Never Enough

 

  One of the story arcs in The Greatest Showman centres on the song ‘Never Enough’ by Swedish opera sensation Jenny Lind (played by Rebecca Ferguson with a vocal from Loren Allred).  P T Barnum persuades Lind – who has already dominated Europe’s venues – to tour America with him as her manager.  The whole thing turns out to be a costly distraction for Barnum (and Lind, to an extent), and that is essentially what the anthem is about.  As one of its composers, Justin Paul, has said:

“ ‘Never, never, never enough’.  It felt like you could imagine someone in a castle trying to count all of their riches and it still doesn’t add up to enough,  It’s kind of that moment where somebody isn’t really satisfied…”

 

  It’s something we see (and perhaps experience) all the time.  People want more, the next thing.  Somehow, it’s never enough.

  There’s a story of Jesus addressing this kind of thing.  A wealthy young man came to Jesus once and asked him what good deed he needed to do to have eternal life.  The term “eternal life” in the Gospels literally means ‘life of the age,’ or ‘age-life’.  ‘The age’ is another term for God’s kingdom.  So it’s not so much focused on living forever in heaven when we die, but living a different kind of life, both now and forever.  In short, this young man was asking how to get on board with God’s kingdom, with what God is doing.  So Jesus reminds him about keeping the Jewish commandments, namely:

“You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; Honour your father and mother; also, You shall love your neighbour as yourself” (Matthew 19:18-19)

 

  The young man says he’s kept these since he was a kid, and asks if there’s anything else.  Side note – interesting that he is still looking for more.  It’s like he knows he’s not there yet.

  Jesus tells him that if he wants to go ‘all in’ for this life, he should sell his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor.  Then, says Jesus, the man would have “treasure in heaven” (Matthew 19:21) and could come and follow him.  (It’s not the only time Jesus spoke of treasure in heaven.  He also mentioned it in the Sermon on the Mount, telling people to store up treasure in heaven, rather than perishable treasure on earth [Matthew 6:19-20].  The point was, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” [Matthew 6:21].  In other words, re-assess your values.  Don’t fixate on ‘stuff’, but focus on God’s ways.)

  That rich young man walked away, because he had a lot of possessions.  He was sad, but he apparently wasn’t ready to shift his values.  In a way, perhaps he may not have needed to actually get rid of everything.  Maybe he only needed to be able to do it.

  Notice, the commandments they talked about were from the Ten Commandments (plus the neighbourly one).  They come from the last six Commandments – which govern human relations with each other (the first four are concerned with human relations with God).  But Jesus missed the last one: “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house… [or other property]” (Exodus 20:17).  Jesus knew this man’s weak spot was ‘covetousness’: a pursuit of possessions.  And it was a distraction for him, it was holding him back.  It seemed like he valued things more than people, or God.

  So Jesus tells his disciples that it’s hard for a rich person to get into the kingdom of heaven.  He gives the famous image, that it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle.  There’s been a lot of debate about that phrase (incidentally, it appears in both Jewish and Muslim texts as well).  Some people say that Jesus was talking about a real place called the Needle Gate, a tiny door in the wall of Jerusalem.  A camel could only squeeze through it, they say, if its saddle bags were removed.  It’s a strong image, but apparently there’s no evidence of such a place.

  Another theory is that the Greek of the New Testament has been written down wrongly, and that it’s a cable, and not a camel (the words have only one letter difference in Greek).  That would mean the image is of a thick rope passing through the eye of a needle – which would obviously be impossible because of its size.

  Perhaps the most popular interpretation is that Jesus is simply using hyperbole – a figure of speech.  A camel, of course, can’t fit through the eye of a needle.  And nor can someone so distracted focus fully on God’s kingdom.

  Focus versus distraction is a bit of a theme in the New Testament.  Paul – who may have written up to half of it in the form of his letters to young churches – spoke of trading his old value system for the sake of “knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (another way of speaking about God’s kingdom?), for whom he sacrificed literally everything (Philippians 3:7-8).

  The mysterious writer to the Hebrews made a related point:

“… let us lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely [or, that easily distracts], and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross…” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

 

  That’s focus, and not being distracted by other stuff – good, bad or indifferent.  And on the last point there, the cross, Jesus also told his followers once:

“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.  For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.  For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?  Of what can they give in return for their life?” (Matthew 16:24-26)

 

  Even the whole world is ‘Never Enough’ to fill the void of longing for life as it can be, for this age-life.  To find that life, we need to focus and not be distracted, aligning our values with those of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven.  What we value we put our heart and soul into.  If we value what God values, somehow that will be enough.