An ATM Through A USB Chord

In today’s Gospel taken from Matthew we hear a familiar parable:

Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.’

Then Peter said in reply, ‘Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first. (Mt. 19:23-30).

The importance of the parables can hardly be overestimated. They comprise a substantial part of the recorded preaching of Jesus. When Jesus preached so strikingly in parables, he did not create a new literary genre. Rather, he made brilliant use of a genre which was already of long tradition and which was familiar to all throughout the Mediterranean world. In Greece and Rome, parables were employed by rhetoricians, politicians and philosophers. Perhaps the most illustrious among those who made use of them were Socrates and Aristotle.  The parables in the Gospels fall into three groups: (1) similitude, (2) parable, and (3) exemplary story (sometimes called illustration).  All of the parables have this in common; they present an implied comparison between an experience or event from ordinary, everyday life, and a reality of the moral or religious order.

If we would put today’s parable in modern terms, it would go something like this:  It would be easier for a rich man to pull an ATM through a USB cord that it is for a rich person to enter into heaven.  Your first reaction is, “That’s crazy; it’s impossible to get an ATM through a USB cord!” Jesus says, “That’s right, it is impossible for humans to do it, but with God all things are possible.”

This picks up on yesterday’s theme—what, or who, is important to you?  What are your priorities?  If you turn your life over to God totally, not only will you get your priorities straight, but you will become a better, happier, and more complete person. It is a paradox, in giving your life over to God, you gain it.

Let us pray:  Gracious Father, with you all things are possible.  Send your Holy Spirit to give us the strength and the courage to turn over everything in our lives over to you so that we may not only follow the example of Jesus Christ, your Son, but that we may be raised to new life in him by dying to ourselves.  Amen.

CALENDAR REMINDERS

INSTALLATION OF THE RECTOR AT TRINITY: Sunday, 1 July at 5 p.m.

SUMMER ART PROGRAM: Please pickup a flier and registration sheet in the narthex of the Church.

PLEASE REMEMBER EVERYONE ON OUR PRAYER LIST, especially Donna Greene (Carol Hogan’s cousin) who is fighting cancer, Steve Poirier who is approaching death.

Your servant in Christ,

Fr. Chester J. Makowski+

St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church

Galveston, Texas 77550