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Jesus is not finished with the subject of money yet.
And we might think that what he he has to say is controversial. Controversial because he speaks of wealth disparagingly. And this seems to contradict a common belief, based on some of the Hebrew scriptures, that God’s blessings show up in the abundance we receive in this life – abundant property, abundant crops, even an abundance of children all mean that God is smiling on you.
And there are great reasons why this is not only appealing to our hearts and minds, but also seems to make sense. Abundance of the things we need in life will give us a sense of well-being and security.
Years ago I was talking with some people about what the Bible says about wealth. We had just read a passage from Luke where Jesus says, “Woe to you who are rich.” We wondered if he really meant that. Because, is it really that bad being rich?
One woman in the conversation said this. “There was a time when I was poor, but now I am not. I thought about money a whole lot more when I was poor than I do now.” It is a privilege to not have to think about money all the time. You might still want to think about it. But you simply aren’t forced to think every day about whether you have enough to buy the food you need, about how you will juggle paying your bills so you won’t bounce a check or have the water turned off at your house. These are difficult and stressful matters to have weighing on you every day. It is a privilege to have enough so that you do not have those worries.
Most of us are privileged in that way. But today I am suspending that privilege and, once again, asking you to think about money, along with Jesus and the Pharisees. Let’s begin by setting the context.
At the beginning of this chapter Jesus told the Parable of the Dishonest Manager to his disciples, which was overheard by the Pharisees and scribes, sinners and tax collectors. We know they heard him, because immediately after he finishes the parable, ending with the words, “you cannot serve God and wealth,” the Pharisees ridicule him.
The Pharisees heard a lot from Jesus that day. They heard the Parable of the Prodigal, where the younger son went out and squandered all the wealth his father had given him, and then the father had to decide how he would respond to that son’s return.
They overheard the Parable of the Dishonest Manager. Jesus directed this one toward his disciples, a story about a manager who squandered his master’s wealth, and then hatched a scheme to save himself – a scheme that also served to enhance his master’s reputation.
In the first parable, Jesus shows his listeners the way God’s amazing grace will bring us into the fold when we humbly seek forgiveness. In the second parable Jesus encourages his listeners to be shrewd about distinguishing the lasting things from the things of this world, which are passing away. And when he hears them scoffing, ridiculing him, Jesus turns to the Pharisees and essentially says, “Here’s one just for you, guys.”
There is a rich man who lives in a great house, wears fine clothes and eats sumptuously every single day. And there is a poor man named Lazarus who lies outside the rich man’s gate. Lazarus, covered in sores, starving, suffering even the indignity of the dogs licking his wounds. He is quite a sight to behold, but Lazarus remains unseen, uncared for by the rich man, who steps over Lazarus’ broken body as he walks through his gate on his merry way.
Lazarus died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham. Then the rich man died and descended to Hades, where he was tormented by flames.
The rich man was high, but he was brought low. Lazarus was low, but he was raised up high. There has been a complete reversal of their situations.
The rich man complains; he demands a better room. This one is too hot. But it is clear there will be no relief for the rich man. “There is nothing to be done now. A great chasm has been fixed between us,” Abraham tells the rich man.
It is really a haunting scene. I don’t try to draw any particular ideas about the exact details of heaven and hell from this story, but I cannot help but hear in it a clear condemnation of certain kinds of choices we make, certain types of behavior we engage in here on earth. And Jesus is building momentum.
We see Jesus raising the stakes as he moves from parable to parable: from the joy of being embraced by the forgiving arms of God (in the prodigal son); to the strong suggestion we turn our eyes to the kingdom that is coming and put all our resources into preparing for it (in the dishonest manager); and now to the stark and sobering vision of how it might all play out in the end for those who choose to ignore the messages they have already heard.
But perhaps because of the sequence of these parables, I firmly believe the message of this one is not all about the afterlife. Rather it is about the choices we make in this life. In particular, a choice to see or not to see all that is around us.
The real problem here is the rich man’s refusal to see Lazarus, to see his suffering even though it was taking place right outside his gate. And make no mistake, it is a choice. The rich man knew Lazarus was there – he even knew his name, we discover – but he chose to not acknowledge him. He chose to not care.
This poor man, Lazarus, was right outside his gate, such that the rich man could not come and go without encountering him. But he did not want to encounter Lazarus. He enjoyed the beautiful things, the pleasures of life – his fine clothes and his sumptuous feasts. Lazarus was not beautiful to behold. Lazarus actually made him uncomfortable. Lazarus, he decided, was to be ignored.
God wants us to see one another. God wants us to care for one another.
I know this is a hard thing for us to do. There is, in this life, something like a great chasm between us and the suffering poor. A chasm that may prevent us from having compassion for them. A chasm that may even prevent us from regarding them as real human beings like us.
We are actually blessed to have the opportunity every week to see the poor and homeless ones right outside our door. Any Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, you cannot come into the church without seeing them. It is a highly valued mission of this church, but I hope we all know that the ministry of HOPE offers invaluable benefits to us as well. Because it gives us a chance every week to share space, even share fellowship, with the Lazarus in our midst.
There is a story in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus says to his disciples, “You will always have the poor with you.” On one level he meant that there will never cease to be poverty on earth. But on another level, he meant that because we are his followers we will never put too much distance between ourselves and the needy. Followers of Jesus will never abandon those in need. We will see them. We will know them. We will care for them.
I know, it is still a tall order. It is a challenge, and perhaps feels overwhelming. But let me share with you one story that illustrates this model of Christian compassion.
I was in Washington DC with two other women. It was a hot day and we had been doing a lot of walking around the city on the hot cement. We were on our way to the metro station to begin our trip home. We were walking through one of the many squares in the city and passed by a bench with a man sitting there. He looked tired. He looked beaten by the world. He looked homeless.
We were chatting as we walked, and I barely saw this man. I walked right past him. But then I noticed that one of my companions stopped. She approached the man and politely asked him for directions, although we didn’t need directions. He replied. Then, smiling and still looking at him, she asked, “Are you hungry? Would you like a sandwich? An apple?” And she pulled a sandwich and apple out of her bag. He accepted them. Then she asked, are you thirsty? Would you like some water? When he said yes, she pulled a bottle of water from her bag and gave it to him.
She then thanked the man, for the assistance he had given her, and we continued walking.
Two of us failed to see this man. But one of us really, authentically saw him and crossed the great chasm. One of us bore the image of Christ in the city that day.
In the end it is a matter of seeing another as a human being. Lazarus was a fellow human being. And the question is: what can you do for one human being?
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