Sunday, September 29, 2013 (full size gallery)
Fall started to be noticeable over the last week as the nights became cooler. The weather has been refreshing with dynamic sunshine and dramatic cloud cover. Weather was somewhat unsettled switching between almost a cloudless sky to complete cover and then somewhere in the middle.
The Bread retreat went well on Saturday. You can read about it here. This is one event you not only experience but bring home tangible results. It’s all about transmitting what we are to other people.
We had 12 at 9am (Holy Eucharist Rite 1) and 36 at 11am (Morning Prayer). At 9am two of Catherine’s seminary friends were present. Amy Turner is our Godly Play teacher and is no stranger. Her friend Julia Messer is the Associate Rector at Emmanuel Episcopal in Virginia Beach. She was in Fredericksburg for a wedding.
At 11am we celebrated Roger’s birthday (with Brad playing happy birthday) and Helmut and Susan’s 53rd wedding anniversary. Godly Play went well with 6 children present. Prayers were said both for the government and Pakistani Christian churches which suffered a brutal assault this week which killed 85 worshipers.
Later in the day 30 people enjoyed fellowship, music and the begining fall at the Gospel on the River service. Video, pictures and a description is here.
This week is a busy week in the life of St. Peter’s with Bible Study and Village Dinner on Wed, the jail ministry on Thursday and the Blessing of the Animals on Sunday
The Gospel continues a line of thought in Luke about wealth. It enlarges the theme in Luke about reversals that we have seen in past Sundays. The readings are here.
Last week it was the parable of the unjust steward between a rich man, an unjust manager and renter. The central character was a corrupt manager – the rich man in that story was seen as upright, just and restrained in the treatment of the manger. The emphasis is that we need to use wealth effectively to serve the needs of other which will bring about more trusting and equal relations. This is the key with the dishonest manager reducing debt of this customers to his manager.
This week is the parable rich man and and a poor man, Lazarus. Actually, wealth in the ancient world was often viewed as a sign of divine favor, while poverty was viewed as evidence of sin. This is where the reversal comes into play.
This parable is found only in Luke. It underscores a theme expressed earlier in the Gospel (Lk 1:52). God has "put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree." The story is a three-act play. The first act portrays the earthly contrast between the wealthy man and Lazarus. The second act describes the reversal of their conditions in the afterlife. The third act depicts the rich man’s request to Father Abraham for a sign so that those still living can avoid his torment, a request that Abraham refuses.
The key word in the lectionary readings this week is exploitation. The Gospel’s exploitation is not that that the rich man directly harmed the poor but did nothing for the poor.
The sermon used the metaphor as a gate which was our bulletin cover picture. "The rich man’s gate keeps people like Lazarus out. And not only that, but this gate also keeps the rich man from feeling anything but the softness of the cushions on his ivory couch, and the richest of fine silks and linens against his body, or tasting anything but the most delectable fruits, seafood, and tender meats that his servants spread on his banquet table day after day. "
Exploitation is seen in the Book of Amos rails against nobles and Paul in Timothy against teachers who teach for their own gains and lead the people astray. The Gospel simply uses the word “rich” who are “dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day”
It’s not that those described by Amos built up wealth. It’s how they used it living a life adverse to God being extravagant, wasteful in life and also reducing the worship to God drinking in consecrated bowls. They may be rich in this life but not in the next as shown in the Gospel where the rich man lives a life in torment in the afterlife
God in the Psalm supports the disadvantaged: the hungry, the prisoner, the oppressed.
In the Gospel, the rich man’s sin was not that he was rich, but that, during his earthly life, he did not "see" Lazarus, despite his daily presence at the entrance to his home. The first time he ever sees Lazarus is when, from Hades "he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side" (v. 23).
As for Lazarus, we aren’t told he was pious but his name means "God helps," which implies righteousness. Lazarus’s hunger and willingness to eat whatever was at hand (Lk 16:21) are reminiscent of the younger son’s famished, desperate condition in Luke 15:16.
As Alyce McKenzie writes "The phenomenon of the poor waiting for crumbs at the doors of the rich is a detail taken straight from first-century life. It is strange in that the reversal of fortunes it depicts contradicts the widespread belief that wealth was a sign of God’s favor and poverty a sign of sin. The story reflects the ancient belief that the righteous and the wicked can see each other after death."
In her conclusion, she writes we need to be aware of the poor in this life. "If they are attentive to the presence of the kingdom of God, they can also see each other before death!"
The sermon adds to this idea. "If he had opened his gate and had shown God’s mercy in his lifetime to Lazarus and others in need, the rich man could have established justice in his own gate. But by keeping the gate locked, the rich man fixed a great chasm in place that could not be crossed once he died. "
The rich need to take the position and be teachers. Paul in Timothy this week provides a course of action. “They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life."