Sunday, September 25, 2016

Ordinary Time Week 19

Psalm: Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 or Psalm 146 
Old Testament: Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15
  or Amos 6:1a, 4-7
 
Gospel: Luke 16:19-31
Epistle: 1 Timothy 6:6-19


I am still trying to catch up with these posts and spend some time each week in the Lectionary texts. The beauty of the Lectionary is that it keeps us engaged in all areas of the biblical text each and every week. This week we have a clear theme that emerges across at least the two New Testament passages, and it is similar to last week: wealth is not the be-all-to-end-all. This ending pericope in Luke ch. 16 is actually the end of a whole section on wealth and it's potential pitfalls.

I am sure we are all familiar with the story and right off the bat we should say this is clearly a parable. Some like to contend that this is a literal story of actual events. While it is interesting that the poor man Lazarus gets a name, perhaps this is based off a common Jewish motif or some other reason Lazarus is named. But the nature of the story and how it is relayed seem to indicate it is indeed a parable. Back to the story, Lazarus and a rich man die on the same night. In their earthly lives Lazarus was poor and sick and used to beg at the rich man's gate. Jesus makes a point to make it clear that this guy was literally the worst off in society; in every single way he was disenfranchised. Even the dogs, which the Jews considered to be unclean animals, came and licked his wounds. The rich man in contrast lived in exorbitant wealth and was confident in what it provided. The biggest thing is that he failed to live up to covenant faithfulness whereby wealth was to be used to feed the needy, the sick, and the orphans and widows.

After their deaths, the rich man goes down to Hades, a place of great torment, and Lazarus goes to Abraham's bosom. The contrast and divide couldn't be clearer. The rich man looks up and sees Lazarus now in great luxury while he is suffering. Notice that the conversation happens entirely between the rich man and Abraham. Presumably Lazarus does not see the rich man and is in a state of paradise. The rich man however, still want's to belittle Lazarus. He tries to put him to work and demands that he still serve the rich man. We can see that even in death the rich man hasn't changed. Abraham's denial of sending Lazarus to help the rich or his family is fair and honors Lazarus. The man isn't going to change and his family wouldn't accept the message anyway.

The closing lines are that the rich man's family has Moses and the Prophets and that is sufficient to follow God. "Moses and the Prophets" was shorthand for the entire Hebrew Bible and this is important to note and validate the fact that God was and is to be found in the Old Testament. But second, Jesus says that even if someone rises from the dead the family wouldn't believe. This could be a reference to the real life Lazarus who Jesus raised or to Jesus himself after his crucifixion. Either example works because Jesus tells this story to an audience of Pharisees who clearly are the rich man in the story. They are in love with their wealth and only use it to serve their selfish needs. And in the end, neither Lazarus' nor Jesus' resurrection convinced them that Jesus was who said he was.

Moving into 1 Timothy 6, I just want to quote 1 verse which really speaks for itself.
For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (vs. 10)
Notice that it is the love of money that is bad, not necessarily money itself. The rich man in Luke wasn't condemned for being wealthy, rather it was because he showed no love or compassion. Across all of scripture there is a recurring motif that wealth is a temptation because it pulls our heart and mind away from trusting in God. It is all to easy when we accrue stuff to think it will save us and give us lasting satisfaction. Last week the message was that relationships with other people are more important than wealth and this week the message is that a relationship with God is more important than wealth. The key is always, no matter if we have a little or a lot, (and let's be honest, in North America we are the rich man) to serve God and love others. In our wealth, or in our poverty those two things don't change. So let us love and serve God and those we interact with.

Grace and Peace.

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