no joy in Hades

 

Pentecost XVI      Luke 16:19-31

 The rich man in the parable remains nameless. Sometimes called “Dives”, which in Latin means “rich man,” he is not honored with a name.  The poor man, Lazarus, was sick and hungry, laying at the gate at the rich man.  He was under the rich man’s nose, perhaps under feet when he left his gate, but the rich man did nothing on his behalf.  The rich man, this nameless person in the story is juxtaposed with Lazarus who ends up with Abraham.

The rich man died and was buried and was in Sheol, “Hades.”  It was the state of being dead.  The rich man, however, was being tormented.  He was able to see Lazarus at the side of Abraham, the father of the faith, which meant that Lazarus now had some status he had not had in life.

 The rich man never talked to Lazarus, still.  He presumed to be able to address Abraham and instructed Abraham to send Lazarus to quench his thirst, after asking Abraham for mercy, but not Lazarus.

 Abraham let him know that he had all the wealth, power, and status in his life, but that Lazarus suffered evil things (including being ignored by the rich man).  Abraham did recognize that the rich man was in agony, but he would not send Lazarus to wait on him.  He also pointed out that there is a great chasm between heaven and Sheol, the realm of the dead, and that it cannot be crossed.

 Then the rich man presumed to ask Abraham to send Lazarus to his father’s house to warn his brothers of their plight should they continue to value wealth, power, and status above the lives of others, especially those in need. 

 Abraham simply reminded him that they had access to Moses and the prophets, just as the rich man had access to when he was alive.  The rich man told Abraham, “No,” pushing to send Lazarus from the dead to his brothers to dramatically convince them.  Abraham pointed out that if they did not listen to Moses and the prophets, they would not listen to a resurrected Lazarus.

 And that was it; it is a parable, but there is no explanation or direct application.  After criticizing the Pharisees and explaining the importance of God’s Law in His teachings, Jesus warned humanity about loving wealth, power, and status above other human beings, while ignoring the will of God.

 The rich man had great wealth, even more than he could ever need.  He had the power of life and death over those around him who were starving and sick.  He had status above all those “beneath him.”  None of that mattered.  In fact, it may have been that which sent him to Hades instead of heaven.  Dead is dead, and that was the end for the rich man, oh yes, and with torment.

 What may be the most astounding thing to me about the rich man character in the parable is that he held onto his absurd sense of superiority and status above Lazarus, even though Lazarus was in heaven and he was in Sheol.  Not only that, but he presumed status enough to order Abraham, the father of the faith to do his bidding in ordering Lazarus around, presuming that Abraham’s status above him would be recognized in heaven.  The word “asinine” comes to mind.  To believe that God’s reign holds status in the same way that empire on earth does is absurd.

 But that is the nature of such a strong false sense of superiority.  It leads to an insane sense of entitlement above others.  It is born of bigotry and fed by hubris.  It is not of God.  The love for wealth more than others, power over others and status above others is not a value of God or the Reign of God.  Jesus’ Good News calls for equality of value, the sharing of power and the equal distribution of sustenance so that all of God’s people have Shalom.  One can claim Abraham or David or Jesus all that they want, but if our values are not in alignment with God’s reign, even as we live in this part of it here and now, perhaps Jesus is claiming that our salvation is at stake.  That would certainly line up with Jesus’ vision of His own return and the judgment of all humanity, as we have witness in Matthew’s Gospel (25:31-46). 

 The rich man failed to welcome the stranger at the gate, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and care for the sick.  He found himself among the goats because of it, in the end.

 Immigrants are suffering at our Southern gate.  We have the means by which to welcome them and care for them.  We ignore them, and when they sneak in the gate we detain them, separate families, and send them back to their deaths.  Sometimes we spend money that could be spent in helping them to transport them as a political ploy out of abject cruelty.  There is a special place in Hades for those who do so.

 We have sick people in our own nation, within our gates, who are dying because they cannot afford medicine or medical care. There are people starving to death on our streets, beneath our feet, even though there is enough food within the nation to feed them.   There are people who need clothing and shelter, some of whom are in danger of dying on the streets under our feet, outside our gated communities.  There are people unjustly incarcerated for petty crimes for decades, for having done things that are now legal.  Some are serving much longer sentences for the same drug crimes that others of different economic status (and Race) have been freed from long ago. 

 We cannot hide behind the nameless policies that we not only allow but condone and encourage by how we vote in elected officials who run on very particular, ideological platforms.

 We cannot claim that we are not responsible for the most vulnerable among us.

We cannot claim that we have not seen them.

We cannot claim that our wealth is only ours, or that we have been “self-made,” when we have gained our wealth on the backs of those who are low paid, systematically and intentionally.

We cannot claim status above anyone, particularly our ancestors of the faith. 

We cannot claim that we are entitled to power and control over others.

We cannot claim any superiority over others with God and get away with that.

 God will not be mocked.

There is a special place in Sheol for those whose values are heaped in the values of empire.

There is corporate sin, and our corporations, political parties and nation are subject to its consequences.

 Jesus told the parable and left it there.

I will leave this right here.