I was asked by a conservative Christian (who was referencing the parable of Lazarus and the rich man):
Why is poor Lazarus worthy of heaven?
It's that sort of presumption and arrogance, I'd suggest, that is most of the point of this parable. By way of reminder, here is the parable:
There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and
lived in luxury every day.
At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores
and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.
Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
Note: This is an exceedingly wealthy man who lived in his privilege, which privilege allowed him to either not know or not care (or know and not care) about Lazarus and his misery.
BUT, whatever the rich man thought or cared, God loved Lazarus.
Continuing:
“The time came when the beggar died and
the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.
Why? Because God loves us all and that begins with the poor and marginalized. God is the great welcome-r and grace-giver to humanity, and especially the poor and marginalized.
The rich man also died and was buried.
In Hades, where he was in torment,
he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
So he called to him,
‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and
send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water
and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
The rich man, in his presumption, ONLY thinks of Lazarus finally as someone who could be ordered around. He didn't care about Lazarus (or about God, if you take Jesus' teachings seriously) in life and he still didn't care about Lazarus even in his deathly precarious, painful position. Lazarus is a tool, nothing else.
WHY is Lazarus "worthy" of heaven? is missing the point entirely. Of course, Lazarus is included in the great welcoming arms of God and the beloved community of Jesus. That's just a given, for Jesus, throughout his teachings. It's a message of God so loved the whole world... it's Jesus' message of good news of grace and welcome. Of course, Lazarus was welcome.
The point then is,
Why DIDN'T Dives consider Lazarus worthy of grace and welcome or even simple respect?
It's an attitude of rejecting the Beloved Community of God - and that attitude is a deliberate choice to separate one's self from God because, as Jesus makes clear, God is found in the beloved community. You can't love God if you don't love, ally with, befriend, lend support to and welcome Lazarus and the other poor and marginalized. Taken with the Sheep and the Goats parable and in the context of the One who came to proclaim good news to the poor and marginalized, it's rather hard to miss that point or fail to reach that conclusion.
Why is poor Lazarus worthy of heaven?
It's that sort of presumption and arrogance, I'd suggest, that is most of the point of this parable. By way of reminder, here is the parable:
There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and
lived in luxury every day.
At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores
and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.
Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
Note: This is an exceedingly wealthy man who lived in his privilege, which privilege allowed him to either not know or not care (or know and not care) about Lazarus and his misery.
BUT, whatever the rich man thought or cared, God loved Lazarus.
Continuing:
“The time came when the beggar died and
the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.
Why? Because God loves us all and that begins with the poor and marginalized. God is the great welcome-r and grace-giver to humanity, and especially the poor and marginalized.
The rich man also died and was buried.
In Hades, where he was in torment,
he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.
So he called to him,
‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and
send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water
and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
The rich man, in his presumption, ONLY thinks of Lazarus finally as someone who could be ordered around. He didn't care about Lazarus (or about God, if you take Jesus' teachings seriously) in life and he still didn't care about Lazarus even in his deathly precarious, painful position. Lazarus is a tool, nothing else.
WHY is Lazarus "worthy" of heaven? is missing the point entirely. Of course, Lazarus is included in the great welcoming arms of God and the beloved community of Jesus. That's just a given, for Jesus, throughout his teachings. It's a message of God so loved the whole world... it's Jesus' message of good news of grace and welcome. Of course, Lazarus was welcome.
The point then is,
Why DIDN'T Dives consider Lazarus worthy of grace and welcome or even simple respect?
It's an attitude of rejecting the Beloved Community of God - and that attitude is a deliberate choice to separate one's self from God because, as Jesus makes clear, God is found in the beloved community. You can't love God if you don't love, ally with, befriend, lend support to and welcome Lazarus and the other poor and marginalized. Taken with the Sheep and the Goats parable and in the context of the One who came to proclaim good news to the poor and marginalized, it's rather hard to miss that point or fail to reach that conclusion.
2 comments:
Craig:
Dan is simply inserting his preconceived notions into the text.
You said that in response to my saying that the rich man desired/loved money more than God and that the rich man had no compassion for God as evidenced by his cruelty towards the poor.
Now, these ARE my interpretations, if you will, but they are informed by biblical teachings (and just common sense).
WHY did the goats (in the Sheep and Goats parable) piss off God? Because they didn't care about the least of these.
