Word to the Wise
Sunday, September 30, 2007 - Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Amos 6:1A, 4-7; 1 Timothy 6:11-16; Luke 16:19-31]There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man's table.......
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2007 TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME [Amos 6:1A, 4-7; 1 Timothy 6:11-16; Luke 16:19-31] There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man's table....... To understand this parable fully, it is helpful to recall earlier statements and parables by Jesus in this same gospel. First of all there is the Lukan version of the beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount which scholars call in this gospel the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20-26): "Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours. Blessed are you are now hungry, for you will be satisfied...... But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. But woe to you who are filled now, for you will be hungry." The reversal in fortunes for the rich and satisfied and the poor and hungry is starkly presented in today's gospel scripture. Lazarus the poor man trades places with the Rich Man (whom tradition calls "Dives") in eternity. Second, the parables of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:16-21 - 'You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?') and the Unjust Steward (Luke 16:1-9 - I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.) are a warning that is based on a fundamental cultural fact of life in the time of Jesus' audience. Anyone who was rich had an obligation to give alms. The Rich Man in this parable obviously was not giving alms. To do so, he had to come out that front door where Lazarus was sitting! The "Unjust Steward" knew how to be generous and create a future for himself. The Rich Fool and the Rich Man simply hoarded their largesse and had no care for anyone else or for the future. Wealth can blind one to ultimate concerns as well as present needs of others. What is even more frightening is that this obtuseness is so great that even the Resurrection of the Lord may not be enough to convince them. Moses' own teaching about taking care of the poor was not having any effect on the Pharisees, how would Jesus' teaching? Of course, the parable has a future audience in the Christian community. That's where we come in. All the dangers represented in the three parables are present in our own society. We live in one of the richest nations in the world. It is not a matter of feeling guilty about that. It IS, in these parables, a matter of sharing that wealth. Having more than what one needs when there are those who have nothing is spiritually dangerous. Which long term future would we prefer - Lazarus' or Dives'? Opening that front door may be the first step to the better future. AMEN
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