Who Amongst Us Is Without Sin?

In Chapter 10 of Mark's Gospel, Jesus speaks to the Pharisees and to his disciples about divorce, about allowing the children to come to him for blessings, and instructs those around him to come approach the Kingdom of God like a child.

Then came a man to Jesus asking the way to eternal life. Jesus lists the commandments. The man replies that he has kept the commandments from a young age. Then from the Gospel:

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money* to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Every time I read that passage, I stand convicted. There are those who say that Jesus didn't really mean those words, that he meant that we should not be greedy and have possessions in excess. Society couldn't function if everyone literally followed those directives.

Of course, Jesus' words are impractical. Pragmatism was not Jesus' strong suit. Who amongst us is innocent, except the destitute and those who have given up their possessions to live and work amongst the poor? I believe that Jesus meant the words. Do I follow them? No, I do not. I could not have cast the first stone at the woman caught in adultery. Trust me; I am going somewhere with this besides lay sermonizing.

Those former and present members of the Episcopal Church who long for and attempt to build a pure church try in vain, "since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;" (Rom. 3:23) To attempt to build a pure church consisting of humans who have sinned and fallen short is simply not possible. The church is the Body of Christ and is sanctified by Christ himself, not by the beliefs or mistaken beliefs, or good or sinful acts or omissions of the imperfect members of the Body. The church is not my church, or your church, or their church, but God's church. We, the members of the church, put our faith and trust in a loving and merciful God to take us where we should go, not in purity of doctrines or "thou shalt nots" declared by imperfect human beings.

The reason that I am against a Covenant for the Anglican Communion is because we have the Covenant of God with his people in the Hebrew Testament, and we have Jesus building on that Covenant with the New Covenant of "love God, love your neighbor". What is lacking in the New Covenant? Why would we expect imperfect humans to come up with a superior, or even an equal covenant? We have the Baptismal Covenant and the Prayer Book which bind us together as Anglicans. What further need for a Covenant?

The man in the Gospel story went away grieving because of his many possessions, but, just as Jesus loved him when he spoke the words to him, he loved the man still when he walked away. And he loves us, just as we are, sinners all. In that love of God, I put my faith and hope.

My two cents, inspired by this post by Rmj at Adventus. Any mistakes here are my own and not attributable to Rmj.

UPDATE: I was late to the Lectionary today, and I found the readings pertinant to the words that I posted:

AM Psalm 95 & 40, 54
PM Psalm 51
Deut. 10:12-22
Heb. 4:11-16
John 3:22-36