Especially after the difficulty of last week’s gospel in which a rich man commended his dishonest steward for his shrewdness, it is tempting to hear the story Jesus tells this week as either a straightforward parable of judgment or a morality tale about wealth and poverty.
The parable’s description of purple cloth and fine linen, the bosom of
Abraham and the chasm separating Lazarus from the rich man is visually stimulating.
We can imagine the scene, doubtlessly aided by art and literature that
have illustrated the afterlife and the depths of Hades or hell.
One possible interpretation of the parable paints the rich man as, at best, obtuse and out of touch, or extravagantly self-absorbed and indulgent, and at worst cold-hearted and malicious, purposely ignoring the poverty and need on display at his gate. His lack of compassion condemns him.
Another possibility, especially when this text immediately is preceded by our first reading from Timothy that says,
the love of money is a root of all
kinds of evils, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from
faith and pierced themselves with many pains” (1 Timothy 6:10)
is that this parable is a cautionary tale as we imagine how the rich
man landed on the wrong side of the chasm, having excessively loved earthly comforts.
All of these interpretations usually also assume the poor man – the one called Lazarus – was virtuous.
However, nothing in the gospel text tells us anything to support those
assumptions. We know very little about either man - certainly nothing
that allows us to measure their faith,
their piety
or their character.
So perhaps Luke – the only gospel writer who includes this particular parable - has Jesus tell this story for another reason.
Luke tells us that the rich man is tormented in death and when he sees Lazarus with Abraham, he asks them to intercede on his behalf and, when that fails, to go to his brothers so that they will not suffer the same fate.
Now the rich man isn’t especially likeable.
He doesn’t seem able to see Lazarus as anything other than as a servant
or a slave – someone who’s there for his convenience and comfort.
He fails to understand either that Father Abraham is as much a father
to Lazarus as to himself or that Lazarus is as much a brother as his own family.
He doesn’t recognize Lazarus’ own personhood.
But Abraham doesn’t refuse to comfort the rich man because he’s self-centered
or entitled. Instead, he tells him,
“If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.”
Luke was writing some forty to fifty years after Jesus’ ministry took place and he was writing to believers. He knew first-hand the difficulties that the early church faced. He was writing after the deaths of apostles including Andrew and Peter and the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. He was writing to reassure them and encourage them to remain faithful despite the challenges erupting around them.
Two thousand years later, how often do we forget to listen
to the words from God that we have been given?
And how often do we fail to trust in the one who rose from the dead?
Jesus, in this parable and throughout his ministry, points us back to Scripture.
The rich man, and for that matter the Pharisees listening to Jesus tell
this parable, would have known the Torah, the Hebrew scripture.
They would have known the five verses in Deuteronomy that form the Jewish prayer called the Shema, an affirmation of faith recited in the morning and evening that says:
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
6 Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. 7 Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise.
8 Bind them as a
sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, 9 and write them on the doorposts
of your house and on your gates.[i]
And they would have recalled the prophet Isaiah who said:
2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the LORD GOD is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation. 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. [ii]
And the prophet Jeremiah who declared:
7 Blessed are those who trust in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. 8 They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. It shall not fear when heat comes, and its leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought it is not anxious, and it does not cease to bear fruit. [iii]
They had been given all the words and promises they needed to hear. Nothing Lazarus or Jesus said at this point was going to make a difference.
The rich man had trusted in his wealth and the Pharisees had placed their trust in their own authority, distancing themselves farther and farther from God’s Word and commands.
This lack of relationship with God is what forms
the uncrossable chasm that now separates the rich man from Abraham and deprives
him of the living water that would comfort him.
Today we are celebrating the ways that water and the Word come together in the sacrament of baptism as we welcome our newest sister in Christ, Charlee, into our family of faith.
Calling baptism “a grace-filled water of life” and a “bath of the new birth in the Holy Spirit” Martin Luther reminds us that, water – the most ordinary of elements - is made holy when it is placed in the setting of God’s Word and command.[v] It is God’s gift and action for us and it is transformational.
Baptized in Christ and united with Him, it is life in Christ Jesus where we “may take hold of the life that really is life” (1 Timothy 6:19) instead of placing our hope and trust elsewhere. Trusting in God’s abundant love and mercy for us, we live out our faith every day, and when we face difficulty and need reassurance, we return to God’s promises to us and God’s gift of Jesus, the one who has risen from the dead, for us.
Let us pray…
Good and gracious God,
Thank you for your Son Jesus who rose from the grave for us. Thank you
for the gift of your Word written onto our hearts. Thank you for the new life
we receive by your mercy and love. Help us by your Spirit to focus on you and
trust in you and your promises. We pray
in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
[i] Deuteronomy 6:4-9
[ii] Isaiah 12:2-3
[iii] Jeremiah 17:7-8
[iv] Genesis 1:2
[v] “Small Catechism”, ELW, 1165.
