Being Chaste
Can be listened to here
Gate Pa – Year C 19th Sunday Pentecost; 26th
Sunday of Ordinary Time,
Readings:
Psalm
Psalm: 91:1-6,
14-16
First
Reading: Jeremiah 32:1-3,
6-15
Second
Reading: 1 Timothy 6:6-19
Gospel:
Luke 16:19-31
What I want to say:
To
explore how this story is imbedded in a number of stories about humility and chastity
– seeing others as belonging to God and not for use in our quest for self-fulfilment.
What I want to
happen:
People to examine their own
attitudes individually and as a church
The Sermon
1. Introduction:
Last week we heard Jesus talking to the
disciples about the dishonest/shrewd manager -
a story that confuses us today
finishes with “you cannot serve God and wealth”
now some Pharisees (who Luke says love money
and wealth) hear all this and mock Jesus
because everyone knows that people are wealthy
because God has blessed them
at least that is what people then
and some people today
believed
Jesus responds to this mocking by saying
things like
not
trying to enter heaven by force
importance
of law and prophets
don’t
divorce your wife
story
about this rich guy without a name
and poor man begged at his gate called
Lazarus
there’s a thing
how often hear story about rich and poor man,
know
name poor man and not rich?
what is even stranger
poor
man has no real role apart from he dies
its
nameless Mr Super Rich Guy who is in centre action
not noticing Lazarus
not offering hospitality
not offering compassion or generosity
not seeing him
this
rich guy is just too self-absorbed
he
is too busy being super rich
tell that from purples clothes he
wears
most
expensive cloth going
only
super rich and emperors wear that colour
too busy making his name in world
no time smelly beggars dying at his
gate
even though Torah and Prophets and social
custom might suggest some generosity might be the honourable way to go
Mr
Super Rich Guy just gets on with his own agenda.
then Lazarus dies
hurray
– not have that smelly beggar at gate cluttering place up with his destitution
then Mr Super Rich Guy dies
one
goes to Abraham
one
doesn’t
which is a bit of a twist
2. side note
this is not about heaven and hell
not about what happens to us after we die
Jesus is not trying to scare us into being all
good and such
this is Jesus using some common ideas to
provide a framework for a story he is telling
story which is all about how we live.
Martin Luther spent a lot of time using this
story to not talk about heaven, but what happens to Jews and good people of faith
– before Jesus when they die
è go to Abraham until the last day of resurrection
3. After Death
so here they both are
one
in bosom of Abraham
one
in Hades – Greek term for underworld
focus of story is still on Mr Super Rich Guy –
has no name
Lazarus still stays silent
nameless Mr. Super Rich Guy looks way up and
sees Lazarus with Abraham
not
what the thought should happen
he is in agony
so
he pleads with Abraham to send Lazarus down
he
pleads with Abraham to send Lazarus down
doesn’t ask Lazarus
doesn’t speak to Lazarus
not apologise way acted
ask for compassion
in fact at no point does he speak to Lazarus
or
even acknowledge him apart from wanting Lazarus to serve him
either
by coming quench thirst
or
going to his brothers and sisters warn them
Abraham says no child
each get rewards deserve from our lives
and besides there is a great chasm
chasm
is not just there after die
there all time
chasm put in place by nameless Mr Super Rich
Guy
would
not see Lazarus
would
not show compassion or generosity to Lazarus
still
would not really see him as child God
was
nuisance to be ignored
now
someone who could help him
end
of story.
then have this wink wink nudge nudge ending to
the story
Mr Super Rich Guy asks for Lazarus to go warn
brothers and sisters
Abraham says they have Torah and prophets
(you
know – those things you ignored when you chose to show no compassion)
Mr Super Rich Guy says not enough – but if
someone would come back from dead then they would believe
we all know who that is now don’t we
-
that would be Jesus
suddenly find ourselves in story
we are brothers and sisters
At this point Jesus, and Luke
are talking about hearers of story
Jesus
– Pharisees
Luke
– all hearers – including us
saying to us
you
have prophets and law – require mercy and generosity
you
have Jesus – raised from dead
will
we listen?
what
are we to listen to?
4. chastity
easy to see this story as what need to do to
get into heaven
fact someone talked about just that on Tuesday
that would be show generosity and compassion
if we do that – all good
then get into heaven
only trouble is
that when we do that
no
different from nameless Mr Super Rich Guy
because his problem wasn’t just that he didn’t
show generosity and compassion
it was that at no point did he really see
Lazarus
not person Lazarus
with
name
family
story
most
importantly – child of Abraham
just – that smelly beggar at gate
and
now - that poor person who could help me.
that is our danger
that we do things for ourselves
see them simply as people we do good things
for
not saying showing compassion isn’t good thing
it is a really good things
not what is going on here
5. The Rule
As member of
TSSF I am expected to reflect on our Rule of Life each day.
the rule is
broken up into daily readings for easy reflection
Day Eight:
The Second Aim (Cont’d)- To spread the
spirit of love and harmony
We as
members of the Third Order fight against all injustice in the name of
Christ, in
whom there can be neither Jew, nor Greek, slave, nor free, male,
nor female;
for in him all are one. Our chief object is to reflect that
openness to
all which was characteristic of Jesus . This can only be
achieved in
a spirit of chastity, which sees others as belonging to God and
not as a
means of self-fulfilment.
Being chaste is at heart of our calling
-
includes a lot
more than just being about sex.
being chaste is at heart of this story
Mr Super Rich Guy was not chaste
he
saw others only in terms of what they could do for him
or how much they inconvenienced him
Not
once did he see Lazarus as Abraham saw him
child of God
that one thing led to his undoing
even when we are offering compassion and
generosity
danger
is we see other person as means of our self-fulfilment
we feel fulfilled when we help
rather than way in which we serve our brothers
and sisters.
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