Quick Summary:

Today the themes of poverty and wealth collide in our readings and this time it gets personal. Neither Amos nor Jesus will allow us to stand back as dispassionate observers, but insist that we come right up close.

In our globally connected world, scenes of suffering are more accessible than ever, yet, ironically, we’ve become ever more adept at ignoring Lazarus at our doorstep. We have only so much capacity to engage before we click to another site, turn the channel, or cross to the other side of the street.

But there’s another dimension this story, too. For the reality is, we live within political and economic systems that feed upon the sufferings of others, all the while working to keep those suffering invisible. Today’s parable implores us to lift the curtains on these unjust practices. It reminds us in vivid terms that how we treat one another makes a difference both to God and to us. But the point of the story is not to move us into a place of fear. Rather, in telling this story, Jesus helps us connect the dots between the faith we claim as our own and the way we actually live. How’s our eyesight? How good are we at seeing our neighbors? At responding to specific and personal needs and to the need for systemic change?

We worship a risen Lord. A Lord who makes visible what once was invisible; who opens our eyes to the suffering in our midst and to the unjust systems which undergird it; who having risen from the dead raises us up to embody compassion in the world.