The Rich Man and Lazarus

Trinity 1 2015 - Sermon Notes

We are all pilgrims on a journey.

We are all prodigal sons and daughters.

We are all sinners saved by grace; God merciful grace bestowed on each one of us.

John put it this way as read this morning, “In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us.”

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.”

Let us sit in silence with these words for a few minutes.

Silence - (story from Guatemala)

Today the Gospel reading was from the famous story of the rich man a Lazarus.

So, put yourself in the shoes of the disciples, you have been travelling and learning from this great man. You have seen him do many miracles, and speak with such wisdom that all you want to do is to hear more…and the more you hear the more you are challenged and the more you are challenged, the more you want because you know he is on to something; you know it and get fleeting glimpses of this majesty and want to cling to it…even if the glimpses are as tiny as a mustard seed.

I will keep this sermon short and focused on one main point: spiritual blindness; specifically how material wealth, or a focus on money can lead to spiritual blindness.

First, let’s meet the characters:

a. “A Certain Rich Man” – clothed as one would be clothed who occupies a very high station in life. He is in the elite class. He ate well…very well… “sumptuously” we are told… “every day.”

b. Lazarus – Firstly, I think it is very interested that the rich man is not named in this parable yet the poor man is named, almost as if to give a little more personal connection with the man. It is also interesting to me that the name Lazarus means, “whom God helps.” Lazarus is not just poor, he is totally destitute, full of sores, be licked by dogs, just hoping for a few crumbs of bread from the rich man tables. (Nicaragua and Bahrain)

c. Abraham – The father of Israel; revered in Judaism, Christianity and Islam as the great patriarch of their nation. Abraham was a rich man and the biblical example of hospitality and faithfulness to God.

In this parable Luke wastes no time in setting a scene of the extremes of the social order – the elite and the destitute.

I also find it interesting…

The rich man does a lot of talking in this parable. He is very argumentative, desperate and tormented. The imagery of torment, argumentativeness and condescending…. But nameless.

Abraham is holding the destitute Lazarus “in his bosom”. The great patriarch of Israel not just embracing the poor man but the imagery of intimacy, concern, love, patience and mercy.

Lazarus’ voice is nowhere to be heard. He does not utter a word. The disenfranchised, voiceless reality of the desperately poor.

Perhaps Lazarus does not have a voice in the whole of the parable because this parable is not about him.

As I mentioned, I think I can argue that this parable is about the blindness wealth can cause.

This blindness is explicitly exposed in the conversation between Abraham and Lazarus wherein the rich man, accustomed to issuing orders, requests Abraham to send Lazarus to the rich man’s brothers, as if Lazarus is now Abraham’s servant or errand boy.

The rich man is still blind to the fact that Lazarus is his fellow human being; his brother. After Abraham’s denial of this request, the rich man starts pleading with Abraham in an attempt to save his brothers, which merely serves to underscore his blindness, that the poor man is also his brother in the eyes of God.

The rich man pleads when he should be finally realizing the error of his past ways.

The rich man pleads when he should be finally realizing the blindness his wealth and high station have caused him.

Money can cause spiritual blindness.

Money can cause one to care about me, me and me rather than cause one to discern the two great commandements – Love you God with all your heart and love your neighbour as yourself.

The rich man was blind.

Blind – He could not see that he needed to change his ways. Here we enter the language of repentance. He didn’t get it first nor last.

But let me be perfectly clear on something, it would be a great injustice of this parable to reduce it to the sin of material wealth and some idea of piety in poverty. There is no piety in the destitute poverty of Lazarus…but there is dignity… God given, eternal dignity for the human being.

Lazarus had dignity because dignity is God-given; not an ephemeral creation of humans.

We have such capacity for self-deception that we can become prideful even in the desire for a piety in poverty. There is no piety in destitute poverty; of starving, of watching the body develop sores and, O desperate of desperation, having the dogs lick the sores.

