Dearest e-votees-
There are two Lazaruses (Lazari?!?) in the New Testament.
There is the brother of Mary and Martha who was raised from the dead (all of the references to him can be found in John 11 and 12).
Then there is this other less fortunate Lazarus (all of the references to him can be found in our appointed gospel lesson for this Sunday from Luke 16). He was hungry and poor and covered in sores. This Lazarus ends up being comforted and protected by the patriarch Abraham.
Where do we find ourselves in this story that Jesus tells his disciples and tells to us this day?
Peace,
Karl
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19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. 24 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.' 25 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. 26 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.' 27 He said, "Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house— 28 for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.' 29 Abraham replied, "They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.' 30 He said, "No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31 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.' "
There is something deeply comforting about this story told by Jesus. It is not long after Jesus’ statement: “You cannot serve God and wealth.” Lazarus has been cut off from food and comfort during his earthly sojourn. He is now in the presence of Abraham. Lazarus is receiving comfort that eluded him at the gate of the rich man’s house. It warms hearts to see one who has struggled and been deprived receiving good things. Mr. Martini and his family getting their new house in It’s a Wonderful Life is a cinematic joy. Jimmy Stewart, in the same movie, surrounded by family and friends, blessed with a free-will offering to cover a shortfall at the savings and loan, singing Auld Lang Syne is an image of Lazarus in Abraham’s kolpos (bosom, chest, lap, etc.—intimately near). There is something good and stirring about those who are lost or excluded or cutoff being found and included and folded into the intimate places of God. So much of Jesus’ life and ministry seemed to be about reaching out to the Lazari and taking them into intimate and comforting relationships with him.
There is something deeply disturbing about this story told by Jesus. Truth be told most of us are much closer to the rich man end of the wealth and poverty continuum. We may not be clad in purple nor have beggars living at the ends of our driveways but most of us have more than enough (certainly food and clothing which this Sunday’s epistle lesson says is sufficient for contentment—see 1 Timothy 6:6-8). We are more than content to have others serve us or labor in unjust situations to facilitate our lives of relative comfort. We have received many good things and not done all we can to alleviate the evil things that weigh upon others. This story told to Jesus’ disciples—including us—ought to alarm us and inform our lives.
Perhaps most disturbing is Abraham seemingly writing off the hopes of the five brothers of the rich man. The rich man pleads for Lazarus to be sent to offer warning to them so that they avoid his fate. How sad that the rich man is still trying to benefit at the expense of Lazarus. First he wants Lazarus to fetch him a drink. When Abraham says that can’t happen the rich man wants to discharge Lazarus as an errand boy messenger to his brothers. Abraham nixes that too and says that the brothers have Moses and the prophets (the writings of the Old Testament). Abraham says that if they won’t abide by Moses and the prophets even Lazarus rising from the dead won’t save them.
We too have Moses and the prophets. We have even seen a Lazarus rise from the dead. We have record of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. We are at a great vantage point to see the things that the rich man wanted his brothers to see. We are without excuse. We do well to mind the words of Jesus and Abraham.
There are Lazari in our world—will we provide balm for their sores and food for their hunger? We might even be called upon to tear up our purple clothes and fine linens to make bandages. We have received so many good things—in great excess of merely food and clothing—will we use those blessings and resources to bless others and redress the evil things in the lives of those less fortunate?
Martin Luther is reported in Table Talk 5677 to have said:
“Nobody can understand Vergil in his Bucolics and Georgics unless he has first been a shepherd or a farmer for five years.
“Nobody understands Cicero in his letters unless he has been engaged in public affairs of some consequence for twenty years.
“Let nobody suppose that he has tasted the Holy Scriptures sufficiently unless he has ruled over the churches with the prophets for a hundred years. Therefore there is something wonderful, first, about John the Baptist; second, about Christ; third, about the apostles. ‘Lay not your hand on this divine Aeneid, but bow before it, adore its every trace.’
“We are beggars. That is true.”
These were the last thoughts of Dr. Martin Luther on the day before he died.
God help us to affirm our connection with beggars. Help us linger with the truths of Jesus and Moses and the prophets. Help us trust in your mercy. Help us to have hearts and resources to bandage and feed the Lazari that we encounter—all to Your glory. Amen.
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