We may know the song: 'money makes the world go round'. Certainly money has a big impact on our world in all kinds of ways, for good and bad. Last Sunday, we acknowledged that we are not always as generous as we could be, sometimes through greed for more money (or at least more things money can buy) and sometimes because we are anxious about our future security and whether we will have enough money for what we need. Two of our readings this Sunday also focus on wealth so I want us to continue to reflect on this theme. We may not be that comfortable talking about money but the Bible is not so squeamish, and wealth and poverty are topics that come up frequently.
The prophet Amos certainly has some very hard words for the rich. He points out, again and again, that the indulgence of the rich can lead to the trampling of the poor and he speaks in uncompromising terms about how God hates such injustice. We know that the suffering of the poor is not just something that happened in Amos' time; much injustice in our world today is related at some point and in some way to the desire to make money, even at the cost of people's lives. Wealth can be linked intentionally, though more often unintentionally, to injustice. That is why it is good for us to be more aware of what we buy and the working conditions of those who produced it. Organisations like Fair Trade seek to ensure that workers get paid a fair wage, so when we buy Fair-trade goods we are helping to ensure our money is used more justly. As we have been challenged during Creation Season, we can reflect how our lifestyle and money relates to the huge injustices caused by the effects of climate change. We can seek to do our bit in practical terms and heed the words of the prophet Amos: 'hate evil and love good, and establish justice in the gate'.
Wealth can be linked to injustice but also to spiritual poverty and idolatry too as we see in our gospel reading.
A rich man encounters Jesus and asks him how to live a good life that he might enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew tells us that he was a young man, and Luke that he was a ruler, so he's often referred to as the rich young ruler. This man seems eager and sincere in wanting to know how to live a good and godly life. 'What must I do to inherit eternal life?' he asks Jesus.
Jesus replies by quoting some of the 10 commandments: 'you shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honour your father and mother.' The rich man is very disappointed. I've kept all these since I was young. I've not murdered anyone, or committed adultery, or stolen anything. Is this all? Isn't there a little extra I can do to be sure I'm right with God and living a righteous life? Perhaps the rich man wanted to be given some extra task and additional religious activities to do, so that he could feel he'd done over and above the basic obedience to the commandments.
But although it may seem that he is obeying all the commandments, the heart of it all is missing. Think about some of the 10 commandments Jesus didn't mention, especially the first two: firstly, I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me. And secondly, you shall not make for yourself an idol in any form. Jesus goes on to expose that, in fact, the rich man does have other gods before him and is caught in idolatry – the idolatry of wealth.
But before Jesus speaks and says very devastating words to the rich young man, we're told 'Jesus, looking at him, loved him' Very important words to ponder. Indeed this is the only person in Mark's gospel of whom it is said 'Jesus loved him.' Jesus loved the rich young man, though he had hard and challenging words for him. Sometimes we can be tempted to think that love and challenge are two separate things – that if we love someone we will always say nice, reassuring things to them, and that if we say some rather hard, questioning things, then we don't really love them after all.
But Jesus, in his dealing with people always combined love and challenge. His love wasn't simply cuddly and comforting, but his love was bracing and inspiring. He welcomed and loved people as they were, but his love always called them to grow and to change and to follow him more wholeheartedly. For Jesus, it was the very fact that he loved the young man that he went on to challenge him.
Jesus knows the rich young man. He knows his weaknesses and temptations and he sees them with compassion and love. He knows that the rich man wants to be faithful to God, but Jesus perceives that his treasure is not in God but in his many possessions. Therefore he challenges the man, 'you lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.' The man goes away, grieving, because he had many possessions. He couldn't rise to the challenge to become one of the disciples following Jesus along the way because his heart was set on other treasures.
Jesus then goes on to teach his disciples that it is hard for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of heaven. '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.' Jesus uses an extreme, ludicrous and humorous image of a camel passing through the eye of a needle to make his point. Riches can hinder us, weigh us down, prevent us from spiritual growth.
The disciples are flabbergasted by Jesus' words, partly because wealth was seen by many at the time, both pagans and Jews, as a sign of God's blessing. If you were wealthy then you must be doing something right. You must be a good, righteous person and God was blessing you. There's still some persuasive versions of that theology around today. This 'health and prosperity doctrine' sometimes makes becoming rich and prosperous the motivation for being a Christian. But Jesus turns all this upside down; riches may not be a blessing but a hindrance. And 'The first will be last and the last will be first.'
It's not that poverty is a good in itself, far from it! But riches can distract us, occupy our hearts and replace God in our lives – like an idol. They also can cause us to be, unintentionally, the perpetrators of injustice towards others.
So what does all this say to us? Are we all called to sell up all we have, give it all to the poor and become beggars on the street? There are some people who have understood Jesus' words completely literally, like Francis of Assisi, of 11th century, who was a very rich, privileged young man who sold everything and devoted himself to prayer and service of the poor. He had a huge impact on the society around him and his teaching, and the Franciscan communities he formed, continue to do so today.
But for most of us, perhaps the challenge is more subtle, yet a powerful challenge nevertheless. Can we picture Jesus looking at us and loving us? He looks at us, as he looked at the rich young ruler with complete knowledge, yet deep compassion; with welcome, yet with the inspiring call not to stand still but to move forward in our Christian life and discipleship.
Jesus looks at us and sees everything. As we heard in our reading from Hebrews 'before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.' Yet, he is able to sympathise with our weaknesses. What does he see in our hearts? Where is our treasure? What do we hanker after? What things would we find it very hard to live without? What are the things that hold us and prevent us from being wholehearted in love of God and our neighbour?
Jesus challenge to us may be nothing to do with wealth, there may be other things that preoccupy us and easily become idols for us. But let's not be too quick to spiritualise the issue. Wealth must surely be a relevant issue for us all to think about as we do live in a rich part of the western world. We are, most of us, rich. We may not think of ourselves as so, but we are, in comparison with the majority of people in our world.
I said at the beginning that money can be linked to injustice. It's important for us to think about how our money is used. We can, as I mentioned earlier, buy Fairtrade products whenever that is possible and we can ponder how our money can contribute in a positive way to relieving the effects of climate change. Then our money will help in a small way to build up justice rather than injustice in our world.
But the main point I want to leave you with today is the question of our attitude to our wealth and possessions. How do we see our money? Is it ours to build up and spend as we please, or can we see it as a gift entrusted to us to share generously? Is it possible to have a sense of joyful freedom towards our money rather than a clinging possessiveness? Can our money be a servant rather than an idol?
Jesus looked at the rich young man and loved him. As we ponder these questions, Jesus looks at us and loves us. What does he then say to us?
Helen Marshall