Reversal of Fortunes - A Sermon for Pentecost 16C (Luke 16)
At Christmas time our family watches as many versions of A Christmas Carol as we can. In Dickens’ tale, we see a man consumed by money. As time goes on, he turns everyone around him into an object to be used and abused. Scrooge’s life story reflects the word we hear in 1 Timothy 6. According to that word, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10).
While the pursuit of wealth plays a central role in the Christmas Carol and in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, there is one major difference. Scrooge doesn’t spend his money on himself. However, neither Scrooge nor the Rich Man, show any concern for the needs of their neighbors.
Scrooge has only one goal in life, and that’s to fill his vault with gold. Even though he’s the richest person in town, he’s also the most miserable. Since he’s miserable, he makes everyone else’s life miserable.
Fortunately for Ebenezer Scrooge, he receives a visit from the ghost of his former partner, Jacob Marley, who warns Scrooge to change his ways or fall prey to Marley’s fate. As you may know, Scrooge does change his ways and experiences redemption.
The story of Lazarus and the Rich Man is different in that it serves as a warning to Jesus’ audience, but it doesn’t really offer a happy ending like the one we see in A Christmas Carol.
In the parable of Lazarus and the Rich man, which is found only in Luke’s Gospel, we first meet up with a man who possesses great wealth. He even wears purple clothing, which suggests he might be royalty. He spends his days feasting on sumptuous meals. This is a man who wants for nothing. He lives in the midst of opulence and luxury. He enjoys a life of abundance. While he dines on this wondrous meal, he shows no concern for anyone else, including the poverty-stricken and sick man sitting at his gate.
This other character in this story, the poverty-stricken man, has a name. It’s Lazarus. It appears, in the story, that Lazarus is very sick since he’s covered with sores and cannot fend for himself. His only company is the dogs that roam the streets. He lays at the rich man’s gate hoping to satisfy his hunger with the scraps that would fall from the rich man’s table.
The picture that Jesus paints for us here isn’t very pretty. Though it is similar to the pictures, we see in brochures and ads that invite us to give to charities serving the poorest of the poor. In these ads, we see little children with extended bellies living in squalor. It tugs at our heart, but do we act? If we do act, do we do so wisely? My recommendation is to check with your denominational relief agency before you give to anything else.
While Jesus paints this picture of two men who live at the opposite ends of reality, the rest of the story involves a reversal of fortunes. According to Jesus, both men die at about the same time. They both end up in the realm of the dead, but their situations in death are the reverse of their previous lives.
Lazarus, who suffered greatly in life, finds himself in the company of Father Abraham, the patron saint of hospitality. While he suffered in life, now in death he experiences abundance and healing.
As for the rich man, well, he lands on the other side of town. While Lazarus experiences healing and abundance, the Rich Man ends up being tormented by eternal fire. When the rich man looks at his situation, he begins to pity himself. Having lived the good life, he can’t figure out why he is suffering in death. To make matters worse, Lazarus was hanging out with Father Abraham. How could this be?
The rich man appealed to Abraham, hoping to get some relief from his suffering. When he saw Lazarus sitting in Abraham’s lap, enjoying a good meal, he asked Abraham to send Lazarus over to his side of town with some water to quench his thirst. Even though he was experiencing a reversal of fortunes, he still believed he was superior to Lazarus. Unfortunately for the rich man, a great chasm separated the two sections of the realm of the dead, so while they could see each other, they couldn’t cross over to the other side.
At this point in the story, the rich man realizes that there’s no hope for him, but maybe things could be different for his family members. So, he asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers, sort of like Jacob Marley warned Scrooge. Even at this point, the Rich Man doesn’t get it. He still sees Lazarus as at best his errand boy.
Abraham turns down the request, telling the Rich Man that if his family doesn’t listen to the words of Moses and the Prophets, why would they listen to someone returning from the dead. Besides, if Lazarus could go warn his brothers, why couldn’t he do the same? Could it be that he’s still too lazy to take care of business?
The Rich Man insists that they’ll listen to a voice from the dead, but Abraham isn’t convinced. Besides, his brothers have everything they need in the words of Moses and the Prophets, that is, Scripture, to do what is right. Scripture is very clear, you should love your neighbor as you love yourself (Lev. 19:18). If they paid attention to Scripture, they would know that God wants God’s people to care for each other. That especially includes those who are poor and sick. In other words we don’t need a visit from Jacob Marley and the three Christmas Ghosts to do the right thing.
You might be wondering where we fit in this parable. I expect that none of us is as poor and hungry as Lazarus, and none of us is as wealthy as this Rich Man. We might eat well, at least I do, but I doubt any of us see ourselves seated at the Rich Man’s table.
We may not be as poor as Lazarus or as wealthy as the Rich Man, but all of us have a share in God’s abundance. This leads to an important question. What is my responsibility for this abundance? How might I share this abundance that God provides in a way that blesses my neighbor?
I would suggest that we’re not without opportunities to share our abundance with others. Each denomination has agencies that do this work. Both the ELCA and the Disciples, my denomination, work through Church World Service to serve those in need across the globe. There are also local entities through which a congregation can serve the needs of their neighbors. I assume this church already participates in them. But could more be done?
When it comes to meeting the needs of our neighbors, some might ask: Well, who is my neighbor? The parable of the Good Samaritan answers that question. The neighbor in that parable is the one who shows mercy to the person who is standing in need of care. In other words, the question isn’t really who is my neighbor, but how am I supposed to be a neighbor.
It’s good to remember that Jesus defined his own calling in terms of a word from the prophet Isaiah:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim
release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the
year of the Lord’s favor.” (Lk 4:18-19)
With these words of warning and calling in mind, we can consider also the role that the Table plays in the story. The question of food stands at the center of this word about neighborliness. Christians are a Table-centered faith, so I believe this story has Eucharistic implications.
In her book The Sacred Meal, Nora Gallagher offers an image of a web linking us to one another at the Lord’s Table. She suggests that Holy Communion involves “a web of people who were being stitched together” (The Sacred Meal, p. 6). With that in mind, she writes:
Jesus, in his compassion, says that the hurt of those who are hungry and poor and taxed beyond their means is to be taken seriously. It is not normal for people to be without food; it is not normal for someone who is blind or deaf to beg on the street (The Sacred Meal, pp. 20-21).
So, when we gather at the Table today, we receive signs of God’s presence. These signs of God’s presence stitch us together as one people, committed to the common good of all.
While the parable speaks of a reversal of fortunes, in many ways it underscores the truth that Gallagher offers. These two figures, one rich and one poor, were linked by a Table. Unfortunately, according to the story, the rich man didn’t understand the nature of this web linking the two men in life, which led to the reversal.
We needn’t embrace the idea of postmortem punishment to understand the message Jesus is trying to get across to us. In life, we are connected. That’s a message Jesus offered and that Charles Dickens underscored in the Christmas Carol. In this, we find good news!
Preached by:
Dr. Robert D. Cornwall
Guest Preacher
Calvary Lutheran Church
Grants Pass, Oregon
September 25, 2022
Pentecost 16C
Comments