Year C

Luke 16:19-31

The Very Rev. Denise Vaughn

The Actions that Lead to Life

There is an old Yiddish saying: “If you have money, you are wise and good-looking, and you can sing well, too.” Wouldn’t that be nice? I wonder how much money you would need to have for the old Yiddish saying to be true. The rich man in the parable today probably was good-looking and wise. And undoubtedly he sang the lessons in the synagogue when he attended. But “woe to you,” said Jesus earlier in Luke’s gospel in the Blessings and Woes or Sermon on the Mount, echoing the prophets like Amos whom we hear from today. Woe to you, not because you are wise or rich or comfortable? No; it is because you do not see and care. You do not share God’s concern for the poor, the outcasts, the widows, orphans and lepers.

The gospel for today has one of the classic themes of Luke’s gospel-the reversal of expectations and it continues the discussion from last week on the proper use of material possessions by describing what happens when a person tries to “serve both God and wealth.” It was an old story Jesus told. But he shocked his listeners with the different twist he gave to it. They believed that riches were a sign of God’s approval and reward. They also believed the subtle and pervasive spin-off to that misunderstanding, that sickness and poverty are God’s punishment or curse. Is that so different from our thinking today?

Wealth is seen as a reward, payment for the virtues of hard work, initiative, and intelligence. A contemporary example of this attitude can be seen in a televangelist’s claim that material prosperity is a sign of God’s blessing on those who love God and obey God’s word. But then we hear from Jesus a story that reverses our expectations, that pricks our consciences, that jostles our complacency. We shouldn’t be surprised because Luke begins his gospel with Mary’s words in the Magnificat: “God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.”

Today we find a rich man and a poor man living out the message of the world around us, that “God helps those who help themselves.” The danger is that we will choose to ignore Jesus’ message that God does help those who cannot help themselves and that we will fail to recognize the need right at our gate. Jesus is pretty clear that we are to care for the poor, the sick, and the needy. For when the rich man and Lazarus die, it is Lazarus the poor man who is greeted in heaven. The man who wanted desperately to be filled received eternal fulfillment. The rich man, who could do everything, could not see beyond his own wants, needs, desires, or deserves. He could not, or chose not, to see the real need right at his gate. He never manages to see Lazarus as a brother.

The rich man’s sin was not that he was rich but what he did with his money and what he allowed his money to do to him. He allowed his money to blind him to the needs of others. His riches shielded him to the point where he could ignore Lazarus starving to death at his gate. He had every excuse not to notice him. He had servants to run his errands, and he probably usually swept through his gates on a horse or in a carriage of some kind. He loved his money more than people, his possessions more than compassion. Yet, in the end his money could not save him or his family. He had his day.

The short explanation is that actions matter. Faith is important, we are saved by grace and not works but we have to act from the foundation of that faith. Paul’s letter to Timothy today speaks to the actions of faith and gives us a perspective upon this life that is meant to shape the way we relate to others and to the material world. There have always been Christians who see success and material wealth as rewards from God, and clearly the congregation Paul is addressing in his letter is no exception. He does not urge them to give up all their wealth.

It is the love of money, he suggests, that is the danger because it can lead one away from faith and to value things that are essentially short lived or passing away. Instead, Paul instructs his readers to take hold of eternal life now. Often we think of eternal life as something we will realize in the future after living a life of faith. But, Paul’s tells us to pursue the prize of eternal life in the real life and this real life, now, is to be one of generosity and good works. So we are to use our money for the good of others and the only kind of riches worth having are the ones that lead to “life that really is life.”

St. Teresa of Avila, born in 1515, a profoundly practical person, wrote in her guide for spiritual life, The Interior Castle, “Our Lord asks but two things of us: love for him and for our neighbor….I think the most certain sign that we keep these two commandments is that we have a genuine love for others. We cannot know whether we love God although there may be strong reasons for thinking so, but there can be no doubt about whether we love our neighbor or not.” Good and hard advice that Teresa gives. It’s a pity the rich man in today’s gospel never had a chance to meet her although the story suggests that it would not have made a difference.

The problem with riches is that it is hard to remember how dangerous they are and we see this being proven out today by the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor; this gap is becoming one of the most important issues of our day. And the “moral of the story” expressed in this parable is that if we do not cross the gaping chasm between the rich and the poor in this life, this real life, we will not be able to do it in the next. In the final day, this chasm cannot be crossed. The rich man suggests that what would convince his living brothers to believe and act faithfully would be for Lazarus to return from the dead to warn them. We hear Jesus give a harsh reply, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”

One has risen from the dead, Jesus Christ! His life and death is God’s way of convincing us of the unconditional love God has for the world.  It is the generosity and unconditional love and grace of God that gives us life and identity. It is the generosity and unconditional love and grace of God that ultimately satisfies and calls and empowers us to live out our identity faithfully with justice and generosity. It is the unconditional love and grace of God that gives meaning and hope to our lives. We have been given what we need to live faithful lives. For most of us this parable is one of the hardest to hear because it calls into question how we handle our money today and raises the question of whether we “see” the poor at our gate.