Embracing our Responsibility to Love God and Neighbor

Luke 16:19-31
By Rev. Heather J. Blais, Rector

​As we journey through the Gospel of Luke, it’s hard not to notice how strongly wealth is condemned. Particularly when heard in tandem with today’s epistle, where Paul writes: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.” (1 Timothy 6:10).

This scripture verse is often misquoted as  “... money is the root of all evil.” Except money is made of precious metals, trees, and crude oil that are then transformed into coins, dollars, and credit cards. Pieces of God’s creation transformed into currency, that are then used in exchange of goods and services. 

The money made from God’s creation is not the root of all evil. It is our idolatrous relationship with money, our eagerness to be rich, to know lavish security and comfort, that can ultimately draw us away from God.  On the outside that road is the envy of everyone. After all, who doesn’t yearn for a bit more security, stability, and comfort.  But what we can’t fully appreciate until we are well down that path, is just how meaningless, lonely, and painful, a life rooted in love of money can be. 

Which brings us to the rich man and Lazarus from today’s gospel. The rich man, whose name we never learn, dressed in fine clothes, dined on extravagant meals every day, and lived in a home protected by a gate.  Lazarus, whose name is known, was covered in sores, perpetually ached from hunger, and lived at the gate outside the rich man’s house. The rich man would have seen Lazarus lying at the gate and regularly passed by him. He even seems to know Lazarus by name. 

Lazarus was too unwell to pull himself up by his boot straps and earn enough of a living to afford shelter, food, and healthcare. Like all those who find themselves in the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum, Lazarus depended on those blessed with an abundance of resources to share out of their abundance. This was an important part of the Jewish faith tradition. Yet this responsibility to care for one’s neighbor was ignored by the rich man. 

Life goes on, and at some point these two men die.  In the afterlife, Lazarus is carried off by angels to be with the patriarch Abraham, while the rich man finds himself being tormented in Hades.  When the rich man looks up, he can see Abraham and Lazarus close together.  The rich man calls out to Abraham, and begs for mercy, asking for him to send Lazarus to him, so he might have a bit of water. Abraham responds by saying something akin to: Sorry - No. You knew abundance in life while Lazarus suffered. Things have been corrected here. 
Besides, there’s a great chasm that cannot be crossed separating us.

As the consequences of how the rich man had lived began to sink in, he shifted to begging Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his four brothers so they wouldn't end up in Hades. Again Abraham says: Sorry - No.  Your brothers have the teachings of Moses and the prophets. They don’t need another messenger. 

The rich man still pleaded with Abraham:
No, they’ll actually listen if a messenger speaks directly to them. 

Abraham brings the conversation to a sharp end, foreshadowing Christ’s death and resurrection, saying: Sorry - No. If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, nor will they be convinced by someone who rises from the dead. 

The rich man really does not seem to understand his situation. During life, he ignored the woes of his unwell, unfed, and unhoused neighbor. In spite of his faith tradition’s teachings to care for one’s neighbor. The rich man was so caught up in his own luxurious lifestyle and self-interest, that he couldn’t even be bothered to share the scraps from his table with someone suffering right outside his home. 

Somehow to make it even crueler - the rich man knew Lazarus by name. We know this because in the afterlife he sees Abraham and Lazarus together, and begs the patriarch to send Lazarus to give him water, and then to warn his brothers. The privilege behind such requests is somewhat sickening.  Even in the afterlife - he only sees Lazarus as an instrument of self-service. A tool that he can manipulate the patriarch into using for his own gain. It’s appalling. 

The rich man’s attitude and orientation is meant to shock and appall us, to grab our attention as Jesus tells his listeners to wake up. This story comes hot on the tail of the shrewd manager, which Luke concludes by telling his listeners: “The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they 
ridiculed him. So he said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves 
in the sight of others; but God knows your hearts; for what is prized by 
human beings is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:14-15).

The teachings of Moses, the prophets, and the Good News of Christ all point us towards loving God first and foremost, and in turn a deep love and care for our neighbor. Jesus is forcing his listeners, then and now, to take a long look in the mirror and consider - what do we love most? Do we love God and neighbor most? Or do we love money; and the power, privilege, and prestige it gains us?
Where are our own self-interest or yearnings for security and comfort drawing us away from God; away from our neighbors; away from a better world?

While Jesus draws on images of the afterlife to convey his message, the point of this passage is not to teach about the characteristics of the afterlife. It is showing us that in God’s time, the wrongs of this life will be corrected. In ways we cannot even fully know or understand, across the lives of our ancestors and our children’s children. God will always be bending this universe towards justice. In the end, Love will always win.

As followers of the Way of Love, we have embraced our responsibility to love God and love our neighbor in our baptism and confirmation. In those rites, we promise that with God’s help we will: seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbor as ourself; strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being. Together, as the body of Christ, we hold onto this vision of God’s dream. Trusting that the God who creates, redeems, and sustains is always bending us towards a better and more just world. 

This is not to say it’s easy to embrace our responsibility to love. Maybe we have wounds we have not finished working through, and are keeping our relationship with God at bay. The hurt, anger, and confusion becomes a chasm of its own that we can see and note, but are unsure how to possibly move forward. Or maybe loving God is easeful, but we can’t possibly love some of our neighbors. Whether that’s an entire group of people we refuse to try and understand or a particular handful of people our hearts are hardened towards. 

When we embrace our responsibility to love God and love our neighbor, we are not saying we’re going to do it right 100% of the time, or even 40% of the time. We are saying, I will, with God’s help. And God helps us in that love with the Holy Spirit as our guide. The Holy Spirit moves through any and every medium - whether that be a person who pushes us to keep growing, or a ritual that helps us forgive, or a faith community who journeys with us on the Way. In embracing our responsibility to love, we are proclaiming our desire to always be bending towards mercy, justice, and a better world. 

When I struggle to love a neighbor, I increasingly find the most important thing I can do to lean into an orientation of love is to pray for them. And if I don’t feel the needle of love moving, then I begin to pray for them with greater intention and care, as I might pray for someone I truly love deeply. In the end - this always moves the needle.  And I am reminded once more, of the abundance of God’s grace in our lives. 

We have been abundantly blessed by God.When we recognize that abundance in our lives, the question becomes:  How can we share our abundance? What love do our neighbors need that we are able to offer?  How might we share our time, energy, gifts and resources to join with God in the process of bending this world towards love and justice?

This week we launched our fall giving campaign, inviting us to reflect on these very questions. Long before I was a minister, it’s been our family’s practice to financially support our local parish, increasing our giving each year, in addition to sharing our time, energy, and gifts. There are three reasons we do this. 

1. No matter the challenges or joys we may be navigating, God’s abundant blessing in our lives is always clear.

 

1. Giving is a way that we give thanks for those blessings. Somehow the more we give and share, the more we notice God’s abundance in our lives. The more we lean into our relationship with God, the more we are eager to give thanks and share with our neighbors by increasing our offerings.

 

1. We believe in the Church, which has a unique gift to offer our neighbors, especially at such a time as this, where hope can feel hard to come by.  Through our worship; our formation programs; our outreach ministries; and even our gardens, grounds, and buildings; our faith community symbolizes another way of being that is grounded in mercy, justice, and love. We become a living and breathing, outward and visible sign of God’s grace at work in the world. Offering our neighbors and wider community the gift of hope in a troubled world. 

As we prepare to head back out into the world today, I would invite us to keep reflecting on God’s abundance in our lives. To consider - what might it look like to share out of God’s abundance in love of God, neighbor, and community? 
Amen. 
​
Today’s Readings:
Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15
Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16
1 Timothy 6:6-19
Luke 16:19-31

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