With God All Things Are Possible

Comments

1. 

   May 28, 2007

   Guest

   I think the preaching of this scripture is almost always banal,  platitudinious, and divisive. One aspect of its divisive ness – which is conary to christian solidarity – it the verses havinng been used, wrongly I think, as a Biblical justification for stereotyping and, in fact, judging people. And it is often interpteted in a banal fashion. Of course, those who are steeped in their "stuff" –  note that "stuff" has become the snappy little term these days which, I suggest, is unjustly demeaning of the manifold gifts God has pemitted human ingenuity to develop – and who do not hunger for righteousneess and or do not really long see God's face will not enter the Kingdom of God. But this interpretation says too little while at the same time bifurcatuing people into rich-lost and poor-saved. Recall that Jesus slept, dined, and had companionship with the rich. The term "stuff"  implicitly demeans our many blessings and goods, and we have so many of them in the U.S. compared to most of the world. Stuff connotes connotes junky, encumbering,messy, inconsequential, and trivial. We are so blesssed to be able to have things, yes, "things" such as nice homes, furnishings, cars, clothes, computers, top medical care, investment accounts and 401 Ks, leisure activities and the "stuff" that goes along with it, et.al….Enjoying the manifold things in this life that God has allowed us to develop can swell the heart with thankfullness towards God and can make for largess of spirit.  It is no sin to enjoy the things of this life. Job was restored to his wealth! All this of course presupposes that one does seek God's face and yearn for righteousness. There is no logical or spiritulal law that necessarily makes riches and the enjoyment of things incompatible with entry into His Kingdom. In contrast, it is really hard to enter the Kingdom of God if you are forever feeling resentful inside and covetous of those who have "stuff"; are bitter about life and have a critical, downcast spirit. Genuine poverty of spirit is not the sole possession of the materially poor. In fact the materially poor often are not poor in spirit at all but petty and mean of spirit. Nor is poverty of spirit precluded from the interior life of those who enjoy stuff. Besides, the rich man of the scripture went away, yes, probably utterly befuddled that Jesus ( supposedly) made such a demand to sell everthing. And preaching has made so much of this rich man of whom we have almost no knowledge. Maybe he was genuinely seeking to see God's face and to transcend his Judaism. Maybe he felt a void that he sensed Jesus could fill. He was searching for salvation and righteousness precisely,and his stuff obviously had not prevented him from experiencing spiritual hunger and seeking God' face. Some interpret Jesus's demand to "go sell all" as pertaining to His invitation to him for a full time discipleship. Perhaps. But if that is the case, the scripture does not literally speak to us who are not called to sell all of our stuff as a precondition for entry into His Kingdom. Methinks I detect more than a little hint of class jealousy in the scripture and especially in its preaching down the centuries. And lets don't turn this scripture into a lesson on attachment/detachment. On can be attached to and thus spiritually blocked by many things including poker, sex, and golf.