Unencumbered
Proper 23B
Mark 10:17-31
10/11/09
Lorraine Ljunggren

        In Mark's Gospel today a young man comes to Jesus with an important life- question. I haven't been able to shake imagining this story in modern times with the young man having two different attitudes as the story unfolds.

        It all begins innocently enough. A young man whose clothing must make it clear he has many possessions – that is, he is wealthy – this young man runs up to Jesus, gets in front of him, kneels – a show of great respect and reverence – and asks, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

        Jesus is quick to point out that in Jewish tradition God is the only One to be called 'Good' and then goes on to sum up the commandments from Torah that have to do with our relationships with other human beings – six of the commandments which make community possible. The young man quickly assures Jesus he has all that down pat – no small under-taking when we think about it, particularly if we realize the intent of the commandments includes the communities of which we are part and not just our individual behavior.

        Then Jesus, with that discerning spirit of his, looks at the young man with great love, and then comes the glitch: “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.” (Mk. 10:21) The young man is shocked and his grief is obvious.

        Then comes one attitude. If this young man is like people on so-called reality shows, he goes ballistic! “What do you mean sell my stuff and give the money to poor people!? Why should I do that!? Come on, Jesus! Why? Why do you have to go and talk about money again?! I had heard you talk about money a lot. I should have known better than to come talk to you! Can't you think of anything else I could do? There has to be some other way to inherit eternal life!” When Jesus only looks at him with great love, the young man throws his hands up, stomps away with shoulders hunkered down and hands shoved into his very expensive pockets.

        Or…or, the young man's shock and grief at the prospect of letting go of all his many possessions leaves him speechless. I imagine him no longer kneeling before Jesus, but slowly getting to his feet as if his body is heavy. Standing face to face, their eyes meet – Jesus' gaze still full of love and compassion. The young man, so filled with hope and anticipation just a few moments before, looks deeply into Jesus' eyes seeking some other answer to his question. But, seeing none, hearing none, the young man bites his lower lip, sighs, and with his features now marked by sadness, turns slowly and, perhaps – perhaps looking back over his shoulder at least once, makes his way through the disciples and disappears into the crowd.

        “Giving to the poor was a matter of religious observance for all; but Jesus means more than simple almsgiving. He is asking the man to give up all his possessions, and, unencumbered, to 'come, follow me.' …This is the only time in the Gospels when the personal call of Jesus is rejected.” (Synthesis, 10/11/09, emphasis added)

        I suppose, given the enormity of what Jesus asks, we shouldn't be surprised that Jesus' call to follow him is rejected. While many of us may give sacrificially of our money or of our time to follow Jesus, none of us has ever been asked to sell all our possessions and give all the money to the poor and then follow.

        And while we're not being asked to do that, what this Gospel does ask us today is to follow Jesus unencumbered by the trappings of this world – to follow Jesus unencumbered by the baggage of the past. It is close to impossible to follow Jesus in a way that every moment of every day is characterized by love of God and love of neighbor when we're unable to look forward.

        I believe the young man in the Gospel can only look back – he can't move beyond those events or things in his life which lie behind him – which encumber him so that he can't capture a vision of the future. The young man clings to his worldly wealth, the stuff with which he surrounds himself, the so-called-but-actually-false-security his money represents. I say 'false security' because, as the psalmist says, 'only in God can we live in safety.' The young man's heart seems to be seeking more – he says he is sincerely seeking to live a God-centered-a-life. But, in the final analysis, he can't capture the vision Jesus offers – a vision of what a future life lived with God totally at the center might be like.

        It's tough. I think of the things which encumber me – the old hurts or memories of the times I've missed the mark which seem to dwell at the edge of my consciousness – old stuff I keep saying is behind me – past-said-and-done, but which can so quickly rise up when I hear a newly uttered unkind word directed at me or when I've tried my best only to find what I hoped to accomplish didn't come to pass. In times like that it's difficult for me to capture a vision of the future that is wide-open and full of new possibilities which God always offers me.

        I think of the things which encumber communities, in our case, communities of faith. While it's an old joke in the church to say, “but, we've always done it this way,” truth be told, it can be just one way we refuse to let go of the past, perhaps because a known-past is more comfortable than an unknown future. But that future is actually wide-open and full of new possibilities which God always offers us.

        And, of course, in trying to envision the future it's a lot harder to come up with concrete solutions to what we perceive is a problem or to outline a process to achieve a particular goal we value. It seems that we find it difficult to step up and offer to help ourselves or to help those have already been elected or called to leadership. We busy, sometimes-overbooked-with-worldly-stuff, modern church-folk sincerely want all manner of ministries to be or become a reality, but we like it best when someone else does the planning and the implementation.

        Human nature, you say? Maybe. But, I'm not convinced. Because all I have to do is drive by a sports field in the late afternoon or on the weekends to see people committed to something they value highly. Those games don't happen without lots of concrete planning behind the scenes – there are a lot of details involved. And, as I'm sure you have, I often hear it said, “Life is in the details.” Plus! Many hours of practice goes into playing sports – very few people are naturals who don't need to try and try again to develop and improve their skills, whether in organizing or playing the game.

        Then, watching a bit of a football game yesterday on television, I saw a young college player who had been a star, award-winning quarterback in his high school. The broadcasters were talking about him. Now, having been placed in at least two different positions as a college player – neither of them as a quarterback – the young man continually says to his coaches and his teammates, “I'll do whatever the team needs me to do.” And then he does it! There's the trick – he actually does what the team needs him to do!

        So, what of us here at St. Mark's? What would it be like if 200 or more of us showed up on Sunday mornings saying, “I'll do whatever my faith community needs me to do” – imagine! 200 or more people saying, “I'll do whatever St. Mark's needs me to do.” What might that be like as we work to envision our future here together? Can we imagine how much energy that would generate?!

        How willing are we to face the future unencumbered by the stuff of our lives? Just how willing are we to put ourselves into the mix – to figure out the details and then practice, practice, practice until our vision is a reality? How willing are we to come up with concrete solutions to the problems we identify or to team-up designing ways to achieve the ministry goals of which we dream?

        In the final analysis, I believe we're being called to capture the vision Jesus offers – the vision of a future life lived with God totally at the center. It is a high calling – a challenging calling – an important life-question which happens to have everything to do with inheriting eternal life. Amen.

©2009 Lorraine Ljunggren