BLOG 8/26/15. THE PARABLE OF LAZARUS AND DIVES: WEALTH AND POVERTY, THE ISSUE IS REAL AND INESCAPABLE.
The political atmosphere contains the frequent reminder of the awesome influence of the 1% of the wealthy in this nation, and the apparent helplessness of the other 99% to be able to do much about it. In this election season it is a stump speech only engaged in cautiously, if at all, by most candidates. Wall Street and its allies seem devoid of any sense of the moral and ethical responsibilities of their wealth, other than their own security (that may be unfair to some, but it appears that way to me). What is even more puzzling is how very little that voter constituency which the press labels: the Christian right, or the Evangelical Right, presses the candidates on this issue. Jesus never dodged the issue of the responsibilities of economic justice.
Consider the parable of the rich man, Dives, and his poverty-stricken and physically disabled counterpart, Lazarus. The parable portrays Dives as one who dressed in the most expensive clothes, and who daily partook of the richest of foods. His table scraps would have been a good meal for many, which is why Lazarus, the poor man, was carried each day and laid at the gate of the estate of the rich man. A colorful detail of the parable is that the guard dogs, ordinarily there as vicious protectors of the estate against intruders, . . . were fond of Lazarus and came and licked his wounds. So Dives never noticed, or at least never paid any humane attention, to Lazarus. Then they both died, and as the parable concludes, Dives went to hell, or Hades, and suffered, while Lazarus went into the embrace of Abraham. Dives complains out of his torment, and is reminded that in his lifetime he enjoyed comforts and riches, and was oblivious to the needs of his human counterpart, notwithstanding the clear teachings of the (Old Testament) patriarchs and prophets. It’s a frightening parable, given the disparity of wealth in the world today.
Jesus began his ministry with the statement that he was come to fulfill the Messianic role of one who brought good news to the poor, and release from debtors prisons (most prisoners in Jesus’ day were there because they couldn’t pay their debts). Near the end of his earthly ministry he gave the sobering teaching that, at his return, the criteria for judgment would be how the naked and hungry and homeless and prisoners were treated.
If wealth and poverty are not an issue for every follower of Christ today, then somebody is not reading the teachings of Jesus and prophets very intelligently. There are more homeless refugees in the world today than ever in history. There are huge numbers seeking economic survival everywhere. The immigration issue cannot be a political football. It is an ethical issue. Any mother or father trapped and helpless in poverty or danger would seek better circumstances for their offspring.
Ah! But those with the power and wealth to at least seek workable solutions are protective of their wealth and status, and turn a blind eye, or intentionally refuse to look at this issues, . . . whether in the poorer neighborhoods of their own cities, or with millions displaced in Syria. Personal wealth and security easily become a god. Mammon is the only entity that Jesus named as a competitor to God, to Jesus “who for our sakes became poor that we might you through his poverty might become rich.”
Having grown up in the Great Depression, my parents had to determine what was essential in the use of their meager incomes. They were great stewards, but they also shared with those who had even less. At this moment in history we are the wealthiest nation, and the North American church is the wealthiest in the world. We dare not ignore the huge multitude of ‘Lazaruses’ on our doorstep locally and globally, . . . “to love justice and to do kindness” (Micah 6:8).
