Possessed!
Dale Lindsay Morgan
Pasadena Presbyterian Church
October 11, 2009
The Gospel story from Mark this morning is the story of a rich man. If you read the same story in Matthew you’ll read that he was a rich YOUNG man and if you read it again in Luke, you’ll read that he was a RULER. That’s how the rich man in Mark’s story eventually came to be known as the rich, young ruler. In Mark, though, he is simply rich, which we learn is not a simple thing at all. Let’s listen to the story and listen for the Word of God from Mark 10:17-31.
As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asked him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know 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.’” He said to him. “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 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.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “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.” They 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.”
Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age – houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions -- and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
This is the Word of God for the people of God.
Here are some things we need to know about the story.
The journey Jesus is setting out upon in the very first sentence is not a journey for fun as it might be for us if we were to take off for a weekend with friends or family. Nor is it really a journey for teaching the gospel, though of course, wherever Jesus goes, the gospel is taught. This journey is the final journey Jesus will ever make; he’s almost to Jericho – next stop, Jerusalem. In just twenty more verses the disciples will be told to start looking for a donkey for Jesus to ride as he continues his journey into town. So at this moment Jesus is preparing to give everything, his life, to obey the call of God. And suddenly a rich man runs up and interrupts the journey.
Let’s imagine this rich man dressed in an elaborate and colorful robe. Let’s hang a dazzling sword from his side, shimmering in the sun. Let’s wind a head dress around his hair making him look like a chic Saudi sheik (a “sheek Saudi shake” or a “chick Saudi sheek”). In short, let’s make it obvious to all who see him that he’s rich, and let’s see him run to Jesus with the strong strides of a man of means who gets things done. Let’s watch him fall at Jesus’ feet with a flourish and let’s hear his greeting as Jesus seemed to hear it, obsequious, effusive, and utterly unctuous: “Goooood Teacher…”. And then let’s have him ask his question as only a man of inherited wealth would ask it, “Goooood Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
If we imagine the start of the journey in this way, then it’s easier to hear Jesus’ impatience in his reply: “Why do you call me ‘good’?” he says. “Only God is good…and God is very good at discerning what’s in a person’s heart. If you want eternal life, do what God commands.”
And here Jesus lists five of the Ten Commandments that have to do with, not honoring God, but with caring for other people – and did you notice that another of the commandments listed is one we never memorized in Sunday School: “Do not defraud”? Financial fraud was a frequent failing of the rich in those days. Merchants would add a little weight on the scale of a customer’s purchase; tax collectors would skim a little off the top for themselves; craftsmen could substitute a not quite perfect product to fill a buyer’s order -- that sort of thing. But Jesus senses, too, that this rich man’s whole approach at the moment is fraudulent – his manner, his demeanor – it’s fake, and Jesus knows it.
But hearing this reprimand, the rich man suddenly drops the pretense and becomes himself. We can hear it in his amended greeting, “Teacher,” he says now, just plain “Teacher” -- “I have kept all these since my youth.”
At this, Mark says that Jesus looks at him. Any time Mark writes that Jesus “looks” at someone, he means that Jesus really sees that person, knows that person through and through. And in that moment of looking at the rich man, Jesus loves him, for Jesus knows that, despite his appearance, the rich man has spent his life obeying God and that what he wants, way down deep in his soul, is to be so faithful he will live forever. The man is accustomed to getting things done; and now he wants to know how to do THIS thing. So Jesus’ next response is direct and clear:”leave everything, give to the poor, and come up to Jerusalem with me.” Earlier Jesus had cited five commandments concerning what not to do: “no murder, adultery, theft, false witness, fraud.” Now, if he would inherit eternal life with Jesus, the rich man has five new commandments of things he must DO: “Go…Sell… Give… Come…Follow.” Go home, sell all your stuff, give the money to the poor, come back, follow me.” At this, the man is devastated; shocked and grieving, he remembers his many possessions; and much more drawn to things of this life than of the next, the rich man quietly goes away. Not running with purpose this time, not departing with a flourish, but giving up his glorious goal of everlasting life, the man silently goes home to his glorious stuff.
Which prompts Jesus to turn his gaze upon the disciples, to give THEM that “look” Mark likes to write about, and then to say what will become three proverbial sayings for all disciples for all time who will ever seek to give their lives to him. That might include you and me; so let’s listen carefully.
The first saying is this: 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.
