What must I do? And after I have done all that is expected, what then? Finding the answers to these questions occupies much of our attention and our effort every day of our lives.
This week I put my calendar on top of my printer and carelessly covered it with a piece of paper. I have tried to keep two copies of my calendar, but somehow my effort in this regard never lasts more than a few weeks. So after trying to visualize the last time I used it without much success, searching my purse, my car, and my office at St. Nicholas several times, I decided it had to be at home. At the end of the day when I went to the room where my computer and printer live, the first thing I saw was my wallet. I grimaced and thought I've been driving around today without my license and without any cash—but where is that calendar? Then a stack of stuff on my printer caught my attention, because it looked “crooked.” I picked up the top sheet, and there was my pocket-sized calendar. My tiny little black calendar can be relied on to tell me exactly what I must do! And at the end of the week, I pull up the little red ribbon, flip the page and can answer the second question I posed: What then? The answer my calendar usually gives to that question isn't startling—the threads of my various responsibilities pop up as notations for meetings or time in the office.
Not for one second, however, do I think that my calendar answers the question the rich, young ruler asked Jesus. But I do think my schedule, as recorded in my calendar, gives me the same sort of assurance that keeping the commandments had given that young man. I feel assured that my calendar will prove to anyone how diligently I have been carrying out my duties.
The commandments the young man said he obeyed are those that relate to his relationship with others in his community and to his family of origin. Keeping these commandments provided him with status in the community—people would see him as a righteous person and his wealth would confirm how righteous he was, because good behavior was rewarded by God in the common wisdom of the time—think of the stories of Daniel and Esther, and even in the end the story of Job.
So why is Jesus asking him to give up the signs of his status and the comforts that his wealth and status bring? Is Jesus doing this just to make a point about how wealth can hold a person hostage?
The command to go sell all one's possessions and give that money to the poor creates a “sticker shock for the soul,” according to Dr. Wiley Stephens, a United Methodist pastor. The cost of discipleship becomes too great if you must become impoverished, so the young man turned away.
Or perhaps Jesus knew the one thing that would challenge that particular young man to face his fear of being completely vulnerable and dependent. So Jesus challenged him to give up his security and depend on God alone. Offering the young man “eternal life” involved more than promising him what would happen after his death. “Eternal life” meant following the path of Jesus as his disciple right now. It meant serving the poor, the ill and the disabled. Becoming Jesus’ disciple meant participating in the in-breaking reign of God by offering hope and healing to those whom society had rejected. And it meant sharing their lowly status.
Peter and the other disciples who composed the inner circle of twelve had given up most everything—at least temporarily—to follow Jesus. Yet they had done so with one rather important reservation. They expected to be rewarded for their faithfulness when God's reign on earth and in heaven would be fully realized. They hoped sit in places of honor; they expected to assist Jesus when he became the ruler in the “age to come.” So Peter asks this essential question: after we disciples have given up everything to follow you—just as you asked that young man to do—then what? What comes next?
I certainly wish I could write in the Friday block in my calendar: "a reward will be given" (if I have completed all the tasks written down this week) and know it will be more than a pay check. Now I'm not exactly sure what kind of reward I’d want each week or what a place of honor might be like for me—I'll have to give it some thought—in case the Bishop ever calls and asks how I would like to be honored.
But then again, I haven't given up everything to follow the Bishop—or even given up every possession to follow Jesus. A retired priest I know jokes about this passage by saying if he ever heard Jesus telling him to sell all his stock and give the money to the poor—and he began to act on that command—his wife would have him put away. Even the monastics of medieval and renaissance Europe, who—upon entering a monastery—gave up their possessions and left their families to do so, knew that the community they were about to enter would provide food, shelter and clothing.
One of the reforms Teresa of Avila made,when she broke from the traditional Carmelite practices in 16th century Spain, was to insist that her nuns live only on what people gave them. True poverty would help the nuns learn dependence on God. St. Francis, of course, had the same point of view. However, after their deaths, the reforms of Teresa and Francis were not maintained with the rigor for which they had hoped. “Sticker shock for the soul” does not play well over the long term. Given a choice, most human beings are unwilling to be that vulnerable.
“But before you too are taken back by "sticker shock," Pastor Stevens concludes, “listen again to the promise that Jesus makes to you and me. ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.’” We should look at this commitment as something even greater than getting rid of our possessions. Pastor Stevens sees “selling all your possessions” as a way of talking about total commitment to God. However, even that will be quite difficult! Yet I believe God will respond if we decide to do our best to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength and give up whatever is blocking that love. For God all things are possible! We must trust that God will bless our efforts, as we show our love for God in what we do, in what we say and in what we choose to give up.
[Dr. Stephens’ remarks can be found at: http://day1.org/4207-sticker_shock_for_the_soul ]
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