Yet again, I concede that here is a Gospel passage (Luke 16:19-41; The Story of Dives and Lazarus) upon which I have never preached; I justify it by saying other Bible passages seemed to demand attention. So, here it is… I fear it could have been much, much longer and even now it pushes the time honored 10/12 minutes; maybe I have just tried to make up for lost time!
The sermon text is below the sermon video.
click here for sermon video: https://zionepiscopal.com/Sermon%20Videos/sixteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-9-25-2022.html
Sermon Preached at Zion Episcopal Church, Washington NC
Sunday September 25th 2022
The Reverend Alan Neale
“A Yawning Chasm”
Luke 19:26 “Between us a great chasm has been fixed”.
In 1848 Mrs. Cecil Alexander wrote this well-known hymn “All things bright and beautiful”. Originally the hymn contained a verse that read, “The rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate, God made them high and lowly, and ordered their estate” – not quite politically correct. As social sensitivities changed, so in 1906 Percy Dearmer produced the first hymnal without controversial verse. It articulated too well, he argued, “the passivity and inertia at the heart of the British Establishment in the face of huge inequalities in Edwardian society”.
Passivity and inertia… surely we see that in Dives; complacently accepting the status quo and heartlessly ignoring it consequences.
Today’s Gospel reminds me of the stone steps around the great church I served in Philadelphia; every morning there would homeless people sleeping on the steps. All we asked was that they move from the steps that accessed the church; and we did what else we could. But they definitely were not invisible nor treated with disdain.
The somewhat stark parable in today’s Gospel is the story of the anonymous rich man (Dives simply means rich, allowing any of us to identify with him) and the identified beggar (Lazarus – it means El-Azar… God has helped). It is the only time that a character in Jesus’ parables is given a name… yes, it’s true!
There are two scenes in the Gospel passage; the first on earth, before death and the second in heaven and Hades, after death.
Our text is not patient of any ambiguity, haziness or opacity.
The word for fixed (esperiktai) denotes something that is immutable, established, “solidly planted eliminating any vacillation”.
The word for chasm (xasma) denotes a huge gulf, a gigantic gorge (think of the Grand Canyon and multiply the scene many times). The word comes from the Greek word to yawn (xasko); every time I thought of this meaning I actually yawned… I just hope that this not a sign of things to come!
I am reminded of the schoolteacher who wrote of a sorry student, “The lad is so boring that even the grave will yawn to greet him”.
“The fixed chasm” between Dives and Lazarus on earth is distinct, sharp and well-defined.
The rich man fed sumptuously every day; Lazarus was hungry most of the time and, occasionally, dined on the crumbs from the table.
The rich man was clothed in purple, the most expensive of colors; Lazarus was clothed in sores (sores that actually made him liturgically unclean, he was barred from community worship).
The rich man feasted with many friends; the only companions Lazarus had were the dogs that licked his sores.
Yes, a great chasm indeed!
This was a chasm carved out by circumstances but made more profound, etched more deeply by the egotism, the insensitivity, the indifference of the rich man.
I heard this week of wisdom from a Tao text: “Chase after money and security and your heart will never be unclenched”. Ouch!
The second scene Jesus locates in heaven and Hades, after death. (And aside… “this parable is not a Baedeker’s guide to the next world. Its symbols are symbolic. It neither describes the furniture of heaven nor the temperature of hell.) In this scene the roles are stunningly, starkly reversed… Dives in burning torment, Lazarus comfortably settled in Abraham’s bosom. The rich man continues in his attitudes and deigns to treat Lazarus as his servant. “Get Lazarus… do this and bring me some water.” And “Get Lazarus… do that and carry a message to my brothers.” He does not even stoop to address Lazarus directly but sends his command via Abraham. Here is an attitude of presumption, arrogance etched deep in the heart of Dives; so deep that no chasm could be bridged.
Jesus continues the theme of “a great chasm has been fixed” as he talks of the rich man’s brothers. For some reason, not told to us, they have created a chasm, a gulf between themselves and the words and message of Holy Scripture. Lord, preserve us.
Over these past weeks, reading challenging Gospel stories in Luke, we have seen repeatedly how Jesus uses hyperbole, exaggeration to grasp the attention of his hearers, to underline profound spiritual messages and to incite immediate response.
In today’s Gospel Jesus is urging the hearers, Pharisees and disciples, you and me, to procrastinate no longer… to observe the “great chasms fixed between us”, to “Mind the Gap” – it’s not too late.
“Mind the gap” between those who feed comfortably and those whose daily diet is one of uncertainty, meagerness, sparseness. In this month we are called to be more Hunger Aware. Thank God for the absolutely crucial and respectful ministry of Eagle’s Wings.
“Mind the gap” between those who wardrobes are full and those who fear the cold as well as the heat because of inadequate clothing. Thank God for Zion’s Yard Sales that offer fine, attractive, good quality clothing.
“Mind the gap” between those of one political persuasion and those of another; bring us nearer, O Lord, to “one nation… under God… with liberty and justice for all”.
“Mind the Gap” – be impatient with chasms that are just assumed to be inexorably fixed… it’s not too late.
“Mind the gap” between friend and friend, family member and family member, Christian and Christian.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. writes “The Bible talks about another gulf. This time it is a gulf between God and man. This gulf originated in the circumstance of sin. Here God is the Dives; He is the rich man, rich in grace, rich in love, rich in power. Man is the Lazarus, poor in power, covered with the sores of sin, lying at the gates of God’s throne, begging for the crumbs of God’s grace. Man, like Lazarus, was too weak to bridge the gap (though) with enough power to at struggle to the gate, to desire the bread of grace. But he could not bridge the gulf; only God could do this. The beauty of the Christian gospel is that God, the divine omnipotent Dives is not like the Dives of the parable. He is always seeking to bridge the gulf.
This is our ministry… as ambassadors (each of us) of reconciliation, refusing to accept chasms that society, custom tell us are fixed; to take heart… “it’s not too late”.
Today’s parable presents the unambiguous truth that if we do not take care… then attitudes of mind and heart may become set in steel and take an eternity to reframe.
Lord, have mercy. Amen