Day 35: June 8Scripture: Luke 16:19-31 The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus This is a troubling passage for anyone with wealth. Though the rich man feasts sumptuously, he is not portrayed as a wicked man. He is simply a wealthy man who is apparently oblivious to the needs of others. And Lazarus is not particularly righteous; he is simply one of the many poor people neglected by the rich. When the rich man calls out to Abraham from Hades, Abraham reminds him that he has enjoyed many good things on earth and Lazarus suffered much. In the afterlife, their situations are reversed. This parable illustrates the earlier teaching of Jesus in this gospel: “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” (6:20) and “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” (6:24) We may comfort ourselves by thinking, “I’m not especially rich or wealthy.” Oops! Think again. We may be middle-class Americans, but that puts us among the truly wealthy of our world. The average U.S. income is 360% higher than the world’s average per capita income (CPI). 56% of the world’s people live on less that $2 a day. Now we feel our predicament. We are the rich man and Lazarus is the poor person in a less developed country living on $1-2 a day. So, what is to prevent us from the same fate as rich man? Listening. Listening to Moses and the prophets, and Jesus. Listen to Isaiah: “If you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.” (58:10) Listen to Jesus: “You give them something to eat.”(Mk 6:37) Even as the grain crisis deepens, let us hear and obey these words. Prayer: Lord, open our ears to hear, and circumcise our hearts that we may have compassion on the poor of our world. We pray in the name of the one who seemed to never pass by someone in need. Amen. John D. Copenhaver |