Prayer: Come Holy Spirit, come.  Take my lips and speak with them.  Take our minds and think with them.  Take our hearts and set them in fire with love for you.  In Christ’s name, we ask it.  Amen.

When we talk about money and church together, two images often come to mind.  The first is the Television Evangelist.  “If we don’t raise one million dollars this very day the Lord has told me he will take my life!”  That was the infamous claim made by Oral Roberts.  There is a story about a Television Evangelist in Scotland who had electrical wires connected to many of the seats in his church.  He shouted out, “All those willing to give one hundred dollars or more to God stand up!”  He then hit the button that would send a shock through many people’s seats.  This made it look like the evangelist was getting a tremendous response, which encouraged many others watching on TV to give.  The deeply troubling part of the story is that supposedly the ushers found three people dead following the service.  Perhaps this last part is urban legend…but perhaps not. 

The second image that comes, at least, to my mind as an Episcopalian, when we talk about money in church is the big brass plate being passed along the rows of pews filling up with loose change from people’s pockets…just for your information it will be around a little later.  My best friend’s father is named Richard.  Richard grew up in Washington DC.  One Easter Sunday when he was a small child, his family went to the National Cathedral for church.  The National Cathedral is an awesome place in both size and beauty.  Richard was blown away by the grand architecture, the stunning stained glass, and the pomp and circumstance of the worship.  Moreover, he was blown away by the incredible generosity of the Cathedral.  Following the service, he asked his older brother how much he had gotten during the service.  When his brother asked him what he was talking about, Richard pulled out of his pocket a $20.00 bill, which he had taken from the top of the brass offering plate as it passed in front of him.  Much to his horror, Richard’s father sent him back into the cathedral immediately to give the money directly to one of the priests and apologize. 

In today’s gospel lesson from Mark, a man of considerable wealth approaches Jesus.  The word has spread throughout Galilee that Jesus is one who teaches with authority.  This rich young man wants Jesus, as one who speaks from a position of authority, to justify him—to say that he is a righteous person before God, and that he will receive all the rewards that are due a righteous person, in particular, the reward of eternal life.  The rich young man asks Jesus, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  Jesus responds, “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.”  Well, in my mind, with a gleam of self satisfaction in his eye, the rich young man proudly responds, “Teacher, I have kept all of these since my youth.”  You see the rich young man’s understanding of righteousness is steeped in God’s covenant with the people of Israel.  The covenant between Israel and God was based on the Law of Moses.  If the people honored the Law by adhering to its rules and regulations, God would bless and prosper them.  On the other hand, if the people of Israel rejected or disregarded the stipulations of the Law of Moses, God would curse them. 

Therefore, the rich young man must have come before Jesus with supreme confidence.  As I just said, God blessed and prospered his people when they honored the Law.  The rich young man knows in his heart that he has been faithful to God’s Law and he has a sizable balance in his bank account to prove it.  Certainly this man would enter God’s kingdom.  With this in mind, I am sure that Jesus’ next statement must have struck the man’s heart like a lightening bolt.  Mark writes, “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come follow me.’” 

Including today’s Gospel lesson, for the past four Sundays we have been reading through a part of Mark’s gospel that calls those of us who follow Jesus into a radical way of living.  By radical, I mean that being a disciple or follower of Jesus has far reaching implications for the way we choose to live our lives.  Jesus tells us that if we are to bear his name it matters how we treat people.  It matters how we behave.  It matters how we manage our intimate relationships, and it matters how we use our money.

In our gospel lesson four weeks ago, Jesus reminds his disciples that, “whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”  Jesus sets a child before his disciples as an example of one who will inherit the kingdom of God.  A child is powerless.  A child is innocent and we should be as well.  Three weeks ago, we heard Jesus say, “If your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.”  This is one of three violent metaphors that Jesus uses to speak of the serious consequences of sin—how sin that is not cut out of our lives keeps us from leading ourselves and others into a life-giving relationship with God.  Then last week, we heard Jesus speak in Mark’s gospel about divorce.  He says, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”  Jesus is clear that both marriage and divorce are not things to enter into unadvisedly or lightly—in other words—Jesus calls us to maintain the highest standards of behavior in our most intimate human relationships.

Which brings us to this week.  The rich young man who has lived a good life is challenged by Jesus to give all he has to the poor and follow him.  Mark writes, “When [the rich young man] heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.”  Jesus says, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!”  The issue that Jesus is addressing in today’s gospel lesson is really about much more than money—Don’t get me wrong it is about money but even more.  It is about what lies at the center of who we are.  In order to follow Jesus, a disciple must make him the center of his or her life—the number one priority.  A disciple is humble, avoids sin, is faithful and is willing to put everything (including wealth) second to following Christ.  Discipleship is indeed a high calling, it is a radical way of living. 

The overarching question that we are being challenged with in this lesson is: will we follow Jesus when there are real costs associated with it?  This is the very thing the rich young man discovers.  He wanted nothing more than the rest of us, to experience everlasting and abundant life with God.  He found that the way to that life is through becoming a disciple of Jesus.  But here’s the problem.  In order to become a disciple of Jesus, he had to remove anything that stood at the center of his life if it wasn’t Jesus.   And in his case, there was something there other than Jesus—his wealth—he could not remove it, so he turned has back on Jesus and walked away from the only true source of his heart’s desire. 

Now wealth, in and of itself, is not bad.  Wealth has no moral agency.  Wealth can feed starving people, and wealth can feed an excessive lifestyle.  Jesus does not say that a rich person cannot enter heaven, but that it will be hard for rich people to enter heaven.  The truth is there are many things we can place ahead of Jesus in our lives and we do all the time—personal pleasure, people, and power to name only a few.  However, I think this passage requires us to be honest with ourselves and say that money is particularly a problem.  In today’s consumer culture, Jesus’ words ring truer than ever before in our history.  The problem is not enjoying the abundance of God’s blessings including wealth.  The problem is making wealth the center of our lives, our bedrock of safety and security, rather than Jesus. 

Will we, will you, follow Jesus when there are real costs associated with it?  Honestly, how far are you willing to go to follow Jesus?  How much are you willing to give up?
 
The truth is the radical life which we are called to live as a disciple of Jesus is more demanding than we could ever imagine.  The good news, though, is that we are not left alone to find the strength within ourselves to follow.  You see Christian life is defined by and infused with Grace.  Therefore, Jesus reminds his disciples that we have help in becoming a disciple.  “For mortals it is impossible,” Jesus says, “but not for God; for God all things are possible.”  Amen.

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