Eye of the Needle, Thrill of the Try

[Jesus said to the disciples,] “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the majesty of God.” – Mark 10:25 (as translated by Wilda C. Gafney for Year B) 

I was talking to a church member who had an important set of updates in her life. She shared a quote from Bishop Jakes that had been on her heart: Often the blessing is quite different from the prayer.  

Why are the rich camels?  

I have a couple of answers. One is: it’s hard to give up everything to follow God when you have a lot. It’s much easier when you have nothing to lose. Haven’t you ever been there? It’s why rock bottom is often understood to be such a turning point. Because at the end of the rope, you have to go another way. If you’re not at the end of the rope, you have much less incentive to try, to change, to do better in the eyes of God.  

And what’s most important to God is: love. What God wants us to hold most important to ourselves is loving God back. But there are lots of things that we put before God, truthfully.  

And Jesus is asking us to stop this nonsense. That is very, very hard.  

What are your deepest dreams and aspirations? Many of our answers are material; I’m no different. 

This text reminds me that God does not want that answer. God wants our deepest dreams and aspirations to be that we love and follow God before everything, everything else. From there, the blessings flow. But, as we said, the prayer and the blessings will often not match.  

Prayer
God, please, before anything else, let me seek your blessing. Amen.

About the Author
Kaji Douša is the Senior Pastor of The Park Avenue Christian Church, a congregation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ, in New York City.