistle to the Hebrews tells us that the Word speaks to God’s people. As the Word, Jesus can judge the secret emotions and thoughts of humans. No created thing or person can hide from him, for to him everything is revealed. We acknowledge this in our worship when we say the prayer, “Almighty God, unto who all hearts are open and all desires known.”

Jesus the Word of God is approached by a rich man who is seeking eternal life. He approaches Jesus and addresses him by describing him as a ‘good teacher’. In doing this he is somehow eternal life is related to goodness. He realises that the Law of Moses is God’s revelation but it is not good enough. There must be something else he could do. “Good teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus responded by quoting the second half of the Ten Commandments which are concerned with human behaviour. The rich man kept all these, but what he didn’t keep was the commandment to have no others gods but the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

For him, wealth was a sign of God’s favour and blessing. How could he possibly do what Jesus asked him to do and give away his goods to the poor? This would be to give away the outward sign that God favoured him and give the impression that God was punishing him.

This man didn’t just own many possessions, they possessed him. They were his god and he could not let go of this false god.

St Mark tells us that Jesus loved this man. He is the only one in the whole of Mark’s gospel that Jesus says this of anyone, yet he did not become a disciple. The rich man turned away from Jesus with a heavy heart. You see it is not the rich per se who find it impossible to find eternal life; it is those who trust in their riches. In doing this they are not trusting in God.

The disciples were very confused about this, so once again Jesus spoke to them in private. He told them that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a man who trusted in riches to enter the kingdom of heaven. Over the centuries people have tried to work out what Jesus meant by this and offered all kinds of possible meanings. It is more likely to be a figure of speech like the one we use about there being an elephant in the room.

Human beings cannot save themselves, only God can do that. Jesus’ miracles of healing, exorcism and the mastery of nature show that God is the one who saves, and that is true for the rich as for anyone else. Jesus liberates people from what paralyses and possesses them and demands a transformation so that they can live their lives in the freedom of God’s love.

It would be a mistake to think that the gospel story is only about material goods. Riches come in all shapes and sizes involving goods as well as people. The question we are face with is, “What possesses us?” “What paralyses us?” In what or who do we trust more than trusting God?

What do we allow to get in the way of being a true disciple or undertaking the ministry God invites us to take? It isn’t simply a question of doing more good things or being terribly busy making sure that everything works well in the parish. Such things are valuable, but the question the rich man asked was, “What must I DO to inherit eternal life?” The response Jesus gives us today is the same one he gave the rich man. Continue to do all the good things, but only trust in God who loves you and calls you to love and worship him in return.

Let go of the false gods you currently trust and have no other god but the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.