How Hard for those with Wealth to Enter the Kindgdom of God. October 11, 2009
I’d like to begin by reviewing last week’s homily. I mentioned that up to now in the Gospel Jesus has been teaching about taking up the cross, receiving the Kingdom of God as children, and welcoming children. Chapter 10 in Mark's Gospel is an interlude in the story in which there are three questions: A question about divorce, a question about welcoming children, and the question about money -- and inheriting God's Kingdom in today's Gospel. I asked, "Where does the rubber meet the road in following God?" The answer was that it's in marriage, in raising children, and in how we handle our money.
Listen for a moment to the words of Jesus today: How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God.
What's your reaction to that? You're a shoo‑in to get that? Okay. Who draws the line about who's wealthy? Okay. What about wealthy people who are philanthropists?
Just as a point of information, it says somewhere in the Gospel that Jesus was followed by many women who supported him out of their means. In the letters of Paul the Apostle there were many wealthy women who supported Paul. They weren't allowed to speak in church, but they supported the church. I wonder if they felt, I wonder how they felt about that.
[inaudible response] Okay, he said it makes you think. Your first question, then, is, "Well, then, how do we get to heaven? What if you have to give every day, every week?"
[inaudible response] Okay, two questions: One, if you have that much wealth, you're focused on it; and two, the question how did you get it?
Apparently in this story, the young man came by it quite honestly because he was able to say, "I've observed all the commandments from my youth."
[inaudible response] So, two things: One, it says the man went away sad. It doesn't say why he was sad. Maybe he was going to give everything away and follow Jesus and he was sad about that. And the other thing is, there are some commentaries that interpret the needle as a door in a fortress that was so small that a warrior couldn't get through it, a warrior on a horse.
What I want to suggest is, I can't explain it, and even if I could I wouldn't, because I think the reaction of the Apostles is the best reaction. Be amazed and to say, "Well, then, who can be saved?"
I want to call your attention to the young man's question. He says, "What can I do to inherit the Kingdom of God?" Well, what can you do to earn the Kingdom of God? Nothing. You can't earn it; you can't inherit it. Jesus has been teaching all along you can only receive it as a little child receives, and if you don't receive it like a little child you won't enter it. So there's nothing I can do to earn God's Kingdom, but I can receive it, and I can respond to God's call to receive it, and God's call might come to me in many ways.
In my letter in the bulletin I raise this question: When you pray about money, how do you pray? I won't ask you to raise your hands, but how many of us pray for more money? How many of us pray for more security? Or when we think about giving ‑‑ I know there was a time in my life when I thought, well, when I've taken care of this need and that need and this problem and that problem, then I will give. The biblical answer is trust God and give, and everything else will fall in place.
In the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous there are promises that come after somebody has worked many of the steps, and the promise is, "Fear of economic insecurity will leave us."
I remember asking an old timer once, "Does that mean we'll be secure?"
And he said, "No, it just means you won't fear insecurity."
Does it make sense? Perhaps the invitation in the Gospel, as it has been throughout the teaching, is to be receptive to God's call, to trust God's call, to let go of our fears around money and around possessions and to focus on what it is that God calls us to do. Throughout the biblical message the call of God to those who have wealth can always be summed up in two words: Share it. Realize that it's intended for everybody and for the benefit of everybody, not just for you.
But anyway, as we pray today let's be amazed like the Apostles and maybe hear God's call to trust and to receive what God's offers us as a little child.
Listen for a moment to the words of Jesus today: How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God.
What's your reaction to that? You're a shoo‑in to get that? Okay. Who draws the line about who's wealthy? Okay. What about wealthy people who are philanthropists?
Just as a point of information, it says somewhere in the Gospel that Jesus was followed by many women who supported him out of their means. In the letters of Paul the Apostle there were many wealthy women who supported Paul. They weren't allowed to speak in church, but they supported the church. I wonder if they felt, I wonder how they felt about that.
[inaudible response] Okay, he said it makes you think. Your first question, then, is, "Well, then, how do we get to heaven? What if you have to give every day, every week?"
[inaudible response] Okay, two questions: One, if you have that much wealth, you're focused on it; and two, the question how did you get it?
Apparently in this story, the young man came by it quite honestly because he was able to say, "I've observed all the commandments from my youth."
[inaudible response] So, two things: One, it says the man went away sad. It doesn't say why he was sad. Maybe he was going to give everything away and follow Jesus and he was sad about that. And the other thing is, there are some commentaries that interpret the needle as a door in a fortress that was so small that a warrior couldn't get through it, a warrior on a horse.
What I want to suggest is, I can't explain it, and even if I could I wouldn't, because I think the reaction of the Apostles is the best reaction. Be amazed and to say, "Well, then, who can be saved?"
I want to call your attention to the young man's question. He says, "What can I do to inherit the Kingdom of God?" Well, what can you do to earn the Kingdom of God? Nothing. You can't earn it; you can't inherit it. Jesus has been teaching all along you can only receive it as a little child receives, and if you don't receive it like a little child you won't enter it. So there's nothing I can do to earn God's Kingdom, but I can receive it, and I can respond to God's call to receive it, and God's call might come to me in many ways.
In my letter in the bulletin I raise this question: When you pray about money, how do you pray? I won't ask you to raise your hands, but how many of us pray for more money? How many of us pray for more security? Or when we think about giving ‑‑ I know there was a time in my life when I thought, well, when I've taken care of this need and that need and this problem and that problem, then I will give. The biblical answer is trust God and give, and everything else will fall in place.
In the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous there are promises that come after somebody has worked many of the steps, and the promise is, "Fear of economic insecurity will leave us."
I remember asking an old timer once, "Does that mean we'll be secure?"
And he said, "No, it just means you won't fear insecurity."
Does it make sense? Perhaps the invitation in the Gospel, as it has been throughout the teaching, is to be receptive to God's call, to trust God's call, to let go of our fears around money and around possessions and to focus on what it is that God calls us to do. Throughout the biblical message the call of God to those who have wealth can always be summed up in two words: Share it. Realize that it's intended for everybody and for the benefit of everybody, not just for you.
But anyway, as we pray today let's be amazed like the Apostles and maybe hear God's call to trust and to receive what God's offers us as a little child.
posted by Fr. Larry Voelker at
10:28 AM
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