09282022 – Luke 16. 19-31
What parable, what story would make a man with three doctoral degrees (one in MEDICINE, one in THEOLOGY, one in PHILOSOPHY) leave “civilization” with all of its cultural amenities and depart for the deepest jungles of Africa?
What parable could incite a man, who was recognized as one of THE BEST “concert ORGANISTS in all of Europe,” to go to a place where there were NO ORGANS to play.
What parable could “so intensely motivate a man” that he would give up a “TEACHING POSITION in Vienna, Austria,” to go and deal with people who were “SO DEPRIVED” that they were still living in the “SUPERSTITIONS of the DARK AGES” for all practical purposes.
The man who I am talking about was Dr. Albert Schweitzer. Recipient of the 1952 NOBEL PEACE PRIZE, which was given to him because of his REVERENCE FOR LIFE.
And the single parable that “so radically CHANGED his life,” and “his perspective” of everything was this evening’s gospel.
It was the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus.
The Rich Man and Lazarus WERE NEIGHBORS, you know.
Well, kind of…
They would have seen each other ALMOST every day. NOT SOCIALLY but SURELY there was some visual CONTACT between them.
Every day the Rich Man would have seen this poor beggar lying at HIS front gate.
The rich man remains UNNAMED, except for by tradition. He was “SELF-INDULGENT.” He “only cared” about HIMSELF.
The “contrasting LIVES of these two men is SO OBVIOUS that you CANNOT miss it.
The rich man was a connoisseur, a LOVER of the ARTS, one who knows and appreciates FINE LIVING, FIVE STAR restaurants being A total MUST. We are told “in the story” that he habitually dressed in PURPLE. Purple was known as the color of ROYALTY because it was the most expensive dye in the ancient world. “Only the UPPER ECHELON” and the HIGH PRIEST could afford it.
We are also told that his undergarments were made of “FINE LINEN.” Linen, being the lifestyle of “the rich and famous.”
The other man in the story is Lazarus. (YAWN!)
Lazarus is HOMELESS. Lazarus is “a common everyday BEGGAR” and he was “a CRIPPLE.” And he was actually DROPPED OFF at that particular location, by persons unknown.
Lazarus BARELY made it from day to day, living off “the little” that was thrown-to-him as people passed him by. He was a SURVIVOR.
Then, we are told both men DIED. One ends up in HADES, and the other in the BOSOM of Abraham.
Those listening to the parable, would have known IMMEDIATELY who went WHERE. It was a GIVEN. It was understood. It was NEVER CHALLENGED…NEVER A QUESTION.
The rich man would have been with FATHER ABRAHAM and the poor man in torment in HADES.
Surprise! Jesus changes the ENDING. There is a great reversal. He changes the outcome. People are in shock! That is NOT THE WAY – things are supposed to work. WAIT! WHAT? What is going on here? This is the moment – people start to QUESTION…and start to LISTEN all over again! They HEAR with NEW EARS!
Everything is reversed! The Richman is in HADES and the poor man lies in the bosom of ABRAHAM. WHY? HOW?
But then, Jesus has SURPRISED people BEFORE with “some of his stories.”
WAY-BACK at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, in something called “the Magnificat,” Mary (Jesus’ own mother, said or sang,
“He has shown strength with his arm, he has scattered the proud in their deceit. He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away EMPTY!”
This great reversal was foreshadowed THREE DECADES EARLIER…NOW it is becoming a REALITY!
God is lifting up “the poor.” There is “justice.” There is “equity.” There was a great reversal. GOD IS IN CHARGE, not humankind. This is DIVINE justice.
And about Jesus, Albert Schweitzer wrote: “He comes to us as ONE UNKNOWN, without a name, as of old, by the LAKESIDE, he came to those men who KNEW HIM NOT. He speaks to us the same word: ‘Follow me’ and sets US to the task which he has to fulfill for our time.
And to those who OBEY him, whether they be WISE or SIMPLE, he will reveal himself in TOILS, in CONLICTS, in the SUFFERINGS that shall pass through his fellowship, and as “an ineffable mystery,” they shall learn in their own experience WHO HE IS.”
And because of this story, Schweitzer gave up everything, to follow the man who ORIGINALLY spoke the parable.
Amen.