Readings
for Proper 21C:
Amos 6:1-7; 1 Tim. 6:3-19; Luke 16:19-31
September 26, 2004
The Rev. Karen Siegfriedt
St. Jude the Apostle Episcopal Church, Cupertino,
CA
What would happen, if today, you received a letter from God? Would your heart pound? Would your mind race? Would your life change? Today, we are privileged to hear four excerpts of a letter from God. Now don't get too literal on me! God didn't actually type this letter and send it to us through cosmic email. However, God has inspired many prophets to remind us of our true selves, our original nature, our Inner Light. God has inspired many prophets, throughout the ages, to remind us that we belong to God; that we must take the journey from the head to the heart so that we can walk in this world with compassion, generosity, and justice for all. This is what today's readings are all about.
In particular, today's readings from the Holy Scriptures feature Amos, Paul, and Jesus trying to get the attention of the rich to open up their hearts to the plight of the poor and to handle their money in such a way that this world becomes a better place. We call this thoughtful and righteous way of handling money, Christian stewardship. Since we, the people of St. Jude's parish, are in the top 5% of the wealthiest people in the world, these Scriptures speak directly to us. Let's take a closer look.
The gospel story, which is told by Jesus, is a story that is well traveled, existing in several cultures and in many versions. Some scholars trace it back to Egypt, where stories of the dead abound. Jesus gives this story a particular twist, using Hebrew names and context. A rich man is clothed in purple and fine linen and has been feasting in luxury everyday, eating exotic and costly dishes. In a country where the common people were fortunate if they were able to eat meat once in the week while toiling in the sun for six days, the rich man is a figure of outrageous self-indulgence.
In 1st century Palestine, there were no knives, forks, or napkins. Food was eaten with the hand. In very wealthy houses, the hands were cleansed by wiping them on hunks of bread, which were then thrown away. Lazarus was waiting for these crumbs of bread that fell from the rich man's table. Lazarus was beggar, covered with ulcerated sores and so helpless, that he could not even ward off the street dogs. And so he died.
If I were to come up with a title for this story, I would title it as "The man who didn't notice." The rich man was so caught up in his own world of eating, drinking, having fun, and accumulating wealth that he just didn't notice the impact that his behavior had on the suffering of the world. It was not that he hated the poor or didn't want them around. He did not order Lazarus to be removed from his gate. He had made no objections to his receiving the bread that was flung away from his table. He did not kick him or avoid him in the passing. The sin of the rich man was that he accepted the suffering as part of the landscape and simply thought that it was perfectly natural and inevitable that Lazarus should lie in pain and hunger while he wallowed in luxury. The sin of the rich man was that he could look upon the world's suffering and feel no grief or pity in his heart.
Why is there so much suffering and pain in the world when there is such an abundance of resources, knowledge, and technology? Some say that it is an economic problem. To some extent this is true. That is why the practice of Christian stewardship is so important. In the world of capitalism- international trade agreements, the stock market, interest rates, loans to 3rd world countries, monopolies, mergers, taxes, and expenditures, have a profound effect on poverty in the world. We must make sure that our economic policies factor in, the plight of the poor.
Why is there so much suffering and pain in the world when there is such an abundance of resources, knowledge, and technology? Some say that it is a political problem. To some extent this is true. That is why it is so important to cast our vote based on the principle of sacrificial love. General Eisenhower once said: "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, signifies in the final sense a theft from those who are hungry and not fed, those who are cold and not clothed." We must make sure that our political policies factor in, the plight of the poor.
Why is there so much suffering and pain in the world when there is such an abundance of resources, knowledge, and technology, and where the majority of the population claims to be people of God? The prophets of the Holy Scriptures would say that the primary cause of poverty & suffering in the world is a spiritual problem. I would have to agree. If "people of means" can look on the world's suffering and feel no grief or pity, or if we do feel grief and pity and do not act aggressively, then we have fallen away from our true selves, our Inner Light, our soul. We have become internally divided individuals; individuals who know the ethical precepts of taking care of the less fortunate, yet who have betrayed the less fortunate by being so preoccupied with our own lives and accumulation of wealth. This is a spiritual problem. Our high standard of living has encouraged our self- indulgent appetites, our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts. Our high standard of living has blinded us to human need and suffering. As the poet Rumi said some 800 years ago: "If you are here unfaithfully with us, you are causing terrible damage."
How did we get so divided from our true selves? How did we become so disconnected from suffering humanity? How did we become so obsessed with things and goals that they began to take precedence over people and relationships? I think it is very hard to remain true to that which gives life while living in a world that focuses on 'faster, better, and more.' Many Christians have gotten sucked into this madness of 'faster, better, and more.' All of us arrived here on earth with an innate interconnectedness to life. But from birth onward, our true selves have been constantly deformed by forces from within and without. Racism, sexism, economic injustice, social cancers, resentment, self-doubt, abuse, and fear, have all played havoc on the purity of our inner nature. This deformation causes us to forget the impact that our choices in life have on others.
The principalities and powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God are real and have had a significant impact on our being able and willing to choose the good over the darkness. This is where the importance of the spiritual life comes in. We need to practice the spiritual disciplines to remain children of the light and to resist the deformation of our character by darkness and ignorance. Those spiritual disciplines include: meditation, prayer, fasting, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, and celebration. This is why it is so important to bath ourselves in the Holy Scriptures and to allow the words of the prophets to lead us back to our true identity as children of God, even if those prophetic words make us feel uncomfortable. Remember, true prophetic words "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."
Paul's letter to Timothy contains such prophetic words of life. Timothy is a young man who is new to the ministry. Paul (or one of Paul's disciples) writes a letter to this young minister and his congregation to give them some advice on how to stay on the path of love that was prescribed by Jesus. Two points are made in today's reading:
The teachings we have heard today about proper stewardship of money are given to us so that we may never forget to notice and respond to the plight of the poor. "We must become the change we want to see in the world." We have the power to choose, moment by moment, between that which gives life and that which deals death. So choose life that you may live abundantly in Christ's love.
| Updated 9/27/04 |
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