The Rich Man’s Mystery

Sunday, October 13, 2024 – Mark 10: 17-31, also Amos 5:6-7, 10-15, Psalm 90:12-17, and Hebrews 4:12-16.

I love a good mystery, especially the British shows like Grantchester and, more recently, Magpie Murders. I love glimpsing hidden clues that solve the puzzle.

Today’s gospel about the rich man is a kind of mystery that can really grate on the ears, especially when we hear it as saying that rich people can’t get into heaven.

But what if we can find important clues to reveal a more interesting story?

Our first clue about the gospel is just its placement alongside the text from Amos who is criticizing the wealthy and powerful – not because they’re wealthy, but because they hurt the poor and ignore justice. This reading is tied to our gospel.

Another clue comes when we think about the culture within which Jesus lived and taught. Like many human cultures, this one put high value on wealth.

Wealth granted power, status, a perception of being favored by God, the predictability of a life not lived at the whims of change, and the ability to ignore the suffering of the poor.

In fact, this was true of the Buddha’s family. He was born a prince and because he was kept inside the gates of his father’s court, he never saw the horrible conditions of the poor people around him in India. But one day he snuck away from his home and wandered the streets of his city. That walk forever changed him. He walked away from his inheritance and toward a path of enlightenment.

We read today about a rich man who comes and kneels before Jesus, asking what he must do to inherit eternal life. When Jesus tells him to sell everything he has and give the money to the poor, the man is “shocked,” and walks away because he just can’t follow that call, no matter where it may have led him.

Jesus talks about camels and the eyes of needles and says how difficult it is for the rich to enter the kingdom. His followers are astounded, asking “Then who can be saved?” Clearly the rich are favored by God, right? The material evidence shows that they’re doing everything right. If the blessed rich can’t enter, then who can? Peter puts it plainly when he says, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.”

But Jesus overturns all their expectations, and ours too, with his answers about how God operates and what God values.

One clue comes in the rich man’s question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Now in those times, an inheritance was received when the father died. This man’s question of what must he do shows that he thinks he can do something to earn his inheritance. But that’s not the way it works! As Mark G. Vitalis Hoffman writes, “Inheritance is more about belonging to a family than earning something.” I would add that inheritance isn’t about what we do, but whose we are. It’s about to Whom we belong.

Here’s another clue. When Jesus says “no one is good but the Father alone,” he’s saying that he is not above this man who is looking for answers. He’s saying, don’t worship me by calling me “good.” We’re all equals here; I’m your brother. Save your worship for God the Father. In a sense, he’s completely overturning human systems of hierarchy and status

He’s telling us to stop putting other humans on pedestals, stop giving them the power to determine our worth and identity.

This is also linked to the line about what will be received a “hundredfold.” Rev. Tim Burnette points out that while Jesus lists “brothers and sisters, mothers and children,” he doesn’t mention “fathers.” Again, he’s telling us that in human systems there should be no ultimate father-like power that tells us who – and whose – we are. Only God determines our identity – here on earth, we’re all in the same family.

But the blockbuster clue that solved the puzzle of this text for me is in the list of commandments that Jesus gives the rich man. He’s drawing from the 20th chapter of Exodus, one of the places where the ten commandments appear. But Jesus includes something not found in Exodus. He adds the words, “You shall not defraud.”

This makes me wonder if Jesus perceived something about this man’s past.

Hebrews tells us that the Word of God “is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.”

What if Jesus knew that the man’s riches were gained by defrauding the poor?

Why else would he add that commandment not found in Exodus?

And maybe the rich man was crestfallen because he knew if he sold all he had and gave the money to the poor he’d no longer have the security he was used to. He’d no longer be able to live behind the walls of his money. If he followed Jesus, he’d have to live among the poor and powerless, and he’d have to rely on them and others for his own survival.

Just like in Amos, when the walls of his money came down and he lived a shared life with the poor, he could no longer hurt them and ignore their requirements for justice.

The self-reliant person who thinks he’s self-made and can go it alone cuts himself off from community and love, and from witnessing the joys and sorrows of the other people in his community.

Jesus tells us that whoever gives up his predictable world and possessions to follow him will gain it all back and more within the beloved community of God’s kingdom. Those gains may come with persecution, but they’ll also come with so much more than ill-gotten wealth and isolated self-reliance.

Yet we struggle to embrace the path to beloved community even though we live in a cosmos that is built on relationships. It’s so hard for us to take off our cloaks of status and our attachments to our possessions and our lifestyle to follow an uncertain path toward an unknown future. There’s no mystery about that.

When the rich man walked away from Jesus, he had no idea what he was giving up. But the good news for us is that Jesus still loved him. His heart went out to him because he knew how difficult his Way could be.

Hebrews tells us “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow.” It also tells us that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are…”

Jesus loves us. This we know.

And so, we are invited to “approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Let us pray for the strength and willingness to follow this call.