Jesus was not trapped in a
seeker-sensitive mode. He told it like it was, sometimes bluntly.
When he did the truth he told was most often entirely different from
what the good folks wanted to hear.
Case in point: At a tense and socially
awkward dinner
party a prominent Pharisee bragged about how wonderful it would
be to dine at Abraham’s supper in the hereafter. It was commonly
assumed that the “righteous” (read, Pharisees) would make it to
Paradise, while “sinners” (read, everyone else) would miss out.
Not so fast, said Jesus. He hit them with the paradox that “sinners”
will have a seat at Abraham’s table, and self-righteous Pharisees
will be left out.
A paradox is when the truth turns out
to be entirely different than what we first thought. What we thought
foolish turns out to be the real deal. It exposes our presumptions
and prejudices, and challenges us to rethink and to change. The
kingdom is like that. It betrays conventional wisdom. It moves in a
new way and requires that we conform to it by following Jesus. It
requires that we set aside our own agendas and get with the program.
The paradox continues in today’s
lectionary passage. After a series of stories showing that God
loves “sinners” enough to chase them and welcome them into his
kingdom, Jesus spoke plainly to the derisive keepers of the law. “While
you justify yourselves before others, God knows your hearts,” he
charged. “What you esteem highly is an abomination to God. People
are pressing into the kingdom, but you are no better than adulterers”
(my paraphrase).
After pointedly telling arrogant
Pharisees what he thought of them, Jesus turned one of their favorite
rabbinic stories on its head to expose their hypocrisy and foretell
their eternal destiny. While they had bragged they had a place in the
eternal banquet Jesus told them in no uncertain terms they were far
from it.
The Pharisaical version of the rich man
and Lazarus had the rich man as the hero, of course. He was so
righteous that not only did he attract the favor of God with great
wealth, but he won a seat at Abraham’s table in the great supper in
eternity.
Jesus’ paradox version features a rich man
with wealth beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. Tradition names him
Dives. His everyday wardrobe was expensive purple, the finest his unlimited money
could buy. His everyday food far surpassed what most people could afford for
the highest celebration feast once a year. One might say he was truly blessed of the Lord. Conventional wisdom would assume he was righteous.
Outside Dives’ gates was a beggar
named Lazarus, or Eliezar, “God is my help.” His body was so full
of running sores that the dogs came to lick them. With the dogs he
scavenged for table scraps in the rich man’s
garbage, the crumbs from the master’s table, if you will.
The contrast is stark, and the paradox
is obvious. The Pharisee’s hero certainly had the means to help
poor Lazarus out, but did nothing beyond tolerate access to the
garbage dump.
The paradox becomes more stark when
both men die and go to their eternal habitations. Dives finds himself
in Sheol, place of the dead. It is a dry, dusty, shadowy place.
Apparently Dives was a little farther south than most, because the
heat of the flames beneath tormented him. Accustomed to a lifetime of
the finest wine, he now longed for a drop of water.
Lazarus, on the other hand, found
himself not only at the great banquet in heaven that Jesus’ dinner
partners boasted of, but seated next to Abraham. There is no record
of Lazarus ever doing anything to earn
a place at Abraham’s table. It was entirely mercy that it was
extended to him, and grace that he got there. And by the way, Jesus by no means asserts here that it is necessarily evil to be rich or meritorious to be poor. The object of the story is to reverse the conventional order and meaning of the Pharisee version to make a paradoxical point and nail the Pharisees in their hypocrisy.
Dives
begged, “Father Abraham, could you send Lazarus down here with a
little water? I am in great distress and anxiety here.” Even from
Sheol Dives is expecting to be served, and he has the nerve to call
for Lazarus to leave the dinner table to wait on him.
“Sorry
son,” Abraham said. “Remember you had your time. Now Lazarus has
his. Besides, we cannot come there and you can’t come here.”
“Could
you at least send Lazarus to my brothers to warn them?” Dives then
asked.
“No-can-do”,
Abraham said. “They won’t listen. Besides, they already have
Moses and the prophets. Let your brothers heed them.”
Jesus
turned the Pharisees’ favorite story upside down to reveal their
hypocrisy and illustrate the truth. The paradox is that what they
regarded as totally absurd, “sinners” welcomed into the kingdom,
was in fact a reality they were unprepared to face.Their insolence blinded them to the truth.
The Gospels present a paradox of teaching
which we may regard as foolishness but is in reality the truth. Jesus
simply refuses to march to the tune of conventional wisdom. Paul
said as much to the Romans. “[T]he foolishness of God is wiser
than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men,” he wrote.
Twice Solomon opined, “There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25). And
Isaiah prophesied, “Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous
work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom
of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their
prudent men shall be hidden” (Isaiah 29:14).
I
think it is important to keep this in mind. What seems to be true
many times is deceptive, and will lead us from knowing the real deal.
So the next time your world turns upside down look for a paradox.
Look for an indication that God is doing a course correction that
sets things right so we can continue to do his work.
Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (BCP)
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