Sunday the 11th Oktober was the eighteenth sunday after Trinity. The gospel in the chapel was from Mark 7:10-31, where Jesus is quoted for saying: “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
I should perhaps remind you, that this has nothing to do with needle and thread. The eye of a needle was what people at that time called the small entrance through the city wall right next to the city gate. It was just big enough for a grown up man to pass. Camels are much bigger than men, so it was impossible to get such an animal through the small passage anyhow.

Jesus tells us that it is not enough to live our lives guided by the 10 commandments, if we want eternal life. We have to give up our bindings to material goods too. A lot of people got angry at Jesus for this statement. They perhaps thought that it was too high a price to pay, and found it unjust that one should suffer from poverty to achieve a place in God's heaven. But this has nothing to do with justice, or with doing something special to deserve eternal life. Everybody deserves eternal life, and through God we can have it. We can find a parallel in Budhism, where it is a known thing, that you cannot reach higher levels of spiritual enlightment if you have your energy tied up in material goods or social status. You could also say, that you cannot fully live up to the first commandment and love God with all your strength, if you are engaged with everything else, and you would be if you have material welth and a high social status to maintain. You could also say that worldly power steels energy from spiritual power. The Devil knew that when he tempted Jesus in the dessert. If he could give Jesus the power of an emperor, he could weaken his spiritual power. To many of us it seems very difficult to losen ourselves from material goods or social status, but perhaps we can do it for an hour, or a day, or....... I think that is what people do, when they meditate or go on a pilgrimage. I have heard pilgims tell that they experienced a glimse of the kingdom of God on their way.


This is the sermon Vicar Caspian Zeplin gave on this Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity:

It was not uncommon at the time of Jesus to consider that a person who had wealth and riches was blessed by God.
It is still a view which exists today. Some people think that when things go badly for them that this is a sign of God's disapproval.
We often hear the words, 'What have I done to deserve this?
The answer is of course 'Nothing'. God doesn't reward us with blessings, or punish us with curses.
This explains why in the reading today, Jesus is able to say that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.
The wealth of the rich is not a sign of God's blessing, indeed Jesus sees wealth as having the potential to divide our commitment and loyalty to God, that the rich are in a perilous position.
Considering that many of us are a lot wealthier than the people living at the time of Jesus, we need to listen to the words of Jesus this week very carefully.
The gospel story describes a seemingly impossible situation. How could a camel pass through the eye of a needle?
How could a rich man enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Through our own efforts it would be impossible, but with God, nothing is impossible.
In the gospel readings over the past few weeks Jesus has spoken several times about the need to come to Him as a child.
To come to Him not as a rich person who, through power and money can exert influence, can make things happen, can be in control, but come to Him as a child who is totally dependent on the Father.
To rest in His love and favour, to allow Him to make the impossible happen. To allow Him to make the seemingly impossible happen for each one of us.
To trust to Him as a child trusts their parents. For us, just as it was for the rich man in the gospel, the more riches we have, the harder it is for us to hold on to them lightly and trust in the Father alone.
Indeed, for some it will be as hard as getting a large camel through the eye of a small sewing needle.
For others, the camel becomes so small that the eye of the needle becomes a gaping hole through which it is possible to walk with comparative ease.


v/r

Fia Clary
Paper Doll