The lesson of today's readings is not very cryptic. It is summed up in these words: "how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!" Or, more specifically, "It is easier for a camel to pass through [the] eye of [a] needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” Contrary to the weirdly popular pseudo-explanation, Jesus here is not speaking of a narrow gate in the wall of Jerusalem that is difficult but not impossible for a camel to pass through. He is literally referring to a camel going through the eye of a needle used for sewing. Something that is truly impossible. Of course, nothing is impossible for God, even saving the rich. In the context of this passage, this is nothing short of a truly great miracle.
According to Jesus, far from being God's greatest blessing, as many people in the U.S. suppose, material wealth and the comfort it brings is perhaps the biggest obstacle to the kingdom of God for many people. In its most exaggerated forms, the so-called "Prosperity Gospel" is ridiculous to most people. But this false Gospel takes more subtle and insidious forms. At root, it is a matter of in what or in whom do you place your trust.
In light of today's readings, take some time to consider this question: What is the one thing I lack? What am I so attached to that giving it up would constitute a huge deprivation? It may not be money or a possession. Perhaps it is an activity, one that costs a fair amount of money and takes up a lot of your time.
We are pretty quick to de-radicalize what it means to follow Jesus. We seem to have difficulty trusting in Jesus's promise that whatever we give up to follow him will, in some unspecified way, be returned one hundred times over. In the end, the kingdom of God is what receive/inherit/enter into. Otherwise, it would simply be an extension of precisely what Jesus calls his followers to reject.
This is not pie-in-the-sky religion. Being incarnational, Christianity knows nothing of such a thing, despite the attempts of many to distort it in this way. This prompts another question, maybe life's deepest question: What do you really want? What is it you really desire? Why is it that in a moment of satisfaction you often become conscious of the fleetingness of that moment and are struck by the question, "Is this all there is?"
Why did the young man go away sad? Was it only because Jesus urged him to give up his riches and he couldn't bring himself to do it? What dissatisfaction or hope for satisfaction do you suppose led him to approach Jesus in the first place? Was his awareness of his lack of satisfaction coupled with his refusal to take a risk that caused him to go away sad?
Today's reading isn't really about the rich young man. It's about the kingdom of God, which, as Thomas Nevin, with a nod to Georges Bernanos, notes: "there is only God's kingdom." It's not a matter of seeing it as much as it is a matter of living it. As Jesus indicates, especially for those who have, the price of entry can seem high.
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