Don’t Forget the Poor!

Today’s Gospel confronts me with a big challenge. How do you give a homily on “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” to a congregation that is by and large financially comfortable?

It may sound like a preacher coming down hard on riches, especially when he has none. And yet, as a minister of God I cannot pretend that Jesus did not speak those words in the Gospel. I cannot look for something less disturbing to talk about like, the “wisdom” of the first reading.

To face the issue intelligently, I found a good approach from Fr. Walter Burghardt, S.J. of the Georgetown University. His approach is: 1)  to recapture some biblical background, to put the passage in context;  2) to uncover what Jesus himself had in mind when he spoke this way about riches; and 3) to ask what all this might say to us today.

First, consider some biblical background. The disciples were amazed and astonished at Jesus’ words. It seemed that Jesus was saying “it’s impossible for anyone to enter the kingdom of heaven.” What made it more puzzling was the strong Jewish belief that wealth was a sign of God’s blessing.

Remember the end of the Book of Job. How “the Lord blessed the latter days of Job… with fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses.”  The Lord blessed this God-fearing man with twice as much as he had before.  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob were all rich men; for God enriched those He loved.

However, not everyone who was rich was therefore blessed by God. For example, Isaiah warns, “Cursed are those who add house to house and join field to field, till [they] snatch up the whole area and become the sole inhabitants of the land.” Woe to those who forgot that the source of their wealth was God.

But if you did fear God, if you really loved Him, you would surely be blessed with the good things of the earth.

Second: Now what did Jesus say to that time-honored tradition and belief? Not only did he have “nowhere to lay his head,” not only did he depend on the hospitality of others – on the women of Galilee, Mary and Martha of Bethany, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arithmathea, the tax collector Zacchaeus, he condemned wealth in very strong terms. “Woe to you, who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” It is to the poor that the kingdom of God belongs.

Reflect on the parables: the rich fool, who lays up treasure for himself, and is wanting towards God; the rich man, who died and went to hell, the poor Lazarus who was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom.

In one passage, Jesus called riches “unjust mammon,” in contrast to “true” riches. “You cannot serve both God and mammon.”

In line with that, “Anyone, who does not give up all that he possess cannot be a disciple of mine.” These are certainly strong radical sayings.

But there is another side to it – a side of Jesus that makes us hesitate about his harsher words.

As far as we know, he never told Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary to give up all they had. He did not tell Nicodemus and Joseph of Arithmathea that they were not candidates for the kingdom of heaven.

When the rich Zacchaeus announced: “Behold, Lord, I give to the poor half of my belonging” (not all, just half), Jesus told him, “Today, salvation has come to this house…” Zacchaeus’ giving up half his possession was good enough to inherit the kingdom.

Well, the question is – which is the real Jesus? Which will it be – no riches or some?

On riches there is a radical Jesus and a moderate Jesus. There is a Jesus for whom wealth is totally connected with evil, and there is the Jesus, who counsels a prudent use of possessions to help the less fortunate.

There is a Jesus who tells some people to give it all away, and there is a Jesus, who advises others to share what they have. There is a Jesus who stresses how selfish and godless the rich become, and there is the Jesus who experiences how generous and God-fearing his well-to-do friends can be.

Thirdly: What might all this say to you and me today? On the one hand, the radical Jesus must never cease to challenge us. Nothing, absolutely nothing, should take precedence over Christ in my life, his right to rule over my heart.

But experience tells me that there is a danger in any possession – whether it’s an adult’s preferred stock or a child’s video game, whether it’s my cell-phone or “ipad” or “iphone,” whether it’s the presidency or a juicy business deal, whether it’s profound knowledge or a touch of power, my health or my wealth, my child or my home – whatever I own and possess.

The danger? Simply that it’s mine, and it can become the center of my life. It can direct my life, manipulate me, strangle me, and enslave me.

When that happens, Christ takes second place.  I don’t listen, I don’t hear His call or His command: to give it all up or only half, to care and to share, to let go.

The radical Jesus poses a perennial question: What rules my life – the camel or the kingdom?

On the other hand, the moderate Jesus fixes my eye on something wonderfully positive. That is the gift I have in anything I possess, anything I “own.” Whatever is mine (except sin) is God’s gift. Even if it stems from my own fantastic talent, that talent itself owes its origin to God. But a gift of God is not given to be protected as my sole possession; it is given – to be given. In this, lies the secret of Christian possibilities.

Each one of us is a gifted person – gifted in more ways perhaps than your modesty will admit.

It matters not what your specific possessions are: millions or the widow’s mite, intelligence or power, beauty or wisdom, faith, hope and love, gentleness and compassion.

What the moderate Jesus tells you is to use your gifts as he invites or commands you to use them. To some he may say: “Give all you have to the poor and come, follow me naked”.  To others:  “Share what you possess; use it for your brothers and sisters. Employ your power for peace, your wisdom to reconcile, your knowledge to open horizons, your compassion to heal, your hope to destroy despair, your very weakness to give strength. Remember, your most precious possession is yourself.  Give it away… generously.”

To do that, you must look at the Lord. How can I ever reconcile my riches with God’s kingdom, my possessions with Christ’s command to let go? “With men and women,” Jesus said, “it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”

My brothers and sisters, the poor surround us; they walk our streets, poor in so many ways. They need not only food but also faith, not just cash but caring, not merely Social Security but also the touch of love. For the sake of the kingdom, for your salvation and theirs, don’t forget the poor!