Several years ago, Dr.
Robert Bellah and a group of colleagues wrote what became a rather
popular book they entitled Habits of the Heart. The authors
chide Americans for idolizing those highly independent individuals whose
mythology tells the story about how, trusting only in themselves, these
people stood on their own two feet and courageously confronted and
overcame any and all adversity standing in their way.
The authors suggest
that the cowboy of the Old West best epitomizes these qualities,
especially as the cowpuncher dashes off astride his horse into the
sunset with a hearty “Hi ho, Silver” and a puff of dust trailing in his
wake. Weeks and maybe even months pass before this rugged individualist
converses with another human being in some dusty saloon located
somewhere out in the middle of nowhere. And, when the cowboy does
converse with another human being, he speaks in short, curt sentences,
uttering only what needs to be said. This guy is capable of doing practically
anything.
But, lest we forget,
everything this cowboy does―even all of the good he is able to accomplish―is
achieved by a
solitary individual.
We are all pretty
familiar with this caricature of the cowboy of the Old West. We also
know that it reflects fantasy more than it reflects reality.
Nevertheless, most of us do spend a lot of time fantasizing about being
independent. Kids fantasize about growing up and being on their own.
Teenagers and young adults fantasize about how wonderful it will be not
to have to follow their parents’ rules. Parents fantasize about the day
when they won’t have to deal with the challenges and difficulties
associated with raising kids. At work, many of us fantasize about how
wonderful everything would be if we had a different boss, a better job,
or were paid the salary we know we really deserve.
Our fantasies beckon to
mind detailed, rich, and vivid portraits of what being independent would
be like, of having the freedom to do what we want to do and when we want
to do it, as well as of how much better everything would be…if only we
were the masters of our destiny. It all seems so good...much
better than the daily grind we have to face.
Dr. Bellah and his
colleagues remind us that we are far more interdependent than our
stereotypic hero and all those fantasies based on his exploits suggest.
Despite our protestations to the contrary, we really want and need other
people to be part of our lives. Those habits of heart serve to remind
us that we really desire to be interdependent not independent.
For example, while kids
oftentimes think about growing up and being on their own, they very much
fear losing the security and comfort their moms and dads provide and
which kids oftentimes take for granted until they’re on their own.
While teenagers and young adults anxiously anticipate the day of
liberation from what they perceive to be parental interference, the
first people teenagers and young adults normally turn to when their
hopes and dreams come crashing down are their parents. Then, how many
parents, fresh from an argument with a teenager over issues of personal
responsibility and obedience, have relished the thought of leading their
own lives freed from their parental responsibilities? Yet, when that
supposedly happy day finally arrives, how sad these parents oftentimes
are, shedding a tear (or, more accurately, choking back a Nile River
full of tears) as they survey their “empty nest.” And, while so many of
us may hope for so many things to change at work, those hopes quickly
transform into fears when gossip of potential layoffs and pink slips
filters through the corporate grapevine faster than email passes through
the Internet.
As Americans, we do
place a high premium upon being independent. We enjoy doing everything
for ourselves and accomplishing many things for ourselves. And that
attitude may be helpful as we contemplate all of those dreams offering
us the promise of a blissful future. But, the simple fact Dr. Bellah
and his colleagues assert is that our hearts really desire
interdependence. We don’t really enjoy being that solitary, independent
cowboy. Just stop and think about it: wouldn’t we rather be The Lone
Ranger? After all, he did have Tanto and Trigger to depend on,
Kimosabe!
But, as today’s
readings remind us, Dr. Bellah and his colleagues are tragically
mistaken. From a scriptural perspective, the real issue confronting us
is neither our culture’s value of independence nor the habits of
our hearts which value interdependence. No, scripture teaches
that the real issue is dependence and, in particular, whether we
discover our true and abiding happiness by becoming totally and
completely dependent upon God.
Jesus teaches about our
absolute dependence upon God by relating the story about the rich man.
Having everything he
needed and leading what by all accounts was a good and virtuous life,
the young rich man asked Jesus what he must do if he is to inherit
eternal life.
Taken at face value,
that’s not a bad question. We’d all probably like to know exactly what
we need to do so that we can merit eternal life, especially if we could
know precisely what constitutes the minimal requirements for earning a
ticket of admission. Armed with this knowledge, we could then keep a
checklist so that we’d be sure to pass through the pearly gates
unscathed at, at least, not having to take our shoes and belts or
underwire brassieres off and go through the truth detector first.
The problem, of course,
is assumption implied in the rich young man’s question, namely, that
human beings merit eternal life by doing various things. And, by his
own testimony―and
perhaps more than any one of us can testify about ourselves―the
young rich man has done an awful lot of good since his youth. As the
rich young man told Jesus with regard to following the fourth through
seventh commandments, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my
youth.” Evidently, the young rich man wasn’t being boastful or
arrogant. No, it appears that he was being quite candid and sincere.
Think about it: how
many of us could make that statement honestly and sincerely were we
standing before the Lord?
