Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost: Proper 21: Remember Your Good Things and Others Without

Luke 16:19-31 NRSV

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.'"

Blog Reflection 

The words that catch my attention in this Gospel reading are: "Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things" (Luke 16:25).

This parable is one of those that is somewhere between making no sense, to one of the scariest Jesus told thus far.  It paints a picture through words of what heaven and hell might be like.  Or are we over interpreting Jesus and not seeing what He is telling us is in front of us in the here and now?

Abraham reminds the wealthy man of the good things he was given during his lifetime.  The wealthy man's situation in Hades is now opposite of Lazarus: and Lazarus is on the other side from the now miserable former rich man.  This story sounds a lot like those amazing words found in the Magnificat.  "[God] has cast the mighty from their thrones and has lifted up the lowly.  He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty" (Book of Common Prayer, p.119).

I think that Jesus is suggesting that we remember the good things all of us are given in the here and now: while not forgetting those who barely have the necessities of life.  In our day and age of economical inequality of those with wealth and power affecting the rest of us; whether we are middle class or at the bottom of the food chain of life.  This does not only apply to the matter of economics and poverty; it also applies to how we view ourselves in light of our relationship with God, vs others who may not share our views or opinions.  

 

Sister Joan Chittister in her book Illumination: Monastic Wisdom for Seekers of Light wrote,

 

Life is not perfect and people are not perfect. Only understanding and compassion--the ability to bear life with the rest of humanity, whatever burdens the bearing brings--perfect us.  When that concept gets lost in the name of religion, gets forgotten in the name of goodness, religion has gone awry and virtue has lost its meaning.  God is compassionate and gives us what we need.  No one can possibly be truly contemplative, truly in touch with the God-Life, truly infused by the spirit of God, who does nothing less for the sake of the other.

 

Contemplation is the mirror through which we come to touch the greatness of God, yes, but contemplation is also the filter through which we discern that scope of our smallness and the potential of our greatness.  The contemplative looks for perfection in nowhere but God.  The contemplative understands brokenness.  And, most of all, the contemplative realizes that it is precisely at the point of personal need that God comes to fill up the emptiness that is us.

 

If we are going to see clearly who God is, we must remember that we live in community with others.  Our relationship with God finds its holiness of life in our relationships with others; including and especially with those who are different from ourselves.  

 

I believe that Jesus is telling us this parable so that we may know that there is just as much heaven and hell for those who are poor as well as those who are rich.  What places us in heaven or hell is what we are doing with the good things we are given in the here and now.   When we remember the good things we are given, we need to remember those who are without such things and share from our abundance.

 

We are called to share the freedom of our lands with the immigrants who come to live here from their oppressive governments.  

 

We are called so seek the safety of every person who everyday face the threat of gun and racial violence.

 

We are called and empowered to give to LGBTQ people that piece of equality shared by those who are heterosexual, cis-gender and know who they are.

 

We are called to share our religious freedom with those who are in the prison of marginalization because they are Muslim, Jewish, Buddhism, Hindu and/or even atheist.  

 

How is God calling you to remember the good things you have, and how you can help others who are not so fortunate?

 

 

Prayers

 

O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing
mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we,
running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of
your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who
lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for
ever and ever. Amen.  (Proper 21, The Book of Common Prayer, p.234).

 

Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you
all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us
to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick,
and all who have none to care for them. Help us to heal those
who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow
into joy. Grant this, Father, for the love of your Son, who for
our sake became poor, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Prayer for the Poor and Neglected, The Book of Common Prayer, p.826

Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost: Proper 20: Whoever A Little

Gospel Reading

Luke 16:1-13 (NRSV)

Jesus said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, `What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.' Then the manager said to himself, `What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.' So, summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked the first, `How much do you owe my master?' He answered, `A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, `Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.' Then he asked another, `And how much do you owe?' He replied, `A hundred containers of wheat.' He said to him, `Take your bill and make it eighty.' And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

"Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."

Blog Reflection

Verse ten of this Gospel Reading can be summed up like this.  "If you are faithful in a little, if you are dishonest in a little, you are faithful in much and dishonest in much."

I feel drawn to how the words little in whatever the word that follows it, leads to much.   

So often we are drawn to what is huge.  It is what seems more powerful and faster that draws our attention.  While that which is little goes unnoticed.  Our attention seems focused on what is far off.  That which is here and now is too little to seem to make a difference.  The truth of the matter is, it takes a lot of what is little to become part of the larger whole.  

Our current political campaigns are full of little stabs and jabs from one party or candidate to the other.  Many may think that small one liners aimed at another person's race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, immigration status, or is suggestive of a dangerous action are of no consequence.  It is all of the small liners rolled into one gigantic media filled mega field of sound bites that creates a stigma around any number of minorities. Each comment made that comes from each small remark, winds up affecting that which is much bigger.  Part of the goal of the campaigns, are to throw a little bit of a punch in each statement, a few dollars or more from the pockets of those who are fortunate to have the reserves in their budgets, and suddenly what was small, becomes the responsibility of the whole.  Faithfulness and dishonesty become the larger consequence of what was so small.

