Sermon Preached September
25, 2016 at St. Francis Episcopal Church Fair Oaks
Proper 21C – RCL Track 1
Note: The sermon was recorded and posted by St. Francis here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm9D9x_Px8U
Jesus said, "There was a
rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously
every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even
the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away
by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In
Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with
Lazarus by his side. He called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send
Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in
agony in these flames.' But Abraham said, `Child, remember that during your
lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things;
but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between
you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass
from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.' He said,
`Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house-- for I have five
brothers-- that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this
place of torment.' Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the prophets; they
should listen to them.' He said, `No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to
them from the dead, they will repent.' He said to him, `If they do not listen
to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises
from the dead.'"
Did the gospel reading
bother you? It bothers me. One of the things that happens when I hear the
parables is I can identify with one of the characters in the parable. Or for some of them – like the shepherd who
leaves 99 sheep to find the one – I identify with the absurdity of the
situation and the call to do something different. But this parable bothers me. What if I am the
rich man? I certainly live a good
life. I have a good job and go home to
cook and eat good food. I certainly am
not Lazarus lying at the gate with ulcerated sores hoping for a crumb of food. The possibility that I am the rich man makes
me uncomfortable.
So what is going on in
this parable. The writer certainly
paints a vivid picture of a very wealthy man – in rare purple clothing and
eating sumptuous banquets who readily ignores the beggar at the gate. The rich man does not even see Lazarus. He goes by him and ignores him. At least while he is alive.
When the rich man dies he
has the proper burial and poor Lazarus is just left in the streets – a dead
body – until the angels sweep him in to the bosom of Abraham while the rich man
goes to the flames of hades. Hades is
not a popular topic for most of the mainline preachers I know! And with both of their deaths there is a
reversal of fortunes.
It is with this reversal
of fortunes that probably makes as all squirm a bit. Are we – as relatively wealthy people when
compared to much of the words populations going to burn for eternity because of
our wealth? Are we squirming in our
seats when we hear this and think about all of the times that we have passed a
beggar on the street or at the off ramp?
If we are not uncomfortable perhaps we should be.
How many times do we walk
past someone who is down and out and not see them just like the rich man refused
to see Lazarus? It is all too easy for
us to have hardened hearts just like the rich man. To say that all of these homeless people are
on the street because they want to be.
They enjoy being on drugs or alcohol and don’t want to work. They just need
to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. I have actually heard people express that
belief. And it drives me crazy.
It is that kind of
attitude that Jesus is condemning here.
The parable is not really about what will happen when we die it is about
how we should live. It is a parable
about turning society on its head – or as Michael Curry says it is about
turning society right side up because too much of our society is upside down. This parable reminds us that God’s dream is a
world where we are all safe in the bosom of Abraham. Where we are all seen. Where no one is invisible.
And sometimes we get it right - at least in a small way.
On Wednesday’s I preside
at a midweek Eucharist and healing service at St. Paul’s in downtown
Sacramento. At those services about half
of the 20 or so in the congregation are homeless – or barely housed in public
housing. And most of them do not want to
be on the streets. They are of all ages
and the ones I have talked with – those who will talk with me – are there for
varying reasons. I have met veterans
with PTSD who can’t live inside right now.
I have met people who have been kicked out of their homes who now self
medicate to forget. And there are
certainly people with mental illness and reduced cognitive abilities.
The amazing thing to me
is they come week after week to the service and stay for a home cooked
meal. A meal that is served to them as
guests – not a clients or as objects.
They are asked to sit at table and be waited on. No soup line.
They feel seen and valued. Oh –
and they don’t have to attend the service to be fed. Some wait in the back of the church in the
narthex until the service is over but about three quarters of the people we
feed come to the service and come up for communion and anointing with oil
accompanied by prayers for healing.
This parable is not about
life and death and what happens after we die.
It is – in part – about seeing
people and valuing people.
The scary part is that
even in death it doesn’t seem that the rich man really gets it. He still treats Lazarus as a servant who
should come and quench his thirst.
The rich man does seem to
understand that something in his behavior got him into his current predicament.
At least a little bit – he want to warn his siblings that they could face some
terrible afterlife if they don’t do something different. The crazy thing is I am not sure that the
rich man, even in death, understands what he did wrong. The way he talks about Lazarus – not to him
you notice. The rich man only talks to
Abraham because he still sees himself as superior to Lazarus.
So what got the rich man
into this predicament? It was not so
much that he was wealthy but that he did not even see the poor. He used he wealth for himself because, as the
saying goes, you can’t take it with you.
So in his life he used his wealth and position not to help people and
improve the life of those society has discarded. No his life was all about satisfying his
desires to show off his wealth with conspicuous consumption. But he does know that something needs to
change in his siblings life so he asks Abraham to send Lazarus to them and warn
them.
But Abraham says that
they have Moses and the Prophets so they should already know how to live a life
that will be pleasing to God. And that not
even sending someone back from the grave will be enough for them to open their
eyes.
And we – who profess our
faith in the one Jesus who walked among the people, was crucified, and risen
need to open our eyes and somehow get across the seeming un-crossable chasm
between how we function in our society today and the dream that God has that
all will be loved and taken care of.
This parable, …, isn’t about earning or relinquishing an eternal reward; it’s about the character and quality of our life right now. One might even argue that for Luke eternal life isn’t a distant reality at all but rather starts now, each time we embrace the abundant life God offers in and through those around us. So while it is certainly a warning not to overlook those around us in need, it is also an invitation to live into fuller, more meaningful, and more joyous life by sharing ourselves – our time, talents, and certainly our wealth – with those around us here and now. For as we do, we live into the life and kingdom God outlines in the law of Moses, clarifies in the prophets, and makes manifest and available to all in the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord.”[1]
This parable should make us uncomfortable. Because it is, in many ways, an indictment of much of our society. A society that sees the homeless as less than human. A society where parents are still throwing their children out of their homes if they are gay. A society that refuses to adequately take care of the mentally ill. A society where great wealth is concentrated in the hands of a few who live behind great gates who can’t see the beggar at their doorstep.
If we are going to take on the mantle of crazy Jesus people – as our presiding bishop calls us – we need to open our eyes. We need to make decisions both with our personal wealth and how we elect people to change our society. We need to model the kind of radical acceptance and love that Jesus brought to earth.
We are called not to live
behind gates blind to the needs of others.
We are called to act differently.
We have promised through our baptismal covenants that we will respect
the dignity of every human. And if we
are to honor and follow that promise we must see all people. We must acknowledge them where they are at
and treat them as children of God. And
we must work to turn an upside-down society right-side up.
Amen
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