Being Seen
September 25, 2022 + Lectionary 26c + Luke 16:19-31 + Pr. Michelle Sevig
It happens on a daily basis. Living in the city it’s unavoidable really. Someone on a street corner, near a grocery store or walking in the middle of an intersection asks for help. They’re not asking for much–a dollar or a bite of food. And quickly we have to make a decision. Avoid them and look the other way, smile and say, “Sorry, not today,” or search for a few coins to toss in their cup.
There was a rich man who encountered the same; as we are told about in today’s parable. He wears fine purple linens showing just how rich he is and he feasts sumptuously on a daily basis. It’s easy to imagine the superrich elites who are so visible in the public eye today–the ones with space rockets for hobby toys or golden toilets in their lavish homes.
Can we see ourselves though? I may not have a gate outside my home, but there is a guy who walks between the stopped cars at Clark and Ridge that I pass by every single day, sometimes multiple times a day. But I would hardly call myself rich like the man in this parable.
That is, until I was introduced to the ““How Rich Am I?” calculator online. I entered my family’s after tax income and the number of people in my home and by global standards, my family is in the top 5% of the richest in the world. Ouch! It sure doesn’t feel like it most days. You may be surprised to hear too that a family of four earning $60,000 per year is in the richest 8% of the global population.
Does that mean that we, all of us who are rich, will be tormented like “the rich man” in today’s parable? Is that really the lesson for today? If so, I hate this parable! But I don’t think that’s the point. Wealth is not bad. It is a gift. How we use it, now that’s another story.
And there are several ways to help those who are poor, to use our wealth wisely and share what we have with others. I know many people in this community give generously to their local food pantry or sponsor walkers in the CROP Walk to alleviate hunger in Chicago and around the world. Some give regularly to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal or serve meals with the Night Ministry here in Lakeview. Many of us already do good deeds and work to alleviate suffering each in our own way.
We do so joyfully, freely. But too often this parable has been used to guilt us into action, or interpreted as a warning about the afterlife and how to get into heaven.
But parables aren’t told to give us a complete theological system or to address ultimate questions once and for all. They are meant to give us a glimpse–often surprising, even jarring glimpses–into the kingdom of God . They represent various slivers of the “kingdom logic” of the God who regularly surprises us with God’s compassion and concern. So maybe this parable isn’t interested in explaining to us how people get into heaven, but rather invites us to look at the people around us–right here, right now–from the perspective of God who regularly surprises us with compassion and concern. It is about living life more abundantly in God’s vision for us right now. A vision where there are no divisions and we all live lavishly in the love of God.
The good news of God’s kingdom is not found in amassing wealth or status or power, but in the fact that God bridges the chasm to show that all have value and worth in God rather than in the systems of the world.
There is a basic human need to be seen and known. Chasms between the rich and the poor, the hungry and those who feast sumptuously, the un-housed and well housed still exist today. Seeing the other is a big deal. We are called to acknowledge their presence, their needs and gifts. And above all, their status as children of God, worthy of respect and dignity.
People of God, this text and these days call us to act with justice. We are called to love tenderly. We are called to love one another and walk humbly with God. This parable is less of a warning about punishment in the afterlife and more of an urging to live in the abundant life. An abundant life that comes only in seeing those around us as beloved children deserving our attention and care.
We simply cannot live into the abundant life God offers us here and now alone. Abundant life comes by way of community, when we see those around us as gifts of God and experience the blessing of sharing what we have with others. God created us to be in a relationship. And we experience the fullness of life God intends and offers only when we embrace the people God has set in our path.
For the body of Christ does not have people who sit at the head of the table and others who sit at its foot. The body of Christ is not made up of some who are called and others who are not. The church sets one common table for all people. Our mission is to live as that resurrected body, not in some distant future, but today, in these times, right now.
Let us not wait to bridge gaps, to listen to each other’s stories, to show compassion, to honor those who seem to be so different from us. When we feel like Lazarus crying out for others to see us, and when we recognize ourselves in the Rich Man who is for the first time seeing the other, may we turn toward the one who gives second chances. May we turn toward the One who makes all things new. May we turn toward Christ who embodies mercy, and may his mercy change YOU.
