I want to do things a bit differently this morning. I am going to read out some background detail on two people, and I want to get you thinking of which person you would rather be.
One person is very rich, with lovely clothes, as much food as they want and a fantastic house.
One person is very poor, without many clothes, begging for food with no home.
Ok, I can imagine where you would be automatically thinking… Let me try it another way.
After they died the poor person went to heaven. The rich person did not… Of course, this is all based on this mornings gospel reading (Luke 16:19-31).
We all have the chance to follow Jesus, but here, the poor man put his spiritual health above his material wealth. The rich man put his material wealth above his spiritual health. The answers seem quite easy to us. We know the way the parable of the rich man and Lazarus ends.
We may secretly want to have the earthly life of the rich man and the eternity of the poor man!
Moving on to the reading from the 1st letter to Timothy we come across ways to behave and the difficulties of chasing after the wrong thing. I read last week that Nelson Rockefeller, who was one of the richest men of his time, when asked how much more money he would need to live comfortably replied, ‘A little more than I get.’ It sounds absurd to us that one of the richest people of his time felt he needed more money.
It does show a picture of why the love of money is seen as the root of all evil. It is because when we chase after something, when we love it to such an extent that it is the main thing, we are then left with a distortion.
When we hear about celebrities doing something that we see as unthinkable and wrong I often wonder if their world has become so distorted that things that are wrong become as normal, or even acceptable. The love of the wrong things can build up to such an extent that people are almost closeted in a world of their own making.
I read a really good way of dealing with this type of behaviour by Tom Wright, the former Bishop of Durham. He wrote about the ways that we can make sure that we stay on track with the good things, the spiritual things.
It was to imagine an animal that really scares you. Something you are uncomfortable with. Maybe a spider, maybe a snake, or even a hippopotamus. We will want to run away from the frightening creature and definitely not pursue it. Now think of something or someone you love. When this item or person turns up unexpectedly you will chase after it or them.
In this reading that could mean running away from riches, a greedy lifestyle and all that entails. In the same way we would chase after someone or something we love, we are to chase after justice, godliness, faith, love, patience and gentleness. Tom Wright then made the point that these virtues do not come about in a person by any other means than a person chasing after them and choosing to live a life where these are most important.
It is all about our priorities. Who we would like to be happens by what we pursue. If we pursue goodness then we will, through the help of God be good. This is amazing.
These verses alone could almost be seen as a manual for life. When we chase after the right things, when we seek to be more like God, when we make sure that we continually build our relationship with God through prayer and Bible reading and fellowship, we are changed. Things will not be distorted.
Back to our gospel reading. I always used to think that the rich man was really bad and deliberately ignored poor Lazarus. Back to the distortion idea. Perhaps the rich man was so focussed on money and on himself that he couldn’t understand that there was more in the world than his life and money.
Lazarus is the only person who is given a name in any of Jesus’ parables. This is really helpful for us in understanding the parable. This is because the name Lazarus means ‘the one who God helps’. Because of Jesus naming the man perhaps the people hearing the parable wondered how God was going to help Lazarus. They may even have thought what an unfortunate name.
God did help Lazarus. He was the one who had not lived a life distorted by riches. Or, let’s put it another way, distorted by things that would take him away from God.
Back to my who do you want to be questions. You can choose between the person who had lost sight of God by chasing after the wrong things or the person who has made sure that they have chased after good things.
We are ok, because we can constantly be reminded to check what is first in our lives. How are we living ? What is most important for us ?
A large part of following Jesus does involve giving to others. It does mean caring for others, it does mean showing concern.
I read something by a man called Philip Yancey who wrote in his book, ‘The Jesus I Never knew’, that, ‘For the first few centuries, at least, Christians literally took Christ's command to receive strangers, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, visit the imprisoned, until the triumph of the Emperor Constantine, who legalised the faith and established an official church, an imperial church. From then on, the church tended to spiritualise poverty and leave welfare to the emperor. Over time, the church itself became part of the establishment, more concerned about wealth than faith.’
This is another uncomfortable thought. It may not be completely fair everywhere, but it is a good reminder of what is our main concern? How do and can we help others? Who do we want to be like ? Imagine if our qualities were just like those of Jesus, what a great way to be.
Now
“To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”
(Jude 1:24-25.)
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