Desperate poverty lacks piety but it does not lack dignity. I want to add this again...  there is dignity… God given, eternal dignity for the human being. Dignity is God-given; not an ephemeral creation of humans.

It is not the rich man’s wealth that has him condemned but his self-indulgence. It is his blindness to others; his spiritual blindness to blessings bestowed on him and his refusal to bless others. Be merciful as I am merciful, Jesus said.

I think Jesus is trying to teach us that one of the prime dangers of wealth is that it may cause blindness and result in a lifestyle of self-indulgence.

For this reason, the figure of Abraham is the most important character in this parable.

Abraham was a rich man, a famous rich man in Scripture,  but not a self-indulgent man.

Abraham is a historic example of faithfulness, even when it comes to use of material wealth. Abraham not only refused to accept the plunder of the king of Sodom but he stands as a biblical example of hospitality and faith.

Jesus understands the material wants of the human being and he was deeply concerned about the luring power of material wealth because it can easily create spiritual blindness.  He taught about the connection between treasure and the heart (Matt 6:19-21; Luke 12:33-34), the servant-master relationship (Matt 6:24; Luke 16:13) and the power of possessions (Matt 19:16-24), as merely a few examples. Jesus was a man who overturned tables in the Temple (Matt 21:12-17; Mark 11:15-19; Luke 19:45-48). 

The rich man ignored the teachings of the law and the prophets too late.

He pays attention to Lazarus too late. He only acknowledges him when he sees him in the bosom of Abraham.

He sees the unbridgeable chasm too late.

This parable contrasts the examples of Abraham and the Rich Man to make a point about compassion, mercy and just use of wealth as required by the Torah and the prophets.

Let us be merciful to others and we have been shown much mercy by our Heavenly Father. 

Trinity Sunday 2015 (Notes)

Trinity Sunday 2015 

(Note these are speaking notes. I rarely stick to the text but these notes will give you an overview of my homily. I am thankful for Michael Lloyd's "Cafe Theology", Alpha International, 2009)

I love Trinitarian Theology.

But lets be honest, all this Three in One and One in Three is confusing. We live in a culture where we like things explained; scientific methodology, reproducible in a lab.

Luckily, we are not called to define God; we are called to respond to God who always initiates. 

We are not called to define God; we are called to enter into relationship with God so that we can fully know that we are fully known.

To be fully guilty and be fully forgiven. To be fully afraid and to be fully sustained by the presence of He who said, “Fear not for I am with you.”

To fully die to oneself and to fully come alive in the reality of life in Christ.

St Paul put it this way in his letter to the Romans. The Father sends forth the Son so that we might have peace with God, while the Holy Spirit pours out God’s love, all so we might be made right with God and right with one another.

So, what does this look like. It is very easy on Trinity Sunday – only doctrine – to get lost in theology and to entirely miss the point.

What’s the point. God is the point and God is relationship. Father, Son and Holy Spirit; which calls us into relationship with God and with one another.

God is relationship. The very relationship from which everything else flows.

What is most valuable to us as human beings?

Relationships.

Not valuables.

Not possessions.

Not knowledge.

Not even power.

Relationships matter most because we were made for relationship. But, not only were we made for relationship, we were made by relationship; the perfect, self-giving relationship.

We were made in the image and likeness of God. God is relationship.

Relationship is what we are for, it is who we are and it is where we will find our ultimate fulfillment. This is the basis of it all.

I am thankful for scientific inquiry and scientific methodology. We can split and atom into parts but you can never split up the love of God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The indivisible truth which holds everything together. Oneness.

This is not only the goal; the end point. It is the beginning and the end.

What are some implications of this? What can we learn from the Threeness and Oneness of God:

a. The Doctrine of the Trinity means that God is love.

If God were simply one person all we could say about Him is that He is loving but we could not say that God is love. For if God was only one person He would be alone, He may have some loving personality traits that resemble love can someone who is simply alone really BE LOVE.

