RBWords

     A major theme in the Gospel According to Luke is the danger of material wealth.  The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (and the parable of the Rich Fool,  Luke 12:13-21) illustrate the danger very clearly.  The danger lies in the failure to use wealth to help others.  It can have the effect of insulating us from the cares and woes of those considerably less endowed with even the basic necessities of life.  Lazarus is a beggar, covered with sores, who sits at the front door of Dives (the name tradition gives to the rich man, a Latin word which means rich).  Yet Dives doesn't even seem to know that Lazarus exists, or if Dives did know, he made no effort to help.  The sin is not in being wealthy, it is in not sharing that wealth.  It is in the sheer acquisitiveness and possessiveness that great wealth can cause.

     However, the parable is not addressed only to the very wealthy.  The question remains for all of us.  Who is at our doorstep (or even at the borders of our country)?  Have we, as a country or as individuals, created a "chasm" between "us" and "them."  Recent sociological studies by Robert Bellah (HABITS OF THE HEART) and Robert Putnam (BOWLING ALONE) suggest that the individualism of our culture is making us less aware of other people and causing us to retreat into gated communities where we only see mirrors of ourselves in our neighbors and become unconscious of the rest of the world.  The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus can serve to remind us of this tendency and Jesus' warning about its consequences.  An intentional effort to recognize and correct that tendency in ourselves and our communities could make for a very fruitful Lenten season.  AMEN