Lazarus And The Rich Man

It is vulnerable on the one hand to be mega rich and on the other hand to be utterly poor. Mega richness, most often, takes a person away from God; for he/she doesn’t feel the need of God in their lives. He/she has everything that he/she needs thus God becomes irrelevant. He/she asks, ‘what has God to do with my life?’ It is vulnerable and dangerous to come to a state that I don't need others in my life. Abject poverty, most often, takes a person away form God; for he/she doesn’t see the hand of God in their lives. He/she has nothing to smile about in life, all that they have is suffering and pain; thus God becomes impersonal, meaningless. He/she asks, ‘what has God done with my life?’ People become vulnerable and may become dangerous when they are unable to trace the contribution of others in their lives.

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The virtue of being spiritual is to have God in us whether we are mega rich or utterly poor. The virtue of being spiritual is to have God in us in our richness and in our poverty. Here in this parable of the Lazarus and the Rich Man (Luke 16: 19-31) we come face to face with a very rich man and a very poor man. The rich man lacked God in his riches, the poor man had God in his poverty; and that made all the difference.

Look deeper into their lives; both, the rich man and Lazarus have done nothing fantastic either to be punished or to be rewarded. The rich man here, in his godlessness, did not do what he was supposed to do. The poor man, in his godliness, did not do what most people might do. The rich man was punished for what he did not do; and the poor man was rewarded for what he did not do.

What didn’t the rich man do? Firstly, The rich man turned away, looked away from the poor right under his nose. We cannot look away, turn away from the poor who are right under our nose, saying, neither it’s my problem nor is it problem made by me. Jesus paused along his way often and always, even broke his journey to attend to people in need.

Secondly, the rich man refused to do work, he just kept feasting everyday. The law, given by God through Moses, says, “Six days you shall labour and do all your work” (Exodus 20: 9). And the seventh day, of course, is for the Lord. A Christian must never stop working, if you are full, work so that others also may be full. When we refuse to work we refuse to be co-creators with our God; we break the ongoing creative process of this world. We are suppose to put all our riches; be it money, talents, resources, knowledge etc. to re-create the world; change chaos into cosmos, starting with ourselves.

It is our work to give dignity to those who are denied of human dignity; to give food, shelter, clothing etc. for those who can’t afford to have them by themselves; to promote peace and justice wherever it is threatened and trampled underfoot; to educate and to empower the ignorant and powerless; to protect and to enhance the ecology; and thus keep re-creating the world. Every work of mercy that the rich man evaded, every work of promoting life that the rich man shunned, every needy person that the rich man bypassed decided the end part of his history; inscribed his destiny.

What didn’t the poor man do? In spite of his wretchedness, in spite of his poverty, he never despised himself and thinks of ending his life; he never harboured hatred and prejudices against the rich man; he never grumbled and raised his voice against his God. Every bad thought he avoided, every bad word he avoided, every bad action he avoided decided the end part of his story; inscribed his destiny.

If you are rich, financially, academically or other ways, work with all your riches and richness to promote goodness and peace. If you are poor and your life is a bundle of sorrows; and find no means and resources to improve your life, do not do anything that will further damage your self, and others.

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