28th Sunday OT, year B | Mark 10:17-27
We have all probably heard someone speak about their “money troubles”. This usually refers to the fact that they do not have enough money. In the story of the rich young man that we heard in the Gospel today, Jesus completely inverts our normal understanding of how money can cause trouble in our lives. Instead of too little wealth being an issue, Jesus teaches us that having too much money is the problem.
Jesus explains to his disciples that having too much wealth can be a barrier to entering the kingdom of heaven. “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God”. Jesus’ disciples were “exceedingly astonished” when they heard this teaching. Why? One possible reason is that they thought that having wealth was considered a sign that you have God’s favour. In other words, if you were rich, then you were already in the kingdom of heaven. This idea is conveyed in certain passages in the Old Testament (e.g. Job 1:1). Just like us, the disciples probably thought that not having wealth was the problem. Jesus, however, says that the opposite is true. Having wealth makes it difficult, maybe even impossible, to enter the kingdom of heaven. If we stop and think about it, we can come up with some reasons why this makes a lot of sense. First, when we have many things, then it is too easy to think that we don’t need God. Second, when we have wealth, we tend to want more of it. The pursuit of material possessions can easily make us lose sight of what is most important in life. Third, the more things that we have, the more strictly we will be judged. “To whom much is given, much will be required” (Luke 12:48). If God has blessed us with material wealth it is probably so that we can help others with it. While we may think that not having enough wealth is a problem, Jesus reminds us that the real problem is having too much.
 |
| James Tissot [No restrictions or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
If having too much wealth is a serious problem that can prevent us from entering the kingdom of heaven, is the solution to give it all away? In the Gospel, Jesus tells the rich young man to sell all that he has and give it to the poor. Are we required to take this admonition literally? For some Christians, the answer was yes. A famous example is St. Anthony. He lived around the year 300, and was born into a relatively wealthy family in Egypt. When he was 18, Anthony’s parents died. Soon afterwards, he happened to enter a Church while Jesus’ teaching that we heard in the Gospel today was being proclaimed. Anthony understood the invitation to “go, sell what you have and give it to the poor” to be literally addressed to him. Leaving the Church, he sold his wealth, gave it to the poor and went to live as a monk in the desert. For some, the way of dealing with the problem that wealth poses to entering the kingdom of heaven is to give it all away like St. Anthony. Most of us, however, are probably not called to make such a radical renunciation of material goods.
While we may not be able to give literally everything we have to the poor, in order to overcome the barrier that wealth creates to entering the kingdom, we are required to give to the poor. A major message of today’s Gospel is that following Jesus needs to come before the pursuit of wealth. We are called to put our material goods at the service of following Christ. Because Jesus calls us to give to the poor, Christians have always viewed almsgiving as a serious obligation and not just some optional spiritual practice. Consider, for example, these words from St. Basil the Great:
The bread you do not use is the bread of the hungry. The garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of the person who is naked. The shoes you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot. The money you keep locked away is the money of the poor. The acts of charity you do not perform are the injustices you commit.
Now, you may be wondering, if I need to give to the poor but cannot give everything, how much should I give? C. S. Lewis, the Christian scholar and author of the Narnia series gives a good answer:
I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare. In other words, if our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, amusements, etc., is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities do not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure excludes them.
The Gospel today invites us to rethink what we consider to be “money troubles”. Having too much rather than too little wealth is an obstacle to entering the kingdom of heaven. The way to overcome this problem is by giving to the poor. Although how much we give is between us and God, we can be sure that this is something we will have to account for in the end.
