The Life That Really is Life

Sunday, September 28, 2025

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 21C)

1 Timothy 6.6-19; Luke 16.19-31

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

There is something a bit off with today’s Gospel reading. Well, not with the reading itself, but with how it is sometimes interpreted. What Jesus says is spot on, of course. But even in what he says, we often focus on the wrong thing. His basic message is clear. What he asks of us is clear. How we get there—the mental process, the motivation—for choosing to do as he asks, is another matter.

 

At its core, this story is about money. Or rather, how we use our money. One of the common, if not central, themes in Luke’s Gospel is economic generosity and fairness. The disparity between rich and poor—something we hear so much about even in our own day. And particularly, in the parlance of our own day, how the “haves” are called to help the “have nots.” Today’s Gospel passage is in a long line of those that deal with this very subject. Presenting a morality tale that is intended to focus our attention on this pressing issue. One that was pressing in Jesus’ time and continues to be pressing—increasingly so—in our own day.

 

As we heard, the main characters in this morality play are two men who have recently died and gone to Hades—more on that in a bit. One is Lazarus (not to be confused with the Lazarus Jesus raises from the dead in John’s Gospel), a poor man who suffered from some sort of ailment that included sores. The other is a very wealthy man. Interestingly, only Lazarus is given a name, not the rich man. The fact that he is named, whereas so many others in Jesus’ parables are not, is meant to humanize him. To draw attention to him. To emphasize that he, too, is a valuable human being, not just a nameless nobody who is so easy for us to pass by without a second thought. If even given a first thought as we rush by going about our own sense of urgent business.

 

For the rich man, Lazarus was obviously little more than a passing thought, if that. Daily, Lazarus would sit begging at the gate of the rich man’s palace, hoping for a mere morsel to satisfy his hunger. An amount that would have been a fraction of what went to waste in the rich man’s house and yet would have been as a feast to Lazarus. The rich man’s dogs eating table scraps undoubtedly ate better than did Lazarus.

             

After they both die, they go to Hades. And while this is not a treatise on ancient understandings of the afterlife, it is important to understand what—or where—we are talking about, as it plays into our understanding of the message. We often think of Hades as being what we would refer to as Hell. But that is not the case, despite the reference to tormenting flames and agony. Both Lazarus and the rich man are in Hades. The Greek equivalent to the Jewish concept of Sheol. The place of the dead. According to the earliest biblical portrayals, this was not a place of reward or punishment, but rather a place where all the dead went, righteous and wicked alike. By the time of Jesus, ideas about what happens after death had evolved, and were still evolving. And we see some elements of that in his parable.

 

Several hundred years before Jesus, the idea of resurrection of the dead started being developed, along with a growing idea of divine justice. Although there were still debates. As we see in the Gospels, the Pharisees believed in a resurrection of the dead and associated final judgment, while the Sadducees did not believe in resurrection; once you died, you were just gone. Under the idea of resurrection, which Jesus obviously believed in, Sheol became more of a place to wait for the final judgment. And in time, even took on an element not of damnation, but purification. A place where souls would undergo a cleansing before the final judgment, before the world to come. But even then, the purification, the cleansing, was often thought to be limited in duration, not the permanent damnation that we think of as Hell.

 

Now it is important to note that, from a Jewish perspective, having different understandings of the afterlife, or believing in no afterlife at all, was perfectly acceptable. Still is. That is not the focus of their faith. Their focus is on what we do in this life. On striving to do good in this life. This is the foundational understanding on which today’s parable ultimately rests.

 

Jesus chooses the evolving understanding of Sheol for the parable he tells today. It is this place of waiting, of purification, in which Lazarus and the rich man find themselves. Lazarus in one part, not requiring purification, just waiting. The rich man, across a chasm in another part, undergoing much needed purification.

 

The purification process does not seem to be going so well for the rich man. He just does not understand why he is being tormented, that he had done anything wrong in life. When he sees Lazarus across the chasm with Father Abraham, he immediately requests that Abraham send Lazarus to provide him comfort. Not even addressing Lazarus. Still viewing him with patronizing contempt, as someone beneath himself, worthy of only serving his needs and desires. Still not seeing Lazarus as a human being, just as he had not seen him in life. Although, interestingly, he does know Lazarus’ name. Which means he knew exactly who Lazarus was in life. This says something about his lack of generosity and his clueless sense of entitlement in life, continuing into death. Implying his sin was not just one of ignorance or of omission, but of willful disregard for Lazarus and his humanity. A sin reinforced, if not exacerbated, by his continued disregard for Lazarus in death.

