26th Sunday

26th Sunday Ordinary
September 26, 2004

Woe to the complacent in Zion! Lying upon beds of ivory, stretched comfortably on their couches... they shall be the first to go into exile" (Amos 6: 1-7) "If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'" (Luke 16:19-31)
This week the readings draw our attention to the gulf between rich and poor. The prophet Amos again has stern warnings for the comfortable and complacent, especially when it is at the expense of the poor. Psalm 146 echoes this theme "Blessed the one who... secures justice for the oppressed, (and) gives food to the hungry... "
Jesus tells the story of a rich person, once selfish with his wealth and position, now bargaining from his place of torment with Lazarus, once wretched and miserable, now resting comfortably in Abraham's bosom. But it is too late. Nothing can be done, even to warn this person's family about what they are doing. They are "invincibly ignorant", (i.e., "clueless"), rendered totally incapable of any insight into their behavior by their immersion in self-indulgence. If they could not hear Moses and Amos, why would they pay any attention even to an angel from heaven, or the risen Christ himself?
It seems that far too often that we use stories and lessons from our sacred writings to support our inclination to point fingers about which groups are to blame for all of our problems. Conveniently these groups are rarely the ones with which we identify closely. This appears to be especially true about "rich and poor". If we are "rich", we blame the "poor" for being lazy; if we are "poor", we blame the "rich" for being selfish.
The chasm referred to in these passages, applies not simply to "rich and poor". The "rich" are much too easy a target for our envy. And where is it written that the rich are always selfish? A wealthy man did pay for Christ's burial. Wealth does seem to make it more likely that one would be complacent and unaffected by the plight of others. Poverty can breed smoldering anger and resentment. We cling to the myth of individualism that whatever we possess has been earned entirely by our own efforts. As if good fortune, birth, being in the right place at the right time, and the support of others, play no part in our success.
Perhaps the real chasm is the one between the generous, who understand that their possessions have come as a gift from the Most High, and the selfish who foolishly think that what they possess is really theirs. Probably most of us at various times and places are in the position of both Lazarus and the rich person. The gulf is within our own souls and in the myths of our own religious, social and political ideologies. We might do well this week to reflect on how we are using our personal and corporate wealth to advantage, and disadvantage, of other people and of the earth which supports all life.