WHY did the Sodomites piss off God? Because they were wealthy, haughty and didn't care for the poor.
WHEN did Israel piss off God? When they refused to take care for the poor and marginalized, over and over and over again.
WHY was the Good (hated) Samaritan good? Because he tended to the needs of abused man while the "good" privileged folk walked right by. And WHO was the neighbor? NOT the privileged ones in that story.
WHY did James warn so very strongly against the wealthy? Because they cheated and abused the poor.
WHY was Mary glad that God had chosen her? Because it showed that God was pissed off at the rich and powerful and lifting up the poor and lowly.
WHY was James pissed off about those who proclaimed "faith" but had no concern for the poor outside their door? Because their faith was worthless.
WHO did Jesus come to preach good news to? The poor and marginalized.
WHAT did Jesus' tell John's disciples when they asked if he was "the One?" He told them, "Tell them I'm preaching good news to the poor."
WHY was Jesus sad when the rich man walked away? Because the rich man's wealth meant he could not/would not give to the poor and follow Jesus.
HOW did Zacchaeus show he'd been saved? Because he gave his goods to the poor he'd cheated and abused.
WHAT did Jesus say to the rich man who built more barns with his wealth? "YOU FOOL! Tonight you will perish and what good will your many barns do you?!"
WHAT did Jesus tell the rich and the poor about who is blessed? "Blessed are you who are poor... but WOE to you who are rich..."
WHY did Jesus mock the wealthy giver and praise the poor widow and her mite donation? Because the wealthy man's "gift" was nothing while the widow's mite was everything.
WHAT did Paul us about money? That the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil."
WHY was Jesus royally pissed at the moneychangers in the temple? Because they were abusing the poor.
WHY was God pissed off at Ananias and Sapphira? Because they were using their privilege and wealth to enrich themselves.
WHY did the Psalmist say God was so pissed off at the wealthy and powerful that he would "crush them..." ? Because they ignored and abused the poor.
You MUST know that I can go on and on citing very basic biblical support for why a reasonable person would conclude that God was pissed off at Dives because of his ignoring of and abuse of Lazarus, who was beloved by God.
There is no more clear point in all of Scripture than this idea. It is, if not THE most common theme in the bible, then the second most common theme - and then, only if you allow that the most common theme in the Bible is God's realm, which is directly tied up with the poor and marginalized that are beloved by God.
Now, you can disagree with this conclusion if you wish, but you CAN'T rationally call it any kind of stretch of biblical understanding. I'm standing with saints like St Francis, John Wesley, CS Lewis and many others on these obvious points. It's not like it is some kind of weird outlier position or not just abundantly obvious in the text.
Dan
To again answer a question from Craig...
YHWH is "not willing that any should perish" (leaving aside that this at least strongly suggests that Jesus is directly speaking of either "hell" or annihilation), yet YHWH refuses the request of the rich man to have Lazarus (not himself) go warn others of their fate. Why, if YHWH is "not willing that any should perish", would YHWH not prevent the rich guy's family from perishing? Unwilling? Unable?
Because it's a PARABLE, not a literal story. There IS no hell in the Dantean sense that some would find in this fictional parable. It's a story told for the point of the LESSON to be learned.
And the lesson?
If you don't feed, give drink to, visit, ally with the poor and marginalized, you've chosen against and away from God. And God will not force you to do that, but you've chosen yourself OUT of the Beloved Community of God.
As John Wesley says:
And it is no more sinful to be rich than to be poor. But
it is dangerous beyond expression.
Therefore, I remind all of you that are of this number, that have the conveniences of life, and something over that ye walk upon slippery ground. Ye continually tread on snares and deaths.
Ye are every moment on the verge of hell! "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for you to enter in the kingdom of heaven." -
https://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/the-sermons-of-john-wesley-1872-edition/sermon-112-the-rich-man-and-lazarus/
And so much more, as AI sums up Wesley's response to this story:
, John Wesley argues that the parable (or history) serves as a severe warning about the spiritual dangers of wealth, self-indulgence, and unconcern for the poor, emphasizing that eternal destiny is determined by one's response to God's revealed word rather than dramatic miracles
Or, as Jesus said in the text leading up to this parable:
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve both God and money.”
The Pharisees,
who loved money,
heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
Dan
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