Consider this, we know that God is eternal and creation is created; if God was only ONE and not also THREE, for most of eternity God would have had nothing or no one to love. Therefore, God would have depended on creation to know love. We know God is not dependent on creation; creation is dependent on God. So...

b. God will not keep us at arms length –

God draws us in. God does not keep us at arms length.

God draws us into his bosom.

We need relationship. We need reassurance. Our generation has learned that when children are not held, hugged and reassured is that we can grow with deep-seated insecurities and psychological problems.

The doctrine of the Trinity shows us that it is possible to be unimaginably close to God so that those things that may cause us to fear are dispelled. (this deep peace of letting go). This comes from the never-ending journey of knowing and being known. It will ease us out of our protective shells. It will encourage us to reveal a little more of who we are to trusted friends who will honour our fear, our pain, our hurts as a pathway to peace, hope, freedom.

c. the Trinity gives us a model for our relationships

The Father publicly expresses his love of His Son at his baptism. “You are my son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.” An expression of love. Jesus submits willingly to the call and the plan of the Father and accepts the Spirit to empower his day-by-day walk in this relationship.

We are called, through Christ, to be sons and daughters of the Father. We are not orphaned, left on our own, but we are always called, deeper and deeper, into the truth of this relationship. This is not the language of slavery but the language of freedom.

In living our own lives in this manner we strive not to control but to set free, in a relationship of trust and love - to authentic freedom. This is the very opposite of objectification and commodification.

And when we stumble and fall, as we will all do, we have a source to which to return. To which to more deeply understand the vastness of God’s mercy, forgiveness and love and also to understand the truth of our own brokenness and need for healing and help.

We can always go to this well. It is bottomless.

And we are never alone. Because we know,

God is love

God draws us closer and closer

God is our model for our relationships

The Trinity is not just a mystery to us; it is most importantly a mystery for us; calling us into deep relationship, a mysterious relationship which sustains our souls.

The Good News is that God loves you.

The Good News is that God sent his son and fulfilled the law and prophets for you.

The Good News is that Jesus is alive.

The Good News is that you are called to be alive; fully alive in Jesus Christ, sustained by the Holy Spirit in surrender to the will of the Father.

Whatever you are stuggling with today. Know that you are loved by God, He is calling you closer and closer because that is the life-giving truth of nature of God.

“Come unto me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy loads and I will give you rest.”

Amen

My Reflection on a Trip to Nicaragua

It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.

The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts,

It is even beyond our vision.

(Oscar Romero)

A modern challenge for reflecting on important global issues such as suffering and poverty is that, as modern people, we fail to consider that we too suffer and are poor in some material or spiritual sense. To externalize these deep realities may lead us into arrogant “solutions” for the poor and those who suffer. Thankfully, every once in a while we are offered a great gift which seems to help us understand eternal things. I had such a gift given to me during a recent service trip to Nicaragua wherein I witnessed the divine language of mercy come alive through committed relationships of self-giving love.

During the trip we worked in a very poor neighbourhood of the capital city, Managua. We helped build a home with a local contractor, his workers and members of the family who now live in the home. We had a far-too-brief glimpse at some of the living conditions and socio-economic realities of day-to-day life in this neighbourhood.

I would like to briefly tease out the depth of one word which was on my mind a great deal while working in Nicaragua. The word is Charity. It is a word that is largely understood as something like, “giving to a person in need” or “a generous act.” One could most sincerely say, “I give to charity” and this is entirely true and worthy of thanksgiving. I do not wish to engage in etymological dualism, but rather a discerning deepening in the true sense of the word. As such, I would like to show that the Christian sense of the word charity is based on the New Testament Greek word agape, which means something much deeper than to simply give; it means to love dearly. Agape was translated into latin as caritas and the King James Version of the Bible translated caritas into charity. As such, Charity today seems to me to be a watered down version of the essence of the Greek word from whence it comes: agape. Agape denotes a concept which is far deeper than simply giving to a person in need; it is indeed giving of the self to someone or something else. Therefore, implicit in the nature of this word is relationship. In John 3:16 we see that God so agape the world and later, in John 12:43 that we agape the praise of one another rather than the praise of God and we are told to agape one another as God agape us. Relationship…relationship…relationship.

