An immediate response might pop into your head for today’s question. On the other hand, you may need to ponder your final answer during the coming days, or weeks. My question is this: what is your most valuable possession? What do you possess that you would be most reluctant to give up? Probably, some material object you own comes directly to mind. Many of you may have already considered my question in terms of the classic one: what would you try to save, if your house caught fire or a category 5 hurricane was approaching Houston?
Some of you might have already faced the problem, if you’ve had to down-size your living arrangements. I admit: it’s not an easy task to undertake. Karen and I had to do it last fall, when we moved from our twenty-three-hundred square-foot house to a twelve-hundred square-foot apartment in a retirement community some thirty miles from Christ the Good Shepherd.
Giving up furniture wasn’t too hard, giving up hundreds of books was very difficult for me. Then there were the wedding dishes I wanted to keep, and Karen saw no need to keep, since one meal a day was now included in our monthly fee, and she did not plan on cooking any more dinners. In case you’re interested, we “compromised” by getting rid of the daily dishes and using the good ones for breakfast and lunch.
Yes, we all have a variety of “things” we want to keep. Things that are valuable in and of themselves, or because they have special meaning in our lives. There are other “possessions,” as well, we might need to give up. Non-material possessions like: power, health, or even (for some) their good looks.
We may need to give them up, to be replaced by an even more important possession. The Hebrews knew about such substitutions: the giving away of certain possessions in order to gain one of higher value. We heard about this exchange in our first reading from the “Book of Wisdom” found in the Old Testament. Since the word for “Wisdom” was feminine, the Hebrews often referred to Wisdom as being a woman. And so, we heard: “I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. I preferred her to scepter and throne, and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her … All gold, in view of her, is a little sand, and before her, silver is to be accounted as mire. Beyond health and comeliness I loved her …”
In the minds of early Christians, “Wisdom” was also another name for the Holy Spirit. So, in other words, seeking and obtaining the Holy Spirit of God is worth more than any earthly power. Seeking the Holy Spirit is of more value than seeking gold or silver which become mere sand and mud. Obtaining the Holy Spirit of God is beyond the possession of physical health or earthly appearance.
In today’s gospel reading, a very wealthy man raised a similar question when he asked Jesus: “… what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Perhaps, as with many questions, the wealthy man thought he already knew the answer. He was no doubt pleased with the first response Jesus gave him. “Follow the Ten Commandments,” is basically what Jesus told the man. Follow what Moses taught you. Don’t kill, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t defraud, honor your parents.
The wealthy man was very pleased with Jesus’ answer. After all, he had been doing just that ever since he was a young boy. He had it made. He had been a good, observant Jew and had followed the Laws of Moses and of Torah. He was assured of “eternal life.” He would be part of the kingdom of God which Jesus had been preaching about. He could go away content and justified.
And since the wealthy man had followed the Laws of Moses, Jesus was pleased with him. In fact, Mark tells us Jesus “loved” the young man. And perhaps, because Jesus loved him and was pleased with the man’s prior way of life, the Teacher added another lesson. He said: “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”
The wealthy man was obviously devastated. He was told he was “lacking” something. With all his wealth, he no doubt wondered how he, of all people, could be lacking anything. And when he heard Jesus’ additional instruction: “Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor,” the wealthy man was unable to undertake Jesus’ second instruction: “… then come, follow me.” Instead, the wealthy man, recognizing he had many possessions, possessions he was unwilling to give up, [he] went away sad. He was not able to come and follow Jesus on his journey.
And Jesus, turning to his companions on his journey, announced: “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” These words startled his followers. Jesus’ observation ran completely counter to accepted Jewish tradition. A tradition which held that those who manifested wealth were blessed and favored by the Lord God. The greater one’s wealth, the more one was seen to be favored by the Lord God. The one with wealth would surely be well on the way to the Kingdom of God.
Jesus, seeing their puzzlement, responded with a vivid image of a camel loaded with goods, as most camels were. This loaded camel would have an easier time squeezing through a very tiny opening, than would a person, loaded with possessions of this world, have trying to enter the kingdom of God.
Now, Jesus’ followers were even more troubled. If someone who had such earthly possessions, which supposedly showed the Lord God’s favor, [if such a person] would have difficulty entering the kingdom of God, how could anybody, at all, be saved? Jesus, the one who the wealthy man had addressed as “good teacher,” then reminded them of a basic lesson: “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.”
His words reminded his followers, and us, that we, ourselves, do not merit salvation by what we possess. By what we have accomplished. By what we do. We do not gain the kingdom of God through our own efforts. Rather, salvation is a gift of God. It is impossible for human beings to save themselves. We are granted salvation by God.
Our salvation does not depend on how many material possessions we have gathered. Our salvation does not depend on the power we have accumulated, nor how we appear to others. Entering the kingdom of God, in which we now exist and towards which we continue to journey, depends upon giving up our self-valued possessions in order to come to the aid of fellow-travelers, the poor among us, the ones who lack material needs and the power to live out their lives with human dignity.
In our modern Christian age, some tend to preach a so-called “Gospel of Abundance.” A gospel focused on gathering all that rightfully belongs to them as Christians. They ask: “Did Jesus really mean it?” Are we really to help the widow, the orphan, and the alien among us in order to be saved? And they answer “No.” In order to be saved, Jesus brought each and every believer an abundant life.
Yet, there are others who live out a “Gospel of Simplicity.” A gospel focused on relinquishing power over others and over one’s own self. They answer “Yes” to the question: “Did Jesus really mean it?” They live a life, not of giving up, but rather a life of giving all. They respond with a whole-hearted commitment to the journey begun by Jesus. They fully understand the words written by Saint Paul to the Hebrews: “Indeed the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart. No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.”
Again, the question is raised: what possessions will you give up before you are called to render your account?
Twenty-eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time; October 15, 2006
Wis 7:1-11; Heb 4:12-13; Mk 10:17-27 (short form)