Hands Too Full

Hands Too Full—October 7, 2018

Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions. [Mark 10:21-22]

The trouble with having everything is that it makes it very difficult to let go of anything.

I don’t know if you’ll recall the old bit from Saturday Night Live called “Deep Thoughts,” but I can’t help but recite one here.  Every so often in the 1990s they would have these brief interludes with satirical uplifting and inspirational sayings, done by Jack Handey.  And in one of my favorites, he says: To me, it's a good idea to always carry two sacks of something when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, "Hey, can you give me a hand?" you can say, "Sorry, got these sacks.” 

I know it ruins the humor of a joke to explain why it is supposed to work.  But in the interests of the Gospel, I am willing to run that risk.  Aside from the fact that trying to get out of helping people is awfully selfish, the whole plan itself is completely self-defeating.  You want to get out of doing more work, so you go around carrying two extra, unnecessary loads in bags?  How obviously foolish!  How utterly stupid to try to avoid an inconvenience by burdening yourself with additional weights!  Well, when it’s put in such obvious terms like that, well then, of course we can see how outrageous that would be.  When you put it like that, it is clear how silly it would be to carry extra stuff around just to get out of lending a hand to someone.  Of course, none of us would ever do something so foolish, so completely idiotic.

Or maybe, we just don’t bother to put all our baggage in sacks.  It seems that we, like the man who came to Jesus looking for eternal life, have a hard time letting go of the sacks of “something” we lug around with us, even when it is obvious they are weighing us down, holding us back, and keeping us from receiving the Kingdom with open hands.  We clench our souls up around our stuff to the point where our spiritual muscles cannot relax, cannot let go, cannot open up—even in order to receive the very thing we have really been seeking after.  The tragedy of the rich man who came to Jesus (and who, remember, was met with love from Jesus) is that he has come within reach of the very thing he has been striving for all his life, but once it is put right in front of him, he can’t bring himself to let go of the “two sacks of something” he has been accumulating in order to receive it. 

The irony is a killer:  he had come to Jesus looking for what he had to do in order to “inherit eternal life” (which, to be clear, is impossible, since inheriting depends on someone else’s action, specifically dying, to occur).  And of course, in the extravagant grace of God, eternal life isn’t earned but is given away for free.  It’s there.  For the taking.  Right there in front of the man.  But he won’t unclench his fist, wrapped tightly around his big bags of stuff, in order to receive it.  That is, as I say, the real trouble with having everything—it makes it near impossible to let go of anything.  Jesus has practically come to the man and said, “It’s all yours—life in the fullest, the Kingdom of God, the treasure in heaven—right here, as a free gift.”  And in reply, the man has shrugged and said, “Sorry, got these sacks.”

We are so used to hearing Jesus’ answer about giving away his possessions to the poor like it is meant to be payment for access to heaven, or a hazing ritual done in order to ‘get in’.  But Jesus isn’t saying to the man, “I’ll sell you an all-day ticket to the Kingdom if you’ll give me all your money in return.”  No, Jesus is saying, “Here is exactly what you were seeking, and I have it for you as a free gift, despite all your striving…you just need a free hand to put it in.”  Remember, nowhere else in the Gospels does Jesus demand that someone give away all their possessions—that tells us this is not a heavenly gate fee, but a matter of freeing up some open hands to receive what we really wanted and needed.  You can’t receive a new gift when your hands (and heart) are clenched around two sacks you carry around with you all the time.

What are the things we have been clutching onto so fiercely that we cannot take a hold of the Kingdom?  What are the things we thought we couldn’t live without that might actually be the key to life in the fullest?  Today, let our focus be to ask, truthfully, what things we have been clinging onto while we have been missing out on the free gift of the Kingdom life, eternal life, right at our finger tips.

Lord Jesus, open our hands, and ease our clenched fists and souls, so that we may let go of what is holding us back from taking hold of your free gift of life.