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Breaking Chasms
The key to the parable is the chasm: the one between God and wealth: and how we are all called to break it apart. Photo by Gautier Salles on Unsplash Learning to serve God over wealthProper 21C | Luke 16:19-31 I haven’t preached with you all in three weeks and these are some of my favorite parables, and then we are gathering here, today, and we get the most vivid and detailed parable of them…
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Getting into Hades (Proper 21C)
Getting into Hades (Proper 21C)
In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, we are given an illustration of what it means to serve wealth (not God). Photo by Ian Cylkowski on Unsplash This parable, about a rich man going to Hades and Lazarus hanging out on the other side of a chasm, is a rich and evocative parable. It is far more detailed than its more famous preceding parables of the Good Samaritan and the Lost Sons. Those…
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The Chasms
In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, we are given the chance to see, not what is fixed, but what can be changed. Photo by Peter Yost on Unsplash For SundayProper 21C Collect O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus…
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Between: A Millstone Around Your Neck Would Be Better
Between: A Millstone Around Your Neck Would Be Better
seeing the gaps in the lectionary.
This week: the gap between Proper 21C and Proper 22C.
The text: Luke 17:1-4.
Context
First things first. We are now many chapters passed when Jesus turned his face toward Jerusalem. This means we are getting far closer to arriving in Jerusalem than we are to those easy days when we were all just listening to this Jesus guy because he has some…
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Bigger Than the Gap Which Divides Us
Rose and I would watch the show Parenthood each week, wrapt to the Braverman family. Two aging parents, their adult children with children of their own. And one particular storyline divided our household.
Proper 21 | Luke 16:19-31
One of the Braverman kids was having marital trouble. The husband, who had sacrificed his career throughout their marriage, was now struggling with going back to…
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Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 21C — Preaching the New Lectionary The Rich Man and Lazarus Track 1 or Track 2 Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 1 Timothy 6:6-19 Luke 16:19-31 Amos 6:1a,4-7 Psalm 146 1 Timothy 6:6-19 Luke 16:19-31 Is there a hell?
The life that really is life
Proper 21C Sermon
September 29, 2013
The Rev. Anne Lane Witt
Immanuel Episcopal Church
Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15
Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16
1 Timothy 6:6-19
Luke 16:19-31
O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
I was raised in a comfortable household, but I recall being taught to never take this for granted, nor to think that this meant that we were better than anyone else nor any more blessed. God loves all of us was something that came through loud and clear. Having been raised in this insulated environment, I felt myself called outside of my comfort zone when I was applying to seminary. I felt with every nerve ending in my body that I needed to go somewhere that would not allow me to hide from the needs of others in the world. It had been so easy in my life to step over the Lazaruses of the world, even if I hadn’t been taught to look upon myself as being financially comfortable due to righteousness. When I went to New York and to General Seminary, I was troubled by the so-called Prosperity Gospel, but I had no idea how much more disturbed I would be by it after 3 years in intensive prayer, study, and living with faithful people who were in great need.
The Prosperity Gospel tells us that God will bless us in material ways if we are faithful. As one popular preacher of the Prosperity Gospel says, “God wants us to prosper financially, to have plenty of money, to fulfill the destiny He has laid out for us.”[1] Oh, Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes-Benz, indeed. What can come out of this is a sort of “works righteousness”—seeking to follow commandments for personal benefit rather than living into a deeper and ever more beautiful relationship with God and one another. It can foster an unhealthy relationship with material things, creating first an “us and them” and an ever-growing chasm between the two. It’s so easy to look down upon others if we have quantifiable things to declare them less faithful than we are, but things aren’t a measure of how much God loves us. Remember, God’s economy is one of abundance, not scarcity. There’s more than enough pie for everyone if we share, secure in the knowledge that we, too, will get some pie.
Over and over again in scripture, I read that God seeks right relationship with each of us, and for each of us to be in right relationship with one another and with creation, but things often cloud our vision. We cannot recognize our neighbors or our own need for grace.
