St. Paul’s Church in
Bergen, Jersey City NJ
September 29, 2013
Year C, Proper 21:
The 19th Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 32:1-3a,
6-15
Psalm 91: 1-6, 14-16
1 Timothy 6:6-19
Luke 16:19-31
At Our Gate
Two
Sundays in a row, now, we’ve heard parables from the Gospel of Luke that are
meant to get us thinking about how we use our wealth – how we use all the good
gifts that God has given us – how we use our time, how we use our talent, and,
yes, how we use our treasure.
If
you were here last week you may remember that we heard the Parable of the
Shrewd Manager. Jesus tells the story of the manager who was accused by his
boss of wrongdoing and now faces the real possibility of losing everything.
The
shrewd manager quickly decides to get in touch with the people who were
indebted to his boss. He cuts their debts (really cutting out his own
commission) and, he hopes, makes friends with the debtors. He hopes that the
debtors will take him in when he loses everything.
Instead,
the boss praised the shrewd manager for his… shrewdness.
Jesus
suggests that we need to be equally shrewd with our time, talent, and treasure
– to use them for good – to use them so we may be with God forever.
And
now, today, we heard a second parable that is also meant to get us thinking
about how we use our wealth – how we use our time, talent, and treasure.
And
in today’s parable we meet someone who didn’t do such a good job of it and is
now, we’re told, enduring eternal torment in hell.
For
the past few weeks on Wednesdays after the healing service we’ve been having
pretty lively Bible study discussions looking at the gospel lessons for the
following Sunday.
One
of the things we’ve noted is that Luke is such a good writer. In just a few
words, with just a few careful brushstrokes, he captures Jesus’ parable and
paints a vivid picture that I bet we can all imagine.
In
today’s parable he very quickly sets up a dramatic contrast between the unnamed
rich man and poor Lazarus.
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.”
Jesus,
through Luke, paints a very vivid picture indeed.
Notice
we’re not told anything more about Lazarus except that he’s poor, he’s lying at
the rich man’s gate, he’s hungry, and he’s covered with sores licked by dogs.
We’re
not told whether he’s a good, kind, faithful or religious person. All we know
is that’s he’s a poor man living a horrible life.
But,
since God has a special love for the poor and suffering, when Lazarus dies
we’re told that he “was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham.”
God
has a special love for the poor so Lazarus goes to heaven.
And…
the rich man goes to the other place to be tormented.
Talk
about a reversal of fortune!
So
far, though, we don’t really know anything about what’s in the rich man’s
heart. All we know is that he lived a luxurious life.
But,
it’s in hell that the rich man shows his true colors.
He
looks up to heaven and asks Abraham to send Lazarus down to give him a drink.
He’s in hell and he expects poor Lazarus who suffered so much in life to be his
servant. And the rich man goes further, asking Abraham to send Lazarus
to warn his brothers about the terrible fate that awaits them unless they
change their ways.
Even
in the next life – even in hell – the
rich man thinks that Lazarus (who’s in heaven!) is still somehow beneath him
and should be serving him!
It’s
a powerful and unsettling parable – maybe especially unsettling for us who live
in the richest country on earth.
As
I’ve thought about the parable – and especially about the rich man – I’ve come
to the conclusion that rich man’s biggest mistake, his greatest sin, was not seeing
Lazarus – Lazarus who was right at his gate! – not seeing Lazarus as a human
being beloved by God.
Although
the rich man knows his name, the rich man doesn’t see Lazarus as a fellow human
being – a human being with his own hopes and fears, with his own burdens and
disappointments, with his own loves and dreams.
Instead
the rich man sees Lazarus as a thing.
The
rich man sees Lazarus as “poverty,” as “ugly sores being licked by dogs” and
maybe as an annoyance or an inconvenience that he has to step over on his way
in and out of his home.
This
is very much a parable for our own times.
Our
culture encourages us to see people as things – as things for our own use and
pleasure.
We
often see people – people right at our gates - not as fellow human
beings beloved by God, but as things.
On
line at the supermarket we see the cashier not as a human being with her own
hopes and dreams but as simply a thing that exists to ring up our order quickly
and accurately.
On
the bus or on the PATH train, we’re surrounded by human beings burdened with
their own disappointments and fears, yet often we just look at them as things –
things that get in our way - things that we judge based on what they’re
wearing, on their hairstyle, on the color of their skin.
And,
right at our gates – just outside our church, just outside our home, just
outside our place of work – there are the modern-day Lazaruses. Right outside
our gates are the poor and the hungry – the physically poor and spiritually
hungry longing to satisfy their hunger with what falls from our table. Lazarus
is right at our gates, beloved by God simply because he or she is poor and
suffering.
So,
the question is, do we see our Lazaruses as things, as “poverty” as “sores
licked by dogs” as “inconvenience” or “annoyance”? Or do we see the Lazaruses
of today as fellow human beings, beloved by God?
Are
we willing to help them?
Are
we able to love them?
How
we answer those questions will make all the difference in our lives, both now
and in the future.
How
do we at St. Paul’s answer those questions?
Today
is a big day in our parish life.
After
the service we will have our annual parish meeting. We will elect new vestry
members. We will look at our church finances. We will celebrate what, with
God’s help, has been accomplished. And we’ll dream a little bit about the
future.
Above
and beyond all of that, my hope is that today marks the beginning of a new era.
For
so long we have been focused on the survival of St. Paul’s. Will people keep
coming to our church? Will we attract new people? Will people pledge? Will they
pay their pledge? Will we preserve our endowment? And on and on…
I
get those concerns. I’ve shared those concerns. And, those concerns have led
some wonderful people to take great care of this place and preserve what God
has given us.
But,
let me tell you something. I am absolutely convinced that God is not even close
to being done with St. Paul’s.
Just
the opposite.
God
and we are just getting started.
God
has a beyond our wildest dreams future in store for us.
And
I believe that future has begun with us turning our focus away from concerns
for our survival and seeing – really seeing – and serving the Lazaruses out
there.
God
doesn’t want us to be like the rich man in the parable.
God
wants us – calls us – expects us to really see Lazarus and to feed him – to
feed him with the food that we collect each month – to feed him with the
bottomless love of God – to feed him the special love that God has for the poor
and suffering – to feed him with the love that we experience here at St. Paul’s
– to feed him with the love of Jesus Christ.
Today
marks the beginning of a new era.
Now,
let’s see – let’s really see – who’s
at our gate.
Amen.
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