"You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."
What do we make of these words of Jesus to the rich young man? St. Francis of Assisi took them literally, selling all his possessions, even divesting of all his clothes in the public square in order to fulfill the words of Jesus. Pope Francis continually calls us to be a church of the poor and for the poor, seeing in the words of Jesus the obligation to live simply and to care for those on the margins.
In ancient times wealth was considered a sign of God's blessing and favor. The rich were so because God was rewarding them for a life of virtue and obedience to him. Jesus, however, rejects that standard of determining God's favor. He reminds us that throughout the Hebrew scriptures God favored the poor, the weak, and the outcast. By the very fact that God chose an insignificant, powerless people to be His own represents this favor. Jesus reminds us that God's standards are not those of the world, and that we are called to see as God sees, to act as God acts.
Wealth is a relative measure. To a middle class American, the folks in Malibu are wealthy. To the poor refugee from Haiti, the middle class American is wealthy. But God's standards are objective and not relative. We must live as if we were not rich, judge as God would judge, and love because we have first been loved by God - and in this way we come ever closer to the reign of God.
3 comments:
To me this reminds me that the most important part of religion is your relationship with God. God isn’t asking for you to give up every material thing you have. He is asking you to follow him. Believe in him. Give your heart to him. Have a relationship with him. You can follow the commandments and show up on Sunday but are you just going through the motions? I’ve always loved the quote “Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car”. God wants a relationship with us. I think the relationship between God and poor is important to show us because what can the poor offer to God but their heart? The most valuable thing we have to offer is our heart.
That's a good point, Jen. What God asks of each of us is unique to each person. The man in the Gospel story probably needed Jesus to call him to that particular action, while to the tax collector he doesn't tell him to give it all up - just to pay back what he defrauded others and to share with the poor.
Even the concept of wealth is somewhat relative. To the woman from Togo I am rich, while to me Bill Gates is rich (although he's probably wealthy in everyone's eyes). The point, though, is that there is more that I can do for others and God keeps calling me to expand my vision and my heart to be open to whom he brings my way.
Jen!
I had never heard that saying....hilarious!
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