who can be saved?

 Mark 10:17-31 is the lectionary Gospel text for Sunday, October 10.

So this man comes up to Jesus and asks what he must do to inherit eternal life.  Was it a sincere question out of concern, or was it fishing for a statement of divine blessing?

Jesus referred to the Commandments of old, which this man claimed he kept all his life.  He had checked off the list, met the legalistic and literal criteria, had satisfied quid pro quo.

Jesus then looked at him with LOVE and told him the TRUTH.  He had to demonstrate AGAPE LOVE in committed action on behalf of the poor, thus giving away his wealth, in order to gain eternal life.  It is not about quid pro quo, checklists or legalistic criteria.  It is about living LOVING relationships with others out of our Love for God.

He was SHOCKED.  He had been led to believe that his wealth was a sign of God's blessing a favor, a sure sign that he would be accepted into the Kingdom.  His prosperity was not such a sign?  He went away grieving, probably for a great deal in his life!  He had been falsely taught about what God wanted of him.  He grew to love his wealth and the idea that it meant that God was onboard with him having it.  He could not just abandon his wealth and the beliefs that made him feel so good about himself, especially for the sake of nameless, undeserving poor folk.  He was SHOCKED and saddened.  He went away grieving, because as much as he wanted eternal life, he could not give up his addiction to wealth and the power and status that came with it.  He was grieving a loss that he could have prevented.  It was truly tragic.

Then Jesus told his disciples that it is HARD for the wealthy to enter the Kingdom - harder than for a ROPE (kamilos) to go through the eye of a needle!  Near impossible!  And they were perplexed as well by that.  Weren't wealth, status and power signs of God's blessings?  If those who claim to be blessed by God cannot be saved, then who can be saved?

We do not decide that.  We have no clue to that.  More accurately, we ignore the clues to that.  In Matthew's Gospel there is a huge clue regarding the criteria for salvation in 25:31-46.  Here, in this text is a huge clue as to who will inherit the Kingdom of God in eternal life.  Spoiler alert - no mention of praise, tithes, quoting scripture, tongues or having wealth.  It is about Loving Neighbor as Self (Agape - active commitment/committed action on behalf of the other, even stranger and enemy and especially the most vulnerable) out of our Love for God.

God decides who is saved, not the rich, powerful and famous.  Another spoiler alert - it doesn't look to good for them, that is, if you believe JESUS.

Pastor Jamie