Some of the commentaries you can read about this proverb will suggest that the “eye of the needle” was actually a very low and narrow gate in the Jerusalem wall that no camel would ever be able to squeeze through, but that’s just an old medieval tale. Jesus had a great sense of the ridiculous; he loved hyperbole, and he literally meant “camel” and “needle” here.
The second saying is Jesus’ reply to the question, “Then who can be saved?” For mortals it is impossible, Jesus says, but not for God, for God all things are possible. Not very long from now, Jesus will pray these very same words in the Garden of Gethsemene: “Father, for you all things are possible…remove this cup from me.” Jesus, too, will have times when he will struggle before giving his life for the sake of the gospel.
And three, there’s a third proverb that is called a “floating saying” of Jesus because it turns up in a variety of settings in the gospels, even as it gets quoted in a variety of settings by us today: Many who are first will be last, Jesus says, and the last will be first. How often have you said that when your group was moved to the head of the line at a church potluck? – or at some such time when your fortunes were reversed.
Peter points out that the disciples have given up everything to follow Jesus and the story closes with Jesus’ promise of a hundredfold rewards for their faithfulness, including an ominous addition, “with persecutions,” because, as we have already heard, this story takes place as Jesus makes his journey toward the cross. Though they don’t know it now, the disciples who follow will follow with persecutions. As Jesus takes up the cross, so will they.
The moral of the story then is this: True discipleship is never, never, never EVER easy!
******************
I’ve called this sermon Possessed! because I can see that word working in the story, and in our lives, in three ways.
First, Stuff is possessed.
Obviously, the stuff the rich man had was possessed -- and can’t you just imagine his stuff? He probably lived in a villa, Roman style (picture the Getty Villa in Malibu). Mosaic tiles in the floor, frescos on the wall, flowing fountains in gardens filled with trees laden with fruit…and he owned it! He may have inherited it, but he probably pinched himself upon waking every morning, murmuring “It’s mine, all mine!”
I also have stuff that is possessed, and so do you. Too much stuff. Far too much stuff. Although I have downsized my stuff and moved into a smaller home in retirement, I’m still loaded with stuff….stuff in closets, stuff on bookshelves, stuff in drawers in my desk…and even in tidy little storage units under the bed (now THERE’S a great place for stuff). And I know what will happen to it someday. I’ll depart this world and my son will come to town one week-end to make all my stuff go away. A friend and fellow resident of my community in Claremont recently died and in his memorial service he was quoted, telling his children, “I’ve organized all my papers and files—so now you can throw everything away in alphabetical order.” We know the warning, “you can’t take it with you,” but it doesn’t make it any easier to leave it all behind.
If you live in California long enough, chances are you will be too close for comfort at least once to a terrible wildfire. After one such fire in my last neighborhood, several church members lost their homes – and one commented, “Did you see the smoke coming up from our house? It was my husband’s favorite wardrobe—polyester from the 70’s.” A year later someone commented, “In that fire, we lost all our stuff. And now what do we have? More stuff.”
Sometimes people run out of room for all their stuff and they put the excess in a place called Self Storage…a name ironically appropriate as the stuff that identifies them, that defines the SELF, is locked up in a dark place where it is seldom seen and hard to get.
When we hang on to stuff, we have to admit that the stuff we hang on to is truly possessed.
“How hard is it for a rich person to enter the kingdom?” … Presbyterian author, Frederick Buechner, says it’s as if Jesus said today, “…for a rich man to get to heaven is about as easy as for a Cadillac to get through a revolving door.” [1]
Which brings up the second way to hear the word possessed, which is -- that we who possess stuff are also possessed BY our stuff. That was the rich man’s problem: the stuff he owned, owned HIM. He couldn’t let it go, even to follow Jesus. It was that important to him. It was more important than being a disciple of Christ. It was what he couldn’t live without, it was his highest value, his ultimate priority. Even when faced with the choice between his stuff and eternal life, the stuff won out. The rich man’s stuff was, in reality, his God.
Jesus knew that what we possess could easily take the place of God when he said in another teaching, “You can’t serve God and money.” William Sloane Coffin explains it this way: “Jesus … saw money as a rival god capable of inspiring great devotion: ‘You cannot serve God and mammon.’ Note that only money is put on a par with God, not knowledge, not family or nobility, not reputation, not talent, only money is elevated to divine status. No wonder Jesus talked more about money than any other subject except the kingdom of God.”[2]
If love of money rivals love of God, as Coffin suggests Jesus suggests, then we who have the stuff that money can buy (and don’t underestimate yourself; that includes everybody here -- some have more, some have less, but we all have SOME and it’s a lot more than most other people have in the world) then we, too, could be in danger of loving our money more than we love our God.
