My friends, we are challenged once again this week to see beyond the “black and white” story as presented in Luke’s gospel today about the poor, sick man, Lazarus, at the gates of the rich man, hoping only for the scraps falling from an abundant table. The story might be seen simply as one selfish man refusing to share with an unfortunate neighbor. 

   But actually, as is always the case with our brother Jesus, he is asking us to see more.  The actual “sin” here is not the selfishness of one human to another, but the sin of being “complacent” which the prophet Amos is railing about to his Israelite neighbors in the 1^st reading today.  He says, “Woe to [you who are] complacent!” 

   When we become complacent, we don’t recognize evil when it is right in front of us, or we can’t be bothered, and eventually this attitude blocks us from being our best selves, which is really what following Jesus is all about. 

   Again, looking deeper at the gospel story, you may have noticed that the poor man is named while the rich man is not.  We are told that this lack of naming the rich man is a way to downplay his actions while uplifting, through naming, the plight of Lazarus. 

   By uplifting the poor man Lazarus, Jesus calls our attention to him, the good he embodies, and the need to recognize him, and others like him – or in other words, not be complacent.  As we spoke of last week, we may not be able to totally fix every problem that we encounter in our world, but we must have eyes that see, ears that hear, and hearts that engage with those in need, doing what we can. 

   I recently, through one of you, was introduced to a really wonderful book, entitled,  Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, by Reza Aslan.  In the first chapters, I was a bit concerned as he seemed to be down-playing so many of the events and places connected to Jesus as historically not possible – events that we remember in our yearly liturgical calendar, such as Jesus being born in Bethlehem and his parents traveling to Egypt to escape King Herod. 

   Now, Aslan isn’t the first to write in this fashion about the historical Jesus of Nazareth who did live, teach and preach, and die as a result of how he had lived, and he won’t be the last, no doubt, but his book in its entirety has led me to believe even more so than before in all that Jesus did and has meant to our world.  Let me tell you why. 

   As with everything that we read in the Bible, we must go to the heart of the message.  Our God did send our brother Jesus to be one of us, encouraging each of us through his own life to live, as we heard today in Paul’s letter to Timothy, “as one dedicated to God, [striving] to be a person of integrity, [one who can reverence all of creation] filled with faith  and love, [one who is] patient and gentle. 

   Aslan, in his book, relates the message of Jesus of Nazareth as those first followers knew him and believed him to be the Messiah, alongside Saul of Tarsus, who later would become Paul, who gave the world Jesus, the Christ.

   We must remember two things here – Jesus’ 1^st followers didn’t necessarily think of him as both human and God, whereas Paul, who never knew Jesus in the flesh, proclaimed him, in his belief, as the Christ, a God big enough for all believers – not just Jews.  Writers like Franciscans, Sister Ilia Delio and Father Richard Rohr speak of Jesus as the “Cosmic Christ” in this regard – again, a God big enough for all of us. 

   Aslan, in Zealot, lays out the real struggles between the church in Jerusalem headed by James the Just, most likely Jesus’ brother, and not his “cousin,” as we Catholics were told through the years,  and the church of Paul who took Jesus’ message to the Gentiles. 

   Over time, the two belief systems would be melded, and in Aslan’s words, [the person, Jesus of Nazareth] “would be almost lost to history.”  Personally, I always wondered why I very seldom, if at all heard the message, the words and actions of Jesus lifted up in my brother priests’ homilies.  Aslan helped me see perhaps a bit of the answer. 

   Believing in mysteries such as God coming among us in human form, [however that may have happened] living a time, dying, rising, and ascending into heaven – actions that we humans are really not capable of, make the belief in such a God/human in some ways more palatable then believing in a human/God who journeyed through life as we do – trying and succeeding at doing his best – encouraging us to do the same – in fact, expecting us to!  Aslan says that “this is a shame, because the one thing any comprehensive study of the historical Jesus should reveal is that Jesus of Nazareth – Jesus the man, is every bit as compelling, charismatic, and praiseworthy as Jesus, the Christ. He is in short, someone worth believing in.”  And I would add, modeling in our own lives. 

