Sung Eucharist, Christchurch Priory, 15th October 2006
Amos 5.7-7, 10-15; Heb 4.12-end; Mark 10.17-31
May it be that I speak in the name of the Living God, Father, Son & Holy Spirit. Amen.
‘The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.’ The word of God, what does this phrase mean? Many times it’s interpreted as being the written word of God. Another way of understanding it is that it is the voice of God revealed in the good news of Jesus Christ.
The young man we read about in Mark this morning had an inkling that this was the case. Jesus was setting out on a journey, in other words he’d been in town for a couple days. Whilst he’d been there the Pharisees had tried to have another pop at him, trying to trap him over divorce; and the disciples had got it wrong again, this time over the children, shooing them away, but Jesus was having none of this and welcomed them in his arms. So the two themes that have been running through his short stay there have been the Torah, hence the discussion over divorce, and the kingdom of God, and who will enter it. I reckon the young man had been on the periphery of these conversations and exchanges but hadn’t been able to summon up the guts to engage with Jesus directly. Why? Well sometimes we don’t want to hear the answers to the questions we know we’ve got to ask. And there would have been no greater question doing the rounds – how do I inherit as child of God, a descendant of Abraham, how do I inherit eternal life, in the coming kingdom of God. So when Jesus was leaving, the young man grasps the moment. He runs after him. Runs! Not cool to run when you’ve got wealth & prestige. But he’s desperate. Desperate to know the voice of God. ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’
Now imagine that you’re a disciple of Jesus, you’re standing by the road side, you’ve seen this young man throw himself at Jesus’ feet. No, that’s wrong. We are disciples of Jesus, so let’s hear his answer. ‘No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments’ and note that Jesus focuses on the horizontal commandments, the ones to do with community and the young man says I’ve kept them since I was a kid and that’s when Jesus looking at the young man, loved him. This is the heart of it. Jesus loved him. We may worry when we hear this story that it means we too must go and sell everything we’ve got. No, that’s not what it’s about. Think of Joseph of Armithea, think of Zacheus, Jesus didn’t tell them to sell everthing they’ve got. No, Jesus’ answer comes after he has looked at him, and loved him, the word of God judging the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Not damning, but discerning with love. Jesus’ answer is ironic, ‘You lack one thing’ – outwardly the young man’s got everything. But Jesus sees inside. ‘Sell what you own, give the money to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me’. The young man was shocked – his heart has been pierced by the voice of God. He goes away grieving. Grieving – it’s ambiguous. Grieving for what he’s going to have to lose – his possessions, his wealth, his prestige, everything that has hitherto formed his identity as he’s now called to ground that identity in God alone. Remember, God alone is good. Or is he grieving because he believes he can’t let go of his possessions and so he won’t be able to enter. To take another Jesus metaphor, the seed, for the moment at least, has fallen on thawny ground.
So this isn’t about money. And it is about money. Jesus knows that for many of us, money wealth, possessions do get in the way. This was turning upside down the dominant understanding at the time. If you were rich this was because you were blessed in the eyes of God. Of course you would be part of the kingdom of God. And Israel was always losing sight of the poor, the weak and the vunerable. Hence the prophet Amos, you’re off track, again. Be just and so on. Jesus takes it further, Blessed are the poor for yours is the kingdom of God. The disciples are bewildered. So who can get in, who can be saved, if the rich can’t, there’s not hope for any of us. ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’ Meaning, it is God’s gift. Who’s in, who’s out, who’s saved, who’s not. We can’t earn our way in, we can’t work our way in. No, it’s gift. Pure gift. Of God. All we have to do is receive it. But that’s easier said than done. Imagine it’s your birthday and you’ve had lots of presents. Your arms are full. And just as you take them up to your bedroom, your mum and dad say, hang on. We’ve got one more present for you. And it’s really the best present of all. What do you have to do? You have to put down your presents to receive this one last gift. It’s what we have to do. We have to put down whatever it is that’s stopping us from receiving this gift of God. For many it will be money, wealth and so on. But not for all. For others it may simply be something that takes up too much of your time, that stops you… The key thing is that we’re to travel this journey light, unencumbered, ready to receive the gift of God as revealed in the gospel of Jesus. And as we travel we must not make the mistake of thinking that this is a journey we can undertake alone. We need each other, to benefit from each others experiences, to learn from each other. How do we encounter God? As we gather round the table and receive the bread and the wine, We encounter God in the breaking open of God’s Word, and We encounter God in each other as we meet in his name. And it is with this third way of encountering God in mind, that later on in this service Fr Hugh will be commissioning the the leaders of our three new house groups. This is a very exciting development for us as a church, I heartily recommend that you join one of these groups, of which we hope there will be more in the coming months as they grow. One final word. You may be thinking we already meet often as a church as small committees, because Fr Hugh loves committees! But this is not a journey to be undertaken by committees, it’s a journey to be undertaken by the committed. Committed to Christ. It’s a spiritual journey we’re on and we need to journey together. And as we do, I pray that we, all of us, will encounter the living and active word of God, the voice of God, in our lives. Challenging us, oh yes. But speaking to us always with the voice of steadfast love. Amen.