Each one of us contributes a small amount to the larger whole.  What we say, who we say it to, how we say it or do it, has an effect on the larger context.  Free speech is not free if it interferes with another persons freedom.  The so called "free" speech comes with a very large price tag for those who listen to, respond to or are affected by what is said.

Each of us carries a responsibility to the greater whole with what our little bit of faithfulness or dishonesty brings upon those affected.  A harmful slur about people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning, results in the loss of equal rights, and can bring on physical violence.  Just a few little things said by one man in Germany in the 1920's and 30's about Jewish people, resulted in the mass murder of over one million Jewish people.  The killing did not stop there.

If we are to seek peace and justice among all people and uphold the dignity of every human person without exception as our Baptismal Covenant calls us to: then we might want to think a bit more carefully about the little things we say and/or do.  At the same time, striving to b  faithful in the little things that help build up each other, while we support one another has the power to build and rebuild the Reign of our loving God anywhere it can reach.  Imagine what a better world we would have if we all said a little more good things to one another.  It just might be the best conversation we ever had.

What could you do a little more of to make a bigger difference in the world?

Amen.

Prayers

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to
love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among
things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall
endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Proper 20.  The Book of Common Prayer. p. 234).

Almighty God, who created us in your image: Grant us
grace fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace
with oppression; and, that we may reverently use our freedom,
help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our
communities and among the nations, to the glory of your holy
Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (Prayer for Social Justice.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.260).

Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost: Proper 19: Everyone Is Welcome to This Table

Exodus 32:7-14 (NRSV)

The Lord said to Moses, "Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, `These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'" The Lord said to Moses, "I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation."

But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, "O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, `It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, `I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.'" And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

Psalm 51 (BCP., p.656)


1 Timothy 1:12-17 (NRSV)

 I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-- of whom I am the foremost. But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Luke 15: 1-10 (NRSV)

All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

So he told them this parable: "Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

"Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, `Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Blog Reflection

The opportunity to share a meal with someone means a lot more than just eating.  We live in a time and society in which the important thing is to sit and eat.  If you are working, you eat your lunch as quickly as you can.  Sometimes you are fortunate to have an actual lunch break.  Other times, you may be someone who works through lunch.  Eating and working at the same time.

One of the downfalls of the electronic age of the internet, iPhones, Androids, television, iPads, etc, is that we communicate with individuals far and near.  Sometimes during meals.  I am embarrassed to say that I am all too often pulled in to doing this too.  As John Michael Talbot wrote in The Universal Monk, "We talk more in our time, but communicate less."  

When we actually sit with others (family, friends, church communities, etc) to break bread, enjoy a refreshing drink and share in good conversation; we are engaging in community living.  No longer is it just us vs. them.  In eating and drinking with others, we share what we are receiving with those who have grown, prepared and made what we are eating and drinking possible.  We are also sharing our lives and hearts with those we are eating with.

Those questioning what Jesus is doing in today's Gospel, are worried about what kind of people He is sharing the dinner table with.  They feel that there must be some kind of litmus test as to who should be seated at Jesus' table with Him and the communities that are gathering around Him.  What Jesus is doing here, is welcoming all who come to the table without labeling, stereotyping, and excluding.  The behavior of those whom Jesus has invited, might be questionable by others standards.  Jesus is not interested in standards.  Jesus came as God among us, to make a place at the table for anyone who wants to come and eat.  Jesus offers them and us in this Gospel to come as we are to find refuge and rest in God's gift of salvation with no pretenses or requirements other than to come and eat.  His happiness and the joy of Heaven is that people who often wondered if there was a place in God's loving Presence for them, find that they are warmly and eagerly welcomed.

The image of a table can also be symbolic of other opportunities to share with others who are different from ourselves.  Over these past few weeks we have been reading and hearing about the efforts to help the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota.  The potential for a pollution disaster is enormous.   Our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry calls on us to think carefully about what clean water means to all of us; and our commitment to be good stewards of this vital resource.

At the heart of this debate and issue, is the dignity of all human persons.  All too long Americans and the Church have failed to regard the Native Americans with respect and dignity.  Yet, this matter has brought together Americans from all walks of life, faiths to protect the Standing Rock Tribe's lands and rights. 

Jesus invites all of us regardless of the labels and situations in our lives to come to him and share at His table.  The Eucharist is where we share in the Goodness of God as the Real Presence of Christ is given to us in the Bread and Wine of Holy Communion.  As God is the Creator and Giver of all that is good, our sharing in the Sacrament of Christ's Presence, is a sharing God's extravagant love with one another.  

Will you accept Jesus' invitation to come to His table?

Will you help welcome others to Jesus' table?

Amen.

Prayers

O God, because without you we are not able to please you,
mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct
and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and
for ever. Amen.  (Proper 19.  The Book of Common Prayer, p. 233).

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us
through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole
human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which
infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;
unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and
confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in
your good time, all nations and races may serve you in
harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ
our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Human Family.  The Book of Common Prayer, p.815).