 

Even as he disregards Lazarus, still not having any compassion for him, the rich man does have compassion for his brothers. For his perceived equals. Still not getting it, he asks that Lazarus at least be sent to warn his brothers, who are very likely just as clueless and uncaring as he is, to warn them that they need to change their ways. Still disregarding Lazarus’ humanity and worth. And nope, still not going to work. “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.”

 

This is the real lesson in this parable. Why we should have compassion and provide assistance when confronted with the likes of Lazarus—with those in need of help. In keeping with the Jewish focus of doing good in this life as opposed to worrying about what will happen in the afterlife. Because it is a central teaching of our faith. It’s right there in Scripture. The message of Moses and all the other prophets. And in our own faith tradition, we can add the examples and messages of the saints—of so many who dedicated their lives to the wellbeing of others. To all those who, in word and example, call God’s people to work for social justice, to care for those on the margins of society. All their messages wrapped up in the repeated commandment in both Old and New Testament to love our neighbors as ourselves.

 

Unfortunately, there are some who interpret Jesus’ message through the lens of the rich man and his request to have Lazarus warn his brothers: “so that they will not also come to this place of torment.” That we need to do what God asks of us through Moses, the prophets, and the saints, what God asks of us through his commandments, solely to avoid the prospect of burning in Hell for all eternity. This is not at all what Jesus is saying. Back to the Jewish understanding that what is important is doing good in this life for the sake of doing good. Not to avoid torment in the hereafter. We can begin to see this when we realize that the Jewish evolving understanding of the afterlife at the time of Jesus was not quite the same as our Christian understanding. And certainly, following Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have a new and expanded understanding of how God’s grace operates in our own lives of faith. One in which God does not separate us from his love, from his presence, by condemning us to Hell. Only we can do that.

 

Applying the true lesson of the parable to our own lives, it is clear that we all stand in the position of the rich man’s brothers. I certainly don’t know everyone’s financial situation, but compared to the likes of Lazarus, compared to those we see on the streets of our own city every day, compared to so many around the world who are the poorest of the poor, we are wealthy by comparison. Jesus asks us to view these with the eyes of love and compassion, to see them and treat them with the respect, courtesy, and dignity that the rich man did not. That we seek to act on that love and compassion, with the respect, courtesy, and dignity that the rich man was unwilling to.

 

Our Epistle reading from Paul’s First Letter to Timothy gives us some further insights in exercising compassion for those in need. This passage contains the well-known statement, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Oft misquoted and misunderstood as “money is the root of all evil.” Those four words, “for the love of” change the entire meaning. Money is not evil. Having money is not evil. Enjoying the benefits of having money is not evil. It is when the focus is on loving money, being obsessed with making more and more money to the exclusion of all else, where the problem dwells. As Paul then states, “in the eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.”

 

Paul recognizes that we need money to meet our basic needs, but that we should be content with these. With meeting our needs, but not to pursue what he calls the “fall into temptation and [to become] trapped by many senseless and harmless desires.” Rather, he urges us “shun all this.” Instead, we are to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.” The qualities that are themselves manifest and engaged when we willingly care for the needs of those who are unable to provide for themselves. When we seek to love our neighbors as ourselves.

 

And as if that is not pointed enough, Paul ends this passage with an emphatic statement: “As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.”

 

True life, true fulfillment, is not to be found in our material resources. True life is to be found in seeking to live more fully in accordance with God’s commandments; namely to love God and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Or rather, to love God BY loving our neighbors as ourselves. And one of the primary ways we do this is through a careful discernment of just how we use our financial resources, making certain that a portion go to the work of God’s kingdom. Starting next week, and going for seven weeks, we will be doing our annual stewardship campaign. Our annual opportunity to reassess just how we will use our personal resources to support the work of St. Gregory’s Parish as we seek to demonstrate God’s love in the world in a tangible way. As part of that, we will have the opportunity to hear how God, working in this place, has touched the lives of some of our parishioners. And through our own personal reflections, to discern what kind of life we want for ourselves and for our parish home. As we seek to build a life that really is the life God desires for us and for all whom we minister to and with.