“…This is once again the Great Reversal: many who are first will end up last, and the last first.”
Mark 10:31 (The Message)
Jesus is teaching and preaching in Judea, with a crowd of people following him. An earnest young man came up and asked a reasonable question: What do I have to do to have eternal life?
It seems that this is the first question we ask about anything we’re interested in trying out. What do I have to do to lose 50 pounds? What do I have to do to buy this car? What do I have to do to find someone to marry? If the price (or the list of requirements) is reasonable, we can sign on the dotted line. If there is something that we don’t think we can meet, we’ll turn away and rethink the situation.
Jesus recites the laws that God gave to Moses and our earnest young man heaved a sigh of relief! That wouldn’t be a problem. He’d been following those laws all his life. Jesus looks this fellow in the eye and sees something precious that needs to be developed so he adds another point. “Get rid of all your stuff and follow me.”
I don’t think that Jesus intends for everyone to divest themselves of all their worldly goods. I think Jesus wants us to look at our wealth and to see it for what it is. If Joseph of Arimathea had sold all his goods, Jesus wouldn’t have had a tomb to be buried in.
Money is a funny measuring stick that we use to determine a person’s worth. Money can do a lot of good in the world. It can also do a lot of damage to a person. Money can become as addictive as any drug available for sale. We can do a lot of fun things with money but when we let the acquisition of money become our purpose for living, we’re missing an important part of life.
Life is about connection – not isolation. We’re taught to be smart with our assets—not to squander them and to make sure that we get a reasonable return on our investments. The piece that is sometimes missing is that our assets aren’t always physical and our investments aren’t always monetary. Money may be an easy way to value ourselves, but it isn’t the only way, and it isn’t always the best determiner of our value.
The disciples were horrified when they heard Jesus talk about the difficulties for rich people to enter heaven. People are used to money buying everything but there are a lot of things that can’t be bought by money. Rich people can be the loneliest people on the planet because many people don’t see them for who they are. They are too often seen for the comforts they can provide. It’s nice to have money; but it’s nicer to have real friends who know you! It’s a thought!
Becky Gillette is a former teacher, newspaper reporter, and preacher who seeks to take an original approach to life’s lessons. She has recently published her first book, Jessie’s Corner: Something To Think About, which is now available for purchase. Based on several lesser-known scriptures from the Bible, this is a collection of articles which she wrote for a weekly newspaper.
