Proper 21C – George Yandell
Jesus tells us another parable today, immediately following last week’s parable about the dishonest steward. This one is about an unnamed rich man and a poor man named Lazarus. In this study of contrasts and reversals, Jesus denounces the abuse of power and privilege by the wealthy at the expense of the poor and marginalized. Whereas the rich man dressed in fine clothes and “feasted sumptuously every day” (v. 19), Lazarus longed to eat even the scraps from the rich man’s table. He lay outside the gate of the rich man’s home and was covered with sores instead of purple linen. The fact that dogs—unclean animals—came to lick his sores added to his wretchedness and outcast status.
But the poor man has one thing that the rich man does not- the dignity of a name. Lazarus is the only person specifically named in any of Luke’s parables. The name itself is a variant of Eleazer, which means ‘God heals’ or ‘God helps’. The rich man is often referred to as Dives, a term derived from Latin for “rich man.” He is unnamed in the parable, however.
When both men die, their situations are reversed. Whereas the poor man “was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham”, the rich man found himself tormented in Hades. Lazarus now resides in comfort, while the rich man is cast out and endures agony. Lazarus once lay alone at the gate, longing for scraps of food; now the rich man looks across the chasm from Hades and begs for mercy. (Hades, or Sheol, is the Hebrew realm of the dead; in this case it is seen as a place of punishment.)
In an echo of words from the Magnificat (Lk. 1:51-53) and Luke’s Beatitudes (6:20, 24), Abraham’s response in verses 25-26 leaves no doubt that the situation has been changed forever. In life, the rich man had received “good things” and Lazarus “evil things”. Now the reverse is true, as the promises of God turn social and economic expectations upside down. Furthermore, the chasm that now exists between the two men is so wide that it cannot be crossed.
In death the rich man is now as powerless as the poor man had been in life. The rich man finds himself in this position because he misused his wealth and position. He could have helped Lazarus, but he did not. [Adapted from Synthesis: A Weekly Resource for Preaching, September issue.] The rich man is condemned for his indifference, not because he is rich. Indifference is his undoing. [Jesus Seminar, The Five Gospels, p. 361, 1997, Harper Collins.]
This parable could be an attack against the popular belief in Jesus’ day that wealth was an indication of being blessed by God; the attitude that poverty was punishment from God. Apparently some in Jesus’ day took this belief a step further and concluded that they had better not interfere with God’s punishment of such evil poor people—even though the Hebrew Scriptures are clear about helping the needy.
Lazarus is a man who can do nothing for himself. He can’t even keep the feral wild dogs from licking his sores. He depends upon the angels for transportation to Abraham’s side. In contrast, the rich man was able to take care of himself—to provide himself with the finest things. But it’s clear, one doesn’t have to be rich to be greedy and selfish and uncaring. We also shouldn’t conclude that the way to salvation is to be financially poor. The way to deliverance for the rich and the poor is to be “helped by God”—or, to use images from the ending of the parable, to hear the word and to change. [Adapted from Brian Stoffregen at crossmarks.com]
Years ago I was doing research with an eccentric psychologist in Memphis. He had a commission from an ad agency to discover what motivated dog owners to want their pets sedated. The ad agency was trying to land a large contract with a pet pharmaceutical company to run their campaign for a new drug for dogs. My partner and I interviewed 12 dog owners. We asked them if their dogs ever chewed up furniture or made messes in the house when the pet owner was away. Many said, “Yes. It really makes me mad.” When we asked them, “What is best about your dog?”, they all answered, “The way his whole body wags and he whimpers when I come in the door- he seems so glad and relieved to see me- I just love him for that.”
So we were in a quandary – the pharmaceutical company wanted to offer a product to diminish dogs’ destructive urges, but we knew the drug couldn’t be perceived as dulling the dogs’ affection for the owners.
I combed through all the verbatim interview transcripts, looking for cues about the subconscious motives people were expressing. All of a sudden, a cue they repeated more than any other jumped out at me- it was ‘witnessed significance’. From the landmark book The Healing Spirit by Paul Fleischman: [The Healing Spirit: Explorations in Religion and Psychotherapy, Bonne Chance Press, 1989, pp. 5- 20] Witnessed significance is a universal need in every person. Religion has traditionally noted and responded to this need. At base the need is for God to know us, respond to us, for God to validate us as persons worthy of God’s attention. Humans can witness to the significance of others and in a sense, stand in for God. I concluded that for the dog owners, their companion animals were witnessing their significance, and in a way, expressing God’s love for the pet owners. The ad agency got the contract. And we got paid. They sold the new drug as a light mood suppressant, but that wouldn’t dull the dogs’ natural energy and effervescent love.
Indifference is the opposite of witnessing the significance of others. The rich man wasn’t condemned to hell because he was rich, but because he stepped around Lazarus time after time without noticing or responding. The dogs who licked Lazarus’ wounds were much more loving than the rich man. The rich man’s indifference condemned him. I like what Barbara Brown Taylor said, “Salvation is not something that happens only at the end of a person’s life. Salvation happens every time someone with a key uses it to open a door he could lock instead.”
When we read (sang) the psalm, we recited a promise from God, “Because you are bound to me in love…..I will protect you, because you know my name. I am with you in trouble: I will rescue you and bring you honor… and show you my salvation.” When we stand in for God, we live out these promises God makes to all humanity. With God’s help, we witness the significance of each being, particularly those who suffer from the indifference of the prevailing culture. We honor the neighbor who is missing her significance in God’s eyes. That’s our ministry in a nutshell. Lazaruses one and all.