Harder for a rich man to get into heaven than to squeeze a camel through the eye of a needle? That was the Lord’s comment to his disciples when a rich young man couldn’t turn loose of his possessions. Was the Lord against wealth, or did he have something entirely different in mind?

It’s interesting what people will do with Scripture. The Gospel for last week was about a young man who asked what was necessary for salvation. The Lord answered that he should keep all of the commandments. The Lord only quoted the social commandments—those that dealt with our relationship to others, rather than the ones that deal with our relationship to God. These, the young man said, he had kept throughout his life. The Lord doesn’t dispute his answer. The Lord doesn’t point out the many times that he has violated this or that commandment. Rather, the Lord makes a wholly unrelated demand.

“Go,” the Lord said, “sell everything and give the money away.” The young man couldn’t. He had been religious all of his life—and would probably continue to be religious—but he couldn’t give up everything. It was this conversation that prompted the Lord’s words at the beginning of the Gospel for today. “How hard it will be,” the Lord commented to his disciples, “for those who are rich to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were shocked. Think of all the good that someone with wealth can do. Someone with money could solve the financial problems of the church. In the church that I served in McAllen, Texas, The sister of one of the members wanted to leave her money for something that would benefit children. Her brother suggested that the money could be used for the congregation’s school—and it was. It provided for the creation of a whole second floor complex of classrooms, which permitted the expansion of the middle school. The disciples probably didn’t have middle school classrooms in mind, but they could certainly visualize the many things that wealthy people could do as a consequence of their wealth.

I’m sure the Lord could read the shock in their faces, and compounded it with his next statement. “”It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

And that is where people immediately leap in to keep Jesus from sounding silly. An early church father, Cyril of Alexander, said that it was a misprint in the text. Rather than kamelos with an “e” which means camel, it should be read kamilos with an “I” which means “rope.” Others have pointed to a pedestrian gate to be used when the main gates into the city if Jerusalem were closed at night—a gate so small that a camel would have to stoop to get through, and more importantly have it’s baggage removed. There is such a gate in the Russian Church in the old part of the city.

Unfortunately it was not built until the 16^th century. And some have postulated a pass in the mountains so narrow that a merchant would have to dismount from his camel and walk it through, making himself vulnerable to robbers. But what if Jesus really meant the eye of a sewing needle? That sounds like the way that the disciples understood it. Unless Jesus had Mr. Spock of Star Trek fame and his ability to break a body down into molecules and transport it in mind what he was suggesting was an utter impossibility. That’s what the disciples heard—no one with money could possibly be saved—and they were horrified.

Before I give you an account number to which you can transfer all of your assets, we may want to inquire a little more deeply into the point that Jesus was making. Or to point out that this and similar passages were used by our Lutheran forefathers to adamantly oppose insurance as a demonstrated lack of trust in God. That was before Lutherans came to possess the largest mutual insurance company in the United States. Was Jesus opposed to people having wealth? There are many passages in the New Testament that deal with money. One of the pastors at the recent Stewardship conference identified enough Bible passages on money to permit a full fifty two weeks of stewardship sermons. Money in the New Testament is simply a resource, like time and talents, to be used wisely in the service of God, our families and our neighbors. Here the Lord is not talking about stewardship or management. He is talking about dependence and trust.

In response to the disciples’ assumption that Jesus had just said that no one with money could be saved, Jesus pointed out that what was impossible on a human level was possible for God. It was not the possession of money, but the dependence on money, the ultimate trust in one’s assets, or position or power.

Susan and I were forced to face this in a rather stark fashion. On an overseas assignment, we learned that one of the families that was assigned to the base lost all of their household goods. Everything that they owned went down with the ship that was transporting it—furniture, pictures, keepsakes, everything. They had nothing but the clothes on their backs and whatever they had packed into their suitcases. As a Naval officer, Susan, I and the children moved every two or three years. With every new assignment, virtually everything that we owned was packed into a moving van or those gigantic moving crates and disappeared. On the move to Newfoundland one of the crates did disappear.

When I say crate, I mean crate. This one contained the piano, one of the pedestal legs of the dining room table, and all sorts of bits and pieces of other things. When finally located, it had inadvertently been shipped to Iceland rather than Newfoundland. With others’ experience and our own, Susan and I were forced to consider what was absolutely irreplaceable. Our furniture is probably best described as early attic, and has certainly taken a beating by children and the wear and tear of shipping it around the northern hemisphere through the years. We don’t have many family mementos, and the only real antiques may well be Susan and myself. About the only thing that we have that is really irreplaceable are pictures of our children when they were growing up. That, and the knowledge the buying power of the savings we do have are quickly being eaten up by inflation, should be sufficient warning that assets are not something trustworthy enough to rely upon.

And that is the Lord’s point. Ultimately, there is nothing in this world that we can entrust ourselves to. The thought of a camel being forced through the eye of a sewing needle is absurd. The idea that a human being can ensure his future by piling up assets is equally absurd. Just take a look around at how quickly money can disappear, and the situation in the Middle East demonstrates how quickly a society can collapse. But with God nothing is impossible.

Interestingly, Peter’s reaction is very human. Good old Peter! “Lord, we have left everything for your sake. Because of that, we deserve…” Can’t you see the Lord rolling his eyes? “Right, Peter, and everyone who leaves everything for my sake and the Gospel will receive a hundredfold of land, houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children.” My mother-in-law was a wonderful woman, and she loved me and my sister-in-law’s husband better than she did her own daughters, but one mother-in-law was sufficient. And, in addition, to all of the promised benefits, did you notice that the Lord slipped in persecutions as part of the package.

No, Peter, the very Lord who had just shocked you, is the very Lord who will be betrayed by one of his followers—the very one who will find himself beaten, mocked, and ultimately crucified. The one standing before you will be the one who will take your place before the judgment seat of God. Through Jesus Christ not only those who are rich, but all people will find salvation. A camel through the eye of a needle doesn’t even compare to what God had to go through to redeem, not only the rich, but all people—and that’s you and me. What—no not what, but Who—do you entrust your future to?