Sermon Sunday October 13, 2024
Rev. Norman A. Michaud
“The First Will Be Last”
Mark 10:17-31
In today’s Gospel reading from Mark, we begin with a wealthy young man who, upon seeing Jesus, runs to him. The unnamed man asks Jesus how to accomplish the promise of eternal life, addressing Jesus as “Good teacher,” a term reserved for rabbis. Jesus replies with a question, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” Though this is subtle, Jesus deflects the question since he is human and, as his crucifixion nears, he publicly will not declare himself as the Messiah. Though he knows the truth, he does this to protect his disciples and followers. He knows the journey from human frailty to eternal life is coming, but not yet.
Jesus asks the young man if he follows the commandments. He begins to speak the commandments, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.” The man replies, Rabbi, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus asks for more. He adds that to enter eternal life, he must sell all he possesses and give the money to the poor. The man turns away in grief. We understand the man’s grief, which is too much for us to bear or consider. We know his choice could be ours.
I remember hearing this story. I was a child and asked my mother, who served as our Christian Ed Director, if Jesus was serious. We had a lovely
home and were blessed with many things, including some that had been in the family for centuries. We were rich in heritage and comfortable with our possessions. As I mentioned to you last week, these possessions would be mainly liquidated in an estate sale following my mother’s death. I owned no home. My sister and I had no power to prevent the coming storm. My mother’s estate was liquidated at auction; however, that liquidation provided my sister and me the funds to rebuild our lives.
As I researched this passage, I learned that this lesson was St. Francis’ fulcrum for selling all his possessions and serving God. I am not St. Francis. My teaching provided me with enough. But God has generously offered enough for Sarah and me even when times of trouble have worried us and even scared us.
Mark 10:17-31 hangs on the question of eternal life. The rich man wants to know how to get it. The disciples want to know who can have it. The good news that Jesus offers is this: “For mortals, it is impossible, but not for God; for God, all things are possible.”
This story uses the model of all of Jesus’ healing stories. The wealthy man appears to have no ailment. He does not appear to be sick or possessed. Just as so many others who have pursued healing grace throughout the Book of Mark, this man runs to Jesus and kneels. The scene is set for him to request and receive healing, and his running and kneeling show that his request is both urgent and sincere. But he is the single person in the entire book who rejects the healing offered him and turns away, grieving. He is possessed by his possessions.
This story is found in both Matthew and Luke, but they leave this line out: “Jesus, looking at him, loved him.” But Mark, sparse with words, declares that Jesus loves this man. He offers him healing and hope. “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.” In Mark, the word “go” is used exclusively in the healing stories.
What is the healing that this man needs? What he lacks is that he does not lack. This man is possessed—but only by his possessions. Jesus is offering to free him of his possession, to cure him of his excess. But the rich man turns away. I might mention that this passage contradicts those who adhere to the “Prosperity Gospel” theology. How can anyone who loves their prosperity remain good enough to enter eternal life?
I grieve, too. I have accumulated so much since I first heard this text. Am I also possessed of possessions? Am I refusing to be healed by Jesus? What can I do to inherit eternal life? Nothing. For mortals, it’s impossible, but not for God. To say we must give up all our wealth to be saved puts the burden on us to save ourselves. Neither wealth nor divestment of wealth saves us. God does.
Even Jesus realized he could not save himself. Those who think they can will surely lose their lives. But those who recognize the utter futility of self-reliance, who realize that their salvation is not possible, will be saved by the God who makes all things possible.
Yes, there is still the problem of having too much stuff. It keeps us from realizing our need for God because we use it as a buffer against vulnerability, to fill the emptiness in our souls, and to feel less susceptible to the vagaries of life. It keeps us from seeing how needy we are and fails to see God’s grace in our lives, not in our possessions.
The rich man’s secure status led him to keep asking the wrong question: What can I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus responded that there was nothing he or anyone else could do. Jesus told him to release his wealth and give it to people experiencing poverty—to grow closer, perhaps to the fragility of life, to take his place among people experiencing poverty.
The poor, the sick, the demon-possessed, the widows, and the children of whom Jesus speaks all live close to the fragility of life. Thus, they are more likely and able to respond to a vulnerable Christ. The disciples freed themselves of what would stand between them and Christ and were somehow able to follow the Messiah, whose life would soon be a ransom for all who believe in him and follow. In many ways, we have to be like children, or like those who know they are sick, or like disciples who have let go of all the things they once relied on—in order even to see how much we need Jesus. All we need to do is love God, our neighbors, and ourselves.
What must we do to inherit eternal life? We must let go of all that we have and all that we do that gets in the way of seeing that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. Even then, letting go of it all is beyond our capacity. The most challenging news bestowed by Jesus is the best news we could get—our salvation is impossible except for God. “… for God, all things are possible.”