Sermon for the Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 30, 2007
Amos 6:1a, 4–7
Psalm 146
1 Timothy 6:6–19
Luke 16:19–31
Proper 21
Lectionary 26
Year C
I.N.I. (In the name of Jesus)
Did you know that Jesus came to bring good news to the poor?
Did you know that Jesus came to bring good news to the poor?
You ought to know by now that Jesus came to bring good news to the poor!
As for those who are rich, for those who have the easy life, or for those in the words of my very “favorite” prophet Amos,
who lie on beds of ivory,
and lounge on their couches,
and eat lambs from the flock,
and calves from the stall;
5who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,
and like David improvise on instruments of music;
6who drink wine from bowls,
and anoint themselves with the finest oils,
but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph,
he has at least one choice word, Alas! Let’s all say it together, Alas!
and perhaps another, you’ll get yours! Let’s all say it together, you’ll get yours! Actually, he doesn’t quite say that, but he could have!
In the scriptures, in the blunt words of the prophet Amos, and in the finely crafted story-telling of Luke, there is the sense that the tides are turning, or that the tides will turn,
as Mary sings in her Magnificat of God’s great humanitarian project in Luke chapter 1:
"My soul magnifies the Lord,
47and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
48for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.
Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
49for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
50His mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
51He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
52He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
and lifted up the lowly;
53he has filled the hungry with good things,
and sent the rich away empty.
54He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
55according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
God’s great reversal is inaugurated in Jesus’ return to his hometown synagogue in Nazareth, where he reads from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah what becomes his job description, how he will fulfill God’s promises to a waiting people, in Luke chapter 4:
18"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
19to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
Did you know that Jesus came to bring good news to the poor?
Did you know that Jesus came to bring good news to the poor?
You ought to know by now that Jesus came to bring good news to the poor!
As for those who are rich, Alas!
By the time we get to Luke chapter 16 and the masterful story of the rich man and Lazarus, we might cry, in addition to alas, “uncle,” or “I give up!” As the rich man who pleads on behalf of his brothers to Abraham while suffering in Hades says, if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent, we might say, “I’ll repent! Please, let me repent”
Let me notice those who are poor as children of God. Let me recognize the lure of wealth, how my relationship with money can make me greedy or anxious.
In the Veggie Tale video, Madame Blueberry, we are given an example of how insidious our relationship with the material world can be. In the Veggie Tale videos, all the characters are vegetables. Madame Blueberry lives in a tree house with many creature comforts. Every time a couple men come to the door and tell her that she absolutely positively cannot live without another new product from the “Stuff Mart,” Madame Blueberry decides that she just has to have it, until under the sheer weight of all the stuff she has accumulated, her house comes crashing down!
In the parable that Jesus tells, the contrast between rich and poor is stark. The rich man can afford clothes that are dyed, and purple is expensive besides already telling us that he wears fine linen. In that culture like our culture, the rich are those who can throw lavish parties, and the rich man gorged himself not once in a while, say for the wedding of his daughter, but every day.
Meanwhile poor Lazarus sits outside his gate, possibly a town beggar. The sores on him festered while the salt from his sweat was lapped up by passing dogs.
For whom will there be good news? Lazarus, right!? Lazarus, the only character in any of Jesus’ parables who gets a name. Lazarus, whose very name means God helps. Though he could not afford a decent burial like the rich man, Lazarus is carried away to be with the father of nations, the father of faith, the one called to go the promised land, wise and true Abraham.
But as for the rich man, with no name, and no compassion for Lazarus by the gate while he accumulated all his stuff and ate himself silly, as for any who are rich, alas!
He is getting in Hades, the place of torment, a similar experience to Lazarus while Lazarus was alive. He got his, the tides have turned, there has been the great reversal!
In the Gospels, money is mentioned by Jesus more times that anything else except the kingdom of God. Money cannot buy you the kingdom, just as, in the Beatles’ song money can’t buy you love.
Instead, those who have money might just repent, might just take notice of all that is written in Moses and the prophets, even as we might notice the one who has risen from the dead who came to bring the kingdom of God to earth and good news to the poor. This one, the storyteller Jesus, became the prime actor in the story of the good news, became poor for our sake, broken and bleeding on the cross, and in death broke open God’s kingdom for all, which is good news for the poor, and the rich, and those in between.
Let us recognize the abundance of God’s gifts to us and to the whole earth, and seek not squander our time nor our money but to share with others only what God has given to us and what, by God’s grace, we have been blessed with.
Let us take notice of the world’s great imbalance between those who feast and those who starve, and walk in the CROP Walk because so many of the world’s poor walk to get water and food each day.
Let us spend some time with the working poor who live in Anne Marie House and put a face on local poverty while offering hospitality, a well-cooked meal, and some time.
Let us continually be shaped by the life to which God in Christ calls us, and daily repent, daily walk in our baptismal vocation drenched in refreshing and saving waters of new life, and in word and deed seek to give a name to those we meet like Lazarus, God helps.
And in the feast of bread and wine that is about to prepared and offered to all who hunger and thirst for grace, may we be overwhelmed that God notices us. Through this meal which offers generosity, welcome, and promise for this life and for the life that lasts, may we in time be greeted by Abraham and others for whom God provides in abundance, and Jesus himself who lives out the meaning of his name, the one who saves. That’s good news, indeed!
I.N.I.
The Rev. Timothy J. Keyl, Pastor
Christ the King Lutheran Church
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