September 30, 2007
Several years ago, when Dylan was in high school, we were out driving somewhere and listening to the baseball game on the car radio (the American League East-winning Red Sox, of course). The commentators described some goings-on or another – I don’t remember the specifics – but it was something that happened that the pitcher didn’t like. So the commentators said, well, is seems that the pitcher is . . . and paused; Dyl and I, seeking to fill in the blank, said at the exact same time, ‘perturbed.’ And we laughed, because we thought it was funny that the exact same word came to us. We were always something of a word family; perturbed was a regular in our vocabulary. I was thinking about that because of the gospel story we heard today. It would certainly be fair to say that as we come into this particular part of Luke, Jesus is . . . perturbed. Remember last week, Jesus told us and the other disciples that one cannot serve both God and wealth. But what we didn’t hear, immediately following that statement of Jesus, is that the Pharisees, who were listening to Jesus, thought that this was a bunch of doo doo. What do you mean, you can’t serve God and wealth? Where’d you come up with that? They ridiculed him for saying this, is what Luke tells us. Nobody appreciates being made fun of, that’s for sure. And this is one of Jesus’ teachings! So Jesus is somewhat perturbed at this point. In response, he tells the story that we hear this morning. About a rich man, whose name we are not given, and a poor man, called Lazarus.
And because it has something of an edge to is, this is not the easiest story. It’s . . . stark, in fact. It describes this rich man who lives well, eats well, dresses well – and walks by the poor at his gate without ever seeing them. It describes a poor man, named Lazarus, one of those who lies at the rich man’s gate, wishing desperately for even a crust of bread from the rich man’s table. He’s hungry. He’s destitute – that’s the bit about the dogs. He doesn’t dress well; he doesn’t live well; he doesn’t eat well. These two are at opposite ends of the spectrum – of the privilege spectrum, the religious spectrum, the power spectrum. There is, in fact, a great chasm between them: a chasm of humankind’s making, between rich and poor. A chasm that could – could - be not just breached, but lessened. Maybe even closed – if human beings had the will to close it.
Not so with the chasm that is between the two when they die, according to Jesus. One goes to heaven; one goes to Hades. But this doesn’t happen in the way Jesus’ listeners expected. No, contrary to expectation, the rich man ends up in Hades. It is Lazarus who ends up in ‘the bosom of Abraham.’ And there is, we are told, a fixed chasm between them. A chasm dug by. . . lack of compassion and action by those who have much. A chasm dug by . . . poor choices. A chasm dug by. . . poor use of the rich man’s wealth. Poor because he used his riches only for himself, and not for others. Poor because – did you notice? – he knew the poor man’s name, but never helped him. And, sadly, this man still doesn’t get it. He commands Abraham to send Lazarus as servant, as errand boy, to give him water. When told that that’s not going to happen, he asks another favor of Abraham. Send Lazarus – errand boy again – to warn my brothers, so they don’t end up where I am. But Abraham declines to acquiesce to this request. Your brothers have all of the information they need to not end up where you are, he is told. They have Moses. They have the prophets. It’s all there. All they have to do is pay attention. Amend their lives if they’ve gotten off track. Live as God has asked them to live: reaching beyond themselves, and embodying God’s word in their lives.
So that’s today’s gospel story, from a perturbed Jesus, to us. If we hear it in the way it is intended, this is a tough story for us to digest. There’s a moment I remember vividly from my ordination in 1998. The minister who was preaching at that service, upon getting up to the lectern – not unlike this one, in fact – looked to where I was in the congregation (right where is sitting). She waited until I was looking directly at her, and we were making eye contact. Then she turned the lectern a little towards me to make sure I got the point: that what she had to say was, among other things, a charge for me in my ministry. This story Jesus tells is something like that, it seems to me. Jesus waits for us to make eye contact, and then he tells us a story that we would be wise to listen to. To truly digest and embody in our actions and in our lives.
The reason this is difficult is that we like to take the side of Jesus in this story, and of the poor man Lazarus. Right, we think. That selfish rich guy got what he deserved – forgetting that the story is speaking to us, directly. It actually functions as a warning, a warning directed at us. Here’s the warning in language from first Timothy, the epistle lesson we heard: “there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.”
We are being given notice, that we need to be wary of money and the things it buys. We need to be wary of the power it has over us. We have to be aware of the constant temptations put before us, in the form of money and material things. We are going to be tempted. We are in danger of being trapped by senseless and harmful desire, and in danger of being plunged into ruin and destruction. Why? Because of love of money, wealth, material goods. This is real power that Jesus is warning us against, and that the author of the epistle is warning us against. This isn’t a melodramatic exaggeration, this is us being told that how we deal with these things matter. If we make no or little attempt to control our desires for wealth, money, material goods, then make no mistake: they will control us. All of this is what Jesus is warning us against with this gospel story.
As we continue to think about the story from Luke, we can look for our stewardship theme: Reaching beyond ourselves, living the gospel. Along with being our theme this fall, it is also a useful lens for looking at this story. It is even the point Jesus is trying to make, in fact. Here’s what we see in the story: the rich man never reached beyond himself. He enjoyed his wealth – fair enough, one could argue – but he never shared it. He never noticed the people who were in need right in front of him. He may have noticed these bodies, but he ignored the people, the souls, who inhabited them. He failed to embody the gospel, which was his call as much as it is ours. For him, the gospel – the Word, we would say – was the prophets who laid out for all of us exactly what we and this rich man need to know. Here are a few examples.
The prophet Amos, warning the people against the calamities that are to come, explains to them why, if they do not change their ways, they will experience these calamities. He says, “Thus says the LORD: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment; because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals— they who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth, and push the afflicted out of the way.” What could one say about the rich man in Jesus’ story, but that he ‘pushed the afflicted (Lazarus) out of his way?’
From the prophet Hosea, we hear God, speaking of the people Israel: “She did not know that it was I who gave her the grain, the wine, and the oil, and who lavished upon her silver and gold that they used for Baal” God says. “Therefore I will take back my grain in its time, and my wine in its season; and I will take away my wool and my flax, which were to cover her nakedness.” Aha. Here we have hit on something very important. The people didn’t know – or more accurately, they knew but didn’t act as if they knew – that God is the source of all good things. God is the source of the grain – here standing in for the sumptuous rich food the man in our story ate. God is the source of the oil and wine, the silver and gold – that the people don’t use for good, or for helping orphan and widow, but for ‘Baal’, Hosea tells us. For idols, is another way to say that. For things that are not God. For things that are not God and that do not help God’s people.
And then, the prophet Isaiah. It is God who is asking this question: “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn . . .Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry for help, and God will say, Here I am.”
These are the prophets. This is their message. It is all laid out for us in our holy scriptures: what is the right use of what we have? The right actions? What is the wrong use of what we have? The wrong actions? We see some of the perils in this story: selfishness. Arrogance. Self-centeredness. Entitlement. These are the issues that are addressed in the letter to Timothy we heard. “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.” This is an extension of the message of the prophets, and this is the message of the gospel. And make no mistake: we are the ones to whom the author of the epistle is speaking, and the ones to whom the words of the prophets are addressed. We are the ones to whom Jesus gives this warning. To remind us that with our things, our money, our riches, come great responsibility as well as great temptation. What are the choices we make? How do we spend our money? With whom do we share our riches? (Do we share them?)
The man in the story from Luke didn’t get it. Up until the very end, he wants favors, special treatment, a messenger sent to his brothers. He wants mercy, but never shows mercy. He is the warning. He didn’t get it. The question for our pondering is, do we?
Amen.