Imagining the impossible

“…for God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27)

Mark 10:17-31 (Year B: 20^th Sunday after Trinity, 14^th October, 2018)

Another tough discourse...

So you thought that last week’s discussion about divorce and remarriage tough. Following the gospel of Mark, it gets tougher now with a discussion about poverty, riches and wealth. The last thing we might want to hear is another plea for belt-tightening after all that (most) people went through during The Great Recession of 2008-2013 (ish).

A man approaches Jesus, in this story, and asks for guidance on what he needs to do to be saved. Living in a religious society of that time, people were very concerned about being on ‘the right side of God’ and making it to the finishing line. Such a concern and anxiety was not uncommon until recent times when religious observance and faith were very much central to the lives of ordinary people especially on this island.

Rich people, or not so rich people, went about doing certain things – attending church, participating in the sacraments, giving to charity, attending to their daily duties and family obligations and so on.  It was commonly believed in the majority Christian tradition that a single person or a young person might consider a ‘higher calling’ to follow a celibate religious life and ‘renounce’ some of the normal attractions of living by giving away their material possessions and following what are called the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience (and, alas, as events and revelations unfolded we discovered that adherence to these counsels left a lot to be desired).

A question was asked by a man – a rich and young man at that (drawing also on the gospel of Matthew): what must I do to be saved? The response by Jesus is more radical and more subtle than we might gather on a first reading of this story. The following may be asked or noted:

What were the reactions of those around Jesus according to Mark’s version?
The young man who made the request of Jesus was ‘shocked’ and went away ‘sad’. Why?
The disciples on hearing Jesus’ words were ‘perplexed’ and then ‘greatly astounded’. Why?
What is our reaction when we listen very carefully to the Word of God in today’s troubled world?

Hearing the challenge afresh today...

Writing some years ago, the late Rev. Michael Paul Gallagher, SJ, had the following observation:

Our excited society keeps us busy with trivia and incapable of pausing to hear the cries of others.

Are we falling into the same trap?  Those cries for help may be thousands of kilometres away on the borders of Europe or they may be right next to us now.

Once again, we hear of more hardship and trouble for those will follow Jesus unreservedly. Tagged on to this week’s story is the third prediction of Jesus’ death and persecution. It will entail condemnation to death, surrender to those who will mistreat us; mockery, physical attacks and, ultimately, death. This type of scenario may seem remote to us in the comforts of Northern Europe. But, we need to be reminded of the fragility and persecution awaiting people on grounds of religion, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation or simply because they do not fit with the agenda of those who wield power. In the coming years, millions will seek refuge in Europe as conditions deteriorate in the neighbouring continents due to war, famine, fanaticism and the slow, gradual asphyxiation of climate change. We are living on borrowed time on this sick planet as some hoard possessions and power to the detriment of others. 

The message of Jesus has never been so relevant to us today.

The problem is not wealth in itself but whether we see and use wealth as ‘our’ possession or something granted us individually or collectively to be used for others – for those we love most closely and to whom we are bound by commitments and those in our communities and in our world. We are talking, here, about God’s capital in a world where everyone needs to be loved.

The rich man, in this Sunday’s story, sought ‘perfection’ in the doing of the Law.  Jesus’ answer, as recounted in both Mark and in Matthew, draws his attention (and of those listening on) to the horizontal or social and inter-personal aspect of the law – to respect our parents, to bear no hatred against others, to be faithful to our commitments, to be truthful and honest and so on. In other words, the key to the first three commandments is through loving our neighbour – our real flesh and blood neighbour in the here and now – next to us in the present moment of life and beside us under the same roof, on the street, on a train etc. Therein lies perfection in the Law.  But, the young man wanted more than this perfection and Jesus gave him a different kind of perfection challenge – let go of everything you cling to in life meaning honour, status, perks, comforts and follow me. In other words we can follow a perfect and all-sufficient way by obeying the ‘don’ts’ as outlined in the 10 commandments. But, we can also obey the ‘do’s’ by giving away all that we have – life, attachments and clinging to power – and follow Jesus with our whole heart. For that purpose, we do not necessarily have to take religious vows in the consecrated life – wholesome, necessary and welcome as that is for a minority of disciples so called and so affirmed by the church. To repeat the key message: we can be as perfect as anyone if we are prepared to give our life for another.

