Reflection – Lectionary C, Pentecost 19: Luke 16: 19-31 Zion Episcopal Church 9/25/16 By James A. Hackney

Most of you know that, by training, I am an engineer. One of the social shortcomings engineers are accused of is taking things too literally, and I confess to sometimes being guilty of this. However, I have learned after a lifetime of study not to do this when reading the Bible. Take today’s Gospel lesson, for example. Did the rich man automatically go to Hades for torment after he was buried, simply for being rich? Are all of us who receive good things in life condemned to be in agony after death? Why was the poor man with Abraham? Why not in heaven with God? If the rich man was automatically condemned to Hades, what warning could change the fate of his five brothers? I believe that taking all of this too literally is an exercise in futility and causes us to miss the point. One of the key themes of both the Epistle and Gospel lessons today seems to be about riches, and I think that’s what we need to explore. There is a big difference in how riches were viewed in the Old Testament and the New Testament. In the Old Testament, riches were considered a blessing from God and were venerated. Genesis 24 tells us that the Lord greatly blessed Abraham by giving him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female slaves, camels and donkeys. Genesis 26 says essentially the same thing about Isaac; the Lord blessed him and he became rich. First Chronicles 29 says that David died in a good old age, full of riches and honor. Second Chronicles 9 says that Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches. I could go on about Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah, but the bottom line is that riches and God’s blessing seemed synonymous in the Old Testament. That sure is different from the New Testament. Jesus brought a whole new way of thinking about riches. Think of all the familiar New Testament verses where Jesus addressed wealth. In Matthew: “No one can serve two masters…You cannot serve God and wealth.” “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” In Luke: “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.” “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” “Sell your possessions and give to the needy”. “One’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” “Blessed - 2 - are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” “The Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor”. And, in our Gospel lesson three weeks ago, “none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” Is Jesus literally condemning riches and rich people, and excluding them? I can’t believe that this is so. Where would we in America be today without the generosity of some of America’s richest families? How about the Rockefeller Foundation’s support of public health? Or the Mellon Foundation’s support of education, museums and performing arts? The Duke Foundation’s support of hospitals and children’s homes? The Ford Foundation’s support of welfare in third-world countries? More recently, Bill and Melinda Gates’ support of healthcare, fighting poverty and enhancing education. Are these rich people, and others like them, condemned to eternal torment simply for being rich? I hope not. For that matter, who is rich? Isn’t “rich” a relative term? Webster defines “rich” simply as “having abundant possessions”, but what is abundant? Even the poorest American is rich by the standards of most third-world countries. Middle-income Americans are rich by comparison to the poor, and the middle class are poor in comparison to the “One percenters”. So, if there isn’t automatic condemnation for having abundant possessions, what is the point the New Testament scriptures are trying to make? I think the writer of First Timothy eloquently addresses the issue in today’s lesson. “As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God . . . 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.” I believe that this is putting riches, of whatever level, in the perspective of Jesus’ overriding message to us: Love God, and love your neighbor as yourself. It is how one handles riches that matters. I think Jesus may have used the example of riches to emphasize the danger of distractions from pursuing the important things. The people to whom he spoke might not have fully understood some of His sayings, like the admonition to give up home and family in order to follow him, but they certainly understood riches. Even the poor longed to become rich and imagined what they would do if they were. So, when Jesus talked about having to give up the distraction of wealth as a hindrance to pursuing God’s kingdom, I think everyone, rich or poor, could relate. - 3 -

I believe the scriptures are telling us that if those who have the resources, whether large or small, support the furtherance of God’s kingdom, primarily the church, and give to help raise their neighbors up in as many ways as they can, I think they are storing up for themselves treasures in Heaven, and, in the words from First Timothy, taking “hold of the life that really IS life”. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.