The Comforter of the Afflicted and the Afflicter of the Comfortable

 ‘…but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony...’ (Luke 16:25)

Pic:     Homeless man sculpture outside Christchurch Cathedral, Dublin.     

Luke 16:19-31 (Year C: Trinity+18)

A discomforting story

If, like me, you find the story of the rich man and Lazarus just slightly discomforting it may be that we are really listening while reading and hearing – no matter how many dozens of times we have heard that same story read.  In the gospel of Luke we find mercy – mercy for the excluded, mercy for those gone astray, mercy for those in need.  However, the gospels are not all comfort for the afflicted. There is the possibly embarrassing and awkward fact of discomfort – for the comfortable. Earlier in Luke (6:24-25) in the Sermon on the Mount we hear:

But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.  Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.

The point, here, as well as elsewhere throughout the scriptures is not that wealth or material goods are bad in themselves. Rather, it is how we use these goods since these belong to God who is the ultimate source and creator of all creation and since, in the heart of God, there is a special (some would say ‘preferential’) place for the poor. And ‘poor’ means poor and not just some vague reference to people in need.

Who are the comfortable in today’s world and who is poor?  It all depends on what comparison is being made. If someone can get up in the morning without having a lost a night’s sleep worrying about how to feed the children until next Thursday they are blessed. If someone can be sure of getting essential treatment in a hospital without giving up all their savings they are blessed. If someone can read, write and participate in society they are blessed. If someone can be reasonably assured about an adequate income after retiring from a job – in so far as anyone can be regarding the future – they are blessed. I say ‘blessed’ rather than ‘lucky’ even though economic and social arrangements are often a matter of luck (with the saying ‘choose your parents wisely’ being relevant here).

Does the story of the rich man and Lazarus provide grounds for neurosis? “Should I give away 10% or 60% of all my belongings to avoid the fate of Lazarus?”. “Am I doomed anyway so why not just live it up by having 5 cruise holidays a year?” “Should I walk down O’Connell Street in Dublin with a wallet dispensing liberally to the dozens of homeless people who sleep nearby every night and beg during the day?” No matter how some of us might try we are merely offering scraps from our abundant tables. Yet, not only is ever scrap important but each person who experiences compassion by giving or receiving is important. In his commentary on the Gospel of Luke the popular writer, William Barclay wrote:

Food was eaten with the hands and, in very wealthy houses, the hands were cleansed by wiping them on hunks of bread, which were then thrown away. That was what Lazarus was waiting for.

Poverty today

A huge amount of food and other produce is wasted each day. We live in a throw-away society where we pay for plastic bags only to have many products wrapped in plastic and other material which lasts centuries. Many people are crying out for the essentials of food, clothing, heating and some means to participate with dignity in the community. According to the latest Central Statistics Office data just over one in ten children in one of the wealthiest places on earth – the Republic of Ireland – live in ‘consistent poverty’ while one in three experience some form of enforced material deprivation.

If the story of Lazarus gives cause to be slightly troubled and self-questioning even for a few seconds then it has achieved its purpose! However, we need to guard against a religion of neurosis. A religion of neurosis – especially in times past – was a powerful destroyer of spiritual life leaving many vulnerable to discouragement and obsessive behaviour.  God was portrayed as a remote, obsessive and severe tyrant who had to be pleased by acts of penance by us poor, miserable sinners. There is, however, a religion of complacency which is the twin of a religion of neurosis. A religion of complacency reduces the gospel to a set of pious moral platitudes and guidelines – a kind of comfort blanket when times are difficult and a fall-back ‘just in case’. In this case, God is reduced to a benign and absent parent who couldn’t care less as long as we didn’t bother him too much. But, God cares too much to allow himself to be manipulated by human design and distortion. The very name, Lazarus, or Eleazar in the Hebrew means God has helped.  Through Lazarus God can help the rich person to find true riches. Day after day Jesus – in the poor – stands at our door waiting to be heard, to be welcomed and to be joined in a struggle to rid the world of the unjust roots of violence and poverty.  There is joy in giving and this is the theme of Zacchaeus in the 19^th chapter Luke when the rich taxpayer willingly and happily gave half of his wealth to the poor (at least Zacchaeus said that he would do though Luke did not report the outcome!).

Enforced poverty is not a virtue

The story challenges us to think about our world and about our lives and relationships to others. We are, all of us, blessed in some way. Indeed, a surfeit of material goods and claims on wealth might be a curse in disguise. The more we have the more we stand to lose if circumstances change. However, there is no denying that those benefitting from education, health, income and wealth including a place you can call home are blessed.  The line that poverty is good for people and that a bit of belt-tightening is salutary is all very well for comfortable people to pronounce on. Even those who courageously give their lives to the Lord by vows of chastity, poverty and obedience are not untypically ‘unpoor’ by virtue of access to community services, health and a stop gap should anyone fall sick, old or incapacitated. Religious communities can be like mini societies ordered on socialist and egalitarian principles except that in many though not all cases you don’t get to vote out or vote in the leaders!  The point, here, is that poverty is relative and it is as much to do with security as one’s place in a pecking order of measurable wealth and income.

Finding real security

But, where we do find real security?  The rich man in this story of Luke was looking for material security in this life as well as security of another type in the life after. Like modern-day Christians, Jews of the 1^st century were keen to ‘make it to the other side’. The rule is very simple – love God with all your heart and your neighbour as yourself while we still have the light of day and the means to do so. A time will come when the very possibility of reaching to others in love will be taken from us.