Maureen
Frescott
Congregational
Church of Amherst, Amherst NH
October
14, 2012
Mark
10:17-31
“Squeezing a
Camel into the Kingdom”
“It
is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man
to enter the kingdom of God."
(Mark 10:25)
Our passage from Mark’s gospel today is 15
verses long, yet for most of us this is the verse that stands out.
Many of us may have learned in Sunday School or heard
in a Sunday sermon that there is a gate in Jerusalem called the eye of the
needle through which a camel could not pass unless it stooped down low and had
all its saddle bags removed.
After dark, when the main gates were shut, travelers
or merchants would have to use this smaller gate, through which the camel could
only enter unencumbered and crawling on its knees.
This makes for great sermon material, with the
parallel image of us coming to God on our knees without all our baggage
weighing us down.
It’s a great story and provides a memorable
sermon illustration, but unfortunately there is no evidence that it’s true.
From as early as the 9th century,
this story has been put forth as the contextual explanation for Jesus’ eye of
the needle reference, however, there is no documented evidence that such a gate
existed. There are gates in Jerusalem today that people identify as the “eye of
the needle” but this was done in response to the story. No ancient Jewish
source mentions it.
Another variation on this theme tells the story
of an old mountain pass known as the "eye of the needle"; a pass so
narrow that merchants would have to dismount from their camels, which made them
easier prey for robbers lying in wait. Thus the only way to pass through the
eye safely was to leave one’s belongings behind. Again, this is a great story,
but there is no evidence that it is historically true.
Yet another explanation for the camel passing
through the eye of a needle imagery is the suggestion that this verse contains a
translation error.
It’s been said that the Greek word kamilos (meaning
'camel') possibly appeared in the original text as kamêlos, meaning 'cable or
rope'. Thus the verse should read, “It is easier to thread a needle with a rope, than for a rich
man to enter the kingdom.”
Most scholars do not support this mistranslation
theory, but a few have taken it even further and suggest that Jesus was
referencing a thin rope made of camel hair and the needle was actually a 6 inch
carpet needle, which for some is a more logical and acceptable pairing than the
image of a camel squeezing through a tiny sewing needle.
My favorite rendering of this iconic image is
the cartoon that some of you may have seen on our church facebook page
yesterday.
In it the disciples have taken a full size
camel, greased its sides, strapped roller skates to its feet, and placed it in
a giant sling shot while other disciples stand at a distance atop a giant needle
with a mallet and plunger at the ready, and the determination to get that camel
through that eye anyway they can.
Why is it that we are so fascinated and perplexed
by this image?
To the point where we try to explain it away by
suggesting alternate interpretations that appeal to our sense of rationality?
It’s not because we don’t think Jesus was
capable of using exaggerated imagery or hyperbole to make a point. We have other
examples of him doing so – He once told the disciples “Before you notice the
speck of dust in your brother’s eye, remove the log from your own eye.”
We know in this case he wasn’t referencing an
actual log. He was speaking metaphorically and we get the point he was trying
to make without the need to do mental and linguistic gymnastics to make it more
realistic and thus more understandable.
So why do we feel the need to lessen the sting
of the eye of the needle text by embracing stories of Jerusalem gates, carpet
needles, and camel hair ropes, and in the process reduce the difficulty of the
task from impossible to doable with effort?
Perhaps we’re hopeful that increasing the
probability of fitting the camel through the eye of the needle will in turn increase
our chances of gaining entrance into
the Kingdom of God.
Before I go any further let me clarify what we
mean when we say “Kingdom of God.” We’re not talking about heaven, although the
two are often confused. Heaven is the Christian understanding of where we go
after we die. Jesus as a Jew would have understood heaven to be a kind of
temporary waiting area for souls but it’s not our final resting place. The
Kingdom of God that Jesus talks about is the world that will come into being
after this one passes away. A world where creation in its entirety will be
restored to its intended state of being. Where death and fear are no more and
we all share in the abundance of God’s creation equally. This is the Kingdom
that is both here and not yet. We catch glimpses of it when we witness acts of
absolute love and compassion, and we anticipate its arrival whenever we come
together around the Communion table and share in God’s abundance.
This is the Kingdom that the rich man in our
text hopes to gain entrance to.
And whether you believe that only God has the
power to create this Kingdom during an apocalyptic end times, or that we as
God’s children have been called to assist in its gradual creation by working to
make this world a better place for all, the Kingdom of God, the reign of God, a
world where death and fear is no more, is one that we all long to experience.
Which is why the rich man was said to have
walked away grieving when he was told his wealth would prevent him from
entering God’s Kingdom.
For thousands of years we’ve been looking for
the loophole in this text.
One that eases our fear that if we are “rich” by
Jesus’ standards, it doesn’t matter how well we keep the commandments, we will
not find entry into God’s Kingdom.
And let’s face it, every single one of us here
is rich by Jesus’ standards. Compared to the average first century Palestinian
Jew we live like kings.
We sleep comfortably in multi-roomed homes with
indoor plumbing, heat, and electricity, and most of us have more material
goods, food, clothing and money then we need to live contently.
Most of us may not be wealthy by modern day
American standards but compared to the majority of people alive in the world
today, we’re sitting on a pile of gold.
But I suspect few of us believe that we’re
supposed to take this text literally and do as Jesus instructed the rich man to
do and sell all that we have and
give the money to the poor.
Realistically, even if we plan on emulating St.
Francis or Mother Teresa by committing to a life of poverty, we still need a
few possessions and some money to survive.