A literal call for some..

It is hardly surprising that many throughout Christian history interpreted stories and teachings such as the one found in today’s passage in a very literal sense. Such impulses gave rise to movements into the ‘desert’ associated with monastic life. In a way the monastic life that sprung up in the early centuries were protest movements at a time when Christianity was about to go native in Rome and attain to a position of social respectability in a coalition of influence, power and preferment. Some might suggest that Christianity is still trying to recover from this great fall! And the reformation of the 16^th and 17^th century did not necessarily help in de-coupling outward Christian religion from alliances with worldly powers (and being itself a worldly political power at times).

And a calling to all of us here and now..

Many are those who felt a call to not only go into the desert but to go into the streets and byways where people live and toil among the poor, the oppressed and the marginalised. Not everyone has this call – at least not for a lifetime. But, everyone has an opportunity to grow in love where they are planted. Every deed, every commitment and every initiative has meaning from the smallest to the heroic.  Moreover, love of the poor which is so evident throughout the gospels and the Bible demands not just ‘charity’ in the sense that this term has come to be used, but a thorough analysis and effective social action to address the roots of poverty, injustice and oppression. We do well to read and hear, again, the prophet Amos (5:10-12) who speaks about inequality, oppression and neglect of fundamental human rights in his day. The worship of money and the oppression of the poor makes a mockery of worship because God is especially on the side of the poor and the oppressed. This is what Matthew was on about in chapter 25:31-46 of that gospel when he outlines what matters at the end of our lives. And the prophet Amos (8:4-6) wasn’t mincing his words in this passage:

Hear this, you that trample on the needy, and bring to ruin the poor of the land, saying, “When will the new moon be over so that we may sell grain; and the sabbath, so that we may offer wheat for sale?  We will make the ephah small and the shekel great, and practice deceit with false balances, buying the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, and selling the sweepings of the wheat.

Discipleship that is awake to the politics of oppression..

Do the warnings of Amos carry relevance in today’s world and in today’s churches?  Have we focussed too much on the mechanics of sex and not enough on social justice?  And do we console ourselves and our consciences with ‘charity’ when those who are oppressed need to be liberated and need to take ownership of the means of their economic emancipation? Is our religion in conformity with biblical values of social justice, compassion and practical assistance? Do we know what poverty is really like? Have we ever had the experience of not being able to pay rent or mortgage, skipping meals, lighting candles when the electricity has been cut off for non-payment of a bill and facing the embarrassment of not being able to send a child on a school trip?

Poverty takes many forms and many were surprised to find themselves in poverty when their job was lost or their business folded up following the credit crunch and economic downturn of 2008-2010. Still others, live in a cycle of inter-generational poverty which seems extremely difficult to break out of.

It seems to me that recent debates about‘welfare reform’ in many European countries including the UK and Ireland has been shaped more by 19^th century notions of deserving poor and philanthropic benevolence with a State that works to defend the interests of corporations, bond-holders and well-to-do citizens than those who have nobody to speak for themselves and are not the subject of pre-electoral competition for votes. Witness the global trend towards ever lower taxes on the high-income and high-worth citizens, on corporations while increasing numbers live in precarious living conditions where work, income and pensions are less secure than ever. This is not to deny the huge improvements in living standards, health and education that have occurred in the last 100 years. However, there is another side to the story of global capitalism that people concerned about social justice and sustainable development need to start caring about much more.

And it is never too late to start (again)..

We might be near the end of our days bedridden and highly dependent but we can continue to follow Jesus on the road to freedom by showing interest in everyone around us and by prayer.  Who knows? Our loving, our hoping and our living in this way may be generating new love, new hope and new life in those near and far.

Some day we might wake up and see the world around us and the ‘smell the roses’. For that to happen we need to approach the throne of grace on our knees like the rich young man mindful that – with God nothing is impossible.

Time and time again God works in our lives not according to our timetables or plans but in his way. The social and political become personal and the personal becomes political. We are made for communion in a broken world.  If we trust we will find surprise after surprise as God meets us in places of unbelievable tenderness and compassion. But, we must know that the way of discipleship leads through much suffering and difficulty as Jesus made clear to the disciples who still didn’t get it. Do we get it?