The Character We Take to the Grave

19 Pentecost, Cp21, September 25, 2016 
Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15 Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16
1 Timothy 6: 11-19  Luke 16:19-31

Lectionary Link

  How did the Grand Canyon form?  Millions of years of water and wind erosion formed a great gap.

  Today's Gospel includes a parable about a grand canyon in the afterlife.  On one side of the canyon is a rich man; on the other side is a poor man named Lazarus.   In the afterlife, justice is shown to be a reversal of roles for the two parties.  The rich man is in torment and the poor man is in bliss.

  This parable presents to us a major problem in life.  The Grand Canyon at a future point in everlasting life represents the great divisions in life which have formed through the gradual erosion of people living on the flat and equal ground of mutual care.  As people neglect each other and as it becomes their regular habit, it becomes the character of their lives.

  What are some of the grand canyons of our lives?  Rich, poor, white, black, Christian, non-Christian, North, South, Republican, Democrats, citizens, immigrants.  We are threatened today by the great divisions of our lives.  The divisions may have group or mob elements about them, but they also have individual elements.

  The message of Jesus Christ in the early churches was a message of liberation for the individual to gain freedom from being dominated by the great group divisions of their time.  St. Paul proclaimed that in Christ, there was no Jews, no Gentiles, no male, no female, no slave, no free, no rich, no poor.  In Christ there was a new creation.    What did that new creation mean?  Did it that there were no longer Jews and Gentiles?  Did it mean there were no longer male and females?  Did it mean that there were no longer slaves and persons who weren't slaves?   Did it mean that there were no longer rich people and poor people?

  The new creation proclaimed by Paul was what he also called being a citizen of heaven.  And each citizen of heaven had the equal presence of God's Holy Spirit.  This equality of the presence of the Holy Spirit is the new creation which St. Paul spoke about.

  What good is the presence of the Holy Spirit if the group divisions continue in life?

  I think that the program of the early churches was a pragmatic program.  It was based upon the fact that vast societal changes could not be forced overnight.  Vast changes happening over night occur with dictatorships or revolutions.

  In the Christian program there was the building of micro-communities called churches.  These micro-communities were communities where people of diversity practiced the art of fellowship.  The art of fellowship was when people celebrated the Spirit of God upon their lives and they learn to practice equality within their different life experience.  They did not let their differences hinder the practice of fellowship.  And if these micro-communities of fellowship were successful, they could be a gradual influence upon the society at large.  And what happened?  Eventually these micro-communities influenced the entire Roman Empire.

  On the social level the Christian church is suppose to be people of one equal Holy Spirit living in fellowship with people who have differences of life identities and life situations.

  I would say the one of the greatest influences of the fellowship of the church has been the aspirations expressed in the ideals of the United States of America.  In our Declaration of Independence and in our Constitution we have tried to write into law what group fellowship means in practice.  Group fellowship in society at large means the practice of justice for all.  Our American history shows us that the victory of Christian fellowship has not yet converted our entire system in the complete practice of justice.

  We can be very difficult on ourselves, and we should, even while we should be thankful for what we have achieved in the practice of justice.  We are to very self critical because we cannot be satisfied until the perfect fellowship of justice prevails among everyone.  Our society today experiences the birth pangs for further perfection in our fellowship.  The events which express the failure of love, fellowship and justice show us that our country is not yet living up to its ideals.  People cry out for equal treatment under the law.  We all cry out and pray for the perfection of human fellowship within our country.

  The parable about the rich man and Lazarus means that the practice of division and separation became the everlasting character of the life of the rich man.  The rich man in his afterlife regretted his life when he was shown the logical conclusions of how he had lived his life.

  What you and I need to learn from this involves us to contemplate the everlasting character of our lives which is being formed by our life practice.  Is our life practice evidence that we have begun to form permanent divisions in our attitudes and practice between ourselves and other people?  Do we want our life practice to become the everlasting character of our lives that we will take to our afterlives?

  The Gospel of Jesus Christ and the practice of fellowship in the church means that we are given the opportunity to overcome our divisions with the practice of the fellowship of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.  We are gathered as a parish to practice fellowship;  we want this practice to be evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit for us to practice mutual love.   And from this practice, we want to influence the world that we live in.  We want the fellowship of the love of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit to win our lives, the life of our parish and the life of our world.  And even if others do not agree with us in our faith practices; the practice of love and justice has no religious borders, no socio-economic borders and no ethnic borders.

  Let us open our hearts today to have exposed any areas of division that are subtly becoming the character of our lives, the character that we will take to our graves.   Let us embrace the good news about Jesus Christ to bring peace, love and justice to our world and overcome the deep erosion of divisions forming the grand canyons of separation.

  May we find Christ to be the bridge over every great canyon of separation in our lives.  And may we follow the admonition of the writer of James: Be rich in good works, ready to share and generous. Amen.