September 28 2025 Pentecost 16
Jeremiah 32.1-3a, 6-15 Psalm 91.1-6, 91.14-16 1 Timothy 6.6-19 Luke 16.19-31
We often see this parable as speaking to us about good and evil. The rich man is only concerned about himself. He knows Lazarus is at his gate every day, he knows that Lazarus is poor, and hungry, and not well, but he does nothing to alleviate this, even though he could easily afford to. He appears to not even give him ‘scraps’ from his table, or anything else.
Eventually they both die. We are told Lazarus is taken into heaven to be with Abraham and the angels; the rich man goes to that ‘other place’ where his wealth, his possessions, his ‘worldly prestige’ do not give him any ‘free rides’. He then sees Abraham with Lazarus and requests Lazarus be sent to ‘give him some relief’, and when Abraham denies the request he asks for Lazarus to be sent to his brothers to warn them not to end up like him. The problem is, this man does not really ‘see’ Lazarus as a person, he didn’t see him when he was at his gate and now he doesn’t see him in heaven, he only sees someone who can ‘fetch and run errands’ for him, not Lazarus as a person.
The question this parable asks us today is, who are we ‘not seeing’ in our community. Who do we see simply as a ‘problem’, and not really as a person. When you pass someone on the street begging, and yes they are there, do we just see a ‘problem’ rather than a person with needs. And if you do give them something, do you, even for a second, wonder if you are not just reinforcing that ‘problem’ rather than seeing that you have helped them to be a little more ‘human’. This parable is beckoning us to: wake up, listen, feel, respond with generosity. It challenges us to ask – what are we missing spiritually when we fail to respond to another’s pain. What spiritual depths emerge when we are empathetic rather than apathetic. While there are natural limits to our generosity and empathy, they do not release us from our responsibility to feel and respond and experience an ‘uneasy conscience’ about our spiritual, economic and political limits as they are expressed in our kindness and generosity. We are able to sacrifice; we can live more simply so that others may simply live. We can challenge our political leaders to a politics of compassion for the vulnerable. That is what being a human means. That is what following Jesus means.
The choice to hear the cries of the poor and to observe our responses occur moment by moment. It occurs every time we check our news feeds, our social media pages, every time we check the newspaper. Our choices open the door for bigger or smaller manifestations of God’s vision in the world. They bring more or less beauty to God’s experience of the world. God rejoices or suffers as a direct result of our moment by moment responses. Nothing is too small or large for God’s attention, no one is left behind by God nor should anyone be left behind by us.
This parable tells us there is a ‘gulf’ between where Abraham and the rich man are, a gulf that neither of them can breach. But this gulf is not made by God, it is not put there by God, it is ‘man made’, we have put it there. Many of us have probably operated, for at least some of our lives, on the basis of ‘prosperity theology’. If I have good things in my life, it is a sign of God’s blessing, and while I may ‘feel’ for those ‘outside the gate’, I have no moral or spiritual responsibility to ‘take down the gate’. But this way of living is not the way Jesus lived. As the author of our second reading tells us, the refusal to confront my own privilege, the refusal to bear the burdens of those who have less than me, is a refusal to ‘take hold of the life that really is life’.
This parable also highlights how humanity often neglects the Earth’s vulnerability while we prioritise personal gain. In the same way as the rich man’s disregard for the plight of Lazarus leads to his downfall, so the exploitation of natural resources without regard for ecological balance brings suffering to the planet and the vulnerable communities it houses. Care for creation calls us to recognise our responsibility to both the poor as well as the Earth, embracing justice and sustainability. And the amazing thing is, our young people are more aware of what needs to be done to ‘save’ the planet than we are. They are the ones on the streets protesting about the damage we are doing to our planet, they are the ones crying out to governments and politicians that ‘climate change is real’. They are the ones setting the example for how we can live simply so that our planet can also simply live.
Jesus offers us a way forward, a way of selflessness, a way of sacrifice, a way of losing our lives in order to gain them. What do we require? We have Moses. We have the prophets. We have the parables. We have the life, death and resurrection of the Son of God. Like the rich man, we have everything we need in order to repent, find grace, and offer healing love to the world and everyone in it. What does this mean? It means we do not have any excuses as we stand inside the gate. The question then is, what will we do next, where will our gaze linger, who will we really see, what will we really see, what will we dare to see.