While Roman Catholics are celebrating their first Sunday of Advent, Byzantines continue the so-called “St Philip’s Fast” in preparation for the Feast of the Nativity. Like Lent, this is a period of forty days which is used to prepare oneself for Christmas.
What I find interesting is the Gospel Reading we had today, Luke 18:18-27:
And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me. And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they that heard it said, Who then can be saved? And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
Before Advent, the West rightfully celebrated one aspect of Christ, his kingly nature; today the East, in her continuing journey towards Christmas, is remembering the humble service that true kingship is to have. Through this passage, the East reminds us that heaven is not something which can be bought. When Jesus was asked, “who then can be saved?”, we must understand what is behind this question. Many people have the impression that one can obtain anything they want with riches. People believed it in the time of Christ just as they do today (although, it seems, society as a whole has given in with this belief). So the question is asking this: If a rich man cannot find salvation by use of their riches, how can we, who don’t even have that kind of wealth, find it? Christ’s answer is one of the few times where he points out that grace perfects nature, that salvation is possible from the work and grace of God. But this does not mean we should ignore the dangers of riches. Christ also told us that anything which we have in our lives which can block us from following the will of God must be put them aside. And while we must acknowledge wealth can be, and is, a blessing from God, as with all blessings, the question is what we do with it — do we collect it and keep it, thinking it is only for ourselves, or do we see ourselves as a servant of Christ and a steward of his blessings, so we use it for the benefit of others and their own well-being? Clearly, when capitalism teaches us wealth is a good and an end in itself, we who have any wealth must be ever diligent not to be caught its temptations, and indeed, see that money at best is a relative good and is to be used for the common (and not individual) good.
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