I
\ndon\u2019t know about you, but I have always been haunted by this
\nscripture passage. It\u2019s on the short list of texts where I hope
\nJesus didn\u2019t mean exactly what he said, but I\u2019m never quite sure.
\n I do know that the story of the Rich Young Ruler is impossible to
\ndismiss: It appears in all three synoptic Gospels and it ranks among
\nthe most famous of biblical stories.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The
\nwords \u201crich young ruler\u201d don\u2019t actually appear in the text. I
\ndon\u2019t know when this story acquired that name, but it does us a
\ndisservice in some ways. We hear \u201crich young ruler\u201d and we think,
\n\u201cthat\u2019s not me.\u201d We might think, \u201cI\u2019m not rich,\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m
\nnot that rich.\u201d Many of us think, \u201cI\u2019m not young\u201d (I know my
\nknees think I\u2019m not young and that I should act my age and stop
\nclimbing mountains already). And probably none of us here identify as
\na \u201cruler\u201d \u2013 though if you changed that to \u201cmanager\u201d a few
\nof us, myself included, would identify with it.\u00a0
\u00a0\u00a0
But
\nthose words, rich young ruler, aren\u2019t in the text, and if we put
\nthat familiar label aside and listen to the man\u2019s story, and
\nimagine who he might be in our own time, he starts to sound a lot
\nmore like many of us.\u00a0
\u00a0\u00a0
Allow
\nme to update the story for you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Imagine
\nthe scene: The teacher is leaving. His lecture is done, the Q&A
\nis over, he\u2019s in the parking lot packing up his car, getting ready
\nto head home. And a man comes running up to him, out of breath. He
\nhas a burning question on his mind and he didn\u2019t get called on
\nduring the discussion but he just knows he must catch the teacher
\nbefore he leaves town.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He
\nkneels down \u2013 he\u2019s a huge fan, he has tremendous respect for the
\nteacher, he\u2019s read all of his books \u2013 and he asks: \u201cGood
\nteacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s
\na good man, and it\u2019s an earnest question.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, The So He\u2019s \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n And \u00a0\u00a0 \u201cYou \u201cWell, \u201cThere \u201cYou \u201cNot \u201cYou \u201cI\u2019ve \u201cHonor \u201cAlways. \u00a0\u00a0 \u201cYou It\u2019s Our Can Give And But Now I But The At And I Being To The The Clergy Jesus In If But Jesus Do I Because Martin Harriet The The God And God God Yes, The The What Imagine Would \u201cGo,
\nwe need to step back for a moment from our 21st<\/sup>-century
\nparking lot to 1st<\/sup>-century
\nPalestine to understand the words in this question. When we hear the
\nwords \u201ceternal life\u201d many of us think of an afterlife, going to
\nheaven after we die, something separate from this life. But that is
\nnot at all what it meant in Jesus\u2019s time. Rather than being a
\ntemporal idea, something about some future time, eternal life as
\nJesus spoke about it was about a quality<\/i>
\nof life \u2013 about knowing God, a life lived connected to God, a
\nricher life of purpose. It isn\u2019t\u00a0separate from this life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nphrase \u201ceternal life\u201d is used interchangeably with \u201ckingdom of
\nGod\u201d and \u201ckingdom of heaven\u201d throughout the synoptic Gospels.
\nIt is about living into, establishing the kingdom \u2013 the reign \u2013
\nthe dominion \u2013 of God and doing it now.
