I'm sure you know in first century Palestine – rich, well dressed, feasting means this man is obviously blessed by God – see how God has given him all good things…
“This is very true – he is favored by God and has therefore been given good things. The problem is that along with great gifts comes great responsibility. The responsibility is to share with those who do not have good things… The responsibility is to reach out and help those who are less fortunate.
Lazarus on the other hand is a poor man, who has no money, or power or means of support, AND he is also ill. He has sores that the dogs come and lick. Lazarus is at the rich man’s door for a reason. According to the Torah, the wealthy have a charge to help those less fortunate. But this rich man doesn’t pay Lazarus any mind – he might even come and go through another entrance so he doesn’t have to look at him – and when he’s forced to go through that entrance, he steps over Lazarus and pretends he isn’t there.
This rich man is not evil. He doesn’t go out of his way to hurt Lazarus or even to get rid of him. He just ignores him – sees right through him as if he were not there.
There is a big gap between these two men – a gap that is not easily bridged. Now I want you to pay attention to something else – this poor man has a name – Lazarus – but the rich man – Jesus never tells us his name. Again, Jesus is telling a story – and in this story, both of these men die. You know the kind of story – two men died and went to heaven… except one of them didn’t.
One man went to heaven – and everyone knew that it was the rich man – except it wasn’t. There was a great chasm that separated the two men – Lazarus in heaven and the rich man in Hades. The rich man looks up to heaven and sees Lazarus and he calls out to Abraham – “send Lazarus to cool my tongue – send Lazarus to wait on me, to serve me, to do my bidding…” He doesn’t quite get the point – he still thinks of Lazarus as being below him, and worthy only to be a servant.
Abraham tells him, there’s a gulf between us – no one can cross over, even if they want to… There is no bridge – and I think, that had there been any kind of relationship between Lazarus and the rich man, then a bridge might have been possible. But there was no relationship to build on.
We lived in Houston for four years and there is a corner where street people beg. Benny usually manned one corner and Diana sat on the other corner. I had been talking to Benny for four years. Diana was a new comer – she’d only been out there for about 6 months. Occasionally I would give them something (a little money, or left over food), but regardless of whether or not I had anything to give them, I at least talked to them when I went by. But if I catch the light green and drove on through, they made a point to wave at me because they knew my car. I tried to build bridges while I was there – to see those less fortunate as human beings, created in the image of God and who deserve to be treated as such.
God has created us and as our compassionate creator, he pronounced us "good" and he wants us to succeed at life. He is our teacher, (the Bible is your textbook) and he is our cheerleader - cheering us on to success. When we are sad, God cries with us and when we are happy, he rejoices with us. But this compassionate Father will not protect us from the consequences of our own actions. We make decisions about our life, and God honors those decisions - he doesn't necessarily come running to bail us out of trouble. He allows us to make mistakes - and live with the consequences.
Remember the image of Jesus standing at the door and knocking - He does not barge in and order our life - he waits to be invited in. That's what being baptized and confirmed is all about -- inviting God into our lives. And then God will guide us and direct us - and one of the ways he does that is through the use of parables.
I believe there are two things that we need to learn from this parable.
1) Death is not an end - it is a transition to another place.
2) What we do (or don't do) here on earth, and what we believe, has eternal significance - yes, eternal - even past the grave
As a people, we have a tendency to get so caught up in the living of our lives, that we sometimes forget to look around us. The rich man (remember, he doesn't have a name) most-likely believed in a compassionate God - and he was probably grateful for all God had given him. But he may have just gotten to caught up - so involved in the living of his life, that he forgot to look around and didn't notice Lazarus on his doorstep. Lazarus was part of the landscape - melted into the background - invisible.
God is calling us to notice those in distress - like Lazarus, like those kittens. God is calling us to have compassion on those who are less fortunate. A few years ago a new song became popular called, "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord." It goes:
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord.
Open the eyes of my heart,
I want to see you, I want to see you. -
We are being encouraged to see Jesus in the midst of this parable - in the outcast and the lonely. We are being encouraged to look past our own lives and to see the world around us. On Wednesday, I spent time at "The Gathering Place" - an area outreach ministry to Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers. These are people who are really easy to overlook in this life.
I remember Judy in Huntsville who would ask me every Sunday, "Oh, are you going to be able to stay a while?" And I remember Mishka at Redeemer who carried her copy of Dr. Zhivago everywhere she went, but couldn't communicate because she only remembered her native Polish language.
On Wednesday, at the Gathering Place, there was a woman, Maria, who didn't connect with anything we were doing until we started singing, "Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer do, I'm half crazy all for the love of you." Her smile broke out and she sang beautifully - knowing every single word of each song we sang. The joy was unmistakable. These are ones who matter deeply to God - the Lazarus's of this world.
In Matthew 19:23 when Jesus tells the disciples how hard it is for a rich man to enter heaven, they are astonished and ask, “well, then who can be saved?” Now we have to remember that it is not in being rich that we are condemned for money is only a tool. But it is what we do with what we have, that is called into question. It might be money, or time or talent - God wants us to be aware of how we use those resources.
The lesson from First Timothy re-enforces this idea. He said, “As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous and ready to share.”
There is a reason these lessons have been chosen for this time of year. They remind us of God's call on our own life. Grace is beginning its stewardship campaign. So remember that this parable speaks to stewardship - just like last week's parable called us to be good managers of our resources, so this parable reminds us not to ignore those needs around us.
As Grace enters the search process, you are also building a foundation that will be the basis for calling a new rector. Are we good stewards of what God has given us? Money is only one tool that God gives us to further his kingdom on earth. The other tools are time and talent. We are all called to pay attention to how we use those gifts also. I ask God to bless each of you richly, so that you may be a blessing to others.
Amen.
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