Mark 10:17-31

14 October   Mark 10:17-31   JustActing

I want everyone to know that I am solidly part of the 95% - I am not the rich young man.    But, reality is, by the world’s standards, I am, indeed, rich.  Like the rich young man, I do my best to keep the commandments.  I tithe, I give to charity, and I focus on responding to my call to ministry by using the gifts given to me at baptism to help make the Kingdom of God visible.  The hard reality is that my following the commandments and my acts of charity are absolutely necessary, but they are not sufficient.  When I write a check I am not changing the poor’s lack of access to wealth.  When I give my time and talent to help the poor, I am not changing the poor’s lack of access to power – in fact I may be consolidating my power by offering my “abundant” gifts to those “less fortunate.”

I think today’s gospel is calling each of us to think and pray about what we’re called to do in this world with respect to poverty and wealth.  How can we choose to be aware by always looking for the systems and structures in place that prevent the poor from becoming self-sufficient?  How can we accept that we are powerful and influential because of the color of our skin, our level of education and our income and choose to use that influence to speak the truth to power in order to change those systems and structures that keep people marginalized?  For example, the movement to address the racial disparity in our prisons is asking folks like you and me to simply sit in court and observe as there is evidence that court proceedings are more egalitarian when we do that.  The Wisconsin Council of Churches sponsors an advocacy day each year to teach you and I to use our power and influence to shape policies that will overcome the systems of institutional racism or that enable the poor to work toward self-sufficiency.  How can we choose to act in a way that does not perpetuate unjust structures?