I recently came across this letter to Ann Landers which seems to illustrate the point. "The letter from the woman married to the tight-fisted man - she couldn't get an extra twenty cents out of him - reminded me of my wonderful aunt who was beautifully warm-hearted and had a great sense of humour.
"Aunt 'Emma' was married to a tight-fisted man who was also a little strange. He made a good salary, but they lived frugally because he insisted on putting 20 percent of his pay-cheque under the mattress. (The man didn't trust banks.) The money, he said, was going to come in handy in their old age.
"When 'Uncle Ollie' was 60, he was stricken with cancer. Toward the end, he made Aunt Em promise, in the presence of his brothers, that she would take the money he had stashed away and put it in his coffin so he could buy his way into heaven if he had to.
"They all knew he was a little odd, but this was clearly a crazy request. Aunt Em did promise, however, and assured Uncle Ollie's brothers that she was a woman of her word and would do as he asked.
"The following morning she took the money (about $26,000) to the bank and deposited it. She then wrote a cheque and put it in the coffin four days later.
"This is a true story and our family has laughed about it ever since."
Have you ever heard anyone complain, "He (or she) has had all the luck"? Have you ever made that complaint yourself?
We have this idea that if we had someone else's circumstances our life would be, not only different, but better than what it is. Now take that other person over there - he/she gets all the opportunities, but they never come my way!
True, the real world that we live in does have differences and inequalities for all of us. Some, all of us here share in common - the country in which we were born, the time and circumstances of present human history… Others are more unique to us as individuals - like the family situation into which we were born. Some seemed beyond our control - the classes and teachers we had at school… Others reflected more of our choices - our level of motivation, the ones who became our closest friends…
Today's parable from Luke presents us with a picture of two people for whom life had gone very differently indeed. We aren't told how they got to where they were.
On the one hand, there was this rich man. We aren't even told his name! But he certainly had everything, was always dressed in the finest clothes - "purple and fine linen" was the height of fashion in those days. And he "lived in great luxury every day" - employed the finest cook and ate always the best food, and plenty of it! He didn't lick his fingers, but wiped them on the bread which he then tossed over his shoulder for the dogs to eat and the servants to clean up.
On the other hand, there was the poor man named Lazarus. The rich man probably didn't know his name, but there is a special reason why his name is known and important in Jesus' story - see if you can guess it! He was not only poor but sick - "covered with sores". Someone would bring him to the rich man's door in the hope that he might at least eat some of the bread the rich man tossed on the floor. Even the dogs who came to share that food "would come and lick his sores".
Both these men died. The poor man wasn't given a decent burial - perhaps his body was just buried with the town's rubbish. But "he was carried by the angels to sit beside Abraham at the feast in heaven". Everyone knew about the rich man's death - the whole town turned out for his funeral! But he ends up in hell, the place of suffering and separation.
Suddenly he wants and needs Lazarus whom he has ignored all these years - just a drop of water on my tongue "because I am in great pain in this fire!"
But no, that's not possible. In this world we make our choices for eternity. Beyond this world we face the consequences of our choices. Too late, Uncle Ollie! You can't take your money with you, you can't buy your way to heaven! Too late, rich man! You have spent all your life with your good things, while Lazarus had nothing. Your opportunity for change has now passed. Now "he is enjoying himself here, while you are in pain."
Then send Lazarus back to warn my five brothers so they won't end up here in this place of pain. But that's not possible either. God has already given warning through Moses and the prophets - "your brothers should listen to what they say".
Now there's a tough one. The rich man had that same opportunity, but didn't use it! "That is not enough, Father Abraham! But if someone were to rise from death and go to them, then they would turn from their sins."
"If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone were to rise from death." There was a special reference here for the Jewish religious leaders who read their Bibles regularly, but refused to come to Jesus and would conspire to have him put to death and then persecute his followers when they announced that he was risen from the dead.
We need to have real faith in this real world. The story presents us with two serious gaps - the obvious gap between the rich man and Lazarus. We can say this for the rich man - he didn't order the unsightly Lazarus to be removed from his gate, he didn't object to Lazarus eating the food he had tossed out for the dogs, he wasn't deliberately cruel… He just didn't notice Lazarus. He accepted that Lazarus was sick and poor and he was rich and healthy - that's just how things were. He didn't recognise he should act with real care for Lazarus.
But there is another gap - in his relation with God. Lazarus, for all his sickness and poverty - his bad start in life - ends up in the right place after all, but not the rich man. Jesus warned his hearers once that the social outcasts would be going into the Kingdom of God before them! These people have nothing to bring but their emptiness and need - to the heavenly Father who forgives and loves and welcomes.
Jesus says to us, "Listen! I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into his house and eat with him, and he will eat with me" (Rev.3.20). And if we truly open the door to Jesus, we will want to keep it open to welcome others too - because Jesus wants to welcome them!
"Who are the Lazaruses in our community and our world? Who are the ones we ignore or avoid?" Open the door to Jesus. Keep it open to welcome others too - because Jesus wants to welcome them!
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