‘Sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven’ (Mark 10: 21) … a collection of old banknotes in an antiques shop in Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Patrick Comerford
We are continuing in Ordinary Time in the Church Calendar, and today is the Twentieth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XX).
I hope to take part in the Parish Eucharist in Saint Mary and Saint Giles Church in Stony Stratford this morning before setting out on a long journey later this afternoon. But, before this becomes a busy day begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, and for reflection, prayer and reading in these ways:
1, today’s Gospel reading;
2, a reflection on the Gospel reading;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
‘Sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven’ (Mark 10: 21) … an antiques and second-hand shop in Hampstead (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2024)
Mark 10: 17-31:
17 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?’ 18 Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19 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; Honour your father and mother.”’ 20 He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ 21 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.’ 22 When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
23 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!’ 24 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! 25 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.’ 26 They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ 27 Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’
28 Peter began to say to him, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you.’ 29 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, 30 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. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.’
‘Sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven’ … in the market in Goreme in Cappadocia (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Today’s reflection:
In today’s Gospel reading, Christ continues to teach what it means to follow him. This man runs up to Jesus, and falls on his kneels as if in adoration, or like a servant before a master. It is an unusual act of piety, for people stood to pray at the time. But we came across a similar posture a few weeks ago when the
Syro-Phoenician woman approached Jesus in Tyre (Mark 7: 24-37, Trinity XV, 8 September 2024).
Christ’s response is cautious. Rabbis were not usually addressed as good, for only God is good.
When Christ puts some of the Ten Commandments to this man, the man insists that since his youth he has observed those commandments dealing with our relationships with others, those that prohibit murder, adultery, theft, lying and fraud, and those calling on us to honour parents, the elderly.
From calling Christ ‘Good Teacher,’ the man has moved quickly to asserting that he himself is good, and a good example.
The decalogue is often divided into the four ‘theological’ commandments, which are not a matter for debate or interpretation among right-thinking Jews at the time, and the six ‘ethical’ commandments (see Exodus 20), which become matters for interpretation.
However, as Ched Myers points out in his commentary on Saint Mark’s Gospel (
Say to this Mountain, St Paul’s), a closer look at the list of the second grouping of commandments shows that Jesus replaces the last commandment – ‘You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour’ (Exodus 20: 17) – with the words ‘You shall not defraud.’
This Levitical censure appears in a part of the Torah that is concerned with socio-economic behaviour: ‘You shall not defraud your neighbour; you shall not steal; and you shall not keep for yourself the wages of a labourer until morning’ (Leviticus 19: 13).
With this fresh listing of the commandments, is Jesus (a) challenging the man to see whether he really knows the Ten Commandments; (b) showing he is more interested in understanding how this man has acquired his riches and wealth than in accepting his claims to piety at face value?
Why did the man slink away? Because he had much property (verse 22).
What acts as a ball and chain that holds us back in our lives today, leaving us not fully free to follow Jesus? I may not have much property. But is there something else that I need to shed, in my attitudes, values, habits, behaviour, priorities, use of time, commitment or lack of commitment?
In his compassion, Christ sees this man’s weakness. He has emphasised his relationship with others. But is this founded on his desire for personal salvation, some sort of personal version of the concept of ‘karma’?
What about his relationship with God?
Does he trust in God because God is God, rather than because of what God can do for him?
The man asks how he may inherit eternal life. Is eternal life something to be inherited, like wealth and social status or place in society? In that society, religion was inherited rather than a matter of personal choice – one was born a Jew, but few people ever became Jews. Is eternal life to be inherited, like religious identity and social class?
Are we in danger at times in thinking that we are entitled to our place in the Kingdom of God? And in our behaviour, as well as our prayers, do we let God know, and others know, this?
Christ comes to the quick when he points out that this young man puts his trust in his own piety and wealth, in his achievements, but wealth stands in the way of his relationship with God.
So, Christ tests the man. If he truly loves the poor, he will make a connection between loving God and loving others. The man is shocked and makes quick his departure.
Wealth and prosperity were seen as a blessing and signs of God’s favour, but without them how could this man truly trust in God?
Christ does not say that the rich and the wealthy cannot find salvation. He says that money and riches can hold us back and make it difficult to be true disciples, to enter the kingdom of God. It can be so difficult that, ‘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’ (verse 25).
We cannot save ourselves, but God can save us. However, Peter’s implied question (verse 28) points out again how easy it is to think that being a disciple or follower of Christ should be linked with the hope of rewards in the here and now. Indeed, we may suffer now, and find that the first become last and the last become first.
