Brief synopsis of the readings: Our first reading is from the apocryphal book of Wisdom. The writer prays for prudence and wisdom and they are given. The writer rejoices and sees wisdom as greater than gold. Mark’s Gospel recounts a man who asks Jesus what he must do to be saved. At first Jesus tells him to follow the commandments but the man says he has done this for his entire life. Jesus then tells him to sell all he has and give his money to the poor. The man then went away sad because he had many possessions. Jesus then turned to his disciples and told them that it is difficult to for the rich to enter the kingdom of God, harder than to pass a camel through the eye of a needle. When asked how anyone could be saved, Jesus said that we cannot do this on our own but only with God’s help.

There are several reasons I’m not a fundamentalist. I believe that Scripture is inerrant (never wrong) on matters of faith or morals but I do believe that sometimes Jesus speaks in hyperbole to make a point. I didn’t preach about this but two weeks ago in the long form of the Gospel Jesus told those gathered that they should cut off whatever part of their bodies causes them to sin. Frankly my brain and my tongue would not have made it even to adolescence.

Many readers of today’s readings come away fearing that they will be denied salvation because of their 2nd car or their 401(k). Others think that Jesus’ command to sell everything and give to the poor is too much and they ignore it. But, as often happens in our lives as disciples, the truth lies in the middle and our lifelong quest requires us to navigate exactly that middle.

I love the book of Wisdom and I’m sorry it’s not accepted by all Christians. But I really love today’s reading because the human writer asks not for wealth but for wisdom. I think he recognized that wealth without wisdom is folly. There’s an old proverb that states it is better to want little than to have much. A person who has wealth without wisdom will never find satisfaction and will lose whatever wealth they have chasing something they can never have. We’ve all heard stories about people who became instant millionaires through the lottery and find themselves broke and depressed a few years later. On the other hand a person gifted with wisdom will make better choices with whatever wealth they have and will have an easier time finding value in what they own.

Now that’s all fine and good but what do we do with the man who follows the commandments and wants to be saved? When he tells him that he already follows the commandments he doesn’t appear (to my ears anyway) to be smug but rather he hungers for more. Unfortunately he got more than he bargained for, unless he misunderstood Jesus.

Perhaps Jesus was continuing what we read in the first reading and suggested to the man that he not be owned by his possessions. This may be a stretch (and God knows I’ve done it before) but Jesus was telling the man not to be owned by his possessions. I’ve always been disturbed by athletes and entertainers who demand more money than they will ever spend in a lifetime just so they can be known as the “highest paid.” While they may claim to be concerned with their family or while they may say it’s not about the money, it really is about the money.

Interestingly enough, wealth in and of itself gives us nothing other than numbers on a balance sheet. But those numbers take on power if we choose that. If we have more than we need, what do we do with it? Obviously we need to be prudent with contingencies and our future but then what? About 40 or 50 years ago we started hearing about something called the “preferential option for the poor.” It means many things but if I can sum it up it means that any decision we make should concern itself with the question of justice for those who don’t have enough. Since the beginning of time there have been those who have so little that even wisdom won’t be enough. If we have more than we reasonably need we need to reach out to those who don’t have enough.

Jewish wisdom literature talks about economic justice with the phrase the “ladder of tzedakah.” It teaches that there are different levels of generosity. For example it is more generous to give to someone who can’t repay you. Perhaps an anonymous gift or a blood donation. But the highest level is when we provide something where the poor no longer need to depend on another’s generosity. Different organizations provide microloans to allow the poor do this. The elegance of this generosity is that it allows the previously poor person to become someone who can now give to others. It is investment in the best sense of the word.

And finally I’m fascinated by the reaction of Jesus’ disciples after Jesus’ conversation with the man. They, too, asked the same question: “What must we do to be saved?” The hidden gem in this reading is when Jesus reminds them that ultimately salvation is not a goal to be earned but a gift from God for us to accept. There is no price tag or cover charge for salvation and in no way can we say to God: “I gave this much to the poor so you have to let me in.” When someone brags about being rich I don’t necessarily think that makes them more intelligent or better than anyone else, but I also don’t condemn them. I ask what they hope to do with that wealth. I’m not interested in knowing if they feel they deserve it, or how hard they worked to acquire it, because it’s worthless until they do something with it. I pray that they find a use that invests in those who are not rich.