Commonwealth is God’s Commandment
Proper 23B-2024
Immanuel Lutheran, Chicago
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? The young man in our gospel today does—or at least, he wants everything. He is very disciplined. He seems a little bit like the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son. He has tried very hard all his life to do things right to succeed where others fail. He knew all 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.’” He had kept all these since his youth. I’m guessing he already tried therapy, but still, something was missing. To his credit, the young man recognized his need. So, he ran to Jesus. Notice, he did not walk. He ran. He ran to Jesus, knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus, looking at him, loved him.
And just like the game show, Jesus said, gave him four options. Option A is ‘…go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me. Option B is ‘…go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ Option C and D were the same thing.
Do you remember how the game works? Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? returned to primetime this summer to celebrate its 25th anniversary. In the show, contestants answer a series of multiple-choice questions worth increasing amounts of money building up to a $ 1million final question. They can stop anytime they like or keep going as long as they get the questions right, but one wrong and the game is over.
You can almost hear that clock ticking clock and the tense background music as the young man contemplates his answer in our gospel today. On the tv show contestants may choose one of four lifelines to help them answer correctly. There’s 50:50 (which removes two wrong answers from the four options); Phone-a-Friend (allowing you to call a contact to get help with the question); Ask the Audience (polling the studio audience’s thoughts on a question); and Ask the Host.
The young man opts for a 50:50 lifeline. Ok, Jesus says, the correct answer is either A or D, ‘…go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ He polls the audience, but their answer doesn’t help him. 25% of the audience said the answer is A, 25% said B, 25% said C, and 25% said D. ‘…go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ He could Ask the Host, but really, why would Jimmy Kimmel know? He could Phone-a-Friend, if in those days, anybody had a phone. The young man decides instead to give up the game. Is that your final answer? The young man went away grieving.
He left before hearing about the grace. Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (vs.25). ‘But for God all things are possible’ (vs 27). To receive an inheritance someone must die. Jesus has already done that for you. There is nothing you must do. It’s just yours. The young man’s problem was that his world was too small. There can be no personal salvation without collective redemption. Grace must be shared, or it isn’t grace. There was something missing in his life—it was belonging and caring about something greater than himself. All that he had accumulated, the self-discipline, the moral uprightness, the skills, the success could not find its ultimate value unless and until he bet it all on the betterment of all.
From Hebrews, we read, “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 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” (Hebrews 4:12-13).
The story of the rich young ruler pokes and jabs at us and reveals our deepest thoughts and intentions. “Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler lays us bare. Whether we are 18 or 80. There’s no hiding from this ancient story. It is a kind of spiritual lunge with a piercing attack that goes to the heart… Ours is an age of billionaires, economic inequality that is actually worse than that of ancient Rome, and the glorification of obscene wealth” (Diana Butler Bass, Sunday Musings, 10/13/24). There is indeed something missing in our lives unless and until we join with Jesus in serving the great commonwealth of God.
The martyred Hindu activist, Mahatma Gandhi, thought today’s gospel helps us measure true progress in our lives. Gandhi once said, “Jesus was the greatest economist of his time.” He argued that economic progress and moral progress are not the same. The path to true abundance is in moral progress more than material progress. Embracing a simpler lifestyle and deep concern for the poor allows modern people to regain their dignity, their spirituality and their contact with nature. The return to simplicity is the food for the soul we are craving. It is an answer to the loneliness we feel and the joy we have been missing. (Kamla Chowdhry, Havard Business School)
Just ask a monkey. It turns out you don’t need fancy equipment to capture a monkey in the wild. Just drill a small hole in a coconut, tie it to a tree, place a handful of rice inside the hollowed-out shell, and wait. When the monkey reaches for the rice, it discovers the hole is too small to allow it to withdraw its fisted paw. The monkey is trapped, but only if it refuses to let go of the rice. It may have its freedom, or it may have the rice, but it may not have both.
Mark’s gospel paints a stark and wonderful picture of God’s grace and of God’s law. God’s love requires nothing of us but only to receive it. God’s law demands everything of us –all our resources, energy and dedication. Grace and law are like the two sides of a coin. They are inseparable, but one must come first. Grace must come before law –God’s love must come before we attempt to match God’s expectations—or like the rich young man, we are forever doomed to fall short. The concept Christian stewardship offers a way forward. Understand the proper use of your God given talents and resources. “Commonwealth is God’s commandment; common goods are meant to share. [with] Tables set and doors wide open [we will] welcome angels unaware.” (ACS #1036)
