Pentecost+21/Proper 23B (Amos 5:6-7,10-15; Psalm 90:12-17; Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31)10/14/2018 ![]() “Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” This is Jesus’s answer to the question a devout model Jewish man’s question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus’ answer is far from what this rich young man expects to hear. He, after all, is shocked by Jesus’s response and goes away grieving. He isn’t able to sell what he owns and give his money to the poor. Jesus’ answer might have felt like a smack in the back of this rich young man’s head. This teaching of Jesus is not only a difficult and seemingly impossible command to follow but also is something that is countercultural and unusual to the Jewish understanding of wealth. Back then, the increase and prosperity of wealth is perceived as God’s blessing and favor, which in turn is a sign that that wealthy person is closer to God’s kingdom. But to give up all that one has sounds like giving up his desire to inherit eternal life or enter the kingdom of God. It’s like saying, “Give up that sign of guarantee that God has given you by means of wealth if you want to inherit eternal life as Jesus understands.” So not only following Jesus by selling all his possessions is realistically tough but also is against what is culturally and religiously normal in his time. This countercultural aspect of Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom of God actually brings me back to G. K. Chesterton’s image of the world upside down “with all the trees and towers hanging head downwards as in a pool,” which I talked about three weeks ago. (The Collected Works of G.K. Chesterton, Volume II, pp. 72) In this world turned upside down, what is normal becomes abnormal, what is magnificent becomes in danger of collapsing, what is considered a blessing becomes a curse, and what is rich becomes poor. Our first lesson from the Book of Amos talks about this upside down world of God’s kingdom. Only those whose world is completely turned upside down can literally take to heart the revolutionary teaching of Jesus in today’s gospel lesson and follow him. Then, has there been anyone in the past who literally took this teaching of Jesus to heart and followed him? Yes, but not too many but there are enough followers of Jesus to change the world. St Francis whose feast we celebrated last Sunday easily comes to mind. His religious conversion story of literally following what Jesus says in today’s gospel lesson is quite well-known. I would like to share the excerpt from Joan Acocella’s article, “Rich Man, Poor Man” published in the New Yorker on January 14, 2013. It is a bit lengthy but captures the moment St Francis follows Jesus: “Francis’s world was filled with violence—between the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire, between Assisi and other towns, and, in the town itself, between the merchant class and the local nobility. It wouldn’t have been a rare day when Francis saw somebody being knifed. In 1202, around the age of twenty-one, he himself went to war, in a battle between Assisi and Perugia. He was apparently glad to go. He got to wear fine clothes and ride an excellent horse. But Assisi was soon defeated, and Francis spent a year in a dank prison, with rats, before his father was able to ransom him. It was probably in prison that the change in Francis began. As his friends noticed, he had lost heart for revelry. Outside the city walls he found a little abandoned church, and he spent whole days there, praying. Finally, he began sleeping there as well. Pietro di Bernardone’s business...may well have been secured by his wife’s dowry. When she died, therefore, a good chunk of the family’s holdings would go to Francis, who, if he was going to be communing with God all day, would be a poor guardian of the enterprise. When Francis was about twenty-five, Pietro took him to the town’s ecclesiastical court and explained how the young man had disregarded his responsibilities. Francis agreed with what his father said, and renounced all claims on his family. Then, we are told by early biographers, he stripped naked, placed his clothes at his father’s feet, and said that from then on God, not Pietro di Bernardone, would be his father.” (Joan Acocella, newyorker.com/magazine/2013/01/14/rich-man-poor-man) St Francis is able to do what the rich young man in the gospel isn’t able to. His giving up of all he has extends to the point where he strips himself off entirely and stands naked before Jesus. He lets go of all that gets in his way to be free. If possession has a sort of symbol of clenching your fist to take what’s out there to make them yours because you value them more than anything else, this nakedness of St Francis becomes a symbol of poverty, giving of his life, his entire self to God and others. Which also shows what he truly values. Jesus’s invitation to the rich young man to live the life of poverty is really about being free of whatever he’s holding onto in his life. So Jesus’s teaching of “Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor.” is his call to be completely free. In the case of the rich young man, it is wealth that he isn’t free of. What he has enslaves him to be truly free. So what Jesus is telling this rich man is this: “If you want to inherit eternal life, follow me. But you must travel light. You must be free of everything that you freely give yourself.” Let’s consider ourselves. In our cases, there are things that we are tied to, that we are not free of, that we hold onto. It’s not just money. Let’s be honest that we’re not like this rich young man, not even St Francis in that we are not that wealthy enough that Jesus would ask us to give up on them. But there’s something that we all hold onto, which may differ from person to person. What is it that you’re holding onto? What is it that like the rich young man you have a hard time letting go of? What gets in your way to be and feel free? We all have different answers to this question of what enslaves us from being free. But for this question of “What makes you free?” we as Christians actually have the answer. That is God. God makes you free. The Truth God brings sets you free. And for us Christians, Jesus is the embodied reality of God giving God’s entire self to the world. In Jesus, God does what Jesus tells the rich young man to do: Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor. In the case of God, God comes to the world as a human being, give God’s very own son to the poor, to the world that lacks love, grace, and salvation. So, this is not so much about what Jesus does what he tells the rich young man to do. Jesus himself is the result of the giving of God’s entire self to the world. And in this very divine life, we can only join by being free from things we cling to as we follow Jesus. It takes time to let go of things one at a time, if not at once. In Judaism, there’s this word, Tikkun Olam. It means “to repair the world.” This is about doing something good for the world which is following the will of God for the world. I’m not sure if you have been to Zimmer Children’s Museum in LA. There is something called “the Tikkun Olam House.” At the top of the house, there’s a sign that says, “Where is your help needed?” And underneath it, there are three circular slots that represent what you can offer. The first one has a picture of a dollar that means money. You repair the world as you offer your money to the poor. This is particularly relevant to the rich young man in our gospel story. The one on the left is a clock, representing time. You repair the world as you give your time to the poor. This might be pertinent to those who are just so busy and have no time for anyone else. The middle slot is the most interesting one. It simply displays a big bright ball with radiating rays. What this slot means is that you give your undivided attention, focus, compassion or your long loving look to the poor. You give your whole self to them. Ultimately, This is what we see God doing in Jesus Christ. God gave God’s very own self to us in Jesus. And why does God do that? Because God loves. God is love. And when that love gets to us, we are set free. We know there’s nothing greater, deeper, more important and powerful than that love. Just like the rich young man, all of us are called to follow Jesus. To do so, we are also called to see what enslaves us from freedom, knowing that it is God alone who sets us free. What do we want to sell and give? What do we want to get rid of to be free, to travel light with Jesus? And this task of giving ourselves entirely doesn’t become a burden when that love of Jesus Christ touches us. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what you need to be free of and from. Ask the Holy Spirit that you want to feel and experience God’s unconditional love. Ask the Holy Spirit to make you curious and interested in knowing that love. As we sacramentally receive God’s grace and love in the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ at the Eucharist, let us go to the altar of God, unloading whatever we’re holding onto, letting go of them, asking the Holy Spirit to set us free. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. |
Paul"...life up your love to that cloud [of unknowing]...let God draw your love up to that cloud...through the help of his grace, to forget every other thing." Archives
January 2025
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