Rev. George Miller
Feb 18, 2024
Mark 10: 17-31
As we journey with Jesus from the Jordan to Jerusalem, sea to mountain, you
may have noticed something important- the restoration of relationships.
With virtually every demon cast out, every body that’s healed, there is a
mention of returning to home, family, friends.
Which is so fitting as we celebrate Canadian Heritage Day which encourages
family and friends to go out in their community to appreciate all the gifts of
the earth, of artists, of architecture, parks, together.
Sure, you can see all these things by yourself, but it is so much better
when you have somebody by your side to turn and talk to, be it in admiration
for what’s before you or chisme about who’s around you.
Remember back in September when we were at the wedding in Cana with Jesus?
We discussed the importance of family and community in the Latin culture and
how this sense of belonging to something greater than you is consistent in many
cultures, especially in Biblical times.
You can’t reap the benefits of being part of something if you are kept
apart.
So when Jesus heals someone he is doing more than bringing about wellness,
he is empowering them to return to community life, to worship, to home, work, to
those that love them.
The daughter of Jairus’ who gets to resume eating with her Mom and Dad.
The man in the graveyard who is encouraged to go home to his amigos, and travels
through the Decapolis amazing people.
Peter’s mother-in-law gets to go back to being the family’s matriarch as she
serves.
Each case we see how healing brings an opportunity to go out into the
world and be a part of something greater.
But then we come to this very sad story about a man who has his chance
for restoration, and leaves with deep grief and depression.
It is interesting to encounter this story about a person who appears to
have it all.
The way we are told that Jesus looks at him with great love. The verbal back and forth that shows what a
great student this man is; the potential he has to be an amazing disciple.
Within the full spectrum of Mark’s narrative, this story seems to be something
more than what our ears hear.
Is this a complete condemnation of wealth?
Or is this another story of a man who is demon possessed, of a person who
is unwell and in needing of healing.
It almost feels as if this man doesn’t have money, but that the
money has him.
Just as the man in the graveyard is tormented by demons, is it possible that
this man is in his own kind of graveyard where he too is tormented?
The woman who was bleeding loses all her money to be made well; this guy
has all the money but almost seems as if he has been bled out and is just as
distressed as her.
Is Mark hinting that his wealth has not increased his life, but has actually
held him back and overshadowed his life?
We don’t know much about this man or his money; how he earns it, chooses
to use it, how he spends it, how he saves it.
Did he inherit his wealth from Daddy?
Did he earn each cent by working hard and being frugal?
Was he a greedy landlord or a benevolent employer?
Is it fair that Jesus gave him such a binary ultimatum?
This man came to Jesus with such an inquisitive question, yet he is given
an either/or answer.
The man asks. Jesus looks at him
with great love, then says what are the hardest words for this particular man
to hear.
And he walks away, alone.
He walks away grieving, sad, distressed, upset, nauseous.
This man has an encounter with Jesus and doesn’t end up transformed or
healed.
He does not go and serve, he does not go into the Decapolis sharing the
good news, he doesn’t join Mom and Dad at the dining room table.
Unlike the daughter, the graveyard man, the matriarch, this man leaves
Jesus, and he leaves unrestored, he leaves alone.
This is such a sad sad story.
And I wonder- did Jesus have to be so black and white with him?
Could Jesus have asked “Tell me, how are you using your financial gifts?” Could Jesus have engaged in a more insightful
conversation?
What if this man had been like Abraham bartering with God?
What if the man said “Jesus, I hear you, but what if I give 20%” and see
what Jesus says?
What if the man had said “What if I give 30% and start a food pantry, orphanage
and school?”
Would Jesus have engaged him in that conversation? Or would the answer still be the same?
This man who left alone and broken hearted, so sick with sadness because all
that he has actually has him and he can’t let go.
This is a complex, complicated story, one that makes us think, and makes
us ponder about our own relationship with God, with money, with those around us.
When told to sell it all how many of us would say “Yes”?
Thinking back to Christmas, do we allow money to make us like Ebenezer Scrooge
in which we suffer with gruel and guilt, alone in our emptiness?
Does our relationship with money allow us to be part of change, act with
compassion, care?
For this particular man at this particular moment, he was too possessed
to be a part of something bigger than himself, so he walked away alone.
Wouldn’t we love to know more about his story, to discover what he did
afterwards, if there was any kind of change, any kind of middle ground?
But for now we are left with this brutal lesson with this cold tale, and
like the parables, we are left to ponder, to wonder, to look deep within
ourselves.
And that is fitting for today, as we enter Lent, as we journey with Jesus
to the Cross.
Knowing that every step, every moment may not be easy, may not feel good,
but we do not have to be like this man, we do not have to be alone.
For in Jesus we have an experience that brings us into community, brings
us to the table, empowers us to be part of something bigger than ourselves.
For we have each other, we have God, and we have Jesus to make this walk
with. For that we can say “Amen.”
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