Ridiculously Complicated

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Episcopal Church
October 11, 2015

 23 Proper B

Some days, Jesus seems to make following him so complicated, so ridiculously hard, that I have to wonder why any of us even try.  Take the man in today's gospel reading for example.  The man has a simple question, which he begins by addressing Jesus with respect.  "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  To me, the question sounds perfectly respectful and reasonable.  But, rather than simply answer the man's question, Jesus says "Why do you call me good?  No one is good but God alone."  That seems like a snarky response to a respectful question.  Then Jesus implies that the man already knows the answer to his question. "You know the commandments: You shall not murder.  You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother."  This response is interesting for two reasons.  First, when Jesus points the man to the 10 commandments, Jesus only mentions the last 6, which are about our relationship with other people.  Jesus leaves out the first four, which are about our relationship with God.  Secondly, these commandments seem like a pretty low bar, quite frankly.  All we have to do to inherit eternal life is honor our parents and refrain from murder, adultery, lying, cheating, and stealing?  The man must have been ecstatic to hear that the answer to his deep longing for eternal life was something so simple.  He says to Jesus, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth."  Then Jesus raises the bar.  Jesus looks at the man and loves him, a good thing, but then says "You lack one thing: go, sell what you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.  Then come, and follow me."  Is Jesus messing with this poor man?  Jesus is on his journey to Jerusalem which will take him to the cross and beyond.  By the time this guy goes home, has an epic garage sale, finds the poor to give them the money, then catches up with Jesus, Jesus will have suffered, died, and have risen, just as he has been telling his disciples would happen.  Jesus has gone from setting the bar ridiculously low to raising the bar impossibly high.  And the man gives up.  And we call this good news?

Now Jesus has some explaining to do for his very perplexed disciples, both the ones in the gospel lesson and us.  Jesus has just told the disciples in a previous passage that whoever is not against them is for them, and the man clearly seems to want to be for them and follow Jesus.  Jesus answer does not help their perplexity, however.  "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God."  Clearly this is an impossible scenario, so the astounded disciples ask "Then who can be saved?"  The prevailing theology in the first century, and I am not sure we are much different, is that the possession of riches means that someone has been blessed by God.  If such a person cannot be saved, then who can possibly be saved?  Jesus replies "For mortals, it is impossible, but not for God.  For God, all things are possible."

Peter, never one to miss an opportunity to brag, begins to say to Jesus "Lord, we have left everything and followed you."  What Peter means is that he and the other disciples, unlike the rich man, meet the qualifications for salvation.   Jesus seems to affirm Peter's claim with his statement about leaving house, siblings, parents, and field.  But then Jesus says "But many who are first will be last and the last will be first."  What is that supposed to mean?  Is the rich man the person who thinks he is first but will be last because of his wealth?  Or is Peter, who thinks he is first because he has given up his wealth, going to be last.  Might the rich man who went away sad for he had many possessions and now thinks he is last, be first after all?  All of this in answer to the man's simple question "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"

I believe that Jesus' very complicated answer to a simple question is meant to point out the flaw in the man's question.  "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" implies that there is some action one can take to inherit something.  As a rule, an inheritance is a gift.  We inherit because of who we are, or, to put it another way, to whom we belong.  We inherit because we are the beloved child, or niece or nephew, or friend or favorite charitable organization of someone who has died.  And we never know that what we are scheduled to inherit is actually ours until after the person has died, the will has been read, the bills have been paid, and there are sufficient assets to cover the gifts made in the will.  My guess is that the man wants to bypass this uncertainty and guarantee that he will receive eternal life by earning it.  What we earn is ours by right.  What we earn belongs to us and anyone who takes that away from us is committing theft, which is against one of those 10 commandments Jesus just mentioned.  What we inherit is pure gift and out of our control.  Jesus makes earning eternal life look impossibly complicated and ridiculously hard, because it is impossible.  There is nothing we can do to earn eternal life.  Honoring the 10 commandments won't get us there, and neither will selling all we have and giving to the poor, as Jesus's comment to Peter shows.  No combination of offering our time, talent, and treasure will earn us eternal life.  No number of afternoons serving at the Food Pantry or Saturday mornings on Altar Guild, or Sundays teaching Sunday School will earn us eternal life. Earning eternal life is impossible.

Last week, we saw Jesus take little children into his arms and say "Truly, I tell you. Whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it."  Little children receive joyfully and do not expect to have to earn anything.  In an ideal world, little children know they are loved and live like they are loved, and little children know they are dependent on those who love them.  Perhaps Jesus is not the one making following him so very complicated.  Perhaps we are the ones who make discipleship complicated.  Jesus calls us to depend on him, not our wealth or possessions, and believe that we have been given eternal life as a gift.  Then Jesus calls us to live like that gift matters so the world can tell the difference.  Whatever combination time, talent, and treasure we offer to God, Jesus calls us to let that offering show the depth of our gratitude for what we have already been given.  Following Jesus is hard, but we are the ones who make following Jesus complicated.
Amen