Amos 6: 1a, 4-7 (New Jerusalem Bible)
Luke 16: 19-31 (Common English Bible)
In many ways the parable in Luke chapter 16 is a political message often used by the prophets from the Hebrew Bible. The parables told by Jesus were fictional stories of wisdom told down through the centuries. There was even an older story like this from ancient Egypt but with the Egyptian background. Jesus’ parables are an invitation to a deeper faith that leads people to God. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus is a story of caution and foreboding to those with wealth, social privilege, and power but no conscience. BTW, the rich man was given a made-up name made by writers several centuries after the time of Jesus. It was “Dives” which is Latin for “rich.”
The parable opens with Jesus describing the rich man. He wears expensive clothing and dines like a glutton every day. But Jesus didn't give the rich man a name. The rich were not important to Jesus, but someone like Lazarus was.
While the rich man is tormented in the Land of the Dead, also called Hades, he still thinks Lazarus is obligated to him and his family. The fate of the rich man and Lazarus have been reversed in the afterlife, yet the rich man thought he should receive the same privileges he had during his rich life. And he wanted to warn his brothers about the place he was in.
Even if Lazarus could warn the brothers of the rich man at his request, would Lazarus have enough influence to tell the brothers to be more generous and help the poor? Lazarus would tell the rich man’s brothers the privilege of being rich is not the type of privilege that deserves eternity at Abraham’s side. And the parable says, “If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, then neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.”
The message of this parable was radical in Jesus’ time and is still radical today. God is on the side of the oppressed, the poor and marginalized. God judges those with greed to risk facing eternal separation from God. The sin of the rich man was that avoided Lazarus at his gates. Lazarus was just somebody the rich man threw scraps to.
The Pharisees, who have been listening to Jesus’ parables, have a values problem. They value money more than they value people. Jesus saw the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, their wealth had blinded them to their own spiritual poverty.
We need a change of heart and a change of mind before it’s too late. If action isn’t taken soon, our nation will be controlled by Oligarchs who have no conscience. The rich man never changed his attitude about wealth and he received eternal death. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus isn’t about what happens to us after death. It’s a wake-up call as a warning that someone who is poor should be respected as much as someone wealthy.
Jesus isn’t interested in fitting into someone’s value system. Jesus wants us to be aligned with God’s values. The crevasse or chasm the rich man created became wider and deeper every time he walked past Lazarus and refused to help him. The chasm grew even deeper when the rich man feasted while Lazarus starved. And how many Americans will starve when their SNAP benefits are ended? And while the rich man received a made-up name, Lazarus was the poor man’s real name and it meant “God is my help.”
In Amos chapter six, the prophet condemns Israel’s leaders for their failure to abide by righteousness and justice. Amos makes it clear the leaders of both Jewish nations, the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judea were under judgment. And both nations were invaded and occupied. The Northern Kingdom was conquered by Assyria in 732 BC and the Southern Kingdom fell to the Babylonian army in 597 BC. And tens of thousands of the Jewish people were taken into exile, just as Amos predicted.
One of the sins that Amos condemns is by having too much national pride that views itself above all others. They believe that Israel is first among nations. Their faith is not in God, but their own national security. And we can see a similarity in America with the heresy of Christian Nationalism.
Through the Book of Amos, the prophet speaks a lot about the plight of the oppressed, the forgotten and the mistreatment of the poor in the courts. And speaking about courts, we have the worst Supreme Court since 1859 when the infamous Dred Scott vs Sandford decision sent Dred Scott back into slavery even though he was living in a free state. Today we have six Supreme Court justices who will bend over backwards for the rich and ignore the poor. The rich of Israel dined on the best food, lounged on beds of ivory, anointed themself with the finest oil and cosmetics plus they drank their wine from bowls instead of goblets. They must have had a lot of wine and no doubt it was far better than Ripple.
It does not take too much imagination to realize our own nation becoming like ancient Israel that Amos condemned. What Amos criticizes is patriotism that has run amok.. National pride in the Southern Kingdom (Israel) has fallen prey to a self-centered and destructive arrogance and apathy. Amos predicts those who consider themselves “first of nations” will be the first to go into exile. And so it happened when the Jewish people of Israel were forced into exile by the Assyrians.
What is happening now in America and other nations is a new Gilded Age, and that is not good. Social media and reality TV series are the new “bread and circuses” like Rome to keep the masses happy and under control. One has to only look when luxury items and designer brands are enjoyed by the few but coveted by the many. All the while, the gap between rich and poor has been growing out of control. One idea is to have a maximum wage happen. Unfortunately I don’t think that is going to happen. Just because Wall Street might be doing well, doesn’t mean the average person is.
The attitude of the rulers of Israel was one of complacency. They ignored God’s word through Amos and they even began to worship pagan gods. The leaders of the Northern Kingdom had no fear of judgement and they seemed to think the warnings given by Amos did not apply to them. Amos spoke of disasters to come, but the rich Israelites ignored it.
The wealthy of the Northern Kingdom of Israel lived for their pleasures. Money and enjoyment is what they worshiped. They turned a blind eye to the hardship of other people.
There is a lesson that human beings are the same now as they were during the time of Amos. Technology has advanced and science is improving our living, but the human mind or conscience is about the same it was during the time of the Hebrew prophets. The trouble with technology is that it has no soul. It runs ahead and ignores the consequences of their new technology. Look at what social damage has been done. Theft is easy now through the Internet, young people are ridiculed online with some leading to suicide, people are addicted to their smart phones, underage sexting happens and even worse pedophiles prow the Internet looking for young girls to abuse. And I wonder how many serious vehicle wrecks have happened because someone was driving while using a cellphone.
If there is one god that is worshiped today in our society, it is the god of money, also called Mammon. The aim of many people is to get rich. The purpose of the government is for financial growth. We might want this, but when we have it, it does not provide the security and peace we really need.
Money can never buy contentment in the human heart or provide for the good of the people. There are more important things than temporal wealth that doesn’t last forever. Riches alone never satisfy. Riches can lead people away from God.
In the famous novel by Charles Dickens, “A Christmas Carol,” the rich miser Ebenezer Scrooge benefited from the visits of the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future. Through that experience he learns compassion and empathy and is warned about his fate unless he changes his heart. Through Jesus in his parable about Lazarus, he didn’t need messengers, we already have our guide through Jesus and the prophets. Jesus’ most important words were to love your neighbor as you love yourself. For a rich person that is something free than even an aristocrat can do. AMEN.
