Sharing the World – September – 29- 2019 – Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C.

Readings: 1st Reading; Amos 6 : 1, 4 – 7
Responsorial Psalm; Ps. 146: 7, 8 – 10,
2nd Reading; 1 Timothy 6 : 11 – 16
Gospel; Luke 16 : 19 – 31

Like the first reading of last week, the Prophet Amos continues with warnings. This time around, the warning goes to those who are comfortable and complacent. Such dress well, eat, drink and relax, forgetting the needy around them. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus in the Gospel comes to show the Pharisees the aftermath of this type of complacency. Luke is presenting a summary of Jesus’ teachings on the dangers of wealth and power. He contrasts Lazarus and the ‘rich man’. Lazarus is poor, sick, has sores and is dressed in rags, while the rich man is really ‘rich’. I do not know why Jesus gives a name to the poor man – Lazarus, and does not give a name to the rich comfortable and complacent man. The parable tells us that in Heaven, Lazarus becomes the rich and healthy man and even dines with Abraham, while the earthly rich egoistic man becomes a pauper. This is a follow up of a warning Jesus has given in an earlier (Chapter, Lk. 6:20, the beatitudes).The parable in the Gospel about Lazarus and the rich man, comes to clarify what Jesus meant in these beatitudes.Responsorial Psalm;

When I was young, I heard about prisons as places of confinement, with high walls and sentries keeping guard to make sure no one escapes from them. Those within its confines had to be taken there by force. Later on I began to see people willingly build such prison-like places for themselves. If they do not trust human beings who can easily be manipulated, to keep sentry, they employ the services of ‘German shepherd’ dogs, with whom humans cannot negotiate. Sometimes a camera is mounted at the gate to reveal who is at the entrance. I wondered why people could willingly build prisons for themselves. At first sight, we think the essence is to keep away men of the underworld. But a careful look may also reveal that some of these measures are to keep away the poor beggars. If the poor beggars ring the bell at the front gate, it is not opened, but if another rich man shows up, the gates are flung wide open. The men of the underworld know this too well. They simply need to come in flashy cars and the gates are opened without question. Once in, they show their real colours.

It is not easy to convert the rich. Look at it this way; the more you have, the more you have to lose. The more you have to lose, the more fearful you become of the imminent loss. The more fearful you become, the more defensive you get. The more defensive you get, the more you cut off yourself. The more you cut yourself off, the more closed you become. The result is that you end up with a withered home and heart. It is difficult or impossible to breathe life into a withered home and heart. To close one’s home and heart is to begin to die and to open one’s home and heart is to begin to live. Quite often, you find the poor hungry beggars hanging out outside the fences as the tall walls and iron gates are not opened to them. That is the picture of Lazarus and the rich man Jesus gives in the Gospel parable.

I must confess, I have been carried away by one man’s wisdom in the Bible. I find myself every time going back to draw inspiration from his writings. This is Solomon, the King of Israel. Everyone who knew Solomon was blown away by his wisdom. It continues till date. Solomon’s wisdom was not just spiritual and religious. If you are picturing an old man with a long beard on top of the mountain saying confused things about God, you’ve got the wrong image. Solomon was relatively young and his wisdom was practical. He applied it to real life; in relationships, money, emotions, work, pleasure and time management. He was also a scientist who studied and taught about plants and animals and weather patterns. He had the supernatural from God to observe life and come to the right conclusions. History has never had a second, as described in Ecclesiastes. If you have watched the movies ‘National Treasure’ and ‘Solomon’s mines’, you know that a big chunk of the fortune the treasure hunters are looking for is supposed to have come from Solomon’s palace. These may be fictional but they relate the truth about his riches. He had everything gold – cups, household items, military shields, not to mention his throne. The magnificent temple he built that stands today in Israel, has been recognised as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. His palace was even bigger and more spectacular. He was scandalously rich! Let us see what he had to say about wealth .

Solomon says money and wealth fail. He inherited and worked hard to earn more. If Solomon was just a poor monk on the mountain top, spouting off about money and wealth, not satisfying the longings of the heart here and after, we might not care to listen. But when a guy who could buy and sell the world tells us “this too is meaningless”, we should pay close attention. That is what makes his conclusions about looking for meaning in money and wealth interesting and reliable. First, his book tells us that everything you have worked for, will be controlled by someone else. It is good to bequeath something for kids, but Solomon says it is unfair. Hear him,”For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune”(Eccl.2:21). Who knows what the inheritor will do with his unearned wealth? (Eccl.2:19). Those who live in the western world will node their heads when they remember seeing the legacy of Conrad Hamilton being abused by the kids, Paris Hilton and the other.

