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Recollections of Our Trip Through The Rich Man and
Lazarus 10-4-09
Text: Luke 16:19-31 ● The parables are always presented as dramatic,
contrasting ways of doing life. We are usually confronted with some accepted
norm and then challenged to re-think our approach in light of the “good
news”--- the announcement of the Kingdom. The common element in the previous
few parables is that something has taken place in and around Jesus that
reverses the way things are; that introduces another reality. It confronts
the “accepted” and challenges toward a bigger view of life. ● One of the real challenges we face
is how we are interpreting the parables:
What’s the point?
Are they to be considered theological instruction? Are we to see some
real-life parallel in every character and prop?
How much are we entitled to take as a literal
discussion/instruction about heaven or hell or angels or the great
role-reversal in the afterlife? Are we to assume that every time we die,
angels come and take us to Abraham’s chest? Are we to conclude that if
you’re deprived in this world, you’ll be compensated in the next? ● Most of Jesus’ parables are meant to be even bigger than
literal interpretations. They are meant to connect with us in a deeper way
in which mere facts/instruction fail. So, we are left
to determine,
“What
is the point?
What’s the issue that Jesus is attempting to highlight?” ● We can start off by affirming that
the point is not
that if you are wealthy, you are heartless and immoral and probably made
your fortunes on the backs of child-laborers and sweat shops in
under-developed countries. ● And, it
does not
affirm that if you are poor, that automatically translates into godliness.
You’ve obviously been taken advantage of and will eventually end up as some
“patron saint to the poor”. ● The parable’s effect is usually revealed by the response
it evokes, not only in it’s original listeners, but in us. If you get really
annoyed when you hear teachings about money and generosity, chances are you
are spending the greater amount of your resources (time, energy and money)
in expanding your own kingdom. If teachings about generosity seem
to enliven you and expand the boundaries of your generosity, you are
probably one experiencing what Paul called the
“grace of giving”
(2 Cor.8:7). ● Many scholars believe that Jesus is drawing on an already existing Egyptian folk tale.
In the ● In the parable, as in life, you
can’t help but notice the rich man. He’s the one who lives in the
gated-community (gates serve two purposes: they keep things “in” and keep
things “out”) and who throws the elaborate parties and is always dressed to
impress (purple linen was expensive to produce; associated with royalty).
He’s the one who drives the car with the bumper sticker that says,
“My other car is
even nicer than this one”. He’s the one on the
cover of all the magazines in the check-out line; we need to know what he’s
doing, where he’s going, who he’s dating. ● The other man, actually given a
name, is “Lazarus” (the only individual with a name in all of Jesus’
parables), but he is easily overlooked. Maybe Jesus gives the poor a name in
this one so that we will not allow them to remain impersonal; reduce them to
some stat. His name means
“the one whom God
helps”. His life is fairly routine:
every day his friends or people from the community carry him to the place
where they feel he is most likely to get assistance, the only one with the
resources to meet his needs--- at the gate of the rich man; and each evening
they come and take him back to the place where he will stay the night. It’s
a common practice in the East [and it’s why you will usually find them on
the doorsteps of churches and mosques]. ● The glaring contrast presented in
the parable is
shameless
affluence in the face of
dire need.
Only a few feet away were the resources to help meet tangible, physical
needs without even becoming burdensome, and each day, those who entered and
departed from the home would either need to “avoid” (go out the back door)
or “ignore” (step over) what lie right in front of them. This is not a story
about what happens to us after we die, but about happens “in” and “through”
us while we are still alive; right now.
Jesus shifts the focus from talk of the
‘afterlife’ to a consideration about the present life.
Talk of the Kingdom will
not allow us to defer responsibility in light of some future utopia. It
requires that we strive to establish it and embody it, even in rudimentary
and incomplete ways. The Kingdom is
“at hand”,
meant to address what’s happening right now. ● In fact, in some ways, I would almost rather that this
be a parable about heaven and hell. Honestly, I think it would make me less
uncomfortable. I’m most concerned about the way
that the parable confronts me with the Kingdom’s view of wealth and overt
concern for those without enough.
