Parable of Lazarus and what's his name

Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 p643

The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. 2At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, 3where King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him. Zedekiah had said, “Why do you prophesy and say: Thus says the LORD: I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; 6Jeremiah said, The word of the LORD came to me: 7Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.” 8Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the LORD, and said to me, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the word of the LORD. 9And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. 11Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy; 12and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13In their presence I charged Baruch, saying, 14Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. 15For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.


Luke 16:19-31
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19-21"There once was a rich man, expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption. A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been dumped on his doorstep. All he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man's table. His best friends were the dogs who came and licked his sores.
22-24"Then he died, this poor man, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell and in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his lap. He called out, 'Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. I'm in agony in this fire.'
25-26"But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that in your lifetime you got the good things and Lazarus the bad things. It's not like that here. Here he's consoled and you're tormented. Besides, in all these matters there is a huge chasm set between us so that no one can go from us to you even if he wanted to, nor can anyone cross over from you to us.'
27-28"The rich man said, 'Then let me ask you, Father: Send him to the house of my father where I have five brothers, so he can tell them the score and warn them so they won't end up here in this place of torment.'
29"Abraham answered, 'They have Moses and the Prophets to tell them the score. Let them listen to them.'
30"'I know, Father Abraham,' he said, 'but they're not listening. If someone came back to them from the dead, they would change their ways.'
31"Abraham replied, 'If they won't listen to Moses and the Prophets, they're not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.'"
This is the Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God


There you have it- a simple story- black and white—the rich man lived sumptuously, Lazarus laid in the street and begged. The rich man died and went to hell, Lazarus went to heaven, the rich man was bad, Lazarus was good—right? So simple—and yet, Scripture—and life—are more nuanced, more complicated than that.

We have a portrait of the rich man—he feasted sumptuously, he was clothed in purple, a color worn only by royalty, and was dressed in fine linens- according to the text, even his underwear was fancy and expensive- that’s the fine linens they are talking about. Lazarus, a poor man, is so weak from hunger that he is laid—or, literally, dumped- at the rich man’s gate—so weak that he cannot even shoo the dogs away who come to keep him company and lick his wounds. They both die—isn’t that the great leveler? And the rich man is buried and winds up in Hades, the home of the dead. And Lazarus is carried by angels, and goes to heaven, where he is comforted in the bosom of Abraham. Quite a reversal.

But—did the rich man sin so badly? Is it right to equate the description of his opulence with sin and evil? Was Lazarus rewarded in heaven for his suffering on earth? Ancient though equated prosperity with goodness and God’s favor. So when we see the rich man doing well, and Lazarus on the street, the standard thinking would be that they were getting what they deserved. We hear this today in people who preach the Prosperity Gospel—that if you are good, God will reward you. And if you are suffering? Then you need to get right with God—and God will reward you with wealth.

The Gospel of Luke is a gospel of reversals. It is especially favored by liberation theologies, which rose up out of the poverty and suffering of South and Central America, who know the kind of suffering Lazarus has endured. We hear of reversals in the very first chapter of the Gospel according to Luke. And, because we need to be reminded of what God is doing, of what kind of god our God is, we hear it every year at Advent: Mary’s Song, the Magnificat, in which she sings “my soul rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant…..He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty.”

I guess God has brought down the powerful, and lifted up the lowly—Lazarus is certainly feasting at the table with Abraham--but still, the parable doesn’t tell us that the rich man is an evil man. But look carefully at what he does do—when the rich man is in hell, suffering, dying for even a drop of water—he still thinks he has power and privilege, he still is trying to run the show. He goes directly to the top man—he goes to Father Abraham, and asks Father Abraham to send a servant…who just happens to be Lazarus. Now, at some point in life, the rich man has noticed Lazarus enough to know his name—in fact, Lazarus is the only person in any of Jesus’ parables who is named—a privilege Mr. Megabucks doesn’t get—but the rich man still doesn’t really see Lazarus—not as a person. He doesn’t speak to Lazarus, but only speaks about him—Send Lazarus to me. And Abraham has pity on the rich man- he even calls him “my child” but he cannot send Lazarus to him. The rich man then asks for Father Abraham to at least send Lazarus to warn his brothers—again, there it is- sending Lazarus—as if Lazarus was just a waiter, or an errand boy, instead of another one of the rich man’s brothers.