Love implies a relationship. The modern notion of charity implies simply giving which establishes a relationship with CRA as we await our income tax return.

As I write from my comfortable office in the geographically tiny parish of Trinity Church Halifax – our parish boundaries are not much more than 1 km by 2 km, there are hundreds of lonely people within this small area. Great numbers of people who want an Inn from the suffering and poverty of loneliness caused by a myriad of factors, many of which point to a breakdown in fundamentally important relationships and institutions that have historically enabled healthy community. The need is great, the labourers are few and it takes a toll on us as individuals and society.

We all suffer and are poor.

So, with all the need that exists in my own city and inside my own parish the question I struggle with is, Why do I sense such a strong desire to work among the poor in places like Managua, Nicaragua? I have often brought Galatians 2:10 into prayer where Peter and John said to Paul as he was about to embark on his mission, “They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do.” Geography matters; there are poor here, in the midst of where we have been planted.

I have come to sense that what is really at play here is less about any idealistic notions of solving anything here or there, it is much more about cultivating a deep sense of gratitude for relationships. Relationship with Our Lord and one another. This deep sense of gratitude for the transformative love I have been offered through Christ not only brings into focus the gift of life but also brings into focus what I have and what I take for granted here in Nova Scotia.

Yes, I built a home in Nicaragua and that was a good work for a dear family. But, really, I didn’t give anything to the people of Nicaragua; they gave to me. I was the student as I soaked in eternal truths revealed to all of us by Jesus. All of this brought home by a service trip to a desperately poor part of the world. By working in such an environment, my own poverty and suffering is brought to the surface by the Holy Spirit who speaks, stills, leads, reassures, enlightens, encourages, convicts, comforts and calms us through a thundering, still voice of unity. We are one in the Spirit. God loved us first; our love for one another is a dim reflection of that perfect love.

We all suffer and are poor but we are never alone.

So, with all this in mind, in February 2015 I went on a service trip Managua, Nicaragua with a fabulous group of people from Halifax, NS, Summerside, PEI and St. John’s, NL. We went in support of a Halifax-based organization called Pathway to Progress Nicaragua. It is a Christian organization which is dedicated to supporting an innovative program in Nicaragua that provides educational opportunities for Nicaragua’s most vulnerable sector: children and youth living in poverty.

I love a good testimony! The founders of this mission in Managua have a great testimony which took them from living in the South End of Halifax to mission in Nicaragua by an experience of Our Lord’s immeasurable and transformative love. It is not my testimony to tell so I won’t, but I will tell you that in 2005 when Ed and Barbara Dunsworth moved to Managua they were shocked to see the conditions in the public pre-schools and primary schools. They began to tackle the huge educational deficit and devised a project to select bright children from families living in poverty and sent them to a very good private school. In the first year they had three children in the program. Now they have approximately 100 students in the program, 14 local social workers and other staff members and they build 10 houses a year.

My charitable act is enabling a beautiful relationship of agape by a team in Nicaragua committed to self-giving. It inspires me to engage in relationships of agape in my own city.

As a participant in this service trip I had the opportunity, with a dozen or so others from Atlantic Canada, to deepen in the attitude of gratitude for all that we have and all that we easily take for granted. I hope to make it an annual trip for my family and I as we all deepen in our faith, hope and love as we listen to the deep crying out to deep.

Would you like to sponsor a child in support of the Pathway to Progress mission? Perhaps you would be interested in being part of a service trip to Nicaragua?

If you would like to consider being part of a service trip please email me at rev.rob.elford@gmail.com

OR, if you would like more information about Pathway to Progress Nicaragua or how to support the agape of this mission please contact:

www.p2pnicaragua.org                                  PO Box 27092

            p2pnica@gmail.com                                       Halifax, NS B3H 1N0

We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent
enterprise that is God's work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of
saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.

(Oscar Romero)