How the Camel Slips Through the Eye of the Needle

Now someone approached Jesus and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” Jesus answered him... “If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother’; and ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mt. 19:16-24)

I think the difference between the rich and the poor is simply gratitude. The poor realize how hard it is to meet the basic necessities for themselves and their family. So they begin to understand that, even though they work hard for what they have, hard work is often not enough, and it is only be God's grace and God's providence--working through others, even the government--that the shortfall is made up. It is often those who have little who are the most generous with what they have, mostly because they know what it is like to not have enough, but also because they are grateful for the little they have because they know how hard it is to get even a little in this world.

The rich, on the other hand, have more than enough. Even if they started out poor, and by good fortune, providence, and hard work, became very wealthy, they forget what it was like to have little. They convince themselves that they have amassed a great wealth on their own, so they don't view their abundance as something to be grateful for, but as an entitlement for hard work. The grace they received is forgotten and replaced by ego. As a result, those who live in abundance, who lose their gratitude, view those who have little as lazy and unworthy of their gifts. 

Those who have little share the little they have; those who are rich keep the abundance they have. Those who are poor are grateful for what they have; those who are rich feel entitled to what they have. Those who are poor share what they have out of empathy, if not out of love; those who are rich hold on to what they have out of disdain for the poor, if not just out of greed. 

This is why it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven (Mt. 19:24). The salvation that Jesus talks about is always hinged to giving to those in need (cf. Mt. 25:35-40). The poor give to those in need--often out of their own need--going without a little so others don't have to go without everything. The rich when they give, give out of their abundance, and there is no sacrifice--it is what they aren't using anyway, and they often give so they can  use it in a way that gives them more in the long run through write offs and deductions. Jesus was watching people place their offerings in the Temple Treasury, and a poor widow with nothing put in some change, whereas others were putting in a lot. It is the poor widow who received Jesus' praise because she NEEDED that change, whereas the others didn't need the amount they gave (Mk. 12:41-44).

When one is poor, one's only security is God. When one is rich, one's security becomes wealth. You don't have to trust in God to supply your needs when you have enough money to do so. But you cannot serve God and money--you come to love one and hate the other. If you love God, you will grow to despise wealth; if you love wealth, you will grow to despise God. Granted, you may become clever in your animosity so that you will still pretend you love God, even to the point of convincing yourself you do, in fact, love God. But when faced with the choice of giving up your wealth for God, or giving up your God for wealth, you will realize who it is you serve.

Our wealth is only made up of things, and God made things to serve people. The problem with this world is we use people to serve things, rather than using things to serve people. People want to keep the things God has given them for themselves, and then blame God for not taking care of others. God works through human partnership. God works through people. God takes care of people by giving you what you need to take care of people. People often ask: “If God is all loving and all powerful, why does God allow children to starve in Africa?” My response is always: “Why do YOU allow children to starve in Africa? God gave you the means to do something about it, so do something about it!” It is probably true that you are not rich enough to feed everyone in Africa, but choice should not be either everyone gets fed or no one gets fed. The Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta said that “If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” And Jesus Himself addressed this when he multiplied the loaves and the fishes (Mt. 14:15-21). The huge crowd of people was hungry and needed food and Jesus told his disciples to feed them. They came up with five loaves of bread and two fish (and in John’s Gospel they took that from a boy), barely enough to feed themselves, let alone five thousand men, not counting their wives and kids. But they used what they had in faith, and not only was it enough to feed all the people, they ended up with more leftovers then what they started with. This tells us something about how we are to use what we have. It tells us that if we are afraid of giving up the little we have, nobody will have enough, not even ourselves; yet, if we take that little, and generously give it in faith, then we all have more than enough--we all become rich!

If God has graced you with wealth, God has graced you with a powerful ministry to help many people. If that threatens you, then you can begin to see what you serve. If you cannot give up your wealth, then give up your wealthy lifestyle. Live among the poor and learn how to be grateful. See that they are not lazy people looking for handouts, but hard-working people who are struggling. Live with them as one of them, as Christ lived with us, as one of us. And you may find that the true value of wealth is its power to help others in their time of need. 

Suddenly, you will see that camel slipping easily through the eye of that needle, and you will be truly rich indeed, because you will be rich in deeds.