(Mk 10:17-31)

The Rich Young Ruler (1) was excited to see Jesus, ran towards him and fell on his knees. He comes to Jesus as a supplicant. It is the same posture of the leper who earlier begged for Jesus' healing (Lk 1:40).

I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either one or the other. So because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold I am about to spit you out of my mouth (Rev 3:15-16)

His excitement, concern and interest in Jesus are an opposite of cynicism. Cynicism at its best is desire to focus on underlying issues; it is a desire to surmise what people really mean by things they say and do. Cynicism, at its worst, simply focuses on the negative aspect of situations. The media's focus on wrong-doing can fuel this impression of the world. It is an attitude of scornful or jaded negativity (fuelled by the media). It is a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others. Cynicism of this type is the absence of hope and it is the opposite of worship. A gradation of feelings from negative to positive might look something like this:

There is some evidence that Jesus’ command that the Rich Young Ruler should sell all he has and give to the poor is situation specific rather than an eternal command. Zacchaeus does not give his money to the poor. He gives half his possessions and fourfold for any he has cheated (Lk 19:8). Jesus asked Simon and Andrew to give up their boats and careers and James and John to do the same. The implication is that James and Jon also abandon their father who is standing by the boat as they leave. Jesus shows cynicism at its best – lovingly probing for underlying issues. We run the danger of cynicism at its worst judgementally looking for what is the worst in a situation.

The command from Jesus is ‘come and follow me’, not, ‘become destitute and homeless’. The challenge for us is to work through what is meant by ‘come and follow me’. It was the security of his possessions that the young man could not sacrifice. The point is not the money but the giving it up. The challenge of the story is to find our identity in Christ and think what it might be that we need to give up. We are equally attached to fears, regrets, grudges, and disappointments. We can be trapped by money, by expectations by cynicism. There is a story told about the art of trapping monkeys in India.  One technique is to drill a hole in a coconut and place rice in the coconut.  A monkey will come along and stick a paw into the coconut, grab a fistful of rice, and then be unable to pull its paw back from the coconut.  He is trapped by his greed.  All he would have to do is turn loose of the rice, his hand would be free, and he could draw it out.  The problem is that he places greater value on the rice that he is holding than he does on his freedom.’ In this story, the opposite of rich is free. 

What a different life he would have had, had he decided to follow Jesus? God gives us freedom to choose and to create different storylines for our lives. There is a vase at Kettles Yard; an Art Centre in Cambridge called the Heron Vase. The vase was broken and mended with gold thread. What emerged from the debris and damage of the broken vase was more special and beautiful than what was there before. The young man has made his choice. Jesus does not follow him but looks on sadly as he walks away.