The Look of Love
Read Mark 10:17-31
Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” –Mark 10:21
Two friends lived in the same town but attended different churches. Every Tuesday morning, they met for coffee, and one friend would spend the first fifteen minutes complaining about his pastor. “All he does is keep telling us how we’re all sinners and how if we don’t repent, we’re going to hell! I’m just so tired of hearing this message!” The other friend would listen sympathetically, but there was nothing he could do. His friend was devoted to his church, even if he didn’t particularly like the pastor.
In time, though, the disliked pastor retired and a new one came to take his place. The “listening friend” looked forward to their coffee next Tuesday, hoping to hear something different from his long-suffering friend. Sure enough, his friend entered the coffee bar beaming from ear to ear. “This new pastor is great! So down-to-earth and relatable! His message was fantastic!”
Intrigued, his friend asked: “What did he preach about?”
The man replied, “Well, he told us that we were all sinners. He called us to repent. And he warned us that if we don’t, we might be heading to hell.” Flummoxed, the friend asked the obvious question: Isn’t that what the previous pastor preached so much? But the man replied: “Yeah, but this one says it with tears in his eyes.”
I doubt that story is true, but it’s always been a reminder to me that the important thing in ministry is not the message you preach, but the love with which it is given. The second pastor shared a hard word with tears in his eyes, and that made all the difference in the world.
While Jesus’ words to the rich man weren’t as harsh as our fictional preacher's, Jesus nonetheless gave him a hard message: If you want to inherit the kingdom of God, you only lack one thing: Go and sell all your possessions and give them to the poor, and then come and follow me. Jesus knew this man was rich. Perhaps he had worked very hard to acquire his wealth. Certainly, he was attached to the security and comfort that his wealth brought. Letting go of that would be exceedingly challenging.
So why would Jesus set the bar so high? And is this what Jesus requires for all his disciples (us included)?
I do think this passage challenges us to consider our own attachment to wealth. We must wrestle with the question of whether our possessions “possess” us instead, and reckon with the way our pursuit of money and comfort can lead us astray from God. Wealth can be a marvelous blessing, but it can also become a crippling weight upon our souls. Consider how much we stress over finances and worry about having “enough,” even though we live in one of the more affluent parts of the world!
But to me, the grace in this passage is found in the small sentence that precedes Jesus’ words to the rich man: “Jesus looked upon him and loved him.” The Greek word here, by the way, is agape, the word we often translate as “unconditional” love. Jesus loved the rich man apart from his possessions. He wasn’t interested in using the rich man to expand his ministry or to make his life more comfortable. Jesus simply loved him. And out of that love, seeing the hold that his riches had upon his soul, Jesus gave him some hard instructions. But I believe he spoke with tears in his eyes, hoping that this man could do the one thing that would bring him freedom.
The man walked away in sorrow. He chose his riches over following Jesus. The hardness of Jesus’ command was not lost on the disciples, who had themselves given up everything to follow him. But still, they felt for the man. “How hard it is for the rich to enter God’s kingdom,” Jesus said to them. “It would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle!”
[For what it is worth, many scholars suggest that the “eye of the needle” was not a literal needle, but was instead a narrow passage into the walls of a city. A camel would only be able to fit through such a tunnel if all its passengers and burdens were first removed.]
Hearing this teaching, the disciples asked: “Who then can be saved?” To which Jesus replied: “With man it is impossible; but not with God; all things are possible with God!” (Which, if you remember, is exactly what Jesus told the father whose son he healed in the previous chapter: “All things are possible for the one who believes.”) So perhaps the final chapter in the rich man’s story was not yet written. Perhaps he would remember Jesus’ words, and one day find the faith and courage to let go of his wealth and share it with the poor. Maybe one day he, too, would be able to enter the kingdom of heaven. After all, all things are possible with God, who loves us with a deeper love than we can ever know.
O Great Teacher, please reveal to me the “one thing I lack.” What is it that I carry with a death grip, that in turn has a death grip on my soul? Give me courage, O God, to release whatever is required in order for me to freely follow You. Amen.