The scene that St Luke portrays for us in this parable of Jesus is a stark vision of the reversal of fortunes but if we come away from this gospel passage thinking that the message is simply those who suffer now will be rewarded in heaven and those who enjoy life now will suffer in the world to come, we may very well miss the deeper point. The reversal of fortunes is the warning, but it is not a prediction. We are not being asked to seek out a life of suffering here on earth so that we can find true joy in the life to come. It is rather about the choices we make in this life that affect both this life and the life to come. And as Moses counseled his people and us, we are given a choice between good and evil, between life and death, and we are urged to choose life! These are the two most important words in all three readings.
We face this choice every day, indeed every moment of life. How do we make that choice? How do we know if it is right or wrong? Either way, how do we respond as life reveals to us the implications of the choices we have made?
The Deuteronomy text is telling us we have to make these choices and the Law of God is to be our guide. St Paul is saying we do indeed have to make these choices, but the Law of God fulfilled in Jesus Christ is now our guide. And St. Luke is showing us through this parable of Jesus that these choices are right in front of us, but we need to open our eyes to see them and use the lens of Jesus’ life and teachings to guide us. And his teachings are indeed the fulfillment of the Law. To be confronted by life with human suffering and not see it and respond to it is to make the wrong choice. The consolation that Abraham gives to Lazarus is the model that God is giving us to apply here and now. The reversal of fortune is to wake us up. But new miracles are not needed, the teaching of the prophets and Jesus are already there for us to follow, if we choose to do so. But all too often we act just as the rich man and his brothers, so absorbed in our own self seeking and pleasure that we miss what is right in front of us.
We might see this more clearly if we slightly annotate the words of Moses. Love the Lord your God, who is to be found in your neighbor. Do not worship other gods, whether fame and fortune, possessions or self indulgence. (Dt 30:16, 17) The choice is between good and evil, life and death. (Dt 30:15) But what is asked of us is not beyond us. It is not beyond our reach. It is not up in the sky or beyond the ocean. (Dt 30:11-13) Indeed, it can be found in some of the most innocent and ordinary things of life.
During a recent visit to New Skete Fr. Alexis Vinogradov reminded us of an article Fr Alexander Schmemann wrote on three Metropolitans. Two, Metropolitan Evlogy and Metropolitan Vladimir, served in Europe in the early to mid 20th century and the last, Metropolitan Leonty, served in the United States 1950-1964. Fr. Alexander describes all three as very different men of the church, but also as genuinely holy, unpretentious, not obsessed over Church rigor. These men lived the Gospel and applied economia as needed. About Metropolitan Vladimir, Fr. Alexander wrote: “He was hospitable, gentle, attentive, responsive. … in a personal contact with him there was a feeling that he was not quite here, that his inner gaze was for some time directed at something else. In contrast to the recent multiplicity in the Church of maximalists who would frighten us with the impending doom and apostasies Vladyka Vladimir never frightened anyone with anything, never called anyone to any kind of maximalism and never would denounce anyone.” About Metropolitan Leonty, Fr Alexander wrote: he was “down to earth, very simple, and very much day-to-day. … He stood and blessed everyone and everything with his large, bony, warm hands, never waiting for great results, rejoicing in small things and was not saddened too much with failures.” He felt “everyone must be saved – the weak and the strong, the good and the bad and the lost. The Lord will judge and sort things out; our task is to guard, to preserve, to bless and to pray. … He neither expected nor demanded anything from [others], nor did he judge or condemn; everything is God’s secret, only He sees and knows everything, he commanded us not to judge, but to be patient and to love.” These are examples of individuals who chose life.
Did the rich man choose life? He probably thought he did, after all, in his time it was a commonly held belief that if you were prosperous it meant that you had God’s favor, if you were poor you were out of God’s favor. It is too late when the rich man discovers the implications of his life choices. But he still can only see Lazarus as an instrument to use to try and save his brothers. So in a sense he never really understood how he went wrong. We are the rich man’s brothers and sisters. The message is conveyed to us again, now through a parable. We are able to make choices that are different than those made by the rich man. We are not being asked to do something heroic or beyond our capacity. We are not being asked to be someone or something we are not. We are asked to look into our own hearts where God resides and as Vladyka Vladimir would say, to choose “the better part.” Choose life, in the fullest sense.
Christ is in our midst!