   So, my friends, what is the author of Zealot  saying here?  That Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus, the Christ are two different beings?  No.  What I think he is saying is that the two are one, but that we must take the whole package and especially, “not be complacent” in following our brother Jesus who spoke truth-to-power when needed, even if those who needed to be challenged were so-called leaders in Church or State.  To be a Christian, not to be confused with those who today tie this title to “nationalism,” means that we will “have to be bothered,” we can’t look away, we must respond as Jesus did, because “not responding” seems to be the true sin spoken of in today’s gospel.  Let’s not be guilty of that sin – complacency.  Amen? Amen!

   My friends, the message of today’s Scriptures really couldn’t be clearer – live attentively – see the world through open eyes, listen with ears connected to your heart – seek balance in your lives. The message is clear that is, for those who are looking for more than a literal meaning. 

   Let’s take a closer look:

• The prophet Amos addresses the Israelites – “Listen, you who trample on the needy and try to suppress the poor…”  these actions will never be forgotten – not “a single thing you have done.”
• The psalmist in number 34 clearly states, “our God hears the cry of the poor…”
• Paul instructs Timothy to “live [a] godly and reverent life,” [praying] “for everyone, especially for rulers and those with authority.”
• And finally, Luke shares our brother Jesus’ words to basically look for balance in our lives.  “You cannot worship both God and money.” 

   With that much of a beginning, let’s look closer so as to really tie these Scriptures into our daily lives.  The 1^st reading from the prophet Amos clearly states that our God will not look kindly on us if we “trample on the needy and suppress the poor.”  So what does that actually mean  for our daily lives, up close and personal?

   In a general way, as citizens of our United States, at least, but around our world too, we should be looking and hearing with eyes wide open and ears fully tuned in to those who live with less than the basics of life – we should try and understand why that is –what part do I play in this fact?

   In my reading, my people who live with less than the basics, don’t want to live that way – and do want, in reality, to take care of themselves, and sometimes just need a hand up when misfortune happens.  There are many stories out there of people who were, as we say, “on the top of their game,” and very quickly, it seemed, lost everything.  There but for the grace of God, any of us could find ourselves. 

   The multitude of reasons that people can find themselves “in need,” isn’t a “black and white” thing, easily or simply understood; but the least that any of us can do is to listen, to show compassion, and to help if we can.  The only thing we can’t do is ignore the stated problem if in fact we claim to be human, and for us, Christian too. 

   Today’s gospel from Luke is a bit confusing if we simply look at the meaning literally.  We may wonder if Jesus is praising the steward for being dishonest and simply thinking of himself.  Exegetes tell us, “No,” that what Jesus is uplifting is the steward’s “creativity” in finding “a way” to solve his problem. 

   Taking this lesson forward, the message is clear for us too – looking at our world, our Church, we must find ways toward needed solutions, even, like in the example of the steward in today’s gospel, the answer may not be perfect, but the needs of all are addressed in some way.  Jesus speaks to the complexity we find at times in doing our best, “If you can trust others in little things, you can trust them in greater.” 

   Sometimes, we just need to move in faith because the “balance” we seek in doing the most good is found there. For myself personally, and other women priests – we had to move ahead following our God-given calls to pastor God’s people without the approval of the powers that be – not a perfect solution, but one that has brought much good to many.  As the psalmist says of it, and we sang beautifully, “Our God hears the cry of the poor,” and helps us if we are willing, to find a way. 

   We get a clearer instruction from Paul to Timothy in how to do our best, even if seemingly, not always enough… “live a godly and reverent life.”  This tells me that we have to first decide what we value in life – for ourselves and others, and then do all we can, and again, even if not enough, to make life better where it is not.  And the piece that “seals the deal, “ so to speak, is that we “pray for everyone, especially for rulers and those in authority.”  To me, it seems, in both Church and State, those prayers are more than needed. 

   Looking one more time at Jesus’ words today that we cannot “worship both God and money,” I would like to suggest that “money,” is a catchall word for anything that gets in the way of our hearing the message of our God – it may be in fact, money, or power, our need to control, other riches, passions, and it is good to know what it is that distracts us, takes us away from doing the good we might do in our world, except for this distraction. 

   In conclusion then my friends, the world in which we live can seem sad and hopeless at times, but I want you to know that I see, as does our God, the good that you all are about in your lives, and I am here to encourage you to keep on – it all matters – it does! Our God hears the laments we sigh from day to day, and stands by supporting us and loving us as we work toward the betterment of all in our country, Church, and world.

Amen? Amen!