kÔrie âlèhsìn

The Rev. Joseph Winston

September 30, 2007

Sermon

Grace and peace are gifts for you from God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.1
When you drive anywhere in the United States, you soon will see two dis-
tinct types of architecture. The classic Victorians that you might see in this town,
Galveston, or in Brenham represent one extreme. Along with their distinctive
shapes, unique colors, and graceful presence most Victorian houses have sweep-
ing porches on at least one side of the house. At one time in the house’s life, these
shade filled rooms were very important. There underneath the eaves one could
often find chairs and tables. During the hot part of the day, you went outside and
lived there on the porch. Until the weather turned cold, children would spend their
days playing in its shade. Off on one side, they would have fun with their toys. The
adults had their own section of the veranda and from there they held court. They
1
Romans 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Philippians
1:2, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, Philemon 1:3

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watched not only their children amusing themselves but they also pronounced
words over everyone in the neighborhood. “Hello Mrs. Jones, good to see you
today. How is your husband doing? Now Tommy, I don’t want to be the one who
has to tell your mother about your bad behavior. Get out of the street right now!”
Dinner was eaten on the porch and many families even slept out there.
The new suburbs all around us illustrate a completely different style. These
houses have automatic garage door openers, air conditioning, and fenced yards.
With all of these features, it is very difficult if not impossible to see if the house is
occupied. There could be a stay at home mother but one could never tell this fact
because they never go outside. Rather they entertain themselves in the perfectly
controlled atmosphere of the house. Sometime in the early evening, the cars return
to roost in the garage. Once again, the house is silent. No one plays outside. It is
too hot now. Instead, the children are found gathered around computer screens
acting out their fantasies in virtual worlds. Their parents are inside also. They
too could be surfing the internet or they might be watching the newest simulated
reality show on the television. When everyone is tired, they retire to their own
rooms and go to sleep.
Some people who study the way that we live have noticed this same trend.
They tell us that all around the United States people are becoming more isolated.
One specific author has noted in the last twenty-five years, people are thirty-five
percent less likely to invite someone over and almost one half of all families no
longer eat their evening meal together.2 This disconnect between neighbors hurts
2
Anonymous, Bowling Alone, http://www.bowlingalone.com/.

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people of all classes because it makes interacting with others much more difficult
and this disregard for the rest of the world seems to hurt the most those individuals
who live without a safety net.
Today’s Gospel Lesson from Jesus is a perfect example of how individuals are
hurt when they are ignored.
The parable first introduces us to an unbelievably rich man. His wealth gives
him unlimited access to the best things that this world has to offer. Everyone can
see his wealth not only in the way he dresses but also in his healthy physical
appearance. The second character in the story is different from the first as night is
from day. Lazarus is paralyzed and in addition to this malady, he is afflicted with
a skin disease. He must beg to survive and in order to do this he is carried to the
rich man’s neighborhood.3 In fact, Lazarus is left just outside of the property line
of the rich man. There on the ground and unable to fight them off, the mutts and
mongrels of the town come and humiliate him by licking his wounds.4
What happens next in the story is both men die. The rich man’s family and
friends give him man a proper send off whereas no one cares for Lazarus’s body.
Now in the afterlife, everything is reversed. The rich man finds himself being
tormented and Lazarus is in the lap of luxury. There in the land of the dead the rich
man calls out to Abraham for mercy, something that the rich man never showed
Lazarus in life, and the rich man asks for an infinitesimally small drink of water.
3
Arland J. Hultgren, Chap. Parables of Exemplary Behavior In ‘The Parables of Jesus: A Com-
mentary’, (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000), p. 112.
4
LukeTimothyJohnson; Daniel J. Harringtion S.J., editor, The Gospel of Luke, Volume 3, (The
Liturgical Press, 1991), p. 252.