In reading up on our gospel passage for today, I learned that this parable features the only person named in Jesus’ parables: Lazarus, which means “God has helped.”[2] Abraham, Moses, and the Prophets are pulled in from scripture, but Lazarus is an individual. The rich man remains nameless, which caught my attention. Between the rich man and Lazarus, whose ways are easier to slip into? With whom are we more likely to identify?
Lazarus lies by the gate of the rich man’s estate, covered with sores and constantly hungry. The rich man wears fine clothing and “feasts sumptuously every day.” He is enjoying his means, paying no mind to the poor, unfortunate soul living outside his walls. We do not know if he gives to his synagogue according to scriptural principles, but it seems very much like he has an unhealthy relationship with his wealth, using it as a barometer of worthiness.
When the rich man and Lazarus die, they move to quite different new homes. Remember, the kingdom of God turns the ways of this world upside down, and Lazarus now sees a life of comfort and care, keeping company with Abraham as one of his children. The rich man, however, is tormented. He is in agony, seeking relief from the punishing heat. Seeing Lazarus with Abraham, the rich man calls out, asking for Lazarus to come over and wait on him, giving him some relief from his misery. But Abraham tells him that the chasm he created in his lifetime now works against him. There will be no relief. The rich man then begs Abraham to send someone to warn his brothers of the life that awaits them if they follow his model, but Abraham refuses. Abraham tells the rich man that Moses and the prophets have clearly laid out the ways in which people need to live, and if the brothers have not listened to them, then they certainly will not listen to one brought back from the dead. It is clear, but can it be seen with vision clouded by an unhealthy relationship with material things?
The law and prophets contain much about caring for one another, especially those we see in need. In Luke’s Gospel, we see the definition of neighbor expanded to include anyone in need instead of just anyone of our family, faith, or immediate community. Our material things are not bad in and of themselves, but we have the opportunity to use them in a loving manner in this life.
One practice specifically named in the Mosaic law is that of Jubilee, written in the Book of Leviticus. As a recent newspaper article says, “Slaves are freed, debts are forgiven, the land and communities are healed.”[3] Jubilee takes notice of the human condition, recognizing that what happens to you affects me and vice versa. It allows for healing. A church in Chattanooga, Tennessee has taken note of this. They have decided to raise $700,000. And give it all away. They’re calling it the Jubilee Fund, and it’s all based in noticing what is going on with their neighbors. According to the parish, the funds will be given to groups that do things along these lines:
Feeding the hungry.
Welcoming the stranger.
Giving drink to the thirsty.
Clothing those in need.
Caring for the sick.
Loving your neighbor.
Forgiving your enemies.
Honoring widows.
Healing the land.
All very much based in the law and the prophets and the gospels. It’s a huge goal, but one they feel is doable if people share with one another.
It’s life-giving on both ends! It places the material wealth into God’s economy, where even small gifts become large and transformational.
This is a pretty new congregation, and that money could go a long way for internal purposes.
Instead, they are living out their mission of “valu[ing] the ancient patterns of sanctifying life, time, and space, while responding to the immediate needs of the community in which [they] live, work, play and pray.”[4]
As our reading from 1 Timothy says, “As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches….
“They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.”
The life that really is life. An interconnected existence with care for one another, using the material to help instead of to judge. What does life look like if we are faithful to God and each other out of love instead of seeking our own benefit? What does life look like if we open our eyes and hearts to truly see what is going on with our neighbors, responding accordingly?
I’d like to close with a prayer from John Philip Newell:
Clear our heart, O God,
that we may see you.
Clear our heart, O God,
that we may truly see ourselves.
Clear our heart, O God,
that we may know the sacredness of this moment
and in every moment
seek you
serve you
strengthen you
as the Living Presence in every presence.
Clear our heart, O God,
that we may see. Amen.
[1]http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/joelosteen282000.html#dQFJFaYWm0ddHTqY.99, accessed 09/26/2013.
[2] Lois Malcolm, “Commentary on Luke 16:19-31”, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=1784, accessed 09/26/2013.
[3] http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/sep/22/laughing-all-the-way-to-the-southside/?print, an article on Southside Abbey’s Jubilee Fund
[4] http://southsideabbey.dioet.org
