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February 23, 2013
Poverty of Wealth
By Br. Dennis
PRISM Restorative Justice, Los Angeles
I know people who are so poor that all they have is money. The story of the rich young ruler in Mark’s Gospel is one of the hardest to follow and Christians and would-be Christians everywhere find this message unsettling. We sometimes try to soften the blow by spinning the message in ways that make it not about money. But it is about money.
Let’s face it, we all need money. Many have mortgages to pay, families to raise, medical bills to pay and futures to secure. There also brothers and sisters among us who have very little money and they need every last single nickel and dime they can scrape together in order to just make it through another day. Regardless of where we are on the economic scale, money plays a role. The question is, just to what extent to we allow money to have a grip on us – to rule our lives. But this story is about more than just money. Ultimately, it is about freedom. The rich young ruler had come to Jesus because he was looking for something he was not getting in life. He was obviously a man of wealth and station in life. He had it all. But he comes seeking Jesus with a burning question, “How can I enter the kingdom of heaven?” There is a sense that he had come to a critical turning point in life. He is essentially saying that he has kept the law; he has amassed wealth; he is a young, healthy ruler who is rich with many things and in many ways; but yet he knows that none of it is giving him the life he truly wants. And now he kneels before the poor man from Nazareth looking for answers. And he gets one. After what appears to be a lifetime of accumulation of wealth and successful striving, Jesus is finally the one who doesn’t talk about what the rich young man has but what he lacks. The young ruler must have been thinking, “Finally, someone who can get to the heart of the matter, finally this holy man will answer the question that nags my soul.” The answer from Jesus is unspoken, but true. It is the truth beyond the truth. What the rich young man lacks is freedom. It is an answer that strikes at the very heart of the soul, and the solution is equally profound: “…go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, then come and follow me.” It was an invitation to freedom. It offered liberation from the bondage that kept the young man from turning – and stepping into – the kingdom of heaven. But he couldn’t do it. The grip of wealth was too tight on him. He is the only person in the entire Gospel of Mark who walks away from the invitation to follow Jesus. The image of the rich young ruler walking away is a sad and tragic one. He walks away from Jesus with his heart held in bondage by something that will never ultimately serve him. And he walks away learning the lesson we all much learn either sooner or later – that no amount of money, property, or prestige can buy true happiness and the awareness of the kingdom of God, because it is not for sale. It is a gift that can only be perceived by a heart that has been liberated from the poverty of wealth and the real truth is that the opposite of rich is not poor – but free.
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