Second, much of your money and wealth goes straight to government in taxes. Eccl.5:8-9 says government corruption at that time, as is today, was rife. Taxes come in all sorts of names; sales tax, property tax,income tax, jangali tax, gift tax, car tax, poll tax, inheritance tax, toll tax, dead tax, enjoyment tax, etc. Jesus says, we should pay the taxes (Mk.12:13-17), but Solomon had already pointed out that we spend so much time working to give it out. Third, he says there is no such thing as enough. If you live for wealth, there is no finish line. No comfortable position. His words in Eccl. 5:10; “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income”. Listen to the comments of those around you whom you regard as rich. Maybe their complaints are more than yours. Fourth, money and wealth are expensive. Having nice stuff always costs more than the initial price you pay for it.It stresses you because you have to take care of your possessions, update them, guard them, fix them, etc. “The sleep of the labourer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.” (Eccl.5:12). Those who live for money and wealth end up as misers to their detriment. They may be hungry, but prefer to increase their store than have it reduced. Solomon had this to say, “I have seen a grievous evil under the sun: wealth hoarded to the harm of its owner” (Eccl. 5:13). Sixth, money and wealth can quickly vanish. Some toil all their years hoarding only to have it vanish someday. Sometimes even suddenly. Money and wealth can be lost as a result of natural disasters (earthquakes, floods, etc), fires, theft, business failures, legal troubles, bad economy and hundreds of other factors. Maybe you are smiling because you have been a victim or know someone close-by who has been. Solomon knew that money and wealth could go that quickly. He knew that holding onto money and wealth is not a reliable goal. Finally, Solomon describes the biggest problem facing those looking only up to money and wealth: Death. The harsh reality of death turns a fat bank account into a worthless asset. “As a man comes, so he departs, and what does he gain, since he toils for the wind? All the days he eats in darkness, with great frustration, affliction and anger.”Eccl.5:16-17). Those are the results of a life lived for money and wealth: frustration, affliction and anger. They are not words that usually come to mind when you think of the extremely rich, are they?

That is certainly not the experience of every wealthy person.The next question that may be cropping in your mind is, if all wealth is that meaningless to the wisest man Solomon, why did he not give up all he had? Of course, we would rather still have wealth than not. The Bible never teaches that having lots of money and wealth is a sin. Solomon and the apostle Paul agree that it is the love of money that leads to anger, frustration and every kind of evil. In the first reading, the Prophet Amos warns about complacency arising from wealth. He does not say that getting wealth is evil. In the Gospel, Jesus paints the picture of the rich greedy man, with poor hungry Lazarus at his gates ” who longed to fill himself with the scraps that fell from the man’s table” Luke 16:21) He never got the opportunity to be filled with such scraps. Jesus, like Amos, like Paul, like Solomon’s point is that we should reject wealth as a motivation for how we live our lives. We need it. Oh yes we do! But we must not make it a central point of our lives. This will lead us to knock down all on our way to get to it. This is where the evil of it sets in. Which recommendations therefore?

The Gospel of today reminds us of the vulnerability of all people, regardless of their status. The rich man had not acknowledged Lazarus, let alone given him food. There are invisible people in our communities, such as the housebound, hungry, lonely, elderly, destitute? their lives can be enriched by the generosity of others but we need to ‘see’ them. This generosity will build up bridges, open up the humanityof both benefactor and beneficiary as Paul tells us in the Second reading.

First, we should thank God for the money and wealth we have. They are God’s gifts. Envy in us makes us to look past the good things we have to the good things in others’ lives. That makes us to think and act as if money and wealth are the whole essence of living. Paul in 1 Thess. 5:18 says we should give thanks for everything we have all the time. This will make us realise how much we have and deviate our attention from thinking about what others have. Giving thanks will turn envy into gratitude. Second, we should learn to enjoy what we have. Solomon says it over and over in his writing. If you do not take time to enjoy them, how can they be worthwhile to you? Paul commissions “Command those who are rich in the present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment” (1 Tim. 6:17). So we should live with our riches and not for them. Third, we should be contented. We should work hard to enjoy the wealth we get and thank God for it. Solomon says “The fool folds his hands and ruins himself” (Eccl.4:5).Solomon is telling us not to be like Lazarus, at least not of our own making! Paul tells Timothy that those who do not work in communities should not be allowed to eat (2 Thess. 3:10). Keep in mind that there is a difference between not living for money and not living at all! Fourth, we should be able to give away our wealth to the needy when we honestly get too much than we need. In Eccl. 4:8, Solomon paints the picture of a miser who toils so much and later at the end of that verse discovers that it is meaningless. Solomon recommends that the best way to enjoy your wealth is to share it with other people (Eccl. 4:9-12). Paul tells the Pastor Timothy, “Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share” (1Tim.6:18) In other words, a great way to make sure you are not living for wealth is to give it away. Last, Solomon did not give up all he had, nor told us that it is wrong or a sin to have as much. God does not expect us to be paupers. He expects us to be able to recognise when our desires for wealth start taking over our lives. Living for wealth is not only a dead end in the search for a meaningful life but it is also a bad investment of your life. For sure, you will never get satisfaction from that here, and next you will, like the rich man in the Gospel, be putting your eternal life in jeopardy. You can decide that right now!!!!

A Little Prayer.

Lord Jesus, it is our fine linen, good food and drink, our life of ease, and our love of wealth that carries us away from your bidding. Like Lazarus, you stood in front of Pilate covered with sores and wounds and still spoke up for the truth and gave even your life for our sake. Help us to realise the meaninglessness of the earthly things that deceive us. May we use the gifts of your kindness to reach out to our ‘Lazaruses’ that we find around us today. Amen.

Have a Blessed Week!
Bobe Talla Toh