Because that, I believe, is the problem—the rich man doesn’t see Lazarus, doesn’t see him as a human being made in the image of God. Last week, we talked about both the Unjust Manager, and the Prodigal Son. Both of those men had moments of clarity—where they saw, clearly and definitively, what the truth of their situation was- the prodigal son when he was a long way from home, and came to his senses—the Unjust steward, when he saw the truth of his situation- I am too weak to beg, and to proud too dig. But here, the rich man doesn’t really see at all. He doesn’t have any clarity about his situation—he is still trying to call the shots. The rich man didn’t really see Lazarus when he was outside his gate, and he doesn’t see Lazarus as a person now, even after this great reversal of fortunes.

Jeremiah was a prophet in Jerusalem. The weeping prophet, he is called, because he laments and cries over the city and the people, as Babylon is pounding at the doors and taking the city and people captive. In this morning’s reading, the Babylonians are already in the city—and Jeremiah begins to see something—a message from God—to go and buy a field. Now, Jeremiah is in prison, he has no children to pass the land onto, and the real estate future looks pretty dim. But he buys a field, and makes quite a big production of it. There is a scribe, Baruch—and witnesses- the Judeans and people in the courtyard—and there is a public exchange of money and deeds- and they are preserved for posterity. Jeremiah is doing what is called a prophetic sign act- a public performance of what the kingdom of God is like, of what God is calling him to do.

Now, Jeremiah is a prophet. And prophets don’t see the future, or at least not in a “crystal ball’ kind of way—but Jeremiah sees God’s future, all the same. Jeremiah sees the future that God is securing, is preparing—a future, with hope.

Last week, we talked about being savvy—being shrewd. Jeremiah’s action is the exact opposite of that—if there is anything more “unshrewd” I can’t imagine what it could be—buying a field in a city that is occupied by a foreign army. While you are in prison. And you don’t have any children to inherit the field of land.

But sometimes, this is what God’s economy looks like. It looks a lot like foolishness. St Paul wrote that “God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom” (1 Cor 1:25) Father Abraham himself knows about foolishness. God told him to leave his country and his family, “to go to a place I will show you.” And Abraham and Sarah did just that

Perhaps Jeremiah’s actions are foolish—But he is acting in hope—hope in a future that God is both promising and creating. He trusts in God.


I am sure we would not consider ourselves rich, like the rich man. And we would not consider ourselves poor, certainly not as poor as Lazarus. Perhaps we are the brothers—the ones who do not listen- do not listen to Moses and the prophets.

The text has Father Abraham saying : “ they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead”. “Even if”…. But we do have someone who rose from the dead- for our sakes! He is both the wisdom of God, and the world’s foolishness. By the grace of God, we have Jesus Christ.

The vision in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus is one of judgment. Both the rich man and Lazarus have lived their lives, and now they are reaping the rewards. Father Abraham tells the man: “if your brother did not listen to Moses and the prophets—and Jeremiah was one of them—if we listen to Jeremiah, who acts because he believes in a God of future and hope, then what will we do? How will we act?

One of the ways might look like this: Habitat for Humanity. It is foolishness, at least according to prevailing economic thinking, to give credit—and a house—to someone who has never had either. But Habitat is a mix of both savvy and foolishness—people who have never had a house, are trained in finances, trained in budgeting. And they put sweat equity into their homes—and the houses of others, who are also looking to a future, with hope.

Most of us, I imagine, know that every dollar bill and coin in the US has written on them “In God we trust”. If that is true, then, and if we take the time to read that, or remember that every time we spend some money, what will we spend it on? What economy of God, what spending for a future, and a hope, will we do?