The Rich Man and Lazarus - Luke 16:19-31

Jesus thought money was pretty important. Indeed, it was His number two subject, according to the Gospels. The only theme on which He spoke more often was, not entirely surprisingly, that of the Kingdom of God. So money, wealth and riches figured high on Jesus' agenda. That surely makes it seem as though Jesus is likely to touch a chord with contemporary life. Money fever certainly seems to be prominent in our society. Money, it often seems, is what makes the world go round. Price wars, interest rates, sale prices, and so on, have us all interested.

But the parable of the rich man and Lazarus reminds us that there is a whole lot that is more important in life. I hope that baptism also reminds us of the same thing. It speaks to us of the sheer love of God towards us, and also of the need for us to respond and make some kind of commitment. The parable focuses our minds on the question of what really matters.

If we look back to verse 14 of Luke 16, ahead of the actual beginning of the parable, we can see that all this is addressed to those who loved money. There's very few of us, I suspect, who wouldn't like a bit more money; so it's quite likely that there something for us all here. The parable is certainly set in a chapter that is dedicated to the theme of wealth, and it offers a powerful commentary on two basic and crucial affirmations of Luke's Gospel, these being the comment in chapter 6, verse 20: happy are you poor, and the statement of the opposite which appears just four verses later: but how terrible for you who are rich now. Luke reflects a deep concern for the poor; and his gospel is always quick to condemn those greedy for money. So, just what can we learn from this interesting little story?

We can divide it into two parts. The first part, verses 19 to 26, tell us about the reversal of situations between the poor man, Lazarus, interestingly the only character in any parable to be given a specific name, and the rich man, who has been so bound up in his selfishness. Actually, it's probably intensely significant that the rich man remains anonymous while Lazarus is named. In life, probably lots of people knew Lazarus as 'the beggar', but didn't know his personal name. The rich man probably had a prestigious name, well and widely name. The use, and not, of a name is part of the reversal of the parable.

Traditionally, the rich man has actually been given a name, for convenience. He has become known as Dives; but that's not really a name, it's just the Latin word for 'rich'. The perspectives of God's Kingdom have an amazingly transforming effect. Those who, according to normal human, worldly standards, are the ones with the power and the prestige are the ones who really matter; and the important ones become nameless and anonymous. This passage, then, is inviting us to change our perspective. It is calling us to recognise the importance of the little ones and those who are so often rejected. The Gospel message is indeed that the last will be first.

The second part of the parable, verses 27 to 31, emphasises the point. There is no room for doubt here. The unnamed rich man tries to help some of his friends. And it's interesting to note that this rich man must have had a religious department in his life. It seems that his life was such that he would have regarded himself as pretty upright. But it is also clear that his righteousness was subject to fairly clearly defined limits. He was not prepared to engage in costly compassion. He's worried about some of his friends in like position. He thinks that they would stop from making his mistake, if only it was made just a little bit clearer to them. But "Father Abraham" answers with a dismissive 'forget it', or something like that. He points that they have all the help they need available to them, and that, if they choose to ignore it, that is their problem. The Bible is clear that those who ignore the poor are rejected by the Lord. The prophet Amos is one of those who describes the situation of the rich with amazing clarity. In Amos 6:4-7 he proclaims: How terrible it will be for you who stretch out on your luxurious couches, feasting on veal and lamb! You like to compose songs, as David did, and play them on harps. You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest perfumes, but you do not mourn over the ruin of Israel. So you will be the first to go into exile. Your feasts and banquets will come to an end. The apostle Paul, rather more bluntly and succinctly points out, 1 Timothy 6:10 - for the love of money is a source of all kinds of evil.

There is something very challenging in all this, and it is relevant for all of this. I don't think the prime attack is on money. It's on greed. I don't think the main point is to do with whether you've got a lot or a little. It's to do with priorities. The key point about money is that we should use, and not abuse, it.
I think that today, and every day, Jesus wants to challenge us to think about what is really important to us. He wants us to be sure that there aren't idols that we've gone off to worship - and there are plenty of them around, trying to grab our attention, money being one of the chief candidates. Jesus wants us to share what we are, that we may indeed create the kind of community that He envisaged.

I believe that one of the great Christian words is 'potential'. When we bring an infant for baptism, we cannot know how that child's life will turn out. We will have hopes. We may have worries - and concerns. We will certainly see possibilities. Our prayer is surely that the child will fulfil its potential, but that doesn't mean that the child will be great or wonderful. It might do! But what matters is that we each do just what God has in mind for us.

This story startles us - because the potential that is ultimately realised is the opposite from that expected. You can't necessarily blame a person for having a lot of money, but you can certainly blame them for what they do, or don't do, with it. Greed, selfishness and hardheartedness have no place in God's Kingdom. So let us learn to share, even those of us who think we know how, let us learn to really share. Let us learn to care and to love in God's Name. Let us learn to welcome those whom society discards and marginalises. Let us knock down the barriers and build God's Kingdom.