2025 09
28 Proper 21 year C
Jeremiah
32.1-3a, 6-15 Psalm 91.1-6. 14-16 1 Timothy 6.6-19 Luke 16.19-31
Following on from
last week, this week’s readings continue to warn us about the LOVE of money,
and we see a contrast between rich and poor, power and powerlessness. St. Paul’s letter to Timothy tells us; “those
who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and
harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds
of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the
faith and pierced themselves with many pains.” There were rich and poor in the early church and
everyone in between. The early evangelists
preached to everyone and people of all walks of life responded. But some, whose priority was wealth, had
walked away.
In the first reading
we find a contrast, with the powerful King and the powerless prophet. Jeremiah was placed in “confinement” in the
palace. The back story is that Jeremiah
had prophesied to the King of Judah, Zedekiah, that the city would be given
into the hands of the king of Babylon and that they would lose in their fight
with the Chaldeans. This came to be, yet
the King was angry that Jeremiah had prophesied and locked him in the
palace. So here we have the one with
power and the one without power, side by side.
But things are never as straightforward as they seem, and certainly,
God’s economy in the Spiritual realm is different to that which is in the
physical world.
Something that we
need to understand and remember is that the Spiritual realm is part of this
world. God is with us always and there
are powers and principalities at work that we can’t see. Most importantly we must remember that God
will have the last say. The physical
world decays, the spiritual does not.
Having great riches
or not, was not a sign of being a follower of God or not, as great people of
faith, such as Abraham and David were very rich, but riches or poverty or
somewhere in between is simply a fact of living in the physical world. And our challenge, following on from last
week’s message, is to understand that we are simply managers or stewards of
those riches. God is the Master who
calls us to give an account of how we have managed the riches of which he has
entrusted to us - whether that be our
finances, our skills or talents.
Saint Paul also has
these words on the matter for Timothy; “…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.” In other
words, our focus needs to be on the life that is really life… which is the
Spiritual, eternal life.
We are all the
children of God. Some of us have
realized it and responded to God, but that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t care
about the others. One of the riches that
God has given us is the knowledge of him.
But what’s more, He has given us His Holy Spirit and all kinds of gifts
that go along with that. Are we being
good stewards of these gifts?
The Pharisees were
wealthy, materialistically and they had God’s word. In this environment, Jesus told a story about
a man who was dressed in purple and fine linen.
These two things tell us that the man was both a King, as purple denote
royalty, and a priest, as the priests were to wear linen. Therefore, Jesus is talking about a man who
belonged to the people of God… a royal child of God, who was also a person of
faith – a priest - a servant of God. You
and I are this person!
This is an unusual
parable because it names one character, Lazarus. His name means, “God has helped”. This deliberate naming implies that no one
else has helped him, only God. It is
also significant that the rich man knew Lazarus’ name and the rich man knew
Moses and the Prophets. The rich man is
no outsider to the ways of God, as far as knowledge goes, and he lived his life
in both physical and spiritual comfort and security, feeling reassured that God
was on his side. He was, however, not a
good steward of his riches. He did not
care for those in need who he even knew by name – Lazarus.
Going back to our Old
Testament, King Zedekiah had responsibility for the kingdom of Judah. He had been given riches and a position of
power and authority. As the king of
Judah, he was also in a position of power over the people’s faith. King Zedekiah refused to listen to the word
of God and his mis-management of his position meant that not just him, but the
kingdom also would suffer. King Zedekiah
knew Jeremiah by name. Jeremiah’s
prophecy had been proved correct, yet King Zedekiah still refused to change his
ways. Why? What can we learn from this?
Some questions we
need to ask ourselves and God are; Am I refusing
to help someone that God wants me to help?
Am I refusing to be corrected? Am
I being a responsible steward of the riches that God has given me?
We may not be poor,
but we may feel powerless. King Zedekiah
had power, and Jeremiah was confined by that power. Jeremiah had no internet to enable him to get
his word out to others. He could only
tell the king and those in the palace and they weren’t listening. Jeremiah and Lazurus were both helped by
God.
The word of God came
to Jeremiah and when his cousin came to ask him to buy a field, Jeremiah knew
what God’s message was. It was a message
of hope. Can you imagine the scene? it
would have been a pretty weird meeting.
This guy outside, coming into see the palace prisoner to ask him to buy
a field. The whole land was suffering as
it had been besieged. So, the land
Jeremiah was purchasing would have meant buying land that was completely
useless and under the control of a foreign power, but the message of God was to
buy this field. Why? Because God has the last word. Though there is destruction and darkness all
around, there is always hope for the people of God. For some time, this land would be
inaccessible for Jeremiah, but in time there would again be vineyards. Jeremiah might not have been very wealthy,
yet what he did with what he had was to follow God’s direction and spend it on
a field that for many years would not see the fruit.
We may feel like we
are in that same kind of position for our church… and our country. There has been a shadow over our church due
to the sins of another. And even our
country is divided and seems to be going in a direction that denies God’s
ways. What is God’s word to us? For the people listening to Jeremiah, it was
that after this disaster there would again be life and growth. God always has the last word.
In the final scene of
our Gospel reading, after both the rich man and Lazarus had died, the rich man
intercedes for his brothers who are still living and asks that someone be sent
back to life to warn them. Abraham
responds; 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will
they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'" This is Jesus telling the story and also
telling us what would happen to him.
In fact, God has
given every possible proof to mankind, but there will always be some who do not
believe. That doesn’t mean that God
stops trying to reach them. It is made
explicit in the Old Testament, that those who receive the word of God, if they
don’t pass it on, will be held accountable for the lives of the ones they were
meant to pass it on to. That is why
Jeremiah prefers confinement in the palace rather than freedom but at the
expensive of lives.
Many people who come
to faith, do so after being completely opposed to faith for many years. In fact, their hearts could be said to be “In
Exile”… but invest in those people…in faith… buy that plot of land …. Use our
wealth, our skills our talents, like good and responsible stewards to sow seeds
of faith in that ground. Understand that
the land is besieged by the enemy. Yet
we invest with hope knowing the word of God does not return void but will
accomplish God’s will. Not immediately,
but one day, that seed will flourish.
In the last sentence
of our Gospel, we understand that Jesus knew that there would be people who
would still refuse to believe even if someone came back from the dead. That didn’t stop him going to the cross. He was the word of God made flesh, and he
would atone for the sin of the world and rise from the dead, bringing us our
greatest wealth, eternal life. Jesus
made spiritual life and eternity the priority.
We too, need to have a Kingdom mindset.
Jeremiah’s King,
Zedekiah was entrusted with ensuring the wellbeing of the nation. He was also given the word of God through
Jeremiah – more valuable than all his wealth and power. He confined that word and kept it in his
palace. In the same way, the rich man in
Jesus’ story kept his wealth. You and I
have been given the word of God also, and we are given the great treasure of
salvation…. Eternal life. We are wealthy
beyond compare! There are many poor in
our community – poor in the word of God.
Are we sharing our wealth with them?
The dogs licked the sores of Lazarus, and it is the world who gives comfort
to those in the world who are without our wealth of eternity. Is it possible that they are comforted with drugs
and alcohol, while we keep their healing confined in our palace, the church?
We are called to invest
in that field, barren and tough though it might be. We are called to pass on the gift of salvation
– eternal life. We have it and it is the
greatest treasure. How is God specifically
calling us today, to be faithful and responsible with all that he has given us? Let’s take a moment to silently take this to
God in prayer.