A sermon delivered on July 30th at a United Methodist Church in Incheon, South Korea
(Scripture: Matthew 19:16-22)
Today, nearly half of all people in our world survive on about two dollars a day.
On the other end, those of us in industrialized and powerful nations like United States and South Korea can view two dollars or two thousand won as very little – there is little that we can buy for two dollars. Two dollars is almost worthless to us.
To this poor half of the world, we must appear to be very wealthy and powerful people, something like the rich young ruler in our scripture. Furthermore, this is a young adult service – many of us are also like the ruler, in that we are beginning to experience our life in the fullest and are hoping to spend it wisely. We are asking questions about faith – how do we live our life so that we too might gain eternal life?
Let’s take a moment to picture ourselves in the shoes of this rich young ruler and ponder Jesus’ response to our question.
To be honest, Jesus’ responses are quite unexpected. We’ve followed all the rules, every commandment since we were little. But yet, something is missing – that’s why we are asking Jesus in the first place. Maybe there is a rule we’ve missed – maybe we’re not doing something right. And then suddenly Jesus asks us to become poor, and if we do that, we will find what we are looking for. Wow.
What do Jesus’ words mean? Are we truly to become poor if we want to follow Jesus? Are poor people more holy than rich people? Is being poor better than being wealthy?
I think we all agree that being poor is not some perfect existence – rather, it can be painful, a life struggling each day to make enough money to get to the next, to find the next meal, to provide enough for your family. On the other hand, we do admit that being wealthy is also filled with danger – with much wealth, life can also be painful.
But there are differences – each day, one who is poor, struggling to live on two dollars a day, must work hard to find the basic needs – housing, food, clothing, water. For those of us who come from wealthy nations, we view such basic needs invisibly – we take them for granted. They are always present. We tend to view these basic needs as trivial – instead, we’d rather have finer, more expensive things. For example, for must of us, we aren’t satisfied with having a basic cell phone that will allow us to talk to our friends and family – we need a cellphone that plays mp3s, takes pictures, runs favorite games, shows movies, and more. And we are willing to spend a lot for that. But is it truly a basic need of life?
So then, maybe there is some sort of truth to what Jesus is saying.
If you read many of Jesus’ teachings and parables carefully, you will find that the Kingdom of God works on a different economic system than our own. It is a system where everyone receives what they need to live. In Matthew 20, for instance, the parable of the Workers in the Vineyard has an outrageous story – a master hires workers throughout the day to work in his vineyard. Some work all day, while others work for only a single hour. At the end of the day, the master pays each worker the same. This sort of economic model does not fit into our societies at all – in fact, it appears to fly in the face of good wisdom. How could someone be paid so much for doing so little?
Jesus was very serious about taking care of the poor, about justice, and about basic needs for people. So, we too must take Jesus’ words very seriously.
Returning to the rich young ruler, I feel that we could receive these words from Jesus in three different ways.
First, we could take Jesus’ words literally. He is quite literally asking us to give away all that we have and follow him. No doubt, we are sad after hearing these words. We have a lot. We like our wealth – we like having a lot of things. We like being able to spend money whenever we want. Giving it up, sounds incredible.
Some people hear Jesus speaking these very words in our world today – and in an effort to walk closer with him, they give up all they have and risk everything to serve and love others. I have met some of these blessed people – they are called missionaries and pastors. Their sacrifice is a great one.
A second way to take Jesus’ words is to see his call in a systemic way. Jesus was talking about a different way of doing society and culture, a way where everyone has their basic needs and everyone is cared for. In this type of society, no one needs to be wealthy – no one will be poor.
I have found that many people have responded to this vision throughout history – they have formed close communities with other Christians and shared all that they have in order to be one with Christ. At the core, church should hold many of these ideals – this should be a place where all are welcome, all are loved, and all can receive what they need to live.
The third way we might understand Jesus’ words is to see them in a deeper sense. Jesus may not have been really telling us to go sell all the we have, but he may have been asking us who we really love. Do we love God, or do we love our wealth? If we had to choose between God or our money, which would we choose?
This is a very personal question, but it is one that we must struggle with for a long while. I invite you to think about it – what do you truly value in life? Don’t expect easy answers, but I pray that we all put God first.
I believe, however, that there is truth from each of these understandings of Jesus’ words.
We must understand that our wealth can be a great gift for doing God’s work, but it can also be at the expense of others. Is it right for us to hold so many resources, when our brothers and sisters around the world do not have the basics they need to survive? Yes, this is a very challenging question.
We must also be a part of communities and churches that care for everyone, that leave no one out. As future leaders of our nations, we young adults must build an ethic of compassion, so that our societies won’t leave anyone behind.
Finally, we must seek ever deeper in our journey of faith, to know God more and more, so that we can truly say nothing stands between us and God. No thing of this world will ever be greater than God – no thing can provide us with any level of comfort or hope that God can – nothing will satisfy our needs like God.
Today, we have pondered these words of Jesus from the prospective of the rich young ruler. I challenge you now, to respond to Jesus at this time – will you leave all that you have and follow him? Will become a part of His Kingdom of God, a place where there is space, healing, and hope for all? Come – Jesus is calling.
Amen.
