The Impossible is Possible

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”  These tough words of Jesus in today’s Gospel have usually provoked two kinds of reactions.  One interprets Jesus’ words to mean that you had better give up your money.  Money is at least a source of great temptation if not a tool of the devil himself.  Therefore, if you want to be in the kingdom, give your money away and go off and join a monastery.

The other perspective maintains that Jesus’ words apply only to the rich.  And if you’re not rich, they don’t apply to you.  Neither interpretation is very satisfactory.  The first seems like an invitation to economic chaos.  The second seems to be a bit cavalier in dismissing Jesus’ words.

A clergy colleague once made a very revealing observation.  Discussions and debates about who is rich and who is not miss the point.   He argued that the rich are those with enough money to be afraid of losing it.  That puts Jesus’ comments about riches and wealth into an entirely new context.  Jesus’ words urge us to look not at the amount of money we have but rather on the role money plays in our lives.

What is our attitude toward riches and wealth?  If we have enough money so that we are afraid to lose it, then we are probably rich.  Then we are partners with this rich man.  Then it is probably easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for us to enter the kingdom of God.

This passage is not going to be on the average Christian’s list of top ten favorite Bible passages. We don’t like to talk about money, especially in church.  We are probably more willing to talk about our sex lives than about how much money we make.  Why is this so?  Because more than anything else in our world, our money and how we use it reflects our deepest values and commitments.  Look at how people spend their money and you will see their gods, what is their practical and everyday religion.

In today’s Gospel we meet a pious and godly man who also is rich.  He seems to be a guy who has got it all together, an ideal poster boy for G.Q.  He’s young and handsome, dresses well and goes to synagogue every week.  He’s probably got a cute perky wife, two high-achieving children, and a nice McMansion on the lake.  He belongs to the Jewish Community Center and works out every day.

But all is not right.  Something still bothers him.  He knows deep down that these “gods” are leaving him empty.  His monetary success still leaves him wanting.  His anxiety and doubt are betrayed in the question he asks Jesus: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Jesus answers him with the First Commandment, that one commandment not even this rich, young, and pious ruler has been able to keep.

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”  But this man did have other gods at the center of his life: himself and his money.  And there was only one way to show the man this truth he was avoiding.  He would have to let go of his money and his desire to be in control.  “You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

Despite his riches, his power, his youth, and his religious piety, he still lacked one thing.  He did not trust God.  And his inability to trust God, to keep the first commandment, and to let go of his idol was revealed when he unhappily walked away.  He couldn’t do it.  And Jesus sums it all up by saying, “It is harder for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

The issue is not how much money is too much.  The issue is not who is rich and who is not.  Rather, the issue is this: Whom do you trust?  Do you trust yourself, your money, your good works, your popularity?  Or do you trust the God who comes to you in Jesus and asks you to forsake all and follow him?

The disciples, who probably were impressed with this rich and powerful young man and would have liked to have one of such social and religious prestige in their group, were amazed.  Shocked would be a better way to put it.  If this man couldn’t qualify to be a disciple, then who could?  This demand that Jesus made of this man was ridiculous.  It is impossible to keep.    Just think of it: what would happen if everyone would give away their money to the poor?  It would be economic chaos.  No economy could ever survive.  Society would disintegrate.             Jesus’ demand is impossible to keep.  If this is what it takes to be a disciple, if this is what it takes to be saved, then no one is saved.  Then no one is worthy of being a disciple.

And that is precisely the point Jesus is trying to make – to the rich young ruler, to his disciples, and to us.  As long as we ask, “What do I have to do?” as long as we think that our deeds or our money or our church attendance will count for something, as long as we think we can do something to win God’s approval, then we’re stuck.  Then we will never make it.  Then we are like that camel stuck in the eye of the needle.  Then we are like that rich young ruler.               When we come to this realization, Jesus has got us just where he wants us.  What is impossible for us, for the rich young ruler, for the astonished disciples, is possible for God! In fact, that is precisely the claim that Jesus was making for himself.  That is what he came into this world to do: to accomplish the impossible, to do what only God can do. It may be impossible for us to trust God, but that doesn’t stop God from trusting us.

God sends Jesus into this world to forgive and embrace chronic idolaters like you and me and the rich young ruler and the astonished disciples.  There is no needle too small with an eye too tiny through which the grace of God cannot pull us.

In a few moments, we will engage in one of the most radical and counter-cultural actions of the liturgy. We will be giving an offering to the church and God.  To the outsider it looks like just another fund-raising activity in a money-dominated culture.  Clubs ask you to pay your dues.  Churches ask you to make your contributions.  Just like the coffee shop down the street, churches expect you to pay for services rendered.  It may look that way to the outside, but that is not what it is at all.  That is why we insist on calling it an offering and not dues or obligations or a collection.

In Jesus Christ, God has brought us into a new world called the kingdom of God.  In this world there are no limits.  We live trusting that, when it comes to God’s love and his promises, there is no scarcity.  There is only abundance. And so we do what seems absurd to the rest of our world.  We give our money away – freely, generously, joyfully.  And no one is twisting our arms.  No one is forcing us.  We have no expectation of getting anything in return.  We give ourselves away in the form of our money, not because we have to but because we want to.

In a world where there never seems to be enough money to go around, in a world where we are always haunted by the specter of scarcity, in a world where time is money and money is power, in a world where a solid return on your investment is the most sacred value of all, in a world where no camel is ever going to pass through the eye of a needle and where no one in their right mind is ever going to give money away freely and willingly to others expecting nothing in return, in a world filled with such impossibilities, all things are possible with God in Jesus Christ.  And those impossibilities are not only possible, they happen.  And they are reality here in this place today as Jesus blesses us with his grace.