\n<\/i>In
\nthat way, it is about living into and working for God\u2019s vision for
\nthe world. This is most explicit in the Lord\u2019s prayer: \u201cThy
\nkingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nthe man\u2019s question, \u201cwhat must I do to inherit eternal life?\u201d
\nis a question about what it takes to be part of the kingdom, what it
\ntakes to do the work of the kingdom, to have that richer, purposeful
\nlife, to work for God\u2019s vision in the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\na good man, and it\u2019s an earnest question.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nJesus says to him, \u201cyou know the commandments: \u2018you shall not
\nmurder.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
And
\nthe man thinks, \u201cOK, I\u2019ve got that one. Check.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nshall not commit adultery.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nI\u2019m no Donald Trump. So, check.\u201d\u00a0
\u201cYou
\nshall not steal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nwas that time I really wanted to steal my little brother\u2019s baseball
\nmitt.\u00a0
But\u00a0I didn\u2019t. Check.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nshall not bear false witness.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nalways easy, but at the end of the day it\u2019s just not right
\ndenigrate anyone else\u2019s reputation, no matter what you think of
\nthem. Yeah, check.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nshall not defraud.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nalways been an honest businessman. Main Street, not Wall Street. I\u2019ve\u00a0paid my employees fairly, never cheated my customers or sold those
\ncheaper widgets that break too quickly. Check.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nyour father and mother.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nWhen Dad got sick, I was in the hospital every day, and when he
\npassed away, we had Mom move in with us, even though we didn\u2019t have
\na lot of extra room. Yes, check.\u201d\u00a0
\u00a0\u00a0
And
\nthen he thinks, \u201cphew!\u201d and says to Jesus, \u201cI have kept all
\nthese since my youth.\u201d\u00a0
\u00a0\u00a0
It\u2019s
\nnot a cocky response. He\u2019s not saying, \u201cHey, look how great I
\nam.\u201d After all, the very fact that he\u2019s there in the parking lot
\nwith that question, \u201cwhat must I do\u2026\u201d indicates that he has
\ndoubts that he\u2019s doing enough.\u00a0
\u00a0\u00a0
But
\nhe\u2019s good man. He\u2019s lived an upright life; he\u2019s done right by
\nhis family, his neighbors, friends, his employees, his customers. He
\ncoaches Little League, he organizes the annual charity dinner for the
\nlocal hospital, he goes to church every Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He\u2019s
\nserious about his faith. That\u2019s why he\u2019s there with that
\nquestion. It\u2019s an earnest question.\u00a0
\u00a0\u00a0
And
\nJesus sees all of that. Mark says \u201cJesus, looking at him, loved
\nhim.\u201d Jesus doesn\u2019t discount any of what the man has done when he
\nsays this next thing to him:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nlack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor
\nand you will have treasure in heaven; then, come, follow me.\u201d\u00a0
<\/i><\/p>\n
\nnot that what the man has done is bad, it\u2019s just that Jesus is
\nsaying there\u2019s more. If you truly want to experience eternal life,
\nif you want to be part of the kingdom, to build the kingdom, to do
\nGod\u2019s work in the world, there is more; and this is what it is.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\ngood man is shocked. He\u2019s devastated. And he goes away, the story
\nsays, \u201cgrieving, for he had many possessions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nyou imagine?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nup everything?<\/i>
\nI could increase my pledge, he thinks, maybe even tithe. But
\neverything<\/i>?
\nAnd if I give everything away, how will I live? What about my family?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nwhat does it mean, \u201cfollow me?\u201d I thought that\u2019s what I was
\ndoing.\u00a0
This
\nstory is about many things, including the undisputable bias against
\neconomic wealth that runs throughout the Bible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nit\u2019s about other things, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nI don\u2019t know if we are all supposed to literally sell everything.<\/p>\n
\ndo know how the Rich Young Ruler feels when he hears that, though.
