The Good, the Bad, and Everything

This time last Sunday I was attending a conference dedicated to clergy wellness.

It was a gathering of ordained and lay folks brought together to talk about such things as creating a rule of life, paying attention to balance in our lives, making sure we have time for family, friends, work, and retreat, things like that.

It was a wonderful time away spent in the sunshine of northern California’s hill country.

In between seminars and presentations, I would have time to read while sitting on an Adirondack chair overlooking local vineyards and a mountain in the distance.

Before the heat of the day arrived, which would climb into the triple digits, I was able to hike in those hills where I saw western jays frolic and mule dear stare back at me as I stared at her.

It was a rather wonderful and informative time away.

I left that place refreshed and arrived home, well, tired and jet-lagged, but after a day or two, realized what a gift it was to set things aside for a bit and focus on renewal and retreat.

And along with those feelings, I also realized that I would need to preach on the gospel this morning.

And it is not an easy task as this can be one of those gospel passages in Mark we struggle with.

This is not Christ’s baptism and his 40 days in the wilderness.

This is not Christ’s calling of the disciples.

This is not the beginning of Christ’s ministry.

This is the pill hidden in the cheese and it can be hard for us to swallow.

“Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “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.”

Sell what you own.

Give it to the poor.

That is the message this morning and it is as clear as it is uncomfortable.

Jesus is talking to a man who has many possessions but has kept to the law.

Now, maybe some would say, “What evidence that he kept all the Commandments?”

He’s just exaggerating his own holiness so that the man with many possessions might impress Jesus who he calls Good Teacher.

And Jesus would know that as he looked at this man with love and understanding and a realization that man wasn’t quite telling the truth.

But to imagine these things would be reading something into the text that just isn’t there.

We might be skeptical in what the man is saying, but the text does not tell us to doubt his word.

The same with the camel fitting through the eye of the needle.

Jesus says, ‘Children, how hard it is 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.’

Another hard passage.

First, who is rich.

Is someone richer than I am rich or am I rich because I might have more wealth than someone else?

And maybe you’ve heard people try to explain this passage away by talking about that gate?

See, some say there is a gate into Jerusalem called the Camel’s gate.

That gate is a very small gate, one that can hardly fit its namesake through because it is so small.

The legend goes that in order for a person to enter into the city with their camel, the camel must be unladen, all of the baggage and its saddle must be removed in order for it to fit.

And the gate is a low gate as well.

The camel must get on its knees in order to maneuver through the gate.

So, we picture the camel freed of any earthly goods crawling through the gate.

The analogy being, we can only enter heaven if we are free of human wants and if we are on our knees as humble people can be, if we wish to enter into salvation.

A nice story, one that might even make us feel better about the gospel reading as a whole, but it’s not true.

There is no gate in Jerusalem called the Camel’s Gate.

So, we’re left with the original text: ‘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.’

And then folks will point to the King James Version that says, “Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!”

See, it says trust in riches, not just wealth.

That means you can be wealthy but trust in God and not that wealth; doing that will make everything A-OK.

But then, Mark 10:23 in the KJV still reads “How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!”

And Mark 10:24 reads, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.”

And there we are, back to this sense of discomfort the passage can give.

We are almost shamed in this chapter, we almost want to cry out as Peter did, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

What more do you want?

What more must I do?

I’ve served the church and do not think I haven’t noticed you all serving the church.

Do not think your efforts have gone unnoticed.

Do not think your welcoming arms have been filled without reason, the dirt from working in the (memorial) garden under your fingernails is there because you served this church.

We dine together, we cry together, we laugh and sing and praise God together.

What more can you want, Jesus?

The lights are on this morning because you gave to this church and I assure you that Jesus is not shaming you into giving more than you can afford.

Jesus is not asking us to give our wealth to the church, he is asking us to give everything to the poor.

Everything.

Give up the car that brought you here.

The home on which you might be relying on to become retirement income.

The nest egg that you’ve saved, your 401k, all of it.

Give everything to the poor so that you might enter the kingdom of heaven.

Everything.

Jesus, he says meekly from the pulpit, Jesus…

I don’t want to give up everything.

I like the house in which I celebrate the holidays with my family gathered around the table.

I like the car that brings me to this door.

I like the vacation that allows me to reflect.

Jesus, I like my “stuff”.

How can I realize the kingdom if I do not give up everything?

“Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.”

The man with many possessions, he was not “good” as he was not God.

The religious leaders were not “good” for they were not God.

Maybe Jesus is even implying that HE was not good, since HE was not God.

(At that particular point in the story.)

Nobody is good but God alone.

Nobody.

Nobody gives everything away.

Not everything.

And therefore, nobody is good but God alone.

That is what makes this reading so hard to digest, isn’t it?

Not only must I give up everything, I am still not “good”?

Even though your friends might support you, even though you might be a mentor to the young, a support for the aged, a scout leader, a community leader, a charity supporter; even though you rake the church’s leaves and host a coffee hour; even though you do those things, still we are not good?

Well, perhaps we’re talking about two different goods here, the doing good and the perfect good.

We do good things, but not perfectly so; still we sin, still we falter.

God is the perfect good, the good who imagined us to be the people we are: free from judgement and, with the love of God who created us, always present.

And it is God who makes our salvation possible.

The crowds were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’”

All things are possible with God.

So, we can fret all we want about being good.

And how much is everything when we are told to give up everything, by the way?

Well, everything is everything and still we might come up short.

But if we leave our families to serve God?

If we drop our nets and follow God?

If we let our fields go fallow so that we might devote our lives to God?

Then there is promise, there is hope.

To give up some portion of ourselves, our lives, our livelihood, to God prepares us for the kingdom and in so doing prepares the human equivalent of the kingdom here on earth.

All the time you spend serving this place so that we might serve God will be returned a hundredfold says Jesus, and that makes sense, doesn’t it?

Because even though the kingdom promises more, our investment in our community provides graces far more than we invest.

That you can look to your neighbor and see that you are loved is so very beneficial in a world being split apart by vitriol or, even worse, apathy.

That we are a beacon of love is evidence of God’s love and God’s hope for the wider world, a community of love born through the love of God and God’s son, Jesus Christ.

If we allow God’s love to wash over us, if we allow ourselves to feel God’s love and then to share that love, then we will become that much closer to being “good” than if we ran from God.

Imagine that.

Imagine that though we haven’t given up everything, we are still loved.

That even though we might not be the perfect good, we are still good people and for God, that’s good enough.

And still this reading is hard.

The meaning is there.

We are commanded to give everything to the poor, how much must we give?

We are given the example of disciples leaving their houses or brothers or sisters or mothers or fathers or children or fields, how much must we give?

I have no answer.

Now, you might be thinking, Rev. Matt, “What do we pay you for if you have no answer?"

Well, we can talk about that, but for this question specifically?

I have no answer.

This is one of those texts we need to carry with us to wonder about, to chew on and ask Jesus to guide us.

For all things are possible through God.

My prayer for you this morning is that you find that comfortable chair in a comfortable spot and reflect on these things.

How much is everything?

How good is good?

And always know, you are loved.

You are not less than.

You are kind, you are beautiful, you matter.

You are enough.

That much, I know.

Amen.