I’m not
sure I know
“what’s enough”. History is replete
with stories of people who have devoted themselves to the pursuit of wealth
and who forfeited their souls in the process. The parable displays the shocking possibilities that a
person might become so disillusioned and dominated by their pursuit of
wealth that they might actually, in a sense, “disqualify themselves” from
the mercies of God (not that they were unavailable, just that they were
deemed unnecessary); that they might actually become so ‘mastered by’ their
wealth that they would become indifferent or numb to those with such glaring
needs in the face of their affluence.
Fortunately, it also involves people who have
realized tremendous wealth and have used it to help alter the
present-experience/condition of others. We cannot allow talk
of the Kingdom to be reduced to some ‘ethereal/other-worldly truths’. It is
about distributing real money to meet real needs. The rich young ruler asked,
“What must I do to
get eternal life?” No one asks that question
unless they realize that their current approach is not producing it.
“Give to
the poor…” Jesus suggests that in this way he
will have demonstrated his allegiance to another Kingdom, another economy. The stock response to
Jesus’ messages? “Repent”.
It’s not hard to
understand, just hard to accept. Repentance is so much more than just some
mental assent to some list of proposed truths. It means
“stop, turn
around” ;
“re-think all of
life in light of this message”. It
leaves little room for variance. For some, it’s easier to see their need for
another direction for their life. For the wealthy, it’s often not so simple. ● Being ‘born-again’ means we cannot
go on living the same self-directed, self-indulgent lives.
Resurrection
always involves rising to a new way of life. Jesus indicates that
it’s not just about wealth or poverty, it’s about “deception and truth”.
Jesus knew that the misdirected pursuit
of wealth posed a serious threat to our allegiance. Jesus says that worldly
wealth can be deceiving. It can offer the appearance of permanence; it can
feel secure.
Repeatedly, Jesus challenges us that the way we
manage money says a lot about who we are and what we love [If money talks,
what is it saying about you?] ● Jesus indicated that money is
about “trust”. All of life is entrusted and to be stewarded in a way that is
the best possible reflection of God’s values and desires [i.e. rich man:
“you received good things”.
“received”
is passive; it was entrusted to him]. Simply put, if the way
that we manage our money is not a good reflection of the Kingdom (the way
God would use it), we are loving the wrong things. When Jesus said,
“The poor
you will always have with
you…”
(Matthew 26:11), could it be that he understood that, in many cases, the
human systems we create seem to perpetuate poverty? Could it also be that
the poor will always be with us because it’s the one place they should
expect to find grace? Gandhi said,
“Ask the poor.
They will tell you who the Christians are”. Generosity is only
meaningful and persuasive as it is grounded in a love for God, a desire for
relationship with others and a view toward promoting a society of healthy
inter-dependence. Generosity itself is an inadequate
gauge of love. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul suggests that it is possible to
“sell all
that I have and give it to the poor and still not love.” ● Grace-filled interdependence is difficult because it’s
hard to admit our need. It’s easy to resent the fact that you seem to be
making a larger contribution to the community than others. It’s difficult
because it means that you might need to trust in God and his movement “in”
and “through” others. Interestingly, at
Pentecost (Acts 2), what the Spirit produced which caught the attention of
the curious was not just extraordinary gifts, but extraordinary grace.
“What got the attention of the curious and the
skeptical?” Acts 2:44-47
“All the believers were together (united) and had
everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to
anyone as he had need… praising God and enjoying the favor of all the
people. And the Lord added daily to their numbers…” ● This inter-dependence was not
‘mandated’ as part of the Great Commission, but was the response of those
who had experienced the extravagant welcome of God.
It was an
expression of their desire to live and function under a “new normal”.
This is why our vision of life must be motivated by something bigger than
the
“American Dream”. Our dream must be formed and informed by the “shalom” of
God. A vision which not only addresses our deepest human need for God, but
which results in the best possible way to live with and care for each other. 1 John 4
“Dear friends, since God has loved us, we ought to
love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love each other, God
lives in us and his love is made complete (brings to its intended end;
accomplishes its desired purpose) in us”. [God’s kindness that leads toward
repentance, maybe it’s our kindness that leads them toward God]. |
