Follow Me

Mark 10: 17-22 (October 11, 2009)

1) The Text

17As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” 20He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 21Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “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.” 22When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

2) The Context

Jesus continues to teach about what it means to follow him. Mark carefully places this story of "the rich young ruler" between the blessing of the children, v13-16, and the rewards of discipleship, v28-31. The rich man kneels as to a master; such a show of piety is abnormal. (People stood to pray.) Perhaps Jesus’ response (v. 18) is a careful one. Rabbis (teachers) were not usually addressed as “good”; only God is good. The man insists that he has always kept the commandments (vv. 19-20), and Jesus believes him (“Jesus ... loved him”, v. 21), but what about his relationship with God? Jesus seems to recognize that the man puts his trust in his own piety and wealth, in his achievements, but wealth stands in the way of his gaining oneness with God – so Jesus tests him (v. 21). The man’s shock and departure (v. 22) show that Jesus is correct. Wealth was seen as a sign of God’s favor, but in the man’s case, it gets in the way of true discipleship.

3) Interpretation

The rich man's story reminds us that all aspects of what it means to follow Jesus rankle our deeply ingrained instincts toward self-preservation and security. Jesus does not try to deprive the rich man of his money and power. He asks for more. He tries to claim the man's very own self.

Jesus does this, of course, out of love. Perhaps he believes that wealth, like a competing deity, treacherously constrains people from serving God (as in Luke 16:13). Getting rid of wealth might then move the rich man to a point where he might truly be receptive to God.

Here is a deeply religious person so well-attuned to his practices that he can sense that there is more out there than what he has experienced so far. He asks Jesus about the "more," but his question focuses on what needs to be added. He seeks the limit, or the next step, but discovers instead that eternal life entails the surrender of one's whole self.

Jesus’ challenge to the man to sell possessions, give to the poor and follow him was a way of exposing a flaw in the man’s keeping of the commandments. Admirable as his effort had been, he had missed the point of the commandments. Jesus’ challenge exposed what was missing: a sense of compassion for the poor. The man needed to understand (follow) the commandments the way they are truly to be understood, the way Jesus interpreted them, not as a series commands to be obeyed or boxes to be ticked. He then needed to follow Jesus, not as an alternative to the commandments, but as the way of understanding them and the scripture. Sadly, it is possible to go through life never doing anything wrong - and never doing anything good or generous. Following Jesus means engaging the tradition and engaging life in a way that makes a difference.

Jesus’ conversation with the rich young man presents two versions of the material life: the first is the young man’s life of wealth and status. This is the kind of material life our culture trains us to long for. Jesus called the young ruler to a new kind of material life, a life given to serving the poor with the "materials" of tears, blood and sweat. Jesus was not calling the rich young man to an esoteric spiritualism, a gnostic abandonment of the physical world. Instead, he was calling him to move from one kind of materialism, the self-absorbed variety, to one that focuses on others’ needs, including their material needs.

Which materialism defines us? Our consumption of goods would seem to be in direct conflict with a materialism of good works. In Bobos in Paradise, David Brooks describes how Americans resolve this conflict. His theory is that our culture was once split between the bourgeois and the bohemians. The bourgeois spent their money on obvious luxuries like boats and furs; bohemians created an alternative culture that disdained overt displays of wealth and instead embraced a romantic view of the common life.

Brooks maintains that contemporary Americans have created a hybrid -- they are bourgeois bohemians who spend extravagantly on everyday goods. The money once spent on boats and furs goes into granite countertops and professional gas ranges. People who would disdain furs as an immoral indulgence will spend thousands on a bathroom with a Zen-like quality or, as the New York Times recently reported, on garage makeovers.

The kind of materialism Jesus calls us to requires not the accumulation of goods, but an engagement with people, particularly people in need. Perhaps the first lesson for us as "rich young men" is to realize the empty promise of our consumption. The second is to follow Jesus in the abundant life of engagement. When we baptize a child or visit the sick or serve food in a shelter, we are living and practicing a materialism of tears and blood and sweat. Following Jesus means embracing this new life.

4) Thought Exercise

What is our individual and collective response to follow Jesus?

Where can we better engage with people, particularly people in need?