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Instead of fulfilling his request, Abraham points out to the rich man the obvious
contrast between him and Lazarus. The rich man had been given everything good
and Lazarus had been given everything evil. Besides that, Abraham tells the rich
man that no one can move from one world to the other.
Thinking back on his full life, the rich man realizes that his five brothers live
just like he used to do. They ignore the poor, the widows, the orphans, and the
other people who need their help. He pleads with Abraham to send Lazarus back to
warn them so that they do not repeat his same mistakes. Abraham gently reminds
the rich man that they already have been given the law and the prophets, which
state over and over that the more fortunate are required to help those in need.
Knowing how well he listened to all those people who tried to tell him this, the rich
man asks Abraham to send Lazarus back so that they will change their behavior.
Abraham informs the rich man that if they do no listen to God’s Word spoken by
Moses and the prophets, then they will never be convinced by the testimony of a
dead man.
If we were to assign roles to the different parts in the parable, then who would
we be? Is it even possible that we are Abraham? This seems rather unlikely since
Abraham is a historical character with a well-defined part in Bible. Could we be
the character called Lazarus? Once again this does not seem conceivable since the
poorest of us is far richer than most of the world. Besides that, we are not dead and
found in Abraham’s bosom. Are we the rich man? This idea is feasible because we
have many things that the majority of the world lacks. For example, we can drink
water without becoming sick. UNICEF estimates that one sixth of the world lacks

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this most basic necessary. We also share in many of the rich man’s weaknesses.
We do not know the names of those poor people who live right outside the doors
of this church and we do not give them the food and the medical treatments that
they need to survive. Despite these shocking similarities, we are not the rich man.
He is dead and we are living. Maybe then we are the rich man’s five brothers. Like
us, they are alive and they share some of the same problems of their dead brother.
They ignore the outcasts of society.
If then we are the five brother still living on this earth, then Abraham has a
very harsh Word for us. We have already been given both the law and the prophets.
They have found us guilty of sin against our fellow humans because we have not
heard the cries for mercy from the poor that live next to us. This is the reason why
the rich man is in Hades. He had been given considerable wealth and had not used
any of it to help people less fortunate than him.
The lesson for today ends with, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” And if this
final sentence were the end of our story, we would be in serious trouble. For you
see, none of us has done what the law has commanded us. We have not learned
the names of the poor in this community, we have not taken care of their needs,
and we have not held ourselves accountable when we failed to help those less for-
tunate members of our society. But the ending of today’s parable is not the last
word on our fate. This distinct honor falls on Jesus.
The rest of the story found in Luke tells us that the Lord had mercy on us.
Jesus went to His death on the cross at Calvary and because of His sacrifice we

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have been given the amazing gift of new life. This is the final Word on our life.
Jesus dies so that that we may live.
The book of Luke ends with Jesus on the road with two of His followers.
As they all walked to Emmaus, He interpreted the Scriptures for them so that
they could see that Christ’s life was necessary and in the shared meal, Jesus also
revealed Himself to them. This same blessing that Christ gave two of His disciples
is given to you and to me. When we sit around the table on Wednesday nights and
discuss the Bible or listen to the sermon on Sunday, Christ is there with us. At each
of these times, He is telling each of us why He needed to come and die for our
salvation. When we stand around the Lord’s Table and eat His meal, He is right
here with us. In the blessing and the breaking of the bread, He shows Himself to
us.
The world outside these doors acts just like the five brothers of the rich man
that ignore the cries of the poor. We can see this in the architecture all around us
that provides them isolation from the rest of the world. This self-imposed sepa-
ration not only allows them to focus on their wants and desires but it also allows
them to conveniently forget the poor that surrounds them.
Our calling from God is to bring these people out of their houses and into the
world. This will not be an easy task because they are fascinated with all the won-
ders that technology brings including its astounding ability to hide the problems
of reality. Despite this fact, this is what God wants us to do. For if we do not, then
we are both condemning these rich brothers to join their elder brother and we are
sentencing the Lazaruses of this world to horrible deaths.

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 “The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”5

References

Anonymous, Bowling Alone, http://www.bowlingalone.com/.

Hultgren, Arland J., Chap. Parables of Exemplary Behavior In ‘The Parables of

LukeTimothyJohnson; S.J., Daniel J. Harringtion, editor, The Gospel of Luke, Vol-

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Philippians 4:7.