11 October 2009

Amos 5:6-7, 10-15
Psalm 90:12-17
Hebrews 4:12-16
Mark 10:17-31

Jesus and the disciples – on their way to Jerusalem – for the last time. Jesus about to be executed as a criminal. And up to them comes a young man – but not just any young man – a rich young man. So successful and at so early in life! We have here a true winner, the cream of the crop. They don’t get much better. But now he kneels before Jesus. Hmm. Now why would one such as he be venerating poor and homeless Jesus from that cesspool town of Nazareth? “Good teacher,” begins the young man. “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”

“Oh, brother,” mutter the disciples observing this little scene. “What’s this guy want with all this groveling? He’s gotta be on the make – or something.”

And somewhat echoing the disciples sentiments, Jesus replies, “Obsessed with goodness, are we? You call me good, and maybe I am, maybe I’m not. No one is good but God – but I suspect you can’t begin to understand how God’s goodness works. I’ve got this hunch that what’s good to God isn’t going to seem so good to you . . . with your success and all . . . with your well-scrubbed face, clean fingernails, lovely clothes – not to mention your lovely manners.”

Then there’s the matter of Mr. Clean’s question. “What do I have to do to inherit?” Let’stip back for a moment. You really don’t have to do anything to inherit from your parents, do you? Isn’t it just sort of automatic? Unless, that is, unless you’ve got a manipulative parent who plays one child off another – a controlling parent who plays games, threatening to disinherit anyone who doesn’t do exactly as she’s told. I wonder . . . maybe this guy thinks he can buy his way to God – or behave his way to God. You know, “I’ll do the things you want God, and then you’re obligated to do the things I want you to do.” Is that who this rich guy thinks God is? But I digress. Back to our little drama.

“Do you know the commandments?” Jesus asks Mr. Richey Rich. “You know, don’t murder, don’t mess with your neighbor’s spouse, don’t talk trash about the neighbor, don’t cheat on your taxes, don’t steal, honor you father and mother?”

“Oh yes!” exclaims the rich young man. “How else do you think I’ve gotten this far? Obviously I’ve kept all the commandments since I was kid, otherwise God wouldn’t have made me rich. If you do right by God, God does right by you. Everybody knows that poor people are poor because their behavior hasn’t been God-pleasing.”

Jesus’ face softens. You can almost read his thought . . . something like, “Oh you poor, young, deluded sap. So sweet, so . . . searching . . . but so . . . confused . . .” And drawing a deep breath Jesus replies, “You lack one thing. Go, sell everything you’ve got, give all your money to those losers whom you think are poor because they’re bad and come join my band of . . . um . . . well . . . of . . . hmm . . . ‘colorful’ characters.”

And the rich young man – he looks like someone has just kicked him where it hurts the most. “How could anyone expect a person to lower themselves to the level of the losers of the world?” he thinks to himself. “The true sing of having committed unpardonable sin in life is to be poor and homeless. It’s obvious this Jesus guy doesn’t get how it works.” And our young Mr. Rich turns away, shaking his head.

Meanwhile the disciples are looking a bit smug. “Obviously,” they whisper to one another. “that rich guy doesn’t get it. You gotta be patient in this business. We’re giving up everything and following Jesus – but then, in  the end when scores are evened – then we’ll get our reward. Just think how big this rich guy coulda scored – sell everything and give it to the poor and in the end, when it counts, wow, you’ll have it made! Generous rich people – they’ve got the means to really impress God. They’re able to invest in their eternal future – so they go without some stuff for a while . . . but in the by and by . . . they’re gonna have it made. Sheesh, if they could only learn some delayed gratification.”

Jesus, who’s not nearly as deaf or dense as his companions think he is, turns around and just looks at them for a minute, trying to breathe away his urge to lose it. “Listen,” he says. “Rich, successful, good people aren’t going to be all that charmed by the dominion of God.”

“Hunh?” The disciples are . . . standing around looking a bit like they’ve been cold-cocked. None of this is computing.

Jesus tries again. “A rich person is going to be about as thrilled with the dominion of God as a camel would be at the prospect of getting dragged through the eye of a needle. Rich people are going to have to sit down at table with everybody they’ve looked down their perky little noses at all their lives. In the dominion of God the rich are just like everybody else. Same table, same chairs, same food, same clothes, same status . . . nobody ‘in’ and nobody ‘out’. No high, no low. No favorites, no not-so-favorites.”

“Eeuwwww,” go the disciples. “But then there’s gonna be a lot of people we don’t wanna rub elbows with either. How’s anyone going to be happy with that?”

“You got that right,” thinks Jesus, looking at them with just a tad of amazement. “Yeah. Left to yourselves, it’s going to be impossible. With you all there’d be is a cosmic food-fight going on for all eternity. But with God – a dominion where all are equal, where there are no winners, no losers, no too much, no too little, no high-born, no low-born, everyone loved, everyone cared for, everyone gentle and kind, everyone at peace with one another – with God that’s how it’s going to be. For everyone – without exceptions.”

But then good old Peter breaks the illusion that the disciples are maybe starting to get it. “Hey, what about us?” asks Peter. “We’ve given everything up like you asked the rich guy to do. When do we get our reward?”

Jesus looks like he wants to weep. “Oy. Yeah, you’ll get your rewards. You hang out with me and . . . well, you’ll see. Loving your enemies and caring for the neighbor – not in order to look good, not in order to show people how much you care, not in order to show how compassionate you are, not to show what a ‘neat, progressive church’ you’re a part of – but just to do it – well – you’ll see how well that goes over. It’s not going to be pretty. And in the age to come – well, the first will be last and the last will be first.”

And with that, the colorful crowd of characters Jesus has chosen start lining themselves up. Peter, who wants to show how good he is, jostles for position at the end of the line with James and John – all of them thinking that if they take up the end of the line, they’ll be made first. Andrew’s not so sure how this is going to work out, and so he plays it safe and stands in the middle. Mary Mag thinks they’re all dense, so she takes her place in front because then she’ll be last and being last is the place of honor because then she’ll get to come back up to the head of the line – but then . . . oh maybe Andrew’s right. The middle might be the safest place. “Andrew, get out of my way. Somebody’s got to be at the back and somebody’s got to be at the front.” At which Peter begins to turn purple and explodes: “Who does she think she is? I’m! The! Boss!” And John screams back, “Yeah, but I’m the favorite one, and Jesus always tells me things he doesn’t tell you!”

And witnessing all this, Jesus rolls his eyes, looks up to the heavens and says, “Dear God, we’ve go work to do. They’re going to kill me with their linear thinking. We’re going to have to find a big, round stone and roll it away so they can start to get what a sphere is, where there is no first nor last, no up nor down, no end nor beginning, but one equal habitation in the glory of your dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”