Blind to Need

September 25, 2016        Pentecost 19                                      Luke 16:19-31

The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus is a powerful parable with a lot of deep imagery, and I want to explore it as our sermon today.  But to set it up let’s start with our first reading from the prophet Amos.  There Amos is speaking against the rich and powerful in his nation.  Their luxurious lifestyles are coming at the expense of the poor around them and Amos wants them to know that God is not pleased.  However wealth has a way of blinding people to what they are doing.  The passage from Amos makes me think of a passage from Barbara Kingsolver’s book The Poisonwood Bible and I’ve included that quote in the back of your worship bulletin.  She shares the thoughts of missionary wife Orleanna Price:

 “It wasn’t just me; there were crimes strewn six ways to Sunday, and I had my own mouths to feed.  I didn’t know.  I had no life of my own.

“And you’ll say I did.  You’ll say I walked across Africa with my wrists unshackled, and now I am one more soul walking free in a white skin, wearing some thread of stolen goods: cotton or diamonds, freedom at the very least, prosperity.  Some of us know how we came by our fortune, and some of us don’t, but we wear it all the same.  There’s only one question worth asking now:  How do we aim to live with it?

“…  I know people.  Most have no earthly notion of the price of a snow-white conscience.”

(Pg. 9)

Indeed wealth can cause incredible blindness, as we’ll see in Jesus’ parable.

                Jesus says there was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen.  In those days having fine white linen was a sign of wealth.  I won’t get into the bleaching process they used.  Let’s just say it took a lot of effort.

But getting white cloth was nothing to having purple cloth.  Purple embellishments were one thing, purple clothes were an extreme.  Yet this rich man appears to have worn white as an undergarment and purple over top.  Commentator Joel Green notes that dressing like this was a sign of the highest opulence.

I’m reminded of when I had a co-op job in college.  My work required me to make frequent trips into the Pennsylvania State Capitol building in Harrisburg.  One of the times I went there was a Rolls Royce stretch limo parked right out front in the no parking zone at the bottom of the grand granite staircase.  It’s the only Rolls Royce stretch limousine I’ve ever seen.  A uniformed chauffeur stood by the car.  The license plate was a vanity plate with a name I recognized – the richest real estate developer in the region.

Now of course there was absolutely no need for him to have a Rolls Royce stretch limousine with his name on the license plate, but he could do it; and he wanted everyone to know it was him.  That is the level of wealth of the rich man in the parable.

By contrast we have Lazarus.  An interesting bit of trivia, Lazarus is the only character Jesus gives a name to in all of his parables.  What is Lazarus dressed in?  Jesus doesn’t give a description, but he is effectively ‘dressed’ in sores.

Dogs surround Lazarus.  In most of the artwork I see about this scene the dogs look like loveable puppies who are having pity on this poor wretch of a man.  But that’s not what Jesus intended.  These dogs are mongrels who only hang around because they are starving and when Lazarus dies they can eat him.

What’s next but Lazarus does die.  The rich man dies too, and he is buried.  No mention is made of Lazarus’ burial so we can assume the mongrels got their meal.  Not only is Jesus calling to mind something disgusting to his hearers they also know that for a Jewish person to not be buried is proof of being cursed by God.  So Lazarus would be seen as being divinely cursed and rejected.

The rich man goes to Hades.  Presumably Lazarus does too, but he is comfortably with Abraham.  The rich man is being tormented.  We need to remind ourselves of some terms and places here.  The word “hades” shows up twice in Luke’s gospel and it is used 10 times in the New Testament.  In early Christian thought hades was a shadowy place of waiting for souls after they die; the equivalent of Sheol in the Old Testament.  By contrast “Gehenna,” usually translated “hell” is used once in Luke and 13 times in the New Testament.  The image of Gehenna was rooted in the Hinnom Valley to the south of Jerusalem, a place of garbage and with a reputation for pagan human sacrifices.  In the New Testament Gehenna was the pre-existent and eternal fiery abyss of destruction.

So Lazarus and the rich man are in Hades but the rich man is getting a foretaste of hell.  Has this changed his attitude?  Not one bit!  Has he been humbled?  No.  He calls out to Abraham and asks Abraham to send Lazarus to his living family members with a warning.

Notice how deep this rich man arrogance goes.  We discover that he not only recognizes Lazarus, but that he’s known his name all along.  And even in death he still things Lazarus is a lesser to him; someone who can be ordered about.

Not only can Lazarus be ordered about, but the rich man assumes he can make commands to his ancestor Abraham and Abraham should do his bidding too!  Even in torment this rich man still acts like he is in charge, perhaps even of God.

To show just how blind wealth makes people Abraham replies, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone rises from the dead.”  Of course no spoiler alert is needed here – we know the end of the story.  Someone will rise from the dead.  Will the wealthy listen?  No.

Wealth can render people completely and totally blind.  The real problem is, we can hardly escape being anywhere but among the rich. 

Our culture has wrapped itself in protection to keep people from seeing the real impacts of their wealth.  Have you ever been in any of the factories that make the clothing you are wearing right now?  Did you ever tour the fields or groves that produce the food that is in your cupboard and refrigerator?  Have you ever toured a landfill, or an abandoned mine, or a wastewater treatment plant?  Perhaps yes, but you get the point.  We create layers of protection around ourselves so that we do not have to experience the raw work of what it takes to create our lifestyles; nor do we have to experience the impact of our waste.  For most people problems like this are theoretical and distant, not real.

I’ve said before that when I walk through Eastview Mall I can’t help but feel like a citizen of the capital in the Hunger Games books, and the mall is filled with the work of the districts all gathered together for my convenience. 

I think we should take advice from our second reading and listen well to it, because it fits us.  The verses are 1 Timothy 6:17-19.  (You'll have to look it up in your own Bible because printing them here would be a copyright violation.)