In the Philadelphia Museum of Art there\u2019s a striking painting by Russian Marc Chagall. As Chagall\u2019s often complexly allergorical or symbolic paintings go, it\u2019s very simple. It has a large white figure of a man, several smaller white figures of houses and a church, and two words in Russian on a black background. The striking thing about the painting is that the man\u2019s head is on upside down. He seems to be floating above the houses in a large night sky, and even though his head is on upside down, he doesn\u2019t seem anxious or upset, just sort of matter-of-fact. The title of the painting and the meaning of the two Russian words is, \u201cOh, God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, imagine what\u2019s going on with Jesus in today\u2019s Gospel. Think about how this Jesus constantly challenges his followers and pushes them to think \u201coutside the box,\u201d and think about how we often react to these stories of Jesus. Can\u2019t we just picture ourselves and Jesus\u2019 followers as the man in the Chagall painting? Don\u2019t we often listen to these Gospel stories, and hear what Jesus is calling us to do with our lives, and don\u2019t we often say to ourselves, \u201cOh, God?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today\u2019s Gospel is certainly an \u201cOh, God\u201d Gospel, because Jesus is turning his followers\u2019 lives upside down. He gets their attention by talking about something very precious: possessions. It\u2019s an uncomfortable Gospel at first glance. A man kneels before Jesus and asks how to inherit eternal life. He seems sincere, and when Jesus talks to him about keeping the Commandments, he says he has kept them since his youth. What more could Jesus want than a man who\u2019s kept all the Commandments? Evidently, Jesus wants more. He tells the man to sell his things, give the money to the poor, and then follow him. As sincere as he is, though, the man goes away sad, because he has a lot of stuff. It seems he can\u2019t give it up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We feel for this man, but the story also makes us uncomfortable. We, too, want to be Jesus\u2019 followers, but look at the stuff we have\u2013far more probably than this man could ever imagine\u2013and, to be perfectly honest, how many of us could say we\u2019ve kept all the Commandments since our youth? Like the disciples in verse 26, we may, at this point, be tempted to say, \u201cThen who can be saved?\u201d If we focus only on this part of the passage, the answer might be, \u201cnot many,\u201d but here\u2019s the turning point of this Gospel. If we find ourselves concentrating only on the discussion between the young man and Jesus, we need a wake-up call. We may be worrying only about our possessions and how we might hang on to them and still inherit eternal life. And remember, possessions are not only \u201cthings\u201d but also our attitudes, our prejudices, our values. Looking only at this small part of the passage means we may be looking only inward and not out towards our community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So we look at what comes before and after this section of chapter 10. What\u2019s happening in Mark\u2019s Gospel at this point is that Jesus has been going through Galilee teaching and healing, and in this section especially he\u2019s been using the innocence of children as a teaching tool. In chapter 9 he told his followers that whoever welcomes a child welcomes him. Later, he reaches out to the children people were bringing to him and rebuked the disciples who tried to stop them. He said, \u201cLet the little children come to me; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. . . . Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.\u201d Then at the end of chapter 10, Jesus says, \u201cIt is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where do we fit into all this? Even Peter says, \u201cLook, we have left everything and followed you.\u201d That\u2019s their turning point. That\u2019s where they start paying attention. Where\u2019s our turning point?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our turning point can be in understanding truly the image of the man with many possessions. We need to remember that Jesus sometimes used difficult images. In chapter 9, remember, he said, \u201cIf your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off.\u201d Today he seems to be saying, \u201cGet rid of everything you have or you\u2019re doomed.\u201d A literal reading of the Gospel would make us think so, but that\u2019s not how we need to read it. We look for deeper meaning, and here\u2019s where we find the core of Jesus\u2019 teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus is telling us that we need to find what it is in us that\u2019s a stumbling block\u2013a detriment\u2013to our living as children of God, and then do something about it. If we have many material possessions, we may need to see how we use them to help those less fortunate than ourselves. If we hold on to attitudes or prejudices that exclude others or are self-righteous, then we need to repent and change our ways. If we\u2019ve become so wrapped up in our own wants that we\u2019re no longer careful of our world or its people, then we need to look again at our call to stewardship. We need to do this as individuals, and we need to do this as a faith community. It takes prayer, honesty, and a serious decision to want to live as a people of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we\u2019re really serious about this re-examination\u2013and we should be if we\u2019re going to call ourselves God\u2019s people\u2013then we\u2019ll find it to be a challenge, but one that has the greatest of all rewards: the inheritance of God\u2019s kingdom. But it is a challenge. Jesus tells us all through Mark\u2019s Gospel that he came to serve, not to be served. For Jesus and so for us, ministry is to be a servant ministry. Our lives should be lives of service to each other, and many times that means going beyond ourselves, letting go of what we want in order to reach out to others. But it also means that when we\u2019re in need, others in the community will reach out to us. That\u2019s the wonderful thing about being part of a community. Everyone should be held in love by a community. No one should be left out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, if we take this \u201cOh, God\u201d Gospel seriously, it just might really turn our lives upside down. Yes, Jesus is calling us to get rid of the stumbling-blocks in our lives. He lets us know that it\u2019s not easy to get rid of those stumbling-blocks, and that deciding to try sometimes leads to the Cross, but he also lets us know that if we do, he promises a reward many times greater than what we\u2019ve been clinging to. We have a choice. We can walk away shocked and grieving like the man in today\u2019s Gospel, or we can get on with the work of really living as God\u2019s people. It\u2019s our choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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