What is necessary for salvation? This parable seems to challenge our usual Protestant theology of being saved by grace not works. But maybe Jesus is simply describing what grace really looks like.
If this story makes you nervous, you’re paying attention. In the story, an unnamed rich man makes an eternally fatal error when he fails to show compassion for the poor man living outside his house. No matter how we might compare to our neighbors, we who live in this country at this point in history are richer than any generation or nation that has gone before, meaning that Jesus’ story has a particularly challenging message for us.
The rich man in the story is condemned to Hell because of his lack of compassion, while the poor man is embraced by Heaven and no longer suffers. Jesus isn’t making the case for earning salvation either through good behavior or patient endurance, but he is saying that our identity as God’s people isn’t real unless we are able to show mercy and compassion. God’s grace brings us salvation. That grace is free, but it isn’t cheap. God’s presence in our lives changes us, drawing us out of our self-centered universes into the community of God’s Kingdom. Salvation means we belong to and serve that bigger reality. Misunderstanding this salvation truth is the rich man’s real mistake—he knew the words of faith but what he really believed in was a small god whose purpose was to make the rich man happy. Believers still make this mistake, imagining that God’s plan and purpose is just to make us happy. But the story of God’s people is about belonging to something more.
According to the story, there is no excuse for the rich man’s lack of caring. Abraham says he should have known simply by hearing the words of scripture. The rich man pleads with Abraham to send the poor man, Lazarus, to his brothers so that they will repent of their self-centered ways before it is too late. But Abraham says that they won’t believe even if someone rises from the dead to show them.
Is Abraham right? We know that someone has risen from the dead to show us the truth that we find our life when we lose it; that the purpose of life is fulfilled in giving, not getting. Do we believe this person’s message? What about our lives shows that we do recognize the way of generosity and compassion to be the best way? Generosity is good news. Our world doesn’t believe that, but do we?
Some action items to consider: The rich man had the opportunity to do good but for whatever reason, he missed his chance. We probably should not make that mistake. Is there some good in front of us that we can do now? What’s keeping us? As Nike says, just do it!
Share here your stories of generosity and of opportunities for good that you took. How did it work out? How do you know that generosity is the best way? Maybe we can inspire each other. Let’s prove Father Abraham wrong. Someone has risen from the dead, and it makes a different to us. We believe!
2 Responses
Please note that the rich “bad guy” was not a complete stranger to compassion; he expresses concern for his living brothers. And if he had a pet dog the dog loved him too (dogs do that). Maybe, just maybe, the torment will not last forever. FEAR & TtREMBLING (my Canon Law firm) advise me to hope and pray that that is so.
The man could and should have been better in his treatment of his fellow creatures but there is no indication oh his misteating them. Obviously, not doing harm is insufficient; we must all adopt an Affirmation Action approach to helping our fellow man. I’ve read that the revolutionary thought that Jesus had really was a reversal to an extant “Don’t do unto others that which you would not want them to do to you!” which very well may have been the “rich man’s” MO (MODUS OPERENDI) which led him into very large trouble. Jesus’ “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!” makes a great deal of difference. Does it not!
Interesting point–this guy probably was a nice guy, just had a small circle of whom he was nice to–family, friends, but not poor people outside the door. It’s also worth noting that he knows Lazarus’ name. This is no stranger outside his door, they are at least part of the same small community. So the rich man didn’t have to go too far afield to do something important. It’s the not acting that gets him into trouble. If there is good to do, do it!