Sunday
26th September - 17th after
Trinity (green)
Theme: The Rich Man and Lazarus
Readings: Amos 6:1a, 4-7
1 Timothy 6:6-19 Luke 16:19-31 Ps 91:1-6,14-16
Theme: The Rich Man and Lazarus
Readings: Amos 6:1a, 4-7
1 Timothy 6:6-19 Luke 16:19-31 Ps 91:1-6,14-16
Collect:
Gracious God,
you call us to fullness of life:
deliver us from unbelief
and banish our anxieties
with the liberating love of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Comment
Jesus had a knack of saying exactly the opposite of what people would expect. His listeners would assume that a rich man was rich because of God’s blessing, and that beggars were poor because they deserved to be. In this story the rich man ends in torment, the poor man in bliss. The rich man is nameless, the poor man is given a surprising identity: the name Lazarus means ‘God has helped’.
I do not think Jesus was intending to paint an accurate picture of the after life, but to make a strong point: our attitudes matter, especially our attitudes to the poor. Attitudes we develop on earth may stay with us for eternity. Hard hearts developed in this life are not softened by death, and are not fit for heaven.
That was the rich man’s problem. He was not necessarily a bad man. The fact that Lazarus had a pitch by his gate may imply that the rich man tolerated his presence there, and that Lazarus received enough to make it worth staying. The problem was that he assumed Lazarus was not his problem. He could have helped a lot, but chose not to. And in Hades (the word here translated ‘hell’ means the underworld) he still seems to regard Lazarus as a nobody who could be at his beck and call, and is concerned only about his own comfort or lack of it.
Jesus packs the story with irony. The rich man called Abraham, ‘Father’, and Abraham called him, ‘Son’ – but it made no difference. The rich man had achieved his goals in this life, he had enjoyed luxury and respect, but he had failed even to aim at the only goals that ultimately matter.
Jesus gives the story a twist in its tail. The rich man’s family was important to him. But his request that Lazarus be sent to warn them was rejected, for the same reason that he was rejected: they were already too hard hearted. They would not listen to the teaching and commands of the Bible, and not even someone coming back from the dead could change them. Is that why when Jesus rose from the dead he only appeared to his disciples?
Questions
1) Who is the ‘poor man’ at your gate? What should you be doing about him or her?
2) What attitudes do you have that you do not want to keep for eternity?
Gracious God,
you call us to fullness of life:
deliver us from unbelief
and banish our anxieties
with the liberating love of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Comment
Jesus had a knack of saying exactly the opposite of what people would expect. His listeners would assume that a rich man was rich because of God’s blessing, and that beggars were poor because they deserved to be. In this story the rich man ends in torment, the poor man in bliss. The rich man is nameless, the poor man is given a surprising identity: the name Lazarus means ‘God has helped’.
I do not think Jesus was intending to paint an accurate picture of the after life, but to make a strong point: our attitudes matter, especially our attitudes to the poor. Attitudes we develop on earth may stay with us for eternity. Hard hearts developed in this life are not softened by death, and are not fit for heaven.
That was the rich man’s problem. He was not necessarily a bad man. The fact that Lazarus had a pitch by his gate may imply that the rich man tolerated his presence there, and that Lazarus received enough to make it worth staying. The problem was that he assumed Lazarus was not his problem. He could have helped a lot, but chose not to. And in Hades (the word here translated ‘hell’ means the underworld) he still seems to regard Lazarus as a nobody who could be at his beck and call, and is concerned only about his own comfort or lack of it.
Jesus packs the story with irony. The rich man called Abraham, ‘Father’, and Abraham called him, ‘Son’ – but it made no difference. The rich man had achieved his goals in this life, he had enjoyed luxury and respect, but he had failed even to aim at the only goals that ultimately matter.
Jesus gives the story a twist in its tail. The rich man’s family was important to him. But his request that Lazarus be sent to warn them was rejected, for the same reason that he was rejected: they were already too hard hearted. They would not listen to the teaching and commands of the Bible, and not even someone coming back from the dead could change them. Is that why when Jesus rose from the dead he only appeared to his disciples?
Questions
1) Who is the ‘poor man’ at your gate? What should you be doing about him or her?
2) What attitudes do you have that you do not want to keep for eternity?