There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen
and dined sumptuously each day.
From the broad perspective of time and place most of us are much closer to the finely dressed rich man eating well than to poor Lazarus. But our wealth is not inherently an issue. Our relationship to our wealth and the ways we are or aren't free to use it are the potential issues. Wealth can be a specific case of "trusting in human beings" and seeking "strength in flesh" which are themselves problem precisely to the degree that they turn our hearts away from the Lord. The reason Jesus asked his disciples to go minimally equipped on their first missionary travels was so that they could go unencumbered, free to do his will. It is almost impossible to have wealth without worry. But the worry tends to make it seem like wealth is the whole world, like a financial disaster would therefore be the end of the world. To have but to not be attached was what Paul taught to the Corinthians (see First Corinthians 7:29-31).
And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps
that fell from the rich man's table.
What is a litmus test for us to know whether our relationship with our wealth is healthy or not? One answer is for us to see if we have sufficient freedom to address the needs of those at our door, or if we would prefer, not merely to meet our own needs, but to assure our superabundant comfort, rather than addressing the needs of others? As we have said previously, it is not necessary to seek out and address each and every case throughout the world. But we should be willing to do so. Which means when we all but trip across a particular case we really ought to consider what we could do to help. Do we even notice the Lazarus in our lives? Or have we numbed ourselves so that we easily pass him by? Do we see each and every case such as his as someone else's problem?
Abraham replied, 'My child,
remember that you received what was good during your lifetime
while Lazarus likewise received what was bad;
but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Those who received injustice in this life may hope for recompense in the life to come. But those who perpetrated it will only find that the barrenness of their life on earth will be fully realized in reflected in the place the find themselves after death. Theirs hearts were dry of anything like love. They burned only to satisfy their own desires. And thus they were asking of God a world like that, with only them in it, fully experiencing those things. But all those actually in such a world regretted it.
If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded
if someone should rise from the dead.
We can confirm this is true since someone has in fact been raised from the dead. While we may believe that is a fact, we still aren't easily motivated to listen to him in every area of our lives. What God said to the people through Moses did not convict them. Nor does Jesus always convict us, except insofar as it is convenient and conduces to a desirable self-image.
The question is not 'Should I give away all I have to charity?' but rather 'Who is the Lazarus at my door and how can I help him?' The one right on our doorstep is a good place to start, a better remedy for our hardheartedness than more abstract options.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
whose hope is the LORD.
He is like a tree planted beside the waters
that stretches out its roots to the stream:
It fears not the heat when it comes
We are able to be a blessing to others because God has first blessed us, not only with wealth, but with new hearts that can put it to good use. If we try to fix the world without his help we will quickly find that this too constitutes seeking "strength in flesh". In such a case we will feel the crushing hopelessness of an apparently intractable problem. But if we remain as branches on the vine the Lord himself will sustain us, assuring us that to do our part is enough, since he holds all things in his hands.
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