Homily for 31 August 2014, the 12th Sunday after Pentecost--Are We Possessed by Our Possessions?

Homily for 31 August 2014:  Are We Possessed by Our Possessions?

12^th Sunday after Pentecost (1 Corinthians 15:1-11)                    (Matthew 19:16-26)

 

When we hear the parable of the rich young man, we often concentrate on the last verses, in which Jesus says it will be “hard for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of Heaven” and that it will be “easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.”

Maybe this is because everyone is rich, or thinks they’re rich, or dreams of being rich—and they don’t want to be condemned or punished for what they’ve achieved or their success in business or in their professions.

One way to deal with this anxiety is to decide that only people with more money than I have are rich, so this saying of Jesus doesn’t apply to me:  I’m safe!

Or we could actually look carefully at the whole story and discover what Jesus is actually telling us.  Maybe this story isn’t necessarily about how evil rich people are.

A rich young man asks Jesus, “What good works must I do to have eternal life?”  He seems to be sincere, not a show-off trying to trick Jesus.  He seems to understand that salvation to eternal life depends on how you live—on “good works”—not just on obeying the letter of the Law.

Jesus’s first response might strike us as strange:  “Why do you ask me about what is good?  There is only One who is good.”  Is Jesus denying that He is God, the One who is good?  Is He saying that He doesn’t know what is good?

In fact, I think Jesus is telling the young man that he doesn’t even need to ask this question, because God, the One who is all-good, has already provided the answer?:  “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”  At that time, the Jews to whom Jesus was preaching would have been very familiar with the commandments—God’s instructions to God’s people, telling them how to live in a way pleasing to God.

When the young man then asks, “Which commandments?” he’s not being a smart-aleck.  Considering all the different commandments and explanations in the whole Jewish Law, he wants to know which ones are essential.  So Jesus tells him, and sums them up with “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  If we do that, we will also obey all the rest.

But the young man still has a sense that there’s something more he needs to know:  “I’ve kept all those commandments; what do I still lack?”  He follows all the rules, but he knows that’s not enough—at least for him.

So Jesus moves the discussion to the next level:  “If you wish to be perfect, sell your possessions, give to the poor, then come follow me.”  And the young man goes away sad, because he has many possessions.

Like many of us, the young man feels that he cannot make the ultimate complete commitment to Christ.  We want to be perfect—don’t we?—but then we don’t want to give up everything we have in order to follow Christ.

As the young man somehow realized, it all comes down to what is essential:  1)  What good works are necessary for eternal life?  2)  Which commandments are necessary to follow?  3)  Do you want to be perfect?

So this Gospel lesson isn’t about the evil of being rich; it’s about the potential evil of possessions.  (Being rich isn’t evil in itself—it means that you have more money to give to the church and to help others.)  If we have possessions, we are in control of them; we can sell them or give them away or use them for good works or walk away from them.  They are not essential.

But if, instead, our possessions take possession of us—if we are possessed—then we’re not in control; we can’t get free from them.  They have become essential to our lives.  And if possessions are essential, then God is non-essential.  And it will be exceedingly difficult for us to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

If we wish to be perfect, we have to understand that only God is essential.  Only God is truly good—and our goodness comes from doing God’s will.  As St Paul says, “I am what I am by the grace of God.”

If we wish to be perfect, understanding this is a lifelong process.  It is a journey from where we are—sinful, but hopeful—towards the perfection of God’s love and mercy and justice.

If we wish to be perfect, we have to keep the commandments—especially the spirit of the commandments, summed up in “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

And, finally, if we wish to be perfect, we have to clear out all the non-essential things from our lives—all those possessions that threaten to possess us.  And we have to focus on what’s truly important—beyond just doing good works.  As St Paul says, “what is of first importance,” which he handed on after receiving it:  the truth of God’s love expressed in the voluntary death and triumphant resurrection to life of Jesus Christ, our Lord, God, and Savior.

To Him, and to His Almighty Father, and to His All-Holy and Life-giving Spirit,  be thanks and praise and glory, now and ever and unto ages of ages.  Amen.