The rich young man who comes to Christ at the beginning of the Gospel reading may lack nothing, has perhaps inherited a vast amount in his youth, but now wants to inherit eternal life.
He wants eternal life, he says, but he fails to realise he has met the living God face-to-face, and he turns away.
The rich young man keeps all the commandments that are about loving my neighbour. When a similar episode occurs involving a scribe or a lawyer, the commandments are summarised in the two great commandments, about loving God and loving our neighbour (see Matthew 22: 34-40; Mark 12: 28-34; Luke 10: 25-28).
However, when this young lawyer tests Christ, we get a very different set of references to the commandments. And when the real challenge is put to him, he may as well have answered: ‘Hang all the law and the prophets.’
This is a story about priorities, and the young man who comes to Christ in this reading has chosen the priory of wealth, position and privilege, is not willing to pay the Cost of Discipleship.
There is nothing wrong with, power, privilege and position if we use them to serve our values. But we get it wrong when we put our values in second place to power, privilege and position. Christ gets to the heart of the matter, knowing immediately that the man does not know the difference.
The man’s claim is not proud. He shows an almost disarming keenness and even an endearing naivety (verse 20). He is shocked by the Cost of Discipleship and he turns away, shocked; he turns away from Christ. There is a choice to be made, and he chooses to turn away, and turning away is the very opposite to conversion (verse 22).
And in his choice to turn away, he misses an opportunity to realise what it is to come face-to-face with the living God.
Christ comes into the world as the King of Kings and as the Great High Priest. But he comes not as the sort of king that we would expect a king to be, nor as a great high priest full of pomp and self-importance, not as a rich young man.
We get it wrong when we judge our successes against the images others project onto us rather than seeking to be shaped in the potential we have because we are made in the image and likeness of God.
This story of the rich man carries three warnings:
1, As Christ points out, we should be aware of the gap between aspirations and reality as we work out our discipleship. In a very penetrating and discerning way, like a sharp, two-edged sword, Christ’s words show the man that he is not really as ‘Gospel hungry’ as his initial words and actions seem to show.
2, It is a warning against the hindrance of riches, which come in a variety of tempting ways, and not just the temptation of money.
3, It is a warning that our discipleship can get side-lined and can be betrayed by other priorities, not just the trappings of wealth, but also of power, promotion, privilege, and even the feeling that I am so good that everyone should want me.
‘You know the commandments’ … ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth’ (Mark 10: 19-20) … the Ten Commandments on the parochet or the curtain of the Ark in the Scuola Greca synagogue in Corfu (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Today’s Prayers (Sunday 13 October 2024, Trinity XX):
The theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel), is the ‘Mission hospitals in Malawi’. This theme is introduced today with a programme update by Tamara Khisimisi, Project Co-ordinator, Anglican Council in Malawi:
Malaria has been prevalent in many African countries. Out of the 249 million malaria cases recorded in 2022 by the World Health Organisation, 94% were in the African region. Pregnant women and children under five are at greater risk of severe malaria infections. Currently, malaria is still a major health problem in Malawi. In 2022, there were about 4.5 million estimated cases and about 7,500 estimated deaths.
However, mission hospitals such as St Anne’s, St Luke’s, and St Martin’s in Malawi have greatly contributed to improving the wellbeing of people in the communities, especially mothers and children under five who have been affected by malaria. As the mission hospitals are supported by the Anglican church, they can provide the community members with outreach clinics, insecticide treated mosquito nets, medication, treatments and tests.
However, malaria is endemic in Malawi and continued practical and prayerful support is needed to strengthen the capacity of the mission hospitals.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 13 October 2024, Trinity XX) invites us to pray reflecting on these words:
May Christ bring you wholeness of body, mind and spirit, deliver you from every evil, and give you his peace.
The Collect:
God, the giver of life,
whose Holy Spirit wells up within your Church:
by the Spirit’s gifts equip us to live the gospel of Christ
and make us eager to do your will,
that we may share with the whole creation
the joys of eternal life;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
The Post Communion Prayer:
God our Father,
whose Son, the light unfailing,
has come from heaven to deliver the world
from the darkness of ignorance:
let these holy mysteries open the eyes of our understanding
that we may know the way of life,
and walk in it without stumbling;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
God, our light and our salvation:
illuminate our lives,
that we may see your goodness in the land of the living,
and looking on your beauty
may be changed into the likeness of Jesus Christ our Lord..
Yesterday’s reflection
Continued tomorrow
‘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’ (Mark 10: 25) … two kneeling camels waiting for a journey in Goreme in central Turkey (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)
Scripture quotations are from the
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
http://nrsvbibles.org
