Luke 16:19-31
The story of Lazarus and the rich man asks us to imagine a better world. But first, we need to acknowledge a world that is not better, a world that is “beaten down.” Luke 16:19-31 is a parable about a world that is beaten down and needs to become better.
Jesus doesn’t have to look too far for a beaten down world. It is all around him. It greets people before they even walk out of their homes, if they have a home.
Biblical historians tell us that approximately 90% of the peoplewere overwhelmed with poverty, hunger, and disease. Compared to that, the 10% had it made. It’s not like life wasn’t hard for them as well, as it was for everyone who lived before our modern era, but in comparison to the poor and destitute, they enjoyed a quality of life that the 90% could only imagine and envy.
Did their relative prosperity and well-being bother them at all? How could they justify their wealth in the face of such extremepoverty? Did they make their living honestly or on the backs of others? Did they swindle and steal, lie and cheat? Did they ever learn the value of generosity? Were their eyes ever opened to theplight of the poor?
These questions remain our questions even today. As our world becomes better, shouldn’t we have an awareness of those whose lives remain beaten down? As our food gets healthier, our clothing softer, and our beds more comfortable, shouldn’t there be an uneasiness in our souls?
Why wasn’t the unnamed rich man motivated to help the poor man named Lazarus in this parable? Unfortunately for the rich man, his eyes were not opened until he ended up on the wrong side of eternity.
By the way, Jesus tells this parable not to give an account of what actually happens after death, although we would be wise to heed its warnings. Instead, he tells this parable to teach us what life should be like in the here and now. It should be a world where the poor and sick and miserable are loved unconditionally.
But it should not be a world with such extremes. The human story should not be a tale of two worlds: one beaten down and the other one better. It should not be a story where a few get to dress in the finest of clothing, the most expensive fabrics, and the most prestigious brands.
It should not be a story where a few people get to sleep on the finest of linens, while others can’t even afford to clean theircheap dirty clothes that are nothing more than rags. It should not be a story where people develop sores from the filth that covers their bodies, and have to settle for food that is meant to be thrown away.
Our story should not include people who are so sick from hunger and disease that they can only lie down near a city gate and beg for food while they are too exhausted and weak to move as the town’s neglected and hungry dogs lick their sores, perhaps as a way to show love and compassion in the only way a dog knows how.
This is the world Jesus sees every day.
In this story, I can also imagine the rich man to be the manager of a 5-star downtown Austin restaurant while Lazarus tries to muster up enough energy to be a dumpster diver. I can imagine that the rich man’s father owns five of these restaurants, each one run by one of the brothers.
I can image that the brothers ignore a hundred Lazarus’s every day as the valet parks their car and they make their way into their aroma-filled restaurants. I can imagine the rich man suddenly dying of a heart attack due to excessive eating habits while, at roughly the same time, Lazarus dies from malnutrition.
Jesus doesn’t need to draw our attention to this Tale of Two Worlds—one beaten down and the other better. We see it every day. We hear about it every day. Some of us live it every day—on one side or the other. The question is: Are we going to do something about it before it’s too late. This is always Jesus’ challenge for us.
No comments:
Post a Comment