Proper 21C

[RCL] Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15; Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16; 1 Timothy 6:6-19; Luke 16:19-31 We have all heard that the “love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” While that is certainly true, the maxim alone may leave us feeling judged, helpless, or defensive. Thank goodness that isn’t the only thing Paul said about…

[RCL]: Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15; Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16; 1 Timothy 6:6-19; Luke 16:19-31 We’ve just heard the story that Jesus tells, but I’d like to highlight a couple of details. Jesus mentions that the rich man, who is not named, is feasting sumptuously every day and wearing purple. This guy is ostentatiously rich – filthy rich,…

From the earliest of times people have told stories about the wicked getting their come-uppance. It’s rooted in the now-popular belief in karma, although the idea of revenge, implicit in the way many now use the term isn’t quite what it means in Eastern religions. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus is not…

[NOTE TO READER: The Latin word dives, in the seventh paragraph, is pronounced “DYE-veez.”] “I always thank the person for asking, even when I don’t have anything to give at the time.”  These are the words of Archbishop James Salisbury of the African Orthodox Church in America, about being asked for money by people on the street….

What do you think heaven is? A man told this story of his experience just before his father died. The man and his sister were taking care of their father who was in the last stages of cancer, the man staying with their bed-ridden father during the day and his sister staying with their father…

How could anyone stand to have a poor man lying in the doorway, covered with sores, those sores being licked by stray dogs – a poor man who longs for nothing but the crumbs that fall off the table? Aren’t we outraged that a rich man, dressed in purple and fine linen, who feasted sumptuously…

A lot of older immigrants routinely offer table scraps to a happily waiting dog under the table. When asked why they don’t simply buy dog food they frequently will answer something like, “This is how we fed pets in the old country. We didn’t have an entire industry devoted to manufacturing food for pets. Look…

The first temptation most everyone who hears this parable faces is the temptation to do theological dentistry. That is, to try to pull the teeth of the parable. That’s usually done by saying that we are not like that rich man and we don’t act like he acted. Then we say that the real point…

The danger in dealing with such a familiar parable as that of “Dives” (the rich man) and Lazarus (the poor man) is that its familiarity may cause us to miss the vitality of its meaning. All three of the lectionary passages delve into a subject we would rather ignore: the use of money and its…