The Right Thing To Do?

Proper 21C

Luke 16:19-31, 1 Timothy 6:6-19

September 29, 2019

St. Matthias

           How do you know WHAT is the right thing to do???  I tend to ask myself this question when I read the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus and then AGAIN when the person on the street asks me for money.  This happened last Tuesday on 4^th Ave N in downtown Birmingham where I was waiting for Phyllis.  We were going to our weekly Rotary Club meeting and I had parked on one end of the block and she on the other.  If you are familiar with Rotary, you may remember that our motto is Service Above Self. A man passing by said, “You look very Dapper today!”  He hit me right in the EGO, and as I was standing there being quite pleased with myself – he asked me for money.  Suddenly all my defenses went up.  He wasn’t dirty and he didn’t smell.  Actually, he was nice looking and he smiled when he told me he had just moved to Birmingham and was looking for work and couldn’t find any.  He was out trying to get food for his wife and 4 year old daughter.  I have a daughter AND a granddaughter.  There are no grocery stores of any kind near 4^th Ave N in Birmingham.  It was 6:45 am so the restaurants were closed.  I looked in his eyes and he didn’t seem to be high on drugs.  I had money and credit cards in my wallet.  I gave him $20.  Was it the right thing to do???

           There have been any number of times over the years when I know I have been asked for money for one reason and it was probably used for something totally different like drugs or alcohol or something other than food.  There was the time in Georgetown, Kentucky when I was in seminary and serving that summer at Trinity Episcopal Church.  During the Sunday Eucharist half way through the sermon, a young man came in the back door.  He had long hair and a beard and was wearing sandals.  He looked just like those pictures of Jesus in the children’s Bible - even in his Levi’s and t-shirt.  He wanted me to stop preaching and talk to him.  I motioned for him to sit and wait.  At the Peace he told me he needed money to buy medicine for his mother because she just got out of the hospital.  He didn’t have a prescription.  He didn’t know which pharmacy he was going to.  His pupils were as big as quarters.  He started to get impatient.  I gave him $20 so he would leave.  Was it the right thing to do??

           Jesus tells the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus to the people that day and it would be easy to say that the moral of this story TELLS US that YES, we should always feed the hungry and the poor!  Ethics and moral theology were some of the best classes I took in seminary.  Do the means justify the end or the other way around?  Do you just feed everyone to make sure we help those who actually need it?  Clearly this is a moral tale and we can go back and forth about our responsibility.  But is that all there is to it?    This is a parable and parables talk about the Kingdom of Heaven which is what Jesus was describing to the people that day.  Notice that no where in this scripture passage does Jesus say that the Rich Man lived a bad life on earth and that Lazarus was a good man.  All we are told is that Lazarus goes to Heaven and the Rich Man to Hades.  And we have to assume that economics had nothing to do with it for that would mean that Salvation is dependent on little more than money.

           Then I read 1 Timothy.  Specifically, the last verse.  Whether we are rich or poor, young or old, whoever we are, WE are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up the treasure of a good foundation for the future, SO THAT WE MAY TAKE HOLD OF THE LIFE THAT REALLY IS LIFE! 

           Jesus is telling the people that day that life in the Kingdom of Heaven begins with sharing the love of God.  Share what you have in Love.  Love one another as Christ loves us and feed those who are hungry in both body and soul.   Every box of food we share at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter feeds souls and stomachs and spirits of people hungry for more than just food.  Every bag of beans and rice spreads God’s love far beyond 250 families.  The Rich Man went to Hades because he did not believe in God and so he did not know how or what to share with anyone including Lazarus.  Lazarus went to heaven because he knew the love of God and shared it with everyone even though he had no money.  I believe that Lazarus – in his own way – shared the love of God with that Rich Man – who never even knew it because he did not know what that kind of love is all about.  Loving God and Loving our Neighbor is always the right thing to do.

           On Tuesday on 4^th Ave N in Birmingham, the man I met asked me what business I was in.  I told him I am an Episcopal minister.  He asked if that was the same thing as a Christian.  He asked me to pray with him and I asked him to pray for me and so we did.  He went his way and I went to meet Phyllis. I have thought about him all week.  It was the right thing to do.  AMEN.