The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazaros teaches us that our salvation will be determined by our generosity with the gifts and blessings we have received from God. If we wish to avoid the torment of hell, we must change our hearts to be generous to the Church for the work of the God.
My brothers and sisters in this morning’s gospel, Christ gives us a very clear picture of the difference between heaven and hell. He talks about some anonymous rich man. He characterizes him having so much wealth. He says he feasted sumptuously. He had all the food he ever wanted. He was clothed in purple. This was a truly wealthy man. And it said outside his door was a poor beggar who wanted nothing more than to eat the few scraps, the few crumbs that were left over from his various banquets. The Gospel says the rich man died and was buried.
It was the poor man who was carried into heaven by the angels to be comforted there. My brothers and sisters, this story is about you and me. The question is, who are we in the story? Most of us want to think that we are Lazarus in heaven, but the reality is my brothers and sisters, we are the rich man in the story. We are the ones who have been given such amazing blessings from God. We live in the most wealthy, most affluent, most comfortable country in the face of the planet in maybe all of human history.
We have everything we need and then some. Even if we are not so called, “wealthy Americans”, we are still exceedingly blessed by God. We don’t have to worry where our next meal is coming from. We open our closet and decide, what shall I wear today? We’re not worried if we have clothes. We, my brothers and sisters, are the wealthy one in this morning’s gospel. And the warning for us from God is that wealth has been given to us for a purpose. We choose to spend it and to keep it for ourselves. We are so consumed with our own comforts that we neglect the needs of the others around us. Our country now, and I’m not going to get political. Our country now is battling over how to take care of poor people. My brothers and sisters, it’s not the government’s job to take care of poor people.
It’s our job as Christians. But we’re too busy keeping all of our wealth and all of our resources to ourselves. And when the rich man got to the bosom of Abraham, the reason he was tormented, the reason he was in hell, my brothers and sisters, wasn’t because he was rich.
It’s because he did nothing with his wealth. And seeing Lazarus, he says, “Lord, send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame. Even in death, he saw Lazarus as nothing. Even in death, he couldn’t realize that he had set his own condition.” And Abraham says, “I’m sorry. Lazarus cannot come to you because there’s a great chasm between you and us.” My brothers and sisters, the church teaches us that this chasm is death. What that means to us, living is this: once we die, we cannot change our hearts. That’s the chasm that the gospel is talking about. We have this life to change our hearts. We have this life right here, right now, to take the resources and the blessings that God has given us and use them for God’s glory, not for ourselves.
And we have this life because once we die, the condition of our heart is final. That’s what happened to the poor rich man. He was not prepared to see God loving that poor helpless Lazarus. He expected to be treated like royalty in heaven because he was treated like royalty on the earth. And so my brothers and sisters, the challenge for us, for you and for me together as a church is how are we going to use our resources for the glory of God? How are we going to protect ourselves against the story in this morning’s gospel? How are we not going to find ourselves in torment? The answer is simple. The answer is in our stewardship to God’s church.
How we use the resources that God has given us for the work of his church. Our church feeds the poor. Our church through the archdiocese and through the patriarch sends money all over the world to those who are in need. Our churches have helped establish orphanages and nursing homes in the most poor conditions on the earth. That’s our job. That’s our responsibility. And I dare say, my brothers and sisters, it will be our judgment if we don’t change our hearts.
It’s going to be our judgment if we do not change our hearts. So I invite you to consider how you use God’s resources. And I want you to remember this morning’s gospel when you consider your stewardship to the church. Your stewardship to the church, my brothers and sisters, is not about light bills and air conditioning. It’s about the work of Jesus Christ.
It is about our holy cathedral, this historic cathedral being a place where people can come and find hope, where people can come and be forgiven and receive the grace of God. I have had the distinct blessing over and over to welcome people into the church on their first visit who talk about a life of torment finally being relieved when they walk into the church.
My brothers and sisters, that is not possible without our generosity. November is stewardship month. I have a letter in the bulletin. You have received a letter at home. In the next few weeks, we’re going to talk about our giving, not as per our budget, but we’re going to talk about giving as part of our salvation. Because my brothers and sisters, I don’t know about you, but when I read this gospel, I’m convicted in my heart. I am ashamed of my own lack of generosity when I read this morning’s gospel because I can do more. We can all do better. We can all bring our resources for the glory of God so that when we do die and get to heaven, we will be welcomed and comforted like Lazarus, not tormented and astray like the rich man, but we have only this life in which to do it.
We may not see tomorrow. We may not see next week. We may have another 50 years by God’s grace, but today is the day we change our hearts and live and give like the blessings that God has given us is not just for our use, but for his, for God’s use and his ministry and for the poor and for those who need hope that this church can continue to shine on this hill and be a beacon of hope. But my brothers and sisters, we are on the verge of the future. It is our decision whether we move forward or whether we move backward in our giving. Let’s continue to move forward, to push forward, to allow our ministries and our cathedral to shine for the glory of God. Because our eternal salvation depends upon it. Glory to God for all things.
