You Shall Have No Other Gods
I read about a young man whose search for God led him to seek out a wise priest as a spiritual guide. The young man was told to give up his dissolute life, pray in earnest, and purify his motives. Sick of his sinful history, the youth made steady improvement and, slowly, his health, courage and joy returned.
One day the director was called away, leaving the young man on his own. When the priest returned, he sought his promising protégé out and asked, “How’s it going?” The youth’s face clouded over. He admitted having given up all his prayerful practices, and of slipping back into his old habits.
The priest asked, “But why? What happened?” The boy answered sadly, “I opened the door, and found the light was too bright.”
In today’s gospel reading Jesus says, “And this is the verdict, that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light so that his works might not be exposed. But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works be clearly seen as done in God.”
Sometimes, what the Lord asks of us may just seem too much. For example, on one occasion a man came running up, knelt down before Jesus and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to share in everlasting life?” Jesus then refers him to the Ten Commandments, which we heard about in last week’s readings. The man replies, “Teacher, I have kept all these since my childhood.” Then Jesus looked at him with love and told him, “There is one thing more you must do. Go and sell what you have and give to the poor; you will then have treasure in heaven. After that, come and follow me.” We then read that the man went away sad, for he had many possessions.
This man was searching, wanting to do the right thing, but when the final door was opened, he found that the light was too bright, the demands were too great, and he simply went back to the way things were.
Now, you might wonder why Jesus was so demanding. We know that in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus sharpened the Commandments, going to their heart.
No adultery? ……. No lust!
No killing? ………. No anger!
Love your countryman? …Love your enemy!
But what was the deal with the young man with all the possessions? Evidently, Jesus saw that the possessions had come to possess the man. The great commandment is that we are to love God above all else. And the first of the Ten Commandments states that we are not to have any other god, except the one and only God. Could it be that for the man who approached Jesus, money and possessions had become the be-all and end-all of his life? He may not have worshipped one of the idols, one of the gods present in the world at that time—but maybe the possessions had become idols, and money more important than almighty God.
I refer to this incident about the rather demanding Jesus because the lesson it teaches is a powerful one, and one that still applies to our time. The first commandment is indeed that we shall have no other gods. And we probably thought of it in its context within the time of the Bible. There were many foreign tribes all around Israel, and they did indeed worship other gods—perhaps the sun-god as in Egypt, or the god of thunder as in Greece and Rome, or the gods represented by carvings made out of wood or stone. It was a world of many gods, and the belief in the one and only true God was unique. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are known as the three monotheistic religions, meaning the belief in and worship of only one God.
But the story of the rich man reveals another danger: making money and possessions the central focus of one’s life. It’s a danger very much present in our day. I’ve known many brothers and sisters, siblings who loved each other and got along well—until the parents died and the will was read. And then, all of a sudden, if one got a dime more than the others, God help us!
Jesus told another story about a rich man who had everything and feasted lavishly every day. At his gate was a poor beggar, starving and covered with sores, and the rich man gave him not a penny, not a scrap of food. When he died, it did not go well for the rich man.
There’s a funny saying, but it’s nothing to laugh about: “I’ve never seen a U-Haul following a hearse!” That’s ironic, isn’t it? What it signifies is the fact that the only riches we can take with us are what you have given away.
So, it’s something to think about, something to take seriously: What is our relationship with money and possessions? Do they become a consuming concern for us? Do they become so important that they blind us? Do they prohibit us from loving properly? From putting God at the center? From expressing love and compassion for others?