September 25, 2022
Rev. Patricia Wagner How Shall We Know? Scripture: Luke 16: 19-31 Luke 16:19-31 19“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. 23In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. 24He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’ 25But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. 26Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ 27He said, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— 28for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ 29Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ 30He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will change.’ 31He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” According to Luke, Jesus sees that some in the temple care more about their wealth than their neighbors and after a few one liners, he tells them a story Once there was a rich man, dressed in purple of royalty, who ate sumptuous meals while Lazarus. poor man, is starving at his gate with only the dogs come to lick his sores. for when they both die and Lazarus is in the bosom of Abraham and the rich man is in agony he asks Abraham to send Lazarus, to bring him water, to serve him even in death. It cannot be, says Abraham, for there is a chasm that has opened up between you. Then will you send him to warn his brothers begs Abraham to send Lazarus to warn them them that the same might happen to them Abraham says no again for they will listened to no prophet neither will they when someone comes to them from the dead Then how shall they know, pleads the man.. it’s a disturbing story – I get confused when I hear of torment: it doesn’t fit with God as Love, yet the story’s truths seem borne out from persons who have shared their near-death experiences. Persons who, in the time between their heart stopping and starting again, had a startling shift in awareness. They perceived not a great light, But the pain they’d caused others. One man recounts that he became acutely aware that he had Of the harmful abuse he’d inflicted on his wife. and now, in death, he was tormented by realizing that there was now a chasm between him and her, and he couldn’t cross it, and repair the damage done. A young woman who experienced a sudden death, tells of own metanoia (change of thinking or consciousness) for in that moment, she realized she’d lived a self-centered life. indifferent to other’s suffering The realization that she no longer had the opportunity to change her life were the flames of hell for her. Both of these persons seemed anxious that we understand the agony of regret. Just as Lazarus wants to warn his brothers that a change is required in them, too. Jesus, invites us to introspection, How might we be like the rich man, Inattentive to the Lazarus at our gate? Of course, we can get overwhelmed with all that need our attention And all that needs to be righted. I will confess that poor at our intersections are now so ubiquitous that I am mostly irritated and try not to see them. But my daughter sees them. We will drive past an intersection, and she will remark about what is on their sign or how ill they looked and express her concern. She always sees them She always did, like most children, she was never afraid of the poor I remember the mangiest man walking toward us one day his face scouring, his hair wild, his clothes mangled. and she lit up and said “Hi!” There wa no gate, no sense of distance or difference She senses a kinship that, often, I cannot or do not. You know people like this. Can we, a time of such division, between parties and nations, experience such a metanoia that we might also comprehend one another across all the chasms of our own creation all the categories that we’ve formed all the distinctions we have made? May we see our essential kinship and live it before our hearts stop and we feel the agony of regret? Jesus in his story is inviting us to do so. I was in a workshop last week with a wonderful man named Ron Heifietz, a Jew, who with all other Jews is today celebrating Rosh Hashana, the New Year, three days when creation is made new again and there is opportunity to reflect restore relationships with God and others, to change. Ron spoke of learning to see everyone, strangers, or particularly those whom we see as unworthy, unlike us, as a whole world one of great love and great suffering of good actions and bad ones just like us. What if we can hold the complexity of that in our hearts? If we accept others as “whole worlds” What change might that bring in us? Bishop Frank Griswold of the Episcopal church Tells of going into the zone near the World Trade Center Just after the terrorist attack. Still standing was the old Trinity Episcopal Church 2 to 3 feet of ash covering the pews but the church was intact and there was Jesus, crucified, with his arms outstretched Jesus, who, Bishop Griswold realized, could hold this all together, all the stories, all the lives, all the worlds of perpetrators and victims into one great whole to be offered to God. Jesus wanted his follower to hold as much as they can in their hearts In this life and to allow that to change us. So, perhaps, we can practice; practice loving across chasms, practice ignoring the boundaries we’ve made, practice introspection of Rosh Hashana: practice beginning again. On Tuesday of this week, I met a man at our blessing box. His name was Charles, he said, and it was his 46th birthday. Is there anything I can get you, no, thank you for this, as he put some granola bars in his backpack. He shared that his mother had died recently from Alzheimers he’d lost his father to violence when he was young and his brother from an overdose and now his mum. So its just you, Yes, but I have Spencer and Stewart do you know them? we have a place we stay, a small encampment, it seemed so I’m good. Someone stole my tent, but it will be okay. He was trying to write something on a piece of paper I could see his implement wasn’t working. I’ll get one, I found a marker and handed it to him Then realize he was making a sign to hold by the side of the road. I’m Charles. Today is my 46th birthday. I found myself hoping people would see him, would read it would acknowledge, in some small way the humanity before them. Cross the chasms between you while you can, says Jesus in this story, May we do so. Amen. Rev. Patricia Wagner, Maple Grove UMC
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7 W Henderson Rd
Columbus, OH 43214 (614) 262-1163 |
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Parking
The Maple Grove parking lot on the south side of the church which is accessed from Aldrich Road, the first street south of Henderson Road.
The Maple Grove parking lot on the south side of the church which is accessed from Aldrich Road, the first street south of Henderson Road.