But money is so useful! We can exchange it for clothes and food, housing (if we have enough money) and entertainment (if we have some left over). We can save it up for our kids’ education and then for our retirement. We can even spend it on security systems to guard our stuff and insurance policies in case our stuff should be stolen or damaged. But even if is does get stolen or damaged, we can use money, of course, to buy more stuff.
Americans are, above all, consumers; we are off the charts when it comes to acquisitions. And the acquisitions we get can be off the charts when it comes to improvements. Have you noticed that you can no longer buy a simple gadget to replace the simple gadget you used to use because the new gadget can now do so many additional things? At least it could if you could read the Owner’s Manual and figure it out. You wanted a simple electric can opener, for instance. But the new can opener you bought not only opens cans, it grinds coffee, makes toast, takes pictures of your grandchildren, and will automatically turn on the sprinklers in your backyard. But you have to think twice about downsizing your old appliances—the old can opener, coffee grinder, toaster, camera, and sprinkler timer—because you’re going to need them again if you can’t figure the new gadget out.
This second way to understand “possessed” in the story is so very hard to unravel that we can only join the disciples in asking their agonizing question, “Then who can be saved?” and that’s when we must rejoice in Jesus’ reply: “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God, for God all things are possible.”
And that leads to the third way to hear the word possessed in the story -- and that is that in the end we must possess – and profess -- faith in God. When Jesus looked at the rich man, he saw a man who was searching for God and he looked at the man with love…and we remember that Jesus spent quite a bit of time loving rich people who were searching for God. He loved Mary Magdalene who, according to Luke, provided for Jesus’ ministry “out of her means”—Magdalene, along with Joanna, Suzanna, and many other women, helped to fund the Galilean mission. Jesus loved Lazarus, a wealthy man of Bethany. He loved Martha, Lazarus’ sister, and Mary who, when she anointed Jesus with costly perfume, was criticized for spending money on Jesus when it could have been given to the poor. “The poor will always be with you,” said Jesus, “but not me.” Jesus loved Zacchaeus, a tax collector who was accused of fraud, and when Zacchaeus promised to pay back what was taken, Jesus announced that salvation had come to his house that day…and Jesus went to Zacchaeus’ house and shared a meal with him. Jesus so loved that wedding couple who ran out of wine that he made for them a fantastic wine and never mentioned selling it that day to give to the poor. Jesus loved Peter and Andrew, James and John, fishermen whom he called to leave their nets and fish for people, but even so they had to keep on fishing for fish to feed the other disciples and Jesus. In other words, even though the rich man wanted to follow Jesus, he wasn’t able to see how his possessions could further the kingdom of God on earth—how they could become an operating fund for the mission, an anointing of Jesus as the Living Christ, of how he could make restoration to the poor who may have suffered fraud, share a meal with a former sinner, or join in a celebration of life in Christ that was filled with new wine. Jesus may have talked about money as much as he talked about the kingdom, but whenever he challenged his followers about money he didn’t challenge them to set fire to it, bury it, or wish it away; he challenged them to use it for that kingdom.
As Margaret Thatcher once said, “No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions. He had money as well.”
When Jesus said that third proverbial saying, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first,” he meant that those who HAD had to share with those who had NOT. By bringing the last and the least of our brothers and sisters up to the front of the line, those who were in front, who had the money, who possessed the stuff, would – by simple logic – need to move over and scoot on down the line.
And that’s the bottom line of this story and this sermon. If you’ve got it, give it. Go. Sell. Give. Come. Follow. That’s the way it works in the kingdom of heaven.
Do you think the rich man ever came back to give his life to Jesus? Don’t you hope he did? Do you wish you could give your life to Jesus, too? Think of what he may be calling you to do. October 25th is Stewardship Dedication Sunday here at PPC. That’s the traditional time every Christian in every church community considers the good their stuff can do. So let’s consecrate these coming days to concentrate on Christ’s call to each of us – to me, to you – to “Go…Sell…Give…Come… Follow.”
Come to think about it, we can make that decision to follow Jesus today. And every day. Thanks be to God. Amen.