Luke 18:15-30 October 23rd
Blessed babies and a miserable millionaire.
In today’s gospel, we have a conversation between a miserable millionaire and Jesus.
The wealthy guy asks what he has to do to get into the kingdom and Jesus swiftly kicks the question upstairs to the law.
Come on sunshine you know how this goes.
You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”
And in my mind, I see Jesus looking at this guy and thinking.
“Why are we having this conversation? You know the answer already. What else is going on here? Where is this chatter going?”
And I want to come back to this later.
There is also an incident with babies being brought along to get blessed by Jesus. There is a link between the blessed babies and the miserable millionaire and the link is a question. Who's going to make it into the Kingdom of heaven?
Answer
- Those with childlike trust.
- Those who know that the most important thing in the whole world is… HIM.
So Father David’s pet theory is that the Millionaire sees the babies being blessed and thinks … mmm … I’d really like some of that. What’s lacking in me?
It is not just a matter of keeping the law and staying squeaky, shiny, and clean, it is the quest of accepting, embracing, absorbing, and subsuming into one's very being, the kingdom, with the unqualified, uninhibited and joyous trust of a child. We can only do that if we know and rejoice in the fact that He is THE imperative for us and to us. We should rush to it and accept it; not just because it is the right thing to do, not just for the hope of heaven, not just because it will do us good, but because it is what He has always desired for us. The only question is how we inflame our desire to the same level of passion and joy as an innocent child.
Or put another way, it is not a question of meriting the kingdom of heaven; ticking off the commandments on our checklist like the miserable millionaire. One enters and claims the Kingdom by and through, a willing, cheerful, sacrificial, loving and transforming relationship.
Thus….
What exactly or who exactly are the babies accepting? What is Jesus’ messiahship? Jesus’ messiahship over us and within us, is a relationship with someone … it is a relationship with …HIM. This is what the babies are accepting and it is what we are called to embrace and live.
We trust and we are dependent… We know and live how much we need Him.
Back to where I began with the miserable millionaire and that intriguing conversation.
When the conversation with this ruler ends and he walks away, we are left to assume that he went his merry way and ultimately went down to the fiery depths of hell forever and ever amen. But… we are not told. In fact, I don’t think he is ever mentioned again. We’re not even given his name.
But later on, maybe he did sell everything. What then??
We can be so quick to judge others for a one-off conversation, an event, or a mistake. A quick look in the mirror and the briefest glance at our own history…Sadly and painfully we can be equally as swift to dismiss ourselves by some blotch that happened a long time ago and which God has already forgotten. We are far more than our smudges and flaws.
The ruler knew the commandments, knew he had kept them and yet he knew that he was somehow not quite complete. He knew that there was something more.. that he is lacking in some way and he was not sure what that something else was. … or ….maybe he did know and that is why he sought out The Master. This is why he is having this conversation and maybe if he knows, he is fearful of having this discussion. He is a little queasy because he knows what will be asked of him.
And I will bet a bottle of my finest that there are times when we have had a conversation in our prayers exactly like His. We have set off to ask safe questions in safe territory, all the time knowing that we need to travel just a little further to where we need to go, but we really don’t want to go there… not yet…maybe not ever.
And I am sorry that the millionaire went away miserable, but I reckon he was courageous for at least confronting his impasse … his predicament.
Perhaps he was asking as a child does.
Am I there yet … because at some level he knew he wasn’t. At some level, he knew he had a way to go.
The child on the other hand has no doubt. In their simple, unquestioning faith they are already there. They have already arrived. They are already home. In fact, they never left home. They have always been blessed and always will be.