Sacrificial Ministry

So, Pastor, just tell me. How much money can I have and still be faithful?

This past Sunday, Jesus is heard in the Gospel lesson saying, "How hard it will be for those who are rich to enter the kingdom of God." (Mark 10:23) Interestingly, that is all that some hear from Jesus in this text. They fail to take into account the sadness that Jesus feels as he sees some struggle with their spiritual selves, knowing that the world of the flesh has, in them, won out. They will forever be defined by the ways of the flesh, and will define others by some vague profit/cost equation. They will do what benefits them instead of sacrificing their own needs for the sake of those around them who are in need.

Remember, please, that the New Testament is a Hellenistic witness. The Gospel of Mark is created in, to and for Hellenistic culture, with Hellenistic cultural assumptions and a dualistic understanding of all life. One is to practice the "heavenly virtues," those practices which we know a priori to be reflective of divine will. These heavenly virtues are perfect and eternal. They are spiritual and heavenly. They are qualitatively superior to the virtues that come from the realm of the flesh, where practicality and utility rule. The heavenly virtues go deeper, to the very core of essential human nature, where the spirit dwells.

O, c'mon. For Christ's sake, Pastor. Just tell me how much I can keep for myself!

No, you don't get it. You are asking a question similar to that asked by Nicodemus when, being told that he must be born again, wonders about the process of an old man entering a second time into his mother's womb. Or, it's like the disciples fighting with one another over which of them is the greatest, especially in light of Jesus' walk with them toward Jerusalem. They do not understand his sacrificial ministry. They do not get his service to all humankind. They do not understand the motivation of doing freely for others.

Look, to stand with Christ Jesus means sacrificing ourselves in service to others. It means subjecting our own needs to those of the needs of the rejected and despised ones among us. It means that we go out of our way to protect the rights of those who see no justice in our courts and feel no acceptance in our streets. It means that we allow what we have been given to be used in ways that elevate those of lowest degree.

Why would we do that, Pastor? There is nothing to be gained.

Exactly! To live according to our spiritual essential nature is to give of ourselves even when there is nothing to be gained. That is practice of the heavenly virtues. That is living life according to the archetype of Jesus' Crucifixion/Resurrection. Church is the place where we learn again to devote our lives to the process of bringing kingdom to the lives of others by sacrificing ourselves. It is about devoting everything we have to the cause of Christ.

No wonder churches are shrinking! The Pastor won't even tell me how much I can keep for myself!

*Sigh.