“Impediments”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Sunday, October 13, 2024
Mark 10:17-31 (Forward, p. 76) CEV p. 1040
In casual, everyday conversations we use the word ‘impediment’ from time to time. We speak of a speech impediment, for instance, making it hard for the particular individual to be understood easily. Or we speak of an impediment to being able to vote or to run for office, often due to a lack of residency or a problem with one’s legal status. Or we speak of an impediment to getting married, such as being too closely related or not being free to marry.
In today’s passage about the Rich Young Ruler—as he is often known—we hear of yet another impediment, an impediment to gaining eternal life. The young man in question comes running up to Jesus with an urgent and totally understandable question, given the tenor and thinking of the day. He wants to know what He must do to have eternal life—and here the emphasis is on do. As he admits later, he has lived an exemplary life up until this point. Nevertheless, he is uncertain. He doesn’t know whether this is ‘enough’, or whether he should be doing something else.
Actually, this is the wrong question—and the wrong assumption—but Jesus doesn’t bother to correct him. (Actually, it isn’t a matter of doing at all, but Jesus gets to that later--and in a round-about way.) Jesus tells him that he needs to sell everything that he owns, give the money to the poor, and then come and follow Him.
At this, the young man is terribly downcast, and for good reason. He is very rich and simply cannot imagine life without all these possessions, without all this wealth. The trouble is that rich people tend, unconsciously or consciously, to come to rely on their riches. (Some manuscripts make this explicit with the words, ‘how hard for people who trust in their wealth to get into God’s kingdom’.) And, after all, is this not the nature of our times and its frequent teaching, namely, to make sure of our investment portfolio and save up money for our retirement?
Actually, the question is not so much our wealth per se, but whether we rely on it, trust in it, or not. Or whether, ultimately, our trust is in our Lord Jesus Christ. And so, paradoxically, it is not something that we do, but what we don’t do. That is, what we allow Jesus to do in our lives when we put our trust and faith in Him. That, in a sort of round-about way, is what Jesus was really getting at, both with this rich young ruler and His disciples. Even so, it is not always that easy to accomplish, for the temptation is always there to look to these tangible, material things for our security, rather than to Jesus. Thankfully, we have His help in so doing.
Forward notes: “When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions” (verse 22).
“I’ve heard so many sermons and lessons based on this story of the Rich Man. But what struck me this time in reading the story is that the man is solely focused on what he has to give up. By fixating on what he has to lose, the man misses out on what he could gain.
“It’s a natural response. When at the crossroads of an uncertain, unwritten future and the status quo, it’s easier to settle for the things we are familiar with than take a leap of faith. Instead of leaning into ‘what could be,’ we resign to ‘what is.’ Jesus is pushing this man to see what could be, inviting him to see what he could and would gain. But the man is blinded by what is. When we’re invited to follow Jesus, we step into an unwritten future; it’s a risky invitation. When you find yourself at these crossroads, I hope your sights are set not solely on what you could lose but also on the abundance you are invited to step into.”
“Sure, we don’t know what the future holds, but we do know who holds it.”
Moving Forward: “What might help you lean into ‘what could be?’”