\nBecause I have many possessions, too, and as much as I want to follow
\nJesus, I know right now I am not giving away everything I own. I
\ncan\u2019t bring myself to do it. Or at least not yet, I won\u2019t say
\nnever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nI want to sidestep the question this morning of how literally to take
\nthis directive and focus instead on another dimension of the message
\nin the story.\u00a0
This
\nscripture is about reflection and self-assessment, and then about
\nencountering judgment from a higher power that leads to deeper
\nreflection and self-assessment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nman asks how he\u2019s doing spiritually. He takes stock as he reviews
\nhow he\u2019s lived up to the commandments Jesus lists. And then he is
\nissued a deeper challenge; and through that he comes to recognize how
\nmuch more he has than he realized, how much more he could give, and
\nhow very hard it would be to do it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nits heart, this is a story about recognizing privilege in our lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nin this Trumpian moment, when the oppressors pretend that they are
\nthe oppressed, when the vulnerable are scapegoated, I cannot think of
\na more relevant lesson for our times.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nwant to suggest to you that the most useful way to understand and
\napply this story in our lives today is not to focus only on literal
\neconomic wealth, but to think about currencies of power and privilege
\nthroughout our lives \u2013 whether that be economic privilege we have
\nbecause of our income or family background, institutional power or
\nstatus that we have through a position we hold at work or in the
\ncommunity, or social privilege that we have because of our race or
\nsex, religion or immigration status, our ethnicity or sexuality.\u00a0
What
\nJesus is calling us to do in this story is to look deeper at
\neverything we have, at how exactly we fit into the many social
\nstructures we each are a part of, to recognize where we have
\nprivilege and power in our lives\u2014and to understand that following
\nhim means putting all of it into play.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\na part of the kingdom of God, doing the work of the kingdom means
\nholding nothing back. If it is God\u2019s intent and desire that no one
\nbe excluded; that no one is inside or outside or better than or worse
\nthan; that the poor, the marginalized and the oppressed of this world
\nare to be welcomed and defended, then we cannot be a part of that if
\nwe insist on holding onto our own privilege and power. We must be
\nwilling to risk our privilege if we are serious about seeking eternal
\nlife and working in the service of God\u2019s vision for the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nsay that this is difficult is an understatement. And the Rich Young
\nRuler, our good man, has plenty of company among those who are
\nunwilling or unable to give up what they have, to use their privilege
\nor risk their privilege, in the service of God\u2019s kingdom.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nwhite person who remains silent when her neighbors are talking about
\n\u201cthose illegals\u201d at the block party, and how glad they are that
\nwe\u2019re going to build that wall \u2013 even though she knows her
\nsilence means they will think she agrees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nup-and-coming manager who crosses the picket line because the CEO
\nsent a memo saying all non-union workers were to report to duty as
\nnormal \u2013 even though he knows that crossing that line means the
\nstrike will be broken and the workers won\u2019t get the healthcare
\ntheir families so desperately need.\u00a0
The
\nsenators who say they are opposed to Trump\u2019s bigotry, his nominees,
\nhis unconstitutional executive orders, but enable business as usual
\nto proceed \u2013 even though that business puts in harm\u2019s way
\nmillions of \u00a0undocumented immigrants, Muslims, LGBTQI people, and
\npeople covered by the Affordable Care Act.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\npeople, and especially bishops and other high-ranking clergy people,
\nwho do not use their status as moral authority figures to denounce
\nthe rising tide of white nationalism because they are afraid of
\nbacklash from some in their congregations or from other church
\nofficials. Silence, as the gay community reminded the world during
\nthe early AIDS crisis, IS complicity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nis speaking to all of these people, and to all of us, in this story.
\nSpeaking up, using your privilege, disrupting the harm, risking your
\nsecurity to protect the vulnerable \u2013 that is the work of the
\nkingdom. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nLuke\u2019s story, after the man goes away grieving, Jesus piles on with
\none of the Bible\u2019s most famous one-liners: \u201cIt is easier for a
\ncamel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich
\nto enter the kingdom of God.\u201d As if we weren\u2019t already feeling
\nlike what Jesus is asking is impossible. Indeed, the disciples had
\nthe same reaction. \u201cThen who can be saved?\u201d they ask one another.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nthe story ended here, it would be a bitter tale about our inability
\nto give up power and privilege for the pursuit of justice. And most
\nof human history confirms this dark narrative.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nit\u2019s not<\/i>
\nthe end of the story.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nsays to his disciples, \u201cFor mortals it is impossible, but not for
\nGod; for God all things are possible.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nyou believe that? Do you believe that God can inspire mortals to
\ngreat acts of daring and personal sacrifice for human freedom?<\/p>\n
\ndo.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nthat dark narrative of history is interrupted time and again, in big
\nways and small, by another narrative, one about the irrepressible
\nstruggle for truth, for justice, for freedom.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nLuther: \u201cHere I stand. I can do no other.\u201d All things are
\npossible for God.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nTubman: She risked her own life over and over to free others from
\nslavery. All things are possible for God.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nFreedom Riders: \u00a0Black and white women and men together defying
\nsegregation laws in the face of violence, jail, and constant danger.