But, notice that Jesus
hadn’t asked the rich man about the first three commandments: “You shall
not put strange gods before me.” “You shall not take the name of the
Lord your God in vain.” “Remember to keep holy the Sabbath.” While the
seven commandments Jesus did ask about concern love of neighbor, the
first three commandments―the ones Jesus did not ask about―concern
love of God and, in particular, not just giving God first place in our
lives but, more importantly, recognizing our absolute dependence upon
God and living according to that standard.
“You are lacking in one
thing,” Jesus said to the young rich man. “Go, sell what you have, and
give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven….”
“At that statement his
face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions,” Jesus
told his disciples. The young rich man just didn’t have the capacity to
do it. He couldn’t conceive how he could possibly be happy were he to
be absolutely dependent upon God instead of continuing to enjoy
all of his possessions and to do things demonstrating his love for
his neighbor. Indeed, he had the second half of the equation correct;
but, he totally neglected the first half of the equation which is
foundational to the second half. Love of God―and complete dependence upon Him―is
what must provide the foundation for and motivate love of neighbor.
Otherwise the rich young man was just a nice person―much like a good social worker―but
he was not a
person of faith―like the loving and saintly Mother Theresa of Calcutta.
“How hard it is for
those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” Jesus said.
Dumbfounded, his disciples stood there. God’s word had cut straight
through to the heart of the matter.
What Jesus is teaching
his disciples through the story of the rich young man is that dependence
upon God is not measured by how well his disciples avoid doing bad
things and demonstrate love of neighbor. Neither is dependence upon God
measured in terms of what disciples might be able to claim they do for
God. All of that is secondary. What is primary, what provides the
foundation for all of those other good things, is their absolute
dependence upon God. That is measured in the way disciples don’t allow
their possessions to possess them but, instead, allow God to possess
them. Stated simply, then, love of God requires leaving everything
behind and trusting only in Divine Providence.
Now, that’s a pretty
demanding requirement and an awfully high price to pay for admission to
eternal life, as the young rich man knew.
How often have we
watched family members being interviewed on television who have lost
their homes to natural disasters or fires? The scene never seems to
change. Standing in front of the devastation, there these family
members are and, as they wipe the tears from their eyes, they blubber
something along these lines, “I’ve lost everything! I don’t think I’ll
ever recover from this.” While our hearts certainly go out to these
people and we empathize with their plight and their pain, isn’t it an
absurd proposition that people cannot recover from the loss of their
possessions?
If we just think about
it, it is when we lose our most prized possessions that our absolute
dependence upon God hits us like a ton of bricks right between the
eyes. The loss of one’s home and possessions to a natural disaster or
fire compels people to evaluate what really matters in life.
Contemplating the choices one has made in life from a hospital bed
rather than from a favorite chair in the den forces people to make
radical changes in the way they live. The illusory happiness people
oftentimes take for granted is drastically changed when they are forced
to ponder a beloved spouse, child, or a good friend lying dead in a
casket. Everything that once seemed so vitally important is changed
when these highly-prized possessions suddenly are taken from us and
disappear. And, as painful as all of that really is, it is but a
mere prelude to our own death, when we will take nothing along with us
on the short journey to the graveyard. Don’t forget the adage: “They
don’t attach U-Hauls to hearses.”
That’s why scripture
oftentimes refers to God’s word as a “sharp-edged sword.” It plunges
into the depths of the heart by cutting through all of the illusions and
delusions―like
those of independence and interdependence―that
people hold so dear and base so much of their daily lives upon. God’s
word demands a response, just as Jesus challenged the young rich man to
respond by selling everything that he had and giving the proceeds to the
poor.
The young rich man knew
this is what he needed to do and he also knew that he could not do it by
himself. Leaving everything behind required that the young rich man
trust only in Divine Providence. But, having trust in himself rather
than in God, the young rich man lacked the wisdom to see that “only with
God all things are possible.”
A lot of people tell
jokes about “Judgment Day,” that moment when each of us will supposedly
render an account before God for the choices we’ve made during our
lives. In light of today’s story of the young rich man, I’m not so sure
that God will be rendering any judgment upon us when the day of judgment
arrives. No, like the young rich man, I believe that we will have
already judged ourselves by the choices we’ve made. Perhaps, like the
rich young man, most of us will have demonstrated great love of neighbor
by fulfilling the last seven commandments. But the question Jesus puts
before us concerns whether we have discovered true happiness through our
complete and total dependence upon God. Was all of the good we
accomplished built upon the foundation of love of God or was it
something that many people who don’t profess any faith do (or could have
done) equally as well? On Judgment Day, will our faces fall and will we
go away sad because we had so many possessions that distracted us from
love of God?
Jesus is challenging
his disciples to allow the sharp-edged sword of God’s word to pierce
deep into their hearts. He wants them―and he wants us
also―to keep one goal in mind each and every day, namely, to
discover our true happiness by choosing to be absolutely and utterly
dependent upon God. Only in loving God―in fulfilling the first three commandments―will we be
capable of putting first things first and of overcoming what David
Ramsey calls the spiritual disease of “stuffitis.”
This
is how, as today’s psalm stated, we can “number our days aright.” |