Luke 16:19-31 New (NRSV)
“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine
linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man
named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what
fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores.
The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The
rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he
looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out,
‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his
finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’ But
Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good
things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here,
and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has
been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so,
and no one can cross from there to us.’ He said, ‘Then, father, I beg you to
send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—that he may warn them,
so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ Abraham replied,
‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ He said, ‘No,
father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will
they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
I am willing to bet that all of you are familiar with what
was known as the Ice Bucket Challenge this past summer.
Starting sometime in late June or early July --- people all
over the world began to pour ice water over their heads.
The rules of this challenge were not set in stone --- but in
general it went something like this.
A family member or friend would challenge three friends
(over the next 24 hours) to either dump a bucket of cold ice water over their
heads or donate $100 to the ALS Association --- or do both.
Many of you are probably familiar with ALS.
The disease was first identified in 1869 --- but it wasn't
until Lou Gehrig announced that he had the disease that it really garnered any
attention.
Most people know the disease by his
name: Lou Gehrig's disease
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive
neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal
cord.
Motor neurons reach from the brain
to the spinal cord and from the spinal cord to the muscles throughout the body.
The progressive degeneration of the
motor neurons in ALS eventually leads to their death.
When the motor neurons die,
the ability of the brain to initiate and control muscle movement is lost.
With voluntary muscle action
progressively affected, patients in the later stages of the disease may become
totally paralyzed.
Many of us experienced ALS on a more personal level and we
watched the gallant battle that Eileen Hasse fought with the disease.
After a six year battle she passed
away this past March.
I am not certain how accurate this numbers are, but the ALS
Association reports that the Ice Bucket Challenge resulted in about 3 million
donors raising well over $115 million.
WOW!
I have to admit, I was shocked at how well this campaign
did. 3 Million donors!
But not only all the money donated --- we also got to see
friends get soaked, hear them squeal and watch them shutter!
It was fun.
What is amazing to me is just how successful this campaign
was.
It demonstrated the power of social media to rally people
around the cause.
For those of us who heard about the Arab Summer in 2011 and
all the talk of how it was driven by social media, got to see it first hand
with the Ice Bucket Challenge.
I think it was successful because it was so simple --- it
was easy to participate and easy to share.
This weekend we celebrate REFORMATION SUNDAY --- remembering
when Martin Luther accidentally kicked off the Reformation --- in a great part
helped by the new fangled technology of his day --- the printing press.
Not surprisingly the response to the ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE
has been mixed.
Of course there are those people who want to push the
concept farther
·
better video
·
more creative
·
more donations
Then there those who donate but keep it to themselves ---
never creating a video or even sharing the challenge
But there have been all kinds of people who have responded
in the negative.
·
don't want to donate
·
offended to be challenged (either to do the ice
bucket or open their wallet)
·
People who have said WHY --- Why ALS, why not
something else
And that may be the most intriguing of the critiques
Why single
out ALS
I think I find that most interesting because it raisings
some interesting questions . . .
Why single out any causes that are
bigger than ourselves?
That critique really challenges us
to look at why we reach out and help others at all.
What I loved about the challenge was it helped many of us do
SOMETHING
Before donating --- or even dumping
water on our heads we had to decide!
Decide if we would . . .
Should I donate?
Or should I just spread the word
and make a video
Or should I do both?
Just think about it ---- 3 million people thought about
whether they should donate to ALS and decided YES
But there was a side benefit from the ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE
All those who chose not to participate --- because of all
the social pressure were forced to answer (sometimes just to themselves) NO, I
don’t want to participate because . . .
That means they thought deeply about how, when and why they
contribute to causes beyond their budget.
And when they told their friends, "I decline because,"
those friends received an invitation, explicit or implied, to think through
what their own because looks like.
In our story this morning we are reminded of the
opportunities to make a difference NOW.
Archbishop Richard Trench, in his Notes on the Parables
of Our Lord, almost 100 years ago wrote:
The sin of {the rich man} in its
root is unbelief: hard-hearted contempt of the poor, luxurious squandering on
self, are only the forms which his sin assumes.
The seat of the disease is within
Remember how our passage ended last week?
You cannot
serve God and wealth.
The rich man becomes the poster child for Luke
As we get to the end of Luke's Gospel we will encounter two
men whose hearts "were strangely warmed" as the scriptures were
shared with them.
A stranger --- whom we understand to be Jesus --- joins them
and explains the law and the prophets to them.
They share a meal together and they too see that it is
Jesus.
You have to wonder what would have happened if the rich man
had shared a meal with Lazarus --- would he have then seen his need and cared
for him --- because he was the embodiment of Jesus.
George Buttrick, in The Parables of Jesus reminds us
that however important that it is that we share food --- this parable is really
about an even deeper and more pervasive attitude of neighborliness towards
others.
The story offers no support to the
glib assumption that [the rich man} would have fulfilled all duty had he
dressed Lazarus' sores and fed his hunger.
True charity is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not
spasmodic or superficial. Ameliorations
such as food and medicine are necessary, but there is a more fundamental neighborliness.
While the ICE BUCKET Challenge isn't going to end ALS ---
and it probably hasn't created a whole new group of people toward charitable
giving.
What it has done is opened up many people to the
conversation of helping others.
We sometimes forget that everything we do has an impact on
the kingdom.
Whether it is splashing a bucket of water over our heads
writing a
check
seeing the
person who is hungry as our neighbor
how we vote
in the coming weeks
Who knows what will come of all those conversations that
people had as they decided to participate (or not) in the Ice Bucket challenge.
My prayer is that we have dumped a bucket of cold water over
the head of all of us --- waking us up so that we can see the Lazarus' that are
all around.
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