"Treasure in Heaven" Homily: Robert Dixon

The following was shared as a homily by Robert Dixon at our Sunday Evening Eucharist service on 10/10/2021:

As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.” 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.

Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were greatly astounded and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.”
- Mark 10:17-27

At the beginning of this passage of scripture, the man quickly runs up and kneels before Jesus. Then the man proceeds to ask a question which I have asked myself in some way or another many times, which is, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus answers him with a few of the ten commandments, which as a child probably would have been the first things to come to my mind. The man responds, saying that he does all of these things. The passage then says Jesus looked at him and loved him. Now, in my mind I believe that is mentioned because Jesus can see this man is being sincere with his questions and responses, which hopefully all people would be when approaching Jesus. I think the description of how the man ran to Jesus and knelt before him showed some desperation for the answer; and honestly, I feel the same desperation. However, whether I would have done the same is mere speculation. Then Jesus tells the man to sell his belongings, give the money to the poor, and then to follow him. When he does this, he will have treasure in heaven. The man is shocked and leaves grieving, and then Jesus doubles down on what he has just said to the man to give a little emphasis. “How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God.” Then it says the disciples were perplexed.

Now, I will admit I agreed to do the homily, and when I read the scripture and saw that it was this specific passage, I found the situation humorous. I say this because I have many times wrestled with or pondered this passage and what Jesus means. So, upon reading it again, I am glad that I was not the only person in the same state of slight confusion. Then, Jesus, I am assuming, took this as his cue to clear up the confusion for the disciples. Jesus then says, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”  Much like the disciples, this part leaves me more than a little perplexed. I believe this is mirrored by the disciples’ response. The disciples then say, “Then who can be saved?”, and Jesus responds, saying for mortals it is impossible to be saved but not with God because for God all things are possible. This is comforting because at this point, I’m uneasy; and honestly, that’s probably an understatement. Thankfully, through my studying I was able to cure at least some of the confusion and uneasiness I had been experiencing. As I was studying, I checked the footnotes, and there it added a little to Jesus’ quote. Mark 10:24 can be read, “And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God.’”

I don’t know about you, but the message changes slightly for me with the addition of just six words; they added much clarity for me. Through my study and prayer over this passage, I kept feeling like my takeaway came to, where is your heart? Many times I have witnessed kindness and generosity through someone giving financial assistance to someone in need, and I believed this to be God answering prayers. The thought that rich people could not get into heaven was something that I could not believe, because I personally know wealthy people who are able to help those in need every day. I believe that the love of money or your wealth, and being unwilling to part with it for God, is most definitely a sin. At the moment I am basically a broke college student, and there may be a few of you who can relate. However, I think that we can still receive the message with or without the wealth or financial riches. The first thing I believe Jesus was communicating is that God alone can save us. The second thing is that if God is not first in your life, and what you possess is not free to be utilized by God, then there is change that needs to take place. Personally, I struggle to make time to pray and read on my own, and so I know that is where I need to improve most. My challenge to you would be to reflect on your lives and try to find where you may not put God first, and then make an effort to change that.

Robert “Bobby ” Dixon is a junior engineering student at Louisiana Tech and someone dear to our hearts here at the Wesley. When not studying for class, you can find him listening to country music, playing guitar, fishing, hunting, and enjoying nature. He has a servant’s heart and a passion for competing with the interns and other students to take out the trash.