Pulling At The Root
Mark 10:17-30
As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 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.’” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 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.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 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.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life.
__________
What is one thing in your life right now that you could not let go of if asked? I don't mean something trivial or something you could easily replace; I'm asking, what is one thing that you could or would never give up? You might guess that it doesn't have to be a physical item; it could be a character trait, a vice, a virtue, or a belief. What is one thing that right now you would not be willing to give up or let go of even if Jesus himself was the one asking you? That is the question we are presented in our reading for this morning as we continue to discern the role of faith in our lives.
In our reading for today, we find Jesus engaged in a conversation with a rich man who comes seeking answers to questions, that as Jimmy Buffett would say, "that bother him so." And what question does this rich man ask Jesus? He asks, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Of course, we shouldn't be surprised that this rich man has questions because we all have questions for Jesus for which we are seeking answers that might give us the key to life that we were/are looking for in our hearts? The answer, however, is never simple with Jesus, and it's often a radical solution to what we think should be straightforward.
Okay, hold on a second; we should maybe take a moment to dissect what I mean when I say that Jesus often presents a radical solution or answer like the one he gives to the rich man. For many, the word "radical" carries negative connotations surrounding politics especially. How often do you hear about the "radical right" or the "radical left" on the twenty-four-hour media circuit? Yet, if we remember the importance of root words, we would recall that the root of "radical" comes from the Latin radix, which means root. So Jesus, in response to the rich man, is providing a "radical" answer, one that seeks to address the source of the rich man's problems, our problems, when we struggle to heed the call to follow Jesus.
So what is this radical answer to the question burning within the rich man's heart? Well, Jesus says, "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." Naturally, this upsets the rich man, because as Scripture says, "he had many possessions." It's not about the wealth, though, well it is, and it isn't; Jesus is creating a pivotal moment for this individual to either give up the very thing that identifies their position and status in society (wealth that was most likely earned by cheap or slave labor) in and follow Jesus, who was a living embodiment of the exact opposite values this rich man treasured.
It is a moment of an identity crisis, the moment you and I are asked to consider just how seriously we value our walk with Jesus. Jesus isn't about changing us for the short term but wants to address the root causes of what makes us tick, to address the root of what keeps us from giving freely, loving freely, seeking justice freely. And if we are grasping onto something that is in opposition, well, that's challenging then when Jesus asks us to give it up to follow him. There is another literary figure who undergoes such a crisis of identity, such as the rich man, who might help us to see what Jesus is trying to get at in our reading.
Though not wealthy, Javert, the antagonistic justice seeker in Les Misérables, strives to quench his thirst for making a righteous society by hunting down Valjean. However, his pursuit of misguided justice is thwarted towards the end when he is spared by Valjean and set free after having relentlessly chased after him for years. Javert asks how Valjean can be a criminal yet commit a good deed. Thus, he is presented with a moral dilemma, which shakes the very foundation, the roots that have guided him, and realizes the deep flaws in his morality. Okay, granted, things don't end well for Javert, but that the gravity of his situation, the intensity of the reforming of the rich man's identity, is what we must consider. This is serious and deserves our time and consideration if we admit that things are keeping us from living fully into the life and light of Christ.
At our center is a spiritual compass, a moral compass, that roots us and keeps us grounded. Jesus, as we see today, is more than willing to enter into the picture and ask, "So, something is grounding you that isn't actually good for you, or good for those around you, do you think that you could give it up and let it go?" That's a big ask from Jesus if I'm honest, but if Jesus can't ask me to let go of something to better myself, then who can? Take a moment to consider the things (items, passions, hobbies, relationships, etc.) that have taken root in your life and see if you can identify any of them as contributing to your life today or maybe draining or hurting you. And then take it to the next step and ask if you're willing to let it go as a part of Jesus' radical solution.