Sermon for November 22nd, 2020

Matthew 19:16-26

16 Then someone came to him and said, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” 17 And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; 19 Honor your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 20 The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; what do I still lack?” 21 Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this word, he went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, 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.” 25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, “Then who can be saved?” 26 But Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

Counting Camels: Through the Eye of A Needle

Today is our final sermon in our series on Camels (and their status as valuable resources) in the Bible. Last week, we talked about Job, the man with 3,000 camels, and so I couldn't resist this joke:

• What's the difference between Job and King Arthur? One had a lot of camels. The other had... Camelot.
• You probably already know that a camel with one hump is called a dromedary camel, while a camel with two humps is called a bactrian camel. But what do you call a camel with three humps? Pregnant.
• What do you call a camel with no humps? Humphrey
• What do you call the cry of a camel? A hump-back wail!

It's probably a good idea to start a sermon like this with a few laughs (or groans!), since it's not one of Jesus' most popular messages--especially not in 21st century America, one of the wealthiest nations in history. Even if you are in the "middle class" today in America, you are among the top 10% compared to the rest of the world. Basically, we are the guy who comes to Jesus and goes away grieving, because he had many possessions. We are the guy about whom Jesus told his disciples, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle" than for that guy (us) "to enter the kingdom of God." Add to that the fact that, as Americans, we *really* don't like to be told where we can and can't go.

But don't worry--we're in good company. For almost two thousand years, people have been trying to explain away this passage or to put a positive spin on it.

When I was in my twenties, I heard a sermon preached on this passage. At the time, Amy and I were both teachers, and didn't consider ourselves rich by any stretch of the imagination--even though we had just bought our first house (a pretty small one) and owned two cars, and generally ate three meals a day (unlike most people in the rest of the world). But we didn't feel rich, and so I listened to the sermon on this passage thinking "it's not about me--you go Jesus! You put those rich people in their place!).

The pastor, who was a well known televangelist in the Dallas area, explained that actually, the "eye of a needle" that Jesus was talking about in this story was the nickname of a gate entering the city of Jerusalem. It was the "after hours" gate, and for security reasons, if you arrived at the city late at night, you would have to get off your camel, unpack all of your stuff, and your camel would have to crawl to get through, but that this gate, the "eye of the needle" gate, was just small enough that you could slowly, painstakingly, make it through to the city.

I think the point of the sermon was that it was not, in fact, impossible for a rich person to enter into the Kingdom of God--you just had to humble yourself (and your camel), and take stock of all your possessions, in order to barely squeeze through.

The problem with this fairly popular interpretation (as I learned in later research) is that there's really no evidence that such a gate ever existed in Jerusalem. It's a nice story, though, and I remember thinking to myself--"ok, so my rich friends who are doctors and lawyers and engineers can still get in...but I'll get in first."

Another explanation, slightly more plausible, comes from the language used in the story: The Greek word for camel used in this passage, κάμηλος (Ka-MAY-loss) is very similar to the Greek word κάμιλος (Ka-MEE-loss) which means a thick rope or cord. Despite the fact that this word never shows up anywhere else in the Bible, as early as the third century, theologians made the assumption that this was all a typographical error, and Jesus meant to say that it's easier for a thick rope to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God's kingdom--meaning it would be difficult, but not at all impossible. You'd just have to have a pretty big needle.

Both of these approaches fall short, however, when you look at the response from Jesus' disciples--who were NOT rich, by today's standards or even 1st century middle eastern standards. When they hear Jesus's analogy about the eye of the needle, they don't say, "Yeah, that would be pretty hard, BUT...you know, if you unpack your camel" or "if you just got a bigger needle..." No. We read that they were "were greatly astounded," saying, “Then who can be saved?”

I think what Jesus is doing here is using a colorful metaphor to make a point. The camel was the largest transportation vehicle that his disciples could imagine, and the eye of a needle was the smallest opening they could imagine. I suppose if Jesus were talking to us today, as that young man walked away dejected, Jesus would have turned to his disciples and said, "It would be easier for him to drive his minivan through a molecule...than for him to find his way on the road that leads to God."

So, in other words, Jesus is saying that it's impossible. And that's what those of us who drive modern day camels--minivans, pickup trucks, cars with four wheels--really don't want to hear. We don't want to hear Jesus say that we are excluded. And most of us, if we're honest, aren't ready to give up everything we have, sell it to the poor, and follow Jesus in that kind of way. And so we are tempted, like the young man in the story, to just walk away from it all.

But I think he walked away just a little bit too soon. He didn't stick around for the important part, for the final words of Jesus on the subject of wealth, possessions, and entering into the Kingdom of God.

Those words come in verse 26, after the disciples ask Jesus, "then who can be saved"...if not this guy who has lived a good life and done everything that the Bible teaches?

And Jesus says, "For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.” Even threading a camel through the eye of a needle.

The problem is that the young man in the story asked the wrong question. He asked (understandably) a very self-centered question: "What can *I do* to have eternal life?" To me, he sounds like someone who is proud of his own achievements--like so many of us are. I did this, I earned that, I worked hard and I achieved this, here's my resume, Jesus. Tell me how special I am. Tell me how exceptional I am. And then tell me what you think my next great accomplishment should be in front of all these people so that I can once again demonstrate how far above them I am."

And Jesus says, in effect, "Ok, I'll play your game." He says, "try this accomplishment: let go of all the markers of your exceptionalism. Give up all the things you are so proud of. Relinquish your identity, your sense of self, your sense of entitlement, and give it all to people you are trying to outdo." This is a classic example of Jesus turning things upside down, saying if you want to be first, then make yourself last, and help those who are last to become first.

The man in this story wanted to know what he could do to inherit eternal life. And if you read closely, the answer for him, for every rich person, for every poor person, and every person in between...is absolutely nothing. There is nothing you can *do* to inherit eternal life. It's not an achievement you can earn. It's not a game you can win. It's not something you can buy.

Instead, it's something God does, something that the Holy Spirit achieves, and something that Jesus bought and paid for long ago with the sacrifice of his own life.

I suspect that the piece about the camel and the eye of the needle was Jesus' way of saying that even though the gift of eternal life is given freely, and there's nothing any of us can do to earn it...it's perhaps hardest for a rich person--someone who is used to buying, achieving, earning things--to see and understand this, to receive this gift un-skeptically, un-critically, and with appropriate gratitude.

I suspect this is true for us, too. The wealthier we become as a nation, the more convinced we become that all this is a result of our great effort, our great achievement, our great wisdom. And it follows naturally that eternal life, or what most of us might call "the good life" is something that we can figure out, unlock, or power our way into.

Two thousand years ago, if you were a promising young individual trying to make your way in the world, you would find a local guru, a local rabbi, and say, "Teacher, what must I do to have eternal life?"

Today, we have a slightly different approach: "Google...tell me how I can live the good life? Alexa...what can I do in order to be happy? Siri...how can I find purpose and meaning in my life?