The Rich Young Man and the Leave-taking of the Feast of the Dormition

The Rich Young Man was the topic of the 12th Sunday after Pentecost.  He had wealth, privilege, ease, and status — all of this produced his self-identity.  To his credit he asks:  “Good teacher, what good shall I do, that I might might have eternal life?” (St Matthew 19: 16).  Jesus answers:  “…if you wish to be whole, go sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven.  And come, follow me” (St Matthew 19: 21).  Again, for the rich young man his possession equalled his being.  They were his great love and his treasure.  Earlier in this Gospel account, Jesus put forward this question to him:  “…why do you call me good? No one is good except God” (St Matthew 19:17).  With this question, Jesus is not denying he deity.  Rather, it is to see if this young man understands who is standing before him.  Apparently he did not understand— there was no response to Jesus’ invitation.  There was only departure into himself.  Here in this desert of self he could not become whole and complete — perfect.  He would whither and perish alone with his possessions.

We find a contrast to the Rich Young Man in St Peter:  “In answering, Peter said to him [Jesus], ‘Look, we left every thing and followed you, what then shall we have…?’” (St Matthew 19: 27).  It is by St Peter’s abandonment of self and following Jesus that he was able to declare:  “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” (St Matthew 16: 16).  Upon him and upon his confession Christ builds his Church, and Christ continued to be formed in him up to the day of his martyrdom.

Recently, on August 23, we observed the Leave-taking of the Feast of the Dormition (it is on every August 23 of every year, and concludes the Feast of the Dormition which occurs every August 15).  Therefore, we are led to look to Mary, the Mother of God.  Let’s go back to March 25, the day of the Annunciation — the day’s event that begins our salvation.  Here we have a young, virgin, and unmarried woman.  A pregnancy in these circumstances would lead to scandal, shame, and great misfortune.  She, of course, understands this, yet she answers St Gabriel:  “…behold, the handmaiden of the Lord:  may it be done to me according to your word” (St Luke 1: 38).  By her self-denial, God become man — our God, Lord, and Savior.

St Hilary of Poitiers

Within this section of St Matthew’s Gospel we have the illustration of the camel passing through the eye of the needle — an impossibility apart from God.  St Hilary of Poitiers offers this as an explanation:  The camel is a beast of burden.  It carries supplies and cargo across land — it is the “ship of the desert”.  Then, to move through any challenging passage, and to come to its rest, the camel must be relieved of its burden — what it carries.  For us, it would be a picture of certain material possessions that would stifle our growth in Christ.  St Hilary goes on to state that material possession are not inherently bad:

It is, therefore, a worse crime to possess things for their own sake than [merely] to possess things.  But it is a dangerous burden of being occupied with accumulation of wealth.

He writes that the purpose of possessions, of wealth, is to share with those who lack and are in need.  St Paul gives the foundation for his words:

I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their want, so that their abundance may supply your want, that there may be equality (2 Corinthians 8: 13-14).

What then is to be said about us?  What, or who, is the source of our self-understanding, our source of being?  Is it our possessions, our place in the world?  Is it our passions?  Or is it Christ?  The surrendering of self to Christ is a an ongoing affair.  Letting go of the things of this world system and following Christ is a process, and it involves struggle.  And, how then, do we assess the passions, the burdensome sins, or habitual consumptions that keep us locked inside self, and prevent us from walking more completely in the ways of Christ?  I think of the Lord of the Ring’s character of Gollum.  The Ring of Power was “his Precious.”  The Ring was his obsession, and it possessed Gollum.  The Ring’s diabolical hold on him led to his deformation, and ultimate death in the consuming and destroying fires of Mt Doom.  Gollum could not let go.  The Ring possessed him, and destroyed him.

I turn to St Paul’s words in his letter to the Hebrews:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God…Therefore,, lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak kness, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed (Hebrews 12: 1-2, 12-13).

God Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are working in us and for our sanctification as we cooperate with the Triune God’s will for our lives.  And we have guides and aids to assist us made up of bishops, priests, and deacons.  We have each other — all who are in Christ can minister to others. We have our angels, our patron saints, and the Mother of God.  I conclude with this hymn to Mary:

Steadfast Protectress of Christians, constant advocate before the Creator:  despise not the entreating cries of us sinners, but in your goodness come speedily to help us who call on you in faith.  Hasten to hear our petitions and to intercede for us, true Theotokos, for you always protect those who honor you.

In Christ,

Fr Irenaeus