The rich man goes away sad. Mark 10:17-31

Mark 10:17-31 Gospel reading for Sunday Oct 14th 2012


This is surely a problematic text for us. Our immediate reaction to this is probably to search for a minimizing dilution of what Jesus is saying, so that, 'we can have our cake and eat it to'. In reality don't we look for ways in which, we can still have all the material things that make life comfortable for us, yet at the same time follow Jesus and be OK with God? Does this mean that we should not continue to have in place investment strategies to make provisions to provide for ourselves in retirement? Every Lutheran School employee in Australia, accumulates superannuation, and has significant personal wealth on a world scale. Have you ever visited the GLOBAL RICH LIST site? It is an eye-opener. Try putting in a modest $50,000 salary figure and see where we sit amongst the world's richest people! (There is no A$ currency selection, so use $US).
How did you go? (Try putting in an income of just $1000 per year or around $20 per week!)

If we take this reading at face value as written and apply it directly to us today, there would only be a handful of authentic Christians in the world who fit the criteria outlined by Jesus in this reading!

Here are a few perspectives to consider as we wrestle with this text:

1. Jesus opens with the question "Why do you call me good?" Perhaps he is suggesting that it is not about being good; He cryptically makes the point that He is no better than anyone else.
2. The question "what must I DO?" is a bit of a give away. We know that we don't actually have to do anything... it has all been done for us.
3. It is not possible to buy heaven. No amount of material riches can secure that ticket. A place in heaven is simply not for sale! The world cannot offer eternal life.
4. Jesus demands more than ticking boxes. He encourages faith in action. The parable of the Sheep and Goats brings this home strongly, where the sheep who genuinely know God, have the right attitude in their hearts and go about caring for others as an automatic response, without even knowing they are doing it. The goats are just ticking works boxes.
5. Other precedents have been set. In the Zacchaeus story for example, salvation is declared to the no-good (and very rich) tax collector. What saves him is the fact that he "welcomed Jesus gladly".

Whatever the interpretation, it seems that there is an important reminder here for us. Perhaps a helpful way of putting it is to encourage us to move more from a position of ...

What we WANT  to  What we NEED!

And for us as staff involved in Lutheran Education, we have a responsibility to model what is really important in life as we work with young people, for it is in the power of our modelling that we can make a long-lasting impact.

Nev