It is one year since churches and other groups were closed due to COVID. In that time, we have seen how different approaches to the pandemic have played out. We have also seen inequality around the world.
Inequality of access to health care, to
medicine,
we have seen some health systems having to decide who gets a ventilator and who
does not.
we have seen some people refuse to follow health advice and stay home, wear
masks, wash their hands – because they feel their liberty is being infringed.
Now with the vaccine becoming available, we see an uneven distribution of vaccine between countries and within countries.
In Australia, in the past 2 months, we have seen an increasing number of women speaking out about sexual harassment and rape.
again, we hear that women need to protect themselves
not be out after dark
be
careful about what we wear
always
take a trusted friend with you
………
For many of us this parable hits a
nerve, a comfortable middle class, I have all I need nerve. This is a
challenging parable. But for some people, for the “Lazarus’s” of the world this
parable is empowering and offers hope that things will not always be this way.
Luke isn’t saying that being wealthy is
a bad thing in itself. We know the rich man is wealthy, he is called ‘the rich
man', but he also wears purple and fine linen, he lives in the equivalent of a
palace, with gates and security. This all adds up to serious wealth!
There is nothing to suggest the rich
man gained his wealth by exploiting people. The problem is that being wealthy
isolated him from the community around him.
Then, as now some people will see wealth as confirmation of being blessed by God, which also means being poor is a sign of being lazy or not being blessed by God – and you must have done something to deserve God not blessing you.
Wealth and poverty are not a sign of
God’s blessing, or lack of blessing.
A quote from a sermon by Martin Luther King Junior:
There is a gulf that originates in the
accident of circumstance. Circumstances make it possible for some people to get
an education, while other people are denied the opportunity. Circumstances make
some people rich, social prestige, while others are left gnawing on the crumbs
of obscurity. There are certain gulfs in life which originate in the accident
of circumstance. So, in the parable Lazarus was poor, not because he wanted to
be, but because tragic circumstances had made him so.
On the other hand, (Dives) the rich man
was rich because fortunate circumstances had made him so. There is a
circumstantial gulf between Lazarus and (Dives) the rich man. Now (Dives) the
rich man’s sin was not that he made this gulf between him and Lazarus; this
gulf had come into being through the accidents of circumstance. The sin of
(Dives) the rich man was that he felt that the gulf which existed between him
and Lazarus was a proper condition of life. (Dives) the rich man felt that this
was the way things were to be.[i]
It is so easy to think that this is the
way things are.
There will always be some people with
more money or resources than others, but why do we accept a society where some
people are homeless, hungry, and cold.
Through the ages:
people having slaves was the way things were meant to be
coloured people were considered to be inferior to white people
women
were thought of as less than men
children
did not have a voice
people
with a disability were isolated
it can be easy for us to think that
low
wages,
poor health outcomes,
shorter life spans
addiction and
poverty
are just the way things are for some
people.
That there is nothing we can do about
these things.
As individuals we cannot solve any of
those issues on our own, it is easy to think we cannot do anything.
But notice, the rich man asked for a
drop of water to ease his torment. He didn’t ask for all his problems to be
solved.
Remember the story of the starfish-
One day a man was walking along the
beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into
the ocean.
Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”
The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”
“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf.
Then, smiling at the man, he said…..“I made a difference for that one.”[ii]
as an individual the problems of the
world can seem overwhelming, but many of those problems come from a lack of
love for neighbour.
In the parable, Father Abraham tells
the rich man that his brothers should listen to Moses and the prophets.
The prophets in the Bible were a feisty lot, Isaiah and Jeremiah, Amos and Hosea, Micah and Malachi. Have you noticed that many of the prophets did not speak to individuals but to the nation of Israel and Judah, and at times other nations?
There are some comforting messages, but mainly speeches telling of the demise of nation because they haven’t lived in Gods ways. Forsake your idols and return to the Lord; return to God’s righteous ways and don’t make yourself rich at the expense of others; trust in God’s love.
What will it take for us to really hear
the prophets, to hear and act on God’s call to justice and righteousness?
A few weeks ago, we read parts of chapter 10,
An expert in the Law of Moses stood up
and asked Jesus a question to see what he would say. “Teacher,” he asked, “what
must I do to have eternal life?”
Jesus answered, “What is written in the
Scriptures? How do you understand them?”
The man replied, “The Scriptures say,
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.’ They
also say, ‘Love your neighbours as much as you love yourself.’”
Jesus said, “You have given the right
answer. If you do this, you will have eternal life.” [Luke 10: 25-28]
The rich man’s crime was not his wealth but inordinate self-love.[iii]
Until we know people
living
with a disability,
living
in poverty,
homeless,
until we recognise the systems that
continue to treat some people as less than others
until we are prepared to listen to
women when they speak of harassment and rape
we deny people their humanity and
dignity.
We go back to the beginning of the
reading:
The Pharisees really loved money. So
when they heard what Jesus said, they made fun of him. But Jesus told them:
You are always making yourselves look good, but God sees what is in your heart. The things that most people think are important are worthless as far as God is concerned.
The rich man looked good, threw lavish parties, dressed well, but, as Paul writes: without love, we are nothing.
[i] https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/impassable-gulf-parable-dives-and-lazarus-sermon-dexter-avenue-baptist-church?fbclid=IwAR0ngxWcuTccjJhiiugq06lkFragoopvMwc_QgKBN_K8Q5yGqKv98lr1HKg
[ii] https://academictherapycenter.com/about/the-starfish-story/
[iii] https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/impassable-gulf-parable-dives-and-lazarus-sermon-dexter-avenue-baptist-church?fbclid=IwAR0ngxWcuTccjJhiiugq06lkFragoopvMwc_QgKBN_K8Q5yGqKv98lr1HKg
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