The Camel the eye and the faith to get through
A Sermon for the 22nd Sunday of Pentecost
Luke 18.18-30
This story of the joylessly religious rich man is a setting for the most memorable of images - that of the camel trying to get through the eye of a needle. To our ears this is hyperbole of the highest order. The two things seem so totally unrelated. If Jesus wanted to suggest something merely very difficult he could have said that is it harder for a rope to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.
Some who have studied the Greek of the New Testament and the Aramaic language of Jesus’ native tongue suggest that this might be closer to what Jesus meant. For example, the words for camel and rope were very similar because rope was sometimes made from camels’ hair. Other’s say Jesus was most likely referring to the gateway into Jerusalem that had been partly blocked up so that mounted horsemen or chariots could not enter. It was apparently a comical sight to see the wealthy traders unloading their camels and guiding them though the small opening.
But still others say that the story should not be glossed over like this. It is an outrageous example of hyperbole designed to stick in our memories by combining ridiculous elements -the eye of the needle, a tiny aperture, and the camel, the largest animal usually seen around Jerusalem. There are examples of some of the stories of Rabbis which try to force elephants through eyes of needles to make a point. It is a truly memorable image brought about in the context of Luke’s gospel by the refusal of the rich man to accept the call to discipleship.
This rich man had some deep spiritual yearnings that could not be satisfied by established religion. He was one of those archetypal people that would have been held up as a righteous man. Not only would his wealth been seen as a blessing from God, but there was no question that he might have come into his wealth through dishonest means such as tax collecting or changing money at the Temple. Here was a fine, upstanding member of the community who could also say that he had kept the commandments all his life. He was not like any of those who surrounded the woman caught in adultery where Jesus issues the challenge that any without sin may cast the first stone. Just as well for the poor woman this rich man was not present!
I wonder if the upstandingness of this man was the reason Jesus treats him rather sharply. Often Jesus talks of coming to seek and save the lost, to set the captive free and heal the sick. At first this man seems to need nothing more than a little advice. To the question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replies, “You know the commandments…obey them and you will live.” Then we move closer to his real problem. “These I have kept from my youth.” What I believe we can read into this account is the man’s persistent sense of dis-ease. In fact he was suffering from the deepest spiritual malaise – in spite of all his efforts he had no firm conviction that he was a child of God created and loved by God. He had no sense of the joy this relationship brings, even though his tradition would have soaked him psalms that include words like these -
You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Ps 16.11
Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God. Ps 43.4
Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout to God with loud songs of joy.
For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome, a great king over all the earth. Ps 47.1-2
None of this seemed to be within the rich man’s experience of faith. His so called ‘blessings’ brought him many responsibilities but not much joy. He was one of those who can be found in every age as the American Preacher Billy Sunday once noted:
The trouble with many people is that they have got just enough religion to make them miserable. If there is not joy in religion, you have got a leak in your religion.
- Billy Sunday SERMON, NEW YORK 1914 http://elbourne.org/sermons/index.mv?illustration+233
We learn from the rich man of Luke 18 that all the correct behaviour, right devotion and responsible living cannot, of themselves, guarantee the joy of knowing God as a beloved child knows God – trusting and secure in the knowledge of an eternal bond of love. Quite the contrary, the one who knows his or her frailty best is the one most likely to know the importance of what God has done in Christ. Remember last week’s Gospel of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in the Temple.
There is a lesson here for us as individual Christians but it is not a new lesson. Joy was one of the fruits of the spirit that St Paul observed in the early Christians he ministered amongst. Indeed on the day of Pentecost the Christians that spilled out from the upper room were accused drunkenness such was their joy. The joy of the Christian can never be equated with mere momentary happiness or pleasure. It must be the result of a deeper openness to the Spirit of God that transcends suffering and disappointment. Paul, for example likens his apostleship to the arduous life of the athlete he has fought the good fight and finished the race he tells us. Yet he still finds joy in his rescue from every evil attack. In the second letter to the Corinthians Paul writes:
We want you to know, brothers and sisters, about the grace of God that has been granted to the churches of Macedonia; for during a severe ordeal of affliction, their abundant joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. 2 Cor. 8.1-2
Paul was urging the gentile, non-Jewish congregations that he had founded to give generously to assist the Church in Jerusalem. The Corinthians were very slow to take up the challenge but other churches were not. The churches of Macedonia Paul singles out included two mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament – Philippi and Thessalonica. Not only were these churches giving beyond their means but they did so while enduring great persecution. Their poverty and persecution stemmed partly from a succession of civil wars and partly from the Roman conquerors who exploited the natural resources of the area. In spite of their predicament these churches exude a sense of joy and generosity and Paul in turn rejoices in them. Paul’s experience of the Christian life also led him to write to the Romans:
For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Rom 14.7
In order to cultivate such a deep sense of joy we need to allow the Holy Spirit to get past our immediate situation. To convince us again and again of the underlying reality that God loves, God forgives and God is present with us in our good times and our bad.
Perhaps one of the things that people find attractive about Pentecostal worship is the demonstrable sense of joy of these congregations. Joy can be expressed in many forms and it is not necessary to go to extremes to prove joyousness. In our tradition joyousness can be expressed by the sincerity and inclusiveness of our welcome to each other on Sunday morning, by the enthusiasm of our responses in the liturgy, by laughing at the preacher’s jokes, by the energy with which we give voice to our hymns – even and especially – when we sing the old favourites, and by the reverence with which we receive the sacraments. These simple things convey our joy at worship in the presence of God.
I finish with a story on the witness of joy:
Massena, one of Napoleon’s generals, suddenly appeared with eighteen thousand men before an Austrian town which had no means of defence. The town council had nearly decided to surrender when the old dean of the church reminded them that it was Easter and begged them to hold services as usual and to leave the trouble in Gods hands. This they did; and the French hearing the church bells ringing joyfully, concluded that an Austrian army had come to relieve the place and quickly broke camp. Before the bells ceased ringing, all the Frenchmen had vanished.
The incident has often been duplicated in individual lives. They have rung the joy bells in the face of pain, and sickness, and poverty, and fear, and loneliness, and all other trials. Then the joy bells have conquered. Speedily, the foe has slunk away. Speedily, the bell ringers have found themselves in possession of the field. For no enemy is quite so strong as faith [expressed in joy]. --Amos R. Wells
This rich man stands in stark contrast with the many whose lives were changed through their encounter with Jesus. From Andrew to Zacchaeus, men and women shared in the joy Jesus offered them through a renewed relationship with God. That joy is for those still, who will leave behind the things that hinder their relationship with God and follow Jesus.
