Jesus said, "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.'
But Abraham said, `Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.' He said, `Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house-- for I have five brothers-- that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.' Abraham replied, `They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.' He said, `No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"
Sermon by the Rev. Carole Horton-Howe
Not long ago while I was driving to a pastoral call. And I came up to a red light at busy intersection where a man was standing precariously on a small center median and holding a sign saying “hungry anything helps.” Now sadly that’s not an uncommon sight. But what was striking about this particular man were the physical challenges he had. He appeared to suffer from cerebral palsy or something similar. And so his ability to be out in that heat – it was a very hot day - and to move quickly to a car if someone wanted to hand him a dollar or two was clearly very difficult for him. He moved slowly.
The light changed. I was not in the lane next to him but was one lane over and a couple spots back from a pickup truck that I could see was loaded with a couple lawnmowers and some rakes and other equipment. So I assumed the driver had a lawn mowing service and was out taking care of customers.
When the light changed to green, the man in the truck was the first vehicle in the lane. But he didn’t move. He had lowered his window and was clearly having some conversation with the man holding the sign. The two chatted for what seemed like a a good long while. And the man in the truck, reached over to the passenger seat and picked up a foil wrapped package, looked like maybe his lunch. He handed that out that window as the man with the sign made his way over to him. Then the driver reached back and got a bottle of water and handed that out the window to him as well. And with some parting words, the mane with the sign and the gifts he’s just received made his way back to the center median. And the man in the pickup truck drove ahead.
Now all this was happening while the light was very green. And impatient LA drivers, who normally would have been honking like crazy, shouting and yelling at the driver of the truck. But this day in this place, nothing. No one honked, no one yelled. No one did anything but watch this scene unfold.
There was a sign on the side of the pick-up truck with the name of the company and phone number and I wish I’d thought at the time to jot it down or take a quick photo. Because I’d really wanted to call him. And to thank him – not for sharing his food. Because lots of us share something when we see folks in these situations. And goodness knows we at St. Matthias offer food to our neighbors in need at least 5 days a week.
I know people who routinely carry a few one dollar bills in their car to give to out. And one friend carries some fast food gift cards to give. Because she figures that if someone is homeless, giving them an hour or two to go inside and being able to get something to eat while getting out of the heat or the cold, depending on the season, and having a place to rest might be better than giving them anything else. Everyone has their way of responding.
So I didn’t want to call and thank him because he gave the man food and water. I wanted to call and thank him for making everyone at that intersection that day have to stop, and have to pay attention to someone that otherwise might have been completely overlooked.
We have a wonderful collect in our Book of Common Prayer that reminds us to be attentive to those who could easily be forgotten. And this poor man was one of those people who could easily have been forgotten but for a landscaper who dared to sit under that green light and carry on a conversation with him and share what he had.
Why is that important?
Let’s take a look for a moment at our lesson from Luke’s gospel today. This is the second of two parables in the 16th chapter of Luke that Jesus recounts that start with the words “there was a rich man..” He is an unidentified rich man, because we never seem to get his name. But in neither of these parables do things go well for the rich man. The rich man in the first parable that we heard last week is told, you can’t serve God and money. You have to choose. One leads to life, one leads to death. Make a choice.
Today, the rich man, who has lived a full life, a wonderful life, somehow has not encountered poor Lazarus who lies just outside his gate. We don’t know the full story so we have to consider a couple scenarios: one is that he’s a really busy person who was inattentive, just didn’t realize Lazarus was there. He’s the oblivious type. That’s probably the best case scenario.
The worst case scenario for the rich man is that he was willfully negligent. He knew Lazarus was there, he knew that a poor, hungry, sick man lying at his gate. He sees him but he just doesn’t feel like there’s any reason for him to be bothered by that fact.
But regardless of how the story unfolds, Lazarus suffered terribly while the rich man did well. When everyone had died, there’s a conversation across the chasm. It’s not pretty, or comfortable. This is not the text we really love to encounter is it? Luke has some hard, hard texts. This is one of them. What does father Abraham say to the rich man? “You’ve already had yours. Lazarus suffered greatly at your gate and he will be comforted now.”
It’s hard to hear. It’s hard to think that maybe our inattention to the needs of others has consequences. But I think that is exactly what God is trying to tell us. Our inattention to the needs of others has consequences for them and for us.
And so, Lazarus has gone off to live for eternity in comfort with Father Abraham. The rich man says, “send him back, because my brothers need to know this. My brothers need to know what fate they will suffer if they don’t pay more attention.” And Father Abraham dismisses this request out of hand. “They’ve had the prophets. How did they miss this?”
The scriptures are filled with all kinds of reminders to us about God’s expectation that we will care for those around us. If we miss it, then we need to be more attentive. We need something to draw our attention to God’s call to us to serve all of God’s people. We need something to remind us. And maybe what we need to remind us isn’t the Lazarus of our time, because that may not do it. Sadly there are so many, the need is so great it can become numbing.
But maybe what we need to remind us is the guy in the truck holding everyone’s attention, ignoring the green light. The guy in the truck who draws our attention to a man that most folks would have driven by and not noticed at all. We need that person who just brings to mind that we have been called to do and to be more than we ever expect to do and to be.
Next Sunday our Bishop will visit and confirm or receive members into our faith community. And what a joyous time that will be! The Bishop will lead the confirmands and all of us in the Baptismal Covenant. And one of the questions will be “will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?” The final question is “will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being.” In other words, will you be attentive? Will you look outside your own gate and if you see Lazarus there, will you respond in love?
All of the questions asked in the baptismal covenant start out “will you…” Of course they point us to the future and our future commitments. “Will you?” it asks. We’re not so concerned about the past but very much about the future. Confirmation is not a destination. It’s not an end point. It’s the beginning. It’s not so much about the journey so far – that’s significant for each of us, about how we have been formed. But confirmation is about the journey to come. “Will you…” the Bishop with ask. And our answer to each question is “I will, with God’s help.” We acknowledge that we all we do to expand the Kingdom of God here on earth is blessing by God and seen by God. God is paying attention.
Every day that we continue to live and our spirits continue to grow and our lives continue to grow we’re in a new place. Next Sunday, take it all in – and ask yourselves “how is God calling me to live out that baptismal covenant? How do I help people in this place and beyond our doors?
God has blessed and privileged this parish St. Matthias, to be able to be a pillar in the worshipping community here in uptown Whittier, to minister to all the people we encounter on Sunday mornings and all week long. This is our privilege – to be called, to be here and to serve.
We make it possible to help more and more of God’s people to find God’s love and God’s grace. It is Jesus who erases those chasms, who calls us to serve the world in his name and to draw others to him. Amen.