God of the Gaps: Beyond Control

After last week’s sermon ("God of the Gaps: There is a God, and You are not Him") somebody came up and asked me about kenosis, the discipline of emptying or pouring out of oneself (materially, emotionally, and spiritually) as a sacrifice. "Surely," the person said, "there must be some kind of balance. Surely we are not supposed to go to the extreme of really giving away everything. How would we live?"

Today’s sermon gives part of the answer to that question.

Matthew 19:16-26

Commentary

I have a high-school friend, Steve, who is a rabbi in New Jersey. I asked him this week for his perspective on this account, and I’m indebted to him for some keen insights.

v16 what good thing must I do? This is the typical form of question found in the Talmud, a compendium of rabbinic teaching. Historically, Judaism has been a religion of "deed, not creed." We might say it differently: actions speak louder than words. Hence the question is a legitimate question. Certainly 'saving faith' is faith that translates into a change of heart, and therefore a change of action. 'Faith' that is in the head alone and doesn't manifest itself in how one lives is worthless.

v17 If you want to enter life... Steve asked, "[Does] the fact that Jesus does not mention ‘eternal’ mean that he is not referring to the eternal life but to this life?"

v18-19 Jesus gives half of the 10 Commandments (plus the charge to love one’s neighbor, which is from Lev. 19:18, and referred to by Jesus elsewhere, e.g. Matt 22:34-40). Which commandments are missing?

v20-22 What do I still lack? While the young man may have kept some of the commands well, Jesus’ challenge and the man’s response indicate that, on some of the other commands, the man was far from perfect. Do you think his love of wealth could have manifested itself as covetousness, idolatry, or other violations of the other 10 commandments?

v21 If you want to be perfect... The statement is conditional: IF you want... There is no promise of perfection, rather only the identification of the roadblock on the way to perfection. As I have said before (and hopefully you’re starting to pick up on this as you read the NT) the Greek word for perfect frequently means mature or complete. How would re-translating the verse change your understanding of what Jesus is saying?

Rabbi Steve said, "Jesus has tailored his answer to the questioner. If the questioner is rich—then he need not covet anything—and his questions show he has little faith—the fact that he asks them at all is an indication that he does not have faith."

v23-26 belie the fallacy that God always blesses us materially. Many preachers (and laypersons!) err by over-spiritualizing the verses, making them more palatable, but dangerously easy to ignore. They make wealth into a speedbump on the road to the kingdom of God. However, we must ask ourselves: Do we use what God has given us for the glory of God—or do our possessions possess us?

Application

There are four questions in the story—three asked by the rich man and one asked by the disciples. Look at the progression of the questions.

What good thing must I do to get eternal life? Jesus’ answer omits the word "eternal." It is a fallacy to think that eternal life is divorced from the life you live here. Implicit in Jesus’ response is the ethical demand to realize the fullness of the life God desires for us in the live we are living at the present moment. Many of our troubles reveal exactly the barriers that exist between the life we purport to live and the life we are living. James says, "Faith without deeds is dead" (James 2:26) and our response to our troubles reveals whether (as Bob Dylan said) we are busy living or busy dying. Rabbi Steve interpreted Jesus’ answer this way: How can you enter eternal life when you haven't really accepted this one yet?

Which ones? Our base desire is always to limit life’s demands to things that we can control. The rich man is looking to be let off of the hook, and Jesus’ answer appears to give him an out—but I doubt it. In what follows, the man reveals that giving to the poor, loving his neighbor as himself, is impossible, for he loves himself and covets the tings of the world too much to just give it all away.

What do I still lack? If the man had been honest (or less deluded) he might have said, "That love your neighbor thing—that’s a problem, because I love loving myself." So Jesus hits him right between the eyes. Rabbi Steve said the account reminded him of a story about two rabbis, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Tarfon (who was wealthy but stingy): Akiva told Tarfon about a good investment which would reap great profit and convinced Tarfon to loan him a large sum of money—which Akiva promptly gave to it to the poor. When Tarfon heard about this he was angry, but Akiva said to him "I did what I promised, I have invested the money for you and the payoff will be in the next world."

For many people, the issue really isn’t about the money. Strangely the real issue is the implied lack of faith demonstrated by the degree of control one tries to maintain over the world around oneself. The real issue is not, "Do I love my neighbor as much as myself?" but rather, "Do I trust God enough to love me and take care of me?" Covetousness—one of the virtues the man never claimed to have—is the sin of yearning after the material world in the belief that God will not provide what is needed. One must obtain it for oneself; one must wrest control from God. Herein see the dilemma:

For spirituality is, always, beyond control. We can’t hold it in our hands and touch it, manipulate it, or destroy it. Because it is beyond control, it is also beyond possession: We can’t own it, lock it up, divide it among ourselves, or take it away from others. (The Spirituality of Imperfection, p 31)

Who then can be saved? This is the question of the despairing soul: If I cannot save myself by my own labor, what hope is their for me? The answer in Alcoholics Anonymous is: Let go, and let God. The answer the rich man could not accept was: Let go.

Points to Ponder

What do you still lack?

Where do you need to let go?

The Discipline of Renouncing: Becoming Dispossessed

Here are a few spiritual exercises that may impact you in the material world:

Don’t Buy Anything for One Whole Day
Can you make it through one day without adding to your stockpile of stuff? In doing so, you begin to limit the power of material things to possess you.

Begin Eliminating Clutter
Start by getting rid of stuff you rarely use. Sell it, give it to Goodwill, or throw it away. Get rid of one item, or one box of stuff each week (without replacing it with other stuff) and you will be amazed in a few months with how less stuff you have, and how less you are possessed by what you do have.

Think Twice, Buy Once
Ask yourself, will I use this in a year? In ten? If I needed to pack all of my belongings into a single van and move across the country tomorrow, would I bring this with me?

Don’t Be Owned by Your Stuff
Your belongings can trap you into thinking that these physical things define you. The less you own, the less likely you will be to see yourself as a reflection of your possessions.

Your Challenge
Choose one belonging and sell it or give it away. Don't replace it.