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The Pope came to America and the crowds came out to welcome him. Everywhere he
went people pointed their cameras at him. Lots of people asked him to bless their babies.
We saw lots of hugs and kisses. Pope Francis is a humble simple man, a priest of the
Church has to learn to relate to people as a celebrity in his old age. People push to get
close to him. They want to meet him and ask him all kinds of questions. It would appear
to be the same with Jesus as well. The crowds came out to see Him. People ran up to Him
all the time. The apostles had to double as security guards protecting the Rabbi from the
crowds.
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In the middle of all the excitement a man breaks through the barrier and he gets a minute
with Jesus. This isn’t time for selfies and autographs. The man asks His question
knowing that this is his one chance to get an answer. “What must I do to inherit eternal
life?” The man is wealthy. He is sincere. We don’t understand. How could he be
struggling? He has plenty of money. He should be happy. He has all the trappings of
success. Our society tells us that to be rich is a blessing from God. Donald Trump said
about himself, “part of the beauty of me is that I am very rich.” We listen to the prayer of
Tevye, from Fiddler on the Roof: “O dear Lord, you made many poor people. I realize of
course that it’s no shame to be poor. But it’s no great honor either. So what would have
been so terrible if I had a small fortune, if I were a rich man?”
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The rich man with a sincere heart struggles to find meaning. His riches do not give him
what he needs. There is a big hole inside of him. He needs God. This devout Jew has the
Pharisees as his role models. He has the look of a Pharisee. He walks about the market
places wearing his fabulous clothes. He has a superior air about him. His first prayer
every day is to thank God for his wealth because the Pharisees said that his wealth is a
blessing from God. Carry on like that and you will be saved.
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The Pharisees point of view did not sit well with him. There has to be something more.
Instinct told the man that this Jesus of Nazareth, who never minced His words, would tell
him the truth. What must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus’ answer blew him over with a
feather. Sell what you have and give it to the poor. Then, come follow me. The purist, the
idealist in that man loved this answer but he did not have the faith to follow it through.
The purist and the idealist in Peter and the apostles loved Jesus’ answer as well, but they
expected more. They wanted what this man had. It’s lovely to be idealistic and pure when
you don’t have to worry about paying bills and keeping a roof over your head. It’s easy to
be Jesus when you are all Divine and lovely. You don’t have to worry about it. The rest
of us have to toil and sweat for what we have. How about giving us a break Jesus! If a
rich man can’t be saved, then who can? Jesus said, for human beings it is impossible. All
things are possible for God.”
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This is a message about walking by faith and trusting in God. The truth is we are really
bad at it. Because we are always insecure, always afraid, we spend our days filling our
house with stuff, so that when hardship comes we can survive it. Our focus is always on
us. It is never on God. We are a bottomless pit of need. We gobble up everything money
can buy to fill the emptiness inside but it is all to no avail. Only in God is my soul at rest.