What does it mean to hope for something? What does it mean to hope IN something?
There may be a nuanced distinction between hoping for something that you would like to happen in contrast with hoping in something that you believe and trust in. The former seems to deal primarily with expectations, and the latter perhaps more to do with trust. In the first case we may be seeking something that we feel we do not already have and the second could be viewed as more of a resting assurance, or even centering in something that we not only trust but actually draw strength and power from. Here, Hope is a source of life!
In the Gospel today from Mark (MK 10: 17-27), Jesus is confronted by a man that addresses him as “Good teacher,” and then asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus initially does not address the question of the requirements for eternal life, but curiously focuses on how the man addresses him. ““Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone.” There seems to be a distancing here between God as good and what then follows in the Gospel, which is Jesus’ listing of all the commandments, “you shall not kill, steal, commit adultery, etc.” It almost seems that Jesus is underlining the great distance between what is “Good” and that which we can do to “achieve” goodness. Let’s look at what happens next in the Gospel…
“He replied and said to him,
“Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.”
Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him,
“You are lacking in one thing.
Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor
and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”
At that statement, his face fell,
and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
The man was on the brink of confident accomplishment in all the prescriptions of the law that would ensure him of eternal life, and Jesus comes up with the one thing lacking. But before Jesus tells the man what this thing is, the Gospel says “Jesus, looking at him, loved him…” I wonder what that look may have been like.
Many of us can perhaps remember the look our parents may have given us when they thought we were making a “wrong” decision about something, or that we were doing something wrong. Maybe as parents, some of us can recall, or experience now, the helpless feeling of watching a child, whom you love with your whole life, make a decision, go down a path, or even simply live into the life given them that you know will result in pain and brokenness. Despite any words or suggestions that you make, you are left with the emptiness-in-the-pit-of-your-stomach feeling, like someone knocked the breath out of you. It’s a deep, wrenching feeling in the gut of your soul that is born from the most profound possible love imaginable. Beyond disappointment, it is the look of love that goes beyond judgment and toward hope.
Continuing in the Gospel story, Jesus explains that the one thing the man has not done is having given all that he had to the poor so that he could come follow Jesus. We are told the man turned away “sad,” because he had many “possessions.” Literally, it could very well have been the case that the man was materially wealthy and this was indeed an impediment to his following Jesus. However, another way of looking at it is to perhaps broaden the sense of “wealth” and “possessions.” Could the man’s wealth and possessions be captured in his attitude of achievement and success? Could the acknowledgement of how he has “kept the commandments” since his youth be a “possession” of his, that instead of leading toward God, actually points him more onto himself, making him more self-centered? “Look at what I have done!” “I have accomplished all this.” Maybe this is why Jesus seemed to distance “God is Good” from himself, the man, and even from the commandments themselves. I know that I am tempted toward spiritual pride. It can be more destructive that breaking any of the commandments.
I resonate with the disciples in their perplexity with what Jesus is saying:
“ ‘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.’ They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, ‘Then who can be saved?’ ”
Jesus looked at them and said, “For men it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.”
Who can be saved? Jesus response is “NO ONE!….alone” Inasmuch as no amount of material wealth is going to get us to the kingdom of heaven, it seems equally true to say that no amount of self-aggrandizement tied to keeping or trying to keep the commandments is going to either. As Richard Rohr, says this is just not “doable.” Moral behavior here has no meaning outside of Love! Of course, this is not trivializing the commandments, but instead granting them their true context – which is a RESPONSE to what God is offering – i.e., Love! It is the impossible that becomes possible. It’s a letting in, allowing, responding TO and IN Love!
What God seems to want from us is nothing short of our very selves. This is another way of giving to the “poor.” We begin to shed all those things that impede us from truly dwelling in the Love of God. It’s not an easy road, but a necessary one. And it appears that the only way to do this is to receive God’s goodness. It’s not that God’s goodness is far away, it’s just that we make the mistake of trying to grasp it and sometimes “achieve” it ourselves, instead of letting it flow into us through the people around us.
Jesus looked at the man in the Gospel and LOVED him, just as God looks in love at all of us. And despite our waywardness, the Look of God is with eyes of Hope. Just as we look in love at each other, our friends, our family, our children, sometimes feeling helpless in what we can offer, but drawing from a Hope that is grounded in love that looks beyond judgment and expected outcomes and rests in the assurance of steadfast love! And what would this look like if we include those whom we may consider our “enemies?” The impossible becomes possible.
Peace
Thomas