But how much is too much? What is the dividing
line between rich and poor?
Even among the poor, some have more than others.
Must they give all that they have as well?
What of the widow in our text last week who gave
her last two coins to the treasury, would Jesus have condemned her if she gave
only one coin and kept the last for herself to buy bread?
It’s safe to assume that most of us find a non-literal
interpretation of this text to be more meaningful. One that suggests that it’s
not the man’s wealth that Jesus objects to, rather it’s the fact that he has
made his wealth the center of his world. His money has become a distraction and
maintaining it has kept him from devoting time and energy to helping others.
By selling all that he had he would release
himself from this burden and be better able to serve God.
The question here is: What would Jesus have to
say about the way we live? We may be wealthy by Jesus’ standards but what if we
give a certain percentage of our money, time and energy to serve God and
others?
We may still wonder, is this enough? How much is
enough?
Our question to Jesus is still the same:
What must we do to please God?
What must we do to gain entrance into God’s
Kingdom?
How much do we need to give to be a good
Christian and to feel like we’re doing all that we can to make this world a
better place?
There are so many questions that arise within us
when we encounter this text that it’s no wonder that we try to find ways to
explain it away or lessen its impact upon us.
In many ways, the people who heard Jesus rebuke
the rich man 2000 years ago were equally confounded.
Then, as now, wealth and prosperity were seen as
a sign of God's blessing. Deuteronomy 28 lists all the material blessings that
are bestowed upon those who follow God’s commandments. An increase in crops,
cattle, children, and wealth was a sign that you were living right by the Lord.
How many of us look at all that we have and
can’t help but say the words, “God has blessed me.”
But do we then also believe that the poor are
poor because God has withheld blessings from
them as a form of judgment?
I certainly hope not.
We can imagine that Jesus’ disciples had all of
these questions spinning around in their minds as well.
Which is why they said to Jesus, “If the rich
man, who is blessed by God, is not saved, then who is? What hope is there for
the rest of us?”
The disciples, like most of us, can’t help but get
hung up on the money.
Which is why the verse about the camel squeezing
through the eye of the needle sticks in our minds.
Yet few of us remember the verses that follow.
The part where the Disciples ask, “then who can
be saved?” and Jesus responds, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God;
for God all things are possible."
We cannot save ourselves, only God has the power
to save us.
Ultimately, this text is not about money.
It’s about Grace.
It’s about the Grace that God offers to all of
us abundantly,
And there is nothing that we can do or need to do to earn it.
We don’t earn salvation. It is given to us.
We don’t earn eternal life, or a place in God’s
Kingdom.
We inherit it….and an inheritance by definition is
given, by the one who has it to give.
There is a paradoxical tension alive in this
text that is difficult to sit with, and it’s important that we acknowledge that
it exists.
God’s love, grace, and salvation are not earned,
but are freely given.
As the rich man learned, we don’t earn a place
in the Kingdom of God by following the commandments or ticking off boxes that
identify us as a good and compassionate person.
But God does call us to follow the commandments
and to love God and our neighbors as ourselves, because if we don’t do so we won’t
exist in right relationship with God.
And if we don’t have an intentional, active, and
right relationship with God we can’t accept God’s grace, because we don’t know
that it’s there for the taking.
It’s like having a neighbor lean over the fence
offering us a basket of fruit from his harvest. If we’re preoccupied with
what’s going on inside our own house and we haven’t made the effort to build a
relationship with that neighbor we won’t know that the gift is there for the
taking, and that all we need to do is to walk outside our front door and extend
our hand in love to accept it. That’s what God’s grace is like.
This is a tension that the rich man cannot
accept. He walks away in grief because he can’t see that his money is keeping
him from building a full relationship with God. The attachment that he has to
his money is the barrier that prevents him from accepting God’s grace.
For him it was money, but there are many things
that consume our attention and prevent us from building a relationship with
God. Our desire for power or
control. Our tendency to hold onto grudges or disappointments. Our anger caused by perceived slights
or injustices. Our addictions to substances, behaviors, activities, and people.
Our fear of failure, uncertainty, and change.
As long as we hold onto any of these, we siphon
off time and energy that could otherwise be dedicated to building a
relationship with God and serving God’s people.
The tension that we learn to live with as God’s
people is that God’s grace is freely given to all, but we need to make the
effort to turn towards God and accept it.
And as Christians we turn towards God by
following in the footsteps of Jesus.
As Christians,
We are called to be generous with our money, our
time, and our energy.
We are called to not store up treasures here on
earth but rather to use those treasures to help alleviate the suffering of
others.
We are called to recognize that all we are given
belongs to God, and that we should give to back to God with the attitude that
we live in world of abundance rather than scarcity.
But if we reduce our giving to a numbers game,
to just another commandment that we need to follow to buy our way into the
Kingdom of God, then we’re no different from the rich man who asks, “What must
I DO to inherit eternal life?”
The good news of the gospel is that we don’t
have to DO anything to earn eternal life.
Love God. Love your neighbor. Love yourself.
And compassion and generosity will flow
naturally from that love.
Now you may still not quite understand or be
overly concerned with what it means to accept God’s grace or how we come to
enter or help co-create the Kingdom of God.
The point that Jesus was trying to make is that
we don’t need to concern ourselves with all that.
Just Love God. Love your neighbor, and love
yourself.
And in doing so you can’t help but recreate
yourself and become more like the person God intended you to be.
Amen.
