Today we are visited by dead men.
Like in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol when Ebenezer Scrooge was haunted by the Ghost of his business partner Jacob Marley.
Marley was bound by the chains that he forged in life and Marley visited Scrooge from beyond the grave to warn him to change his greedy ways before it is too late. “You will be haunted by three Sprits”, says Marley’s Ghost.
Like Scrooge we are haunted and warned this day.
The parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man: a haunting story where in Jesus raises the Ghost of an idea that we are ultimately accountable, that we are under judgment, that money is dangerous, and that it will shackle us to an eternity of fire if we are not careful.
We are visited today by dead men, haunted by three Spirits.
We are visited by the Rich Man. Whose wealth was a chasm between him and the pain and hunger that was literally on his doorstep. He didn’t lift a finger for poor Lazarus as he lay dying at the gate. Only his dogs visited Lazarus to add to Lazarus’s shame by licking his sores.
He dies and the chasm he made in life dooms him in death, he is separated from the blessed company of Father Abraham by the chasm of judgment. The Rich Man, who didn’t lift a finger for Lazarus in life, in death tells Abraham to command Lazarus to lift a finger of cool water to his lips to ease the flames of torment. He then asks that Lazarus be sent to warn his five brothers to change their ways before it is too late.
In the Cotton Patch Gospel translation of the parable Father Abraham says, “Lazarus ain’t gonna run no mo’ yo’ errands, rich man!”
If the Rich Man’s five brothers don’t listen to Moses and the Prophets’ teaching on hospitality, generosity and care for the poor then they wouldn’t listen to Lazarus coming back from the grave anyway.
We are visited by Father Abraham, the father of Isaac, the granddaddy of Jacob, the great granddad of Joseph, the for bare of Moses.
Father Abraham, the bosom of Abraham is the desired resting place for his descendants, the place of blessing. Abraham was a rich man, yet he did not end up in flames of torment, perhaps this is because of Abraham’s renowned hospitality to strangers, entertaining angels unawares. Abraham’s wealth was a blessing he shared, he was neighborly, his wealth was not a chasm that cut him off from the world. No one would die sick and hungry on his door step if he had any say about it.
Abraham’s true children are those who are haunted by the ghost of grace, who share the blessing, who keep watch so that no one is lost on their watch, whose table always has room for one more, always. The Rich Man may have been descended from Abraham and called him father, but he was no child of Abraham.
We are visited by Lazarus. He was forgotten, ignored and abandoned while he lived. But in death he was found, remembered and comforted. Just as the Rich Man’s life was reversed from feasting to tormented, so was Lazarus’s life reversed from tormented to blessed. Not because he was righteous or virtuous, not because of anything he said or did or believed, we don’t know anything about that part of his life. He was blessed and cared for because there was no blessing or care in his life before he died. We see God seeking out the lost and forgotten simply because God doesn’t want anyone left behind. Moses and the prophets told us so, yet still we let folks die on the steps, so God has to see to them himself, he sends Abraham the greatest host in all of heaven.
We are visited by three Spirits, we are haunted by the ghost of this parable, a haunting story where in Jesus raises the Ghost of an idea that we are ultimately accountable, that we are under judgment, that money is dangerous, that it will shackle us to an eternity of fire if we are not careful.
Not only that, we have Moses and the Prophets to warn us.
And not only do we have Moses and the Prophets we also have someone who has risen from the dead, our Lord Jesus Christ, to convince us of the imperative of God’s just demands that we be neighborly, that no one be left behind on our watch, that the renowned hospitality of Abraham thrive in our midst.
Are we convinced? What will it take to free us from the chains of wealth that will drag us down in flames? That is where the parable leaves us. We are haunted by that question, “Are we convinced.”
Today we are visited by dead men.
Three are the ghosts of the dead.
And one is the Risen Lord who will not rest until all the children of Abraham are unchained.