Open Sesame

Jesus said to his disciples: "Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven. Again, I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God." 

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "For men this is impossible, but for God all things are possible."

Then Peter said to him in reply, "We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us?" 

Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first." (Matthew 19:23-30)

Attitude is everything.  In Jesus’ time the rich dominated the poor and treated them as vassals to enrich their coffers. The rich indebted the poor and took their land in payment.  The poor then were forced to be tenant farmers or forced off their land “stolen” by the rich.  Jesus championed the cause of the poor, and that got him crucified by the authorities in league with the rich and the Roman occupiers. He died for our sins, of course, but he also died because of our sins that are still in abundance today.

The Kingdom of God or heaven is not easy for the rich to enter unless they refuse to be seduced by wealth and to isolate themselves from those in need. We don’t have to give up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of Jesus’ name.  But to receive a hundred times more and inherit eternal life, we must be willing to treat the last as if they were the first.  In other words, we must thread the needle meaning we must strike a balance between seeking a life of comfort and helping those under the heel of pain, loss, misery, and poverty.  When we do, we are saying "Open Sesame" at the door to the Kingdom. [Remember: "Open sesame" is a magical phrase in the story of "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" in Antoine Galland's version of One Thousand and One Nights. It opens the mouth of a cave in which forty thieves have hidden a treasure.]

Deacon David Pierce