Mark 10:17-31 As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”
Peter began to say to him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”
Reflection I was shocked. The moment happened to coincide with the early birth pains of the U.S. bursting housing bubble accounting for the startling number of people of every stripe and reason huddled in store doorways and slumped near street signs. I had just arrived in Berkeley, California to begin the chapter of my journey toward ordination as an Episcopal priest at the Graduate Theological Union. I was shocked.
Old, young, families and individuals, I lost count of the number of homeless neighbors I passed before reaching Church Divinity School of the Pacific, the destination of the 1.6 mile trek from my flat. A week of maneuvering past bodies while giving away my lunch and cash left me not only hungry and broke but also morose. How was I to live and breathe and find my being in the wreck of this waterloo?
That was the question I brought to the first meeting with my faculty advisor, The Rev. Dr. Louis Weil. And Louis said to me, “Choose one person. Make him your person. Jesus healed one person at a time.” And so that evening as I returned to my flat the question, “Who will be my person?” whispered me along the way.
With only four blocks remaining between me and my flat I began to worry, “How will I know who is my person?” I have no idea what I expected but suddenly I knew when a gaunt and gangly shadow of a man looked up at me from his seat on the sidewalk in front of the Blockbuster store, and through clear blue yonder soul searching eyes, “He looked at me and loved me.”
I could hear my heart hammering as I lowered my eyes and said, “Bless you.” He uttered not a word. Most days for the next three years I visited Eugene offering him breakfast, a few dollars, assistance getting an identity card, a word about whatever and blessing. And every day “He looked at me and loved me”
In the eyes of the world Eugene had nothing, No possessions, no wealth therefore no security, no safety, no esteem, no power and no control. But in Eugene’s eyes he had everything because his treasure was in heaven. Every day Eugene experienced the kingdom of heaven delivered to him by strangers. And so with clear eyes and unfettered heart he could “look at me and love me.”
I believe Jesus’ instruction to the rich and rule abiding young man, “sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me” is the Markan version of Jesus’ famous sermons on Matthew’s mountain and Luke’s plain. We remember them as the Beatitudes.
In Luke’s gospel we meet Jesus “Looking at his disciples (saying), Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” (6.20) The poor are blessed because they already inhabit the kingdom of God. How is that possible? Because they are not depending on stuff that will fail them. They know they are dependent on God’s mercy.
I am not romanticizing the tragic consequences of poverty and homelessness. What I am suggesting is that the possessions and wealth that we believe give us security, safety, esteem, power and control are not and never will be the source of mercy, joy or blessing. All the wealth in the world is nothing compared to being blessed in the kingdom of God. And how do we receive such blessing? By realizing our dependence on God, accepting blessing delivered through the mercy of others and being merciful.
Which brings us to Matthew’s nuance of the First Beatitude, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” (5.3) What does it mean to be poor in spirit? I believe it means we find our security, safety, esteem, power and control depending on each other and God rather than on the crap and crunder of this world. When like Eugene we accept our poverty of spirit we understand our dependence on God’s mercy, mercy meant to flow to and through us. This is meaningful for both the material and spiritual realms.
The very last thing I did before driving away from Berkeley to continue my life and ministry in Arizona was go to the corner of Shattuck and Dwight to say good bye to Eugene. And he “looked at me and loved me,” God’s merciful benediction. I pray to pass it on to you.
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