\nYes, all things are possible for God.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nU.S. Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s is, to me, the finest
\nchapter of our nation\u2019s history precisely because it is such
\neloquent testimony to how God moves in the world inspiring people to
\nmajestic heights of courage and sacrifice and love.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nis there, too, making all things possible, with every conscientious
\nobjector, with every whistleblower who risks her job to expose unsafe
\nwork conditions or government crimes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nGod is here, now, in the incredible stand indigenous people have
\ntaken to protect native lands and water against the Dakota Access
\nPipeline, in which they have faced down attack dogs, concussion
\ngrenades, water cannons in sub-freezing weather, and arrests, among
\nother things, and yet remain standing at Standing Rock, in prayer and
\nwitness for the earth itself.<\/p>\n
\nis here in the thousands of federal employees who have gone rogue,
\nrisking their jobs by copying data to make sure it\u2019s not destroyed,
\nfiling dissent memos, leaking information to the media and sharing
\ninformation directly with the public.<\/p>\n
\nis here in the resistance to the Muslim ban and the deportation
\norders, in the activists who laid their bodies down in front of an
\nICE van last week to prevent the deportation of Guadalupe Garc\u00eda and
\nin the rabbis who were arrested blockading a Manhattan street in
\ndefense of their Muslim sisters and brothers and siblings. In the
\nthousands upon thousands of protesters who have taken to the streets
\nevery day of the Trump presidency, shoulder to shoulder with people
\nthey had heretofore avoided, chanting \u201cno prisons, no pipelines, no
\nban, no wall.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nall things are possible for God.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nquestion for all of us is, What
\nthings will we let God make possible in our lives? <\/i>Where
\nare the places we are called to recognize and risk the power and
\nprivilege we have to do the work of God\u2019s kingdom?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nanswers to these questions are as unique as each of us and our
\nrelationship with God. But if we want to inherit eternal life and do
\nthe work of God\u2019s kingdom, we cannot stay silent and safe on the
\nsidelines while civil rights are rolled back, Muslims are
\nscapegoated, immigrants are deported, queer and trans people are
\nbullied, and dissidents are silenced. We cannot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nwill you risk? How can you use your privilege? If you\u2019re a U.S.
\ncitizen, will you risk arrest when others cannot? If you\u2019re white,
\nwill you be part of a buffer zone at demonstrations between police
\nand people of color in order to minimize the danger of police
\nviolence against black and brown bodies? If you\u2019re a Christian,
\nwill you speak up every time you hear an islamophobic remark, whether
\nit\u2019s your brother-in-law or your boss who makes it?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nyou are at a protest like the one outside the ICE office where
\nGuadalupe Garc\u00eda was held last week. She came to this country when
\nshe was 14, 21 years ago. She\u2019s married and has two kids, 14 and
\n16, and has worked hard her whole life. Imagine someone like
\nGuadalupe is about to be deported. She is in the van. Then comes word
\nthat there is a safe house that will offer her sanctuary, they just
\nneed 20 minutes to get someone there to pick her up. The van is about
\nto leave.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nyou lay down in front of that van? Would you tie yourself to the
\ntires? Would you slash those tires, to buy that 20 minutes?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nsell what you own, and give the money to the poor and you will have
\ntreasure in heaven; then, come, follow me.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/i>\u201cFor
\nGod all things are possible.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/i>Amen.\u00a0
\u00a0February 12, 2017 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"