Dives

Last updated on: September 22, 2013 at 8:04 pm by Nancy Rockwell

Dives 2013-09-22T20:04:20-04:00 Nancy Rockwell

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There is another Lazarus in the gospels, besides the fellow who came out of his grave: the other Lazarus is a fellow in a story Jesus told – and this Lazarus died and he didn’t come back, nor did he want to, for his life was full of misery. His miseries, Jesus said, reached the heart of Father Abraham, who carried Lazarus to heaven in his own arms, and comforted him there.

The story Jesus tells about the sufferings of Lazarus is really a tale about a rich man, whom tradition calls Dives, outside whose elegant home poor Lazarus lay, covered with sores. So bloodied was he from his sores that the neighborhood dogs licked him, Jesus said.

I’ve seen men in such a sad and sordid condition, in a number of countries around the world, and in the US, in small towns and large. Sometimes there is a bottle in their hands, sometimes the shape of one in a paper bag nearby, and sometimes the look or smell of chemically altered states pervades. Whatever the conditions are, I don’t touch them. I’m fearful of more things than I care to name, and don’t choose to get involved. I leave it to the police, or social workers, shelter folks, traveling medics, anyone but me.

And that’s just what Dives did. He lived in a first century McMansion (who hasn’t seen these, huge homes on small lots, gated communities, luxury condos) and Jesus said he was rich. Day in and day out, Jesus said, Dives walked through his gate and passed right next to Lazarus, lying there. Dives just walked on.

When Dives died, he woke up in hell. Jesus was quite specific about it, Dives woke up in a torment of flames. And he looked up to heaven – who doesn’t, when in hell? – and saw Lazarus in Father Abraham’s arms, and called out for Lazarus to bring water to cool his tongue. Father Abraham explained that Lazarus wasn’t Dives servant. That Lazarus was now getting the comfort and ease he never knew in life, and Dives was getting what he never knew in life, misery, as a comeuppance for ignoring Lazarus.

Then Dives does what the elder brother, in the story of the prodigal son, did not do – he has concern for his brothers, asking that they be warned so the same fate won’t happen to them when their lives end.

The two stories: the one about the prodigal, who had become a filthy, ragged man, covered with sores and completely out of luck and money, whose elder brother did not want him to come home; and this one, about the suffering man ignored by the fellow who had it all, are both told by Jesus. And they follow each other, one chapter apart in Luke, separated only by another story about God’s valuing of generosity over amassed wealth, and how hard it is to be rich and be godly.

Dives, a far better brother to his family than was the elder brother, begs Abraham to send Lazarus to warn them. And Abraham says No, they’d had centuries of God’s prophets warning them, and if they wouldn’t listen to Isaiah and Jeremiah and Elijah, there really was no warning they would heed.

In the U.S., the wealthiest nation in the world, 14.5 percent – some 49 million people – struggle to put food on the table. And 15.9 million of these hungry ones are children. (These statistics are from Bread for the World.) And the sad truth is, most preachers will shy away from pointing to these miseries, will fail to tie the story to our public actions, and instead advise a little something extra in the pledge card or special offering plate. Jesus urged so much more.

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Illustrations

1. Lazarus Waiting at the Door with Dogs, 11th c., Saint Climent di Taull, Barcelona, Spain. Vanderbilt Divinity School Library, Art in the Christian Tradition.

2. Rich Man and Lazarus, Meister des Codex Aureus Epternacensis, Wikipedia.

3. Soul of Lazarus Rising to Heaven Held by Two Angels late 16th c. Basilique Sainte Marie Madeleine de Vézelay France. Vanderbilt Divinity School Library, Art in the Christian Tradition.

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