The Word Nobody Wants to talk about, Part 2

From Sunday's sermon, part2:

Hear these words from Mark. They follow immediately after the Mark 10:17-22 passage.

Mark 10:23-27:

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ They were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’ Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’

In the second part of the passage, Jesus explains to his disciples that it is very difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. I don’t know for sure, but I imagine the disciples weren’t rich. For them, and for the audience of Mark, these words probably were comforting. But for us, people who live in the most prosperous country in the world – people who rarely have to worry about where our next meal is coming from and if we will have a place to sleep or clothes to wear tomorrow – these words are troubling. 

Jesus is asking the young man to do something radical – something unbelievable – to let go of what brings him security and safety and give it away in the name of God. He’s asking the man to trust God enough to let go of what he values the most and to give control of it to God. Jesus is asking the man to completely turn his world upside down. Truthfully, I don’t believe this is necessarily a story about money or possessions – and I don’t say that to lesson its impact, but to expand it. I think it goes beyond money.