21 Pentecost Proper 23
Mark 10:17-31
13 Oct 2024
Words matter; translations matter. This passage from Mark is one that has always led me to believe salvation is almost impossible. How, or why, should one give up everything, which then leaves one spending all of one’s time trying to find food, clothing, and shelter (and if you are homeless in Des Moines you are engaging in illegal behavior and can be fined.) How does that bring on the kindom of God?
So what happens if we use a different translation? Listen to the translation by Indigenous Americans.
POSSESSIONS AND THE GREAT SPIRIT
17As Creator Sets Free (Jesus) set out walking from there, a man ran up to him and honored him.
“Good Wisdomkeeper,” the man asked, “what path will lead me to the life of the world to come that never fades away?”
18“Why do you call me good?” he asked the man. “There is only one who is good—the Great Spirit. 19You must know the instructions from the lawgiver Drawn from the Water (Moses). ‘You are not to take the life of another, or be unfaithful in marriage, or take what is not yours. Never lie about or cheat a fellow human being, and always give honor and respect to your father and mother.’”
20“Wisdomkeeper,” the man answered, “from my youth I have followed all of these instructions.”
21Creator Sets Free (Jesus) looked at the man with love and said, “Only one thing remains. Take all your possessions, invite the poor of your village to come, and have a giveaway. Then in the spirit-world above you will have many possessions waiting for you. Then leave everything behind and come, walk the road with me.”
22The man’s heart fell to the ground. He hung his head and walked away, for he had many possessions.
POSSESSIONS AND THE GOOD ROAD
23Creator Sets Free (Jesus) then looked around at the people and said to his followers, “Finding and walking the good road is a hard thing for the ones who have many possessions.”
24His followers could not believe what they were hearing.
They thought having many possessions was a sign of blessing from the Great Spirit.
25Creator Sets Free (Jesus) spoke again to them. “Little children,” he said, “the ones who trust in their many possessions will have a hard time finding their way onto the good road. It would be easier for a moose to go through the eye of a needle.”
26They shook their heads in wonder, looked at each other, and said, “How then can anyone walk the good road that sets all people free?”
27He looked at them and said, “It is not possible for weak human beings, but with Creator’s help all things are possible.”
28Stands on the Rock (Peter) spoke up, “We have left all our possessions, and our relatives, to walk the road with you! What will become of us?”
29“I speak from my heart,” he answered, “no one who has given up homes and families to follow me and walk my good road will go without. 30In this present world they will become part of an even greater family, with many homes and lands. Even though they have been abused and mistreated, they will receive much more than they have lost. Then, in the world to come, they will have the life of beauty and harmony that never fades away.
31“But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.”[1]
When I encountered this reading, the entire passage suddenly, for the first time, made sense to me. It answers the question, “just what does it take to be a follower of Jesus?”
For some of us, it means we must leave our families because our families are toxic. Families lacking in love and respect, where the obligation to love and care for each other is absent, need to be shed. If you are in an abusive or dictatorial household, a way out must be found. I realize, for altogether too many reasons, many people cannot find a way our, or they don’t think they deserve better. But for those with privilege, a toxic family is one where things take precedent over God. In truth, things have become God and you cannot serve two masters.
Make no mistake, money or wealth of any sort, and possessions, can easily become God. In the time that Jesus uttered these words, the vast majority of people were poor and would have had to give up little to have nothing left! But the shock was that wealth equated to favor from God, regardless of what god you worshipped. The young man, who does not seem to have been in any way evil, could have been shocked because he thought he had done things right, or why did he have so many possessions? If that is the case, I wonder what one additional thing he thought Jesus would tell him. I think few of us want to hear what Jesus is telling us to do.
A tradition among many indigenous tribes in North America is a give-a-way. When someone dies, the family mourns for a period of time and is released from any obligation to the community. After that period of time is up, the possessions of the deceased are put out in the yard and anyone who needs something is welcome to take it. Steven Charleston, retired Episcopal Bishop and Choctaw elder, says that when an honor befalls someone, they give gifts rather than receiving them. I have seen people ask that you give money to a charity to honor their birthday. Less is more.
Are we afraid of being persecuted? Does any of us want to make their life more uncomfortable? I once heard that the Episcopal fight song is Kumbaya. We tend to be a people, at least in this day and age, who do not meddle in other’s affairs, which is not a bad thing, who do not try to impost their views on others, also not a bad thing, but who often have a great deal of trouble stepping out of their comfort zone. I do!! It is hard for me to, as John Lewis once said, make good trouble. But Jesus was all about making good trouble, all about walking the good road no matter where it led, which was to the cross. Bonhoeffer called it out: cheap grace, where we go through the motions and call it good. It is not.
I have thought more than once about that young man. The easy way to interpret the story is that he was too tied to his possessions to change. But what if, just what if, as he walked away, he was grieving the loss of his wealth, for he had decided to follow Jesus.
So be ready, those of you who have wealth, to come to Jesus through the cross, but for those of you who do not, you come to Jesus though the resurrection and the promise. In the end, love and joy win.
[1] First Nation’s Version. An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament. P. 83-84. Intervarsity Press, Downer’s Grove IL. 2021
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