Luke 16:19-31

"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham.

The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.' But Abraham said, "Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.'

He said, "Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house—for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.' Abraham replied, "They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.' He said, "No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' He said to him, "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "

Namaste.

This is the Sanskrit word in Hindu culture used to signify a greeting of respect.

Namaste literally means “I bow to the divine in you.” And so, as you say namaste you push your hands together with fingers pointed to the sky and slightly bow at the waist.

If you’ve encountered this expression it was probably from an encounter with a colleague of Hindu descent; or it had something to do with yoga, as instructors often begin and end with this greeting and bow as a sign of respect and thankfulness.

Namaste is a recognition that there is something in the person whom you are greeting that is worthy of respect and honor. For Hindus, it is a recognition that the divine is within the other person, just as the divine is inside you. It is a claim of acknowledgement, respect, and a shared spirituality.

I’m curious if there is a word in Sanskrit that communicates the opposite – the idea that another person is not worthy of respect – a statement that God must obviously have abandoned that person because there is no trace of the divine in him or her.

That word might exist, and if it does I probably shouldn’t say it in church. But I doubt there is a word to describe the opposite of namaste…because I think the best way to un-namaste someone is to simply ignore him or her. Pay no attention, act as if the other person’s existence is completely meaningless and inconsequential. Act like you have so little in common with the other person that there is no reason to acknowledge their existence.

Not long ago I came across a theory regarding what happens to us psychologically when someone fails to acknowledge us. This theory posits that the reason being ignored bothers us so much is because deep down our greatest fear is that life is meaningless, arbitrary, and inconsequential. When someone fails to acknowledge our existence, they legitimize this primal fear.

Being ignored makes us feel like we are dead. Not dead and living eternally in joyful heaven or tormenting hell; but rather, dead as in just not existing – what our first testament Hebrew scriptures refer to as Sheol – the place of the dead where God is not in relationship with us. It is a place of nothingness because the Creator God is not there.

Our brains equate being ignored with not existing. Namaste, on the other hand, is acknowledging that not only does someone exist, but their life has value because the presence of the divine is within them. The heartfelt acknowledgement of another makes us feel like we’ll live forever.

Today’s scripture is a powerful story about failing to recognize the divine in one’s neighbor. It is a story about the eternal consequences of failing to acknowledge and value another person’s life.

There are very few facts offered about the rich man and the poor man in today’s gospel story. Essentially, one person has too much wealth; the other doesn’t have enough. And despite having the means to help the poor man at his gate, the rich man does not help him.

We can imagine what the rich man thinks every time he looks out and sees the man covered in sores lying by his gate:

“Why doesn’t that bum get a job?”
“I can’t help someone who can’t help himself”
“I have bills to pay, I can’t afford to just give my money away”
“God must be punishing this guy for doing something wrong – he must have got what he deserved”

Or, worse, maybe the rich man looked out his window and never even saw Lazarus. Maybe Lazarus’ broken body simply blended into the dirt. Maybe Lazarus was so weak and powerless that he couldn’t draw attention to himself each time the rich man walked past. If that’s true, this parable just went from troubling to terrifying – terrifying because it makes me wonder how many times each day I pass by or step over people who are in need of something I could provide if I only stopped to take notice.

One of the great dangers of wealth is that it can so easily be used as a cocoon. Some people have so much money that we can afford to ignore the painful truths of poverty in the world. Others are so tempted by the lure of wealth that we put blinders on, ignoring (even vilifying) anyone or anything that would divert us from our primary objective of earning more and more for ourselves in our pursuit of comfort and ease.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffet has a perspective about wealth that raises a similar point: He has said,
"I want to give my kids enough so that they could feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing."

The parable seems to be saying that doing nothing simply isn’t an option for a follower of Christ. If we cannot acknowledge, much less act compassionately toward the poor and neglected then we have lost something that is deeply and genuinely human.

In time, the wealth that has alienated us from our neighbors deludes us into imagining that we ourselves have no need, that we are self-sufficient, and can easily substitute hard work and a little luck for grace and mercy. At that point, we are, indeed, lost and separated from the divine spark within us.

But, fortunately, the reverse is also true – as we become more generous and responsive to the pain and needs of others we become more acutely aware of our own humanity, of our own longings and insufficiency. Only then can we truly appreciate the grace of Jesus Christ – the one who took on our need, our humanity, our lot and our life, all in order to show us God's profound love for each and every one of us. If we cannot recognize the divine in others, we cannot recognize the divine in ourselves.

As your pastor, I want you to be so motivated by today’s scripture that you would leave Cross of Grace this morning and start to see the people that have previously been hidden from you; but I realize the this is impossible unless you first recognize that God dwells within you.

So, here are a couple suggestions to make this happen:

Start by thinking about someone in your life who has seen you and truly known you – someone who understands that God is present in you and has treated you accordingly. Picture this person in your mind. Recall how, specifically, this person treated you. What did he or she say to you to make you feel affirmed? Meditate on these memories.

Next, move from meditation to action. Write this person a letter, thanking them for what they have done to make you feel honored and important.

And finally, I want you to practice the expression of namaste. Stand in front of a mirror and look at yourself. Push your palms together with fingers pointed to the sky, bend slightly at the waist, and say, “I bow to the divine in you.” (Feel free to laugh uncomfortably when doing this. I do believe laughter is one of the primary ways that God takes a hold of our hearts).

This practice might just open your eyes to the presence of various people and needs in and around your life. Only then can you authentically bear the presence of a loving God to the people whom might otherwise blend into the background of your life.

Amen and namaste.

Luke 16:10-13

[Jesus said,] “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. And whoever is dishonest in a little is dishonest also in much. If you are not faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you are not faithful with what does not belong to you, who will give to you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters. He will either love one and hate the other, or despise one and be devoted to the other. You cannot serve both God and wealth.”

I’d like to thank Kaitlyn Ferry and Lisa Smith for the inspiration for today’s message. When we talked this week, Kaitlyn pointed out the connection between the Pet Blessing service and the notion of what it may mean to “serve two masters,” like we just heard from Jesus. And Lisa posted the perfect video illustration of it all on Facebook the very next day.

(Rather than read my description of it, you can watch the video here. Since we worshiped outdoors, for our annual Pet Blessing service, I couldn't just show the video to the congregation this time around.)

In this short, sweet little video, a runway that looks to be about 15 feet long, is lined with cones and toys and treats other canine temptations. A dog is perched at one end of the runway, with his/her human standing at the opposite end. On the human’s signal, the hounds are supposed to walk/run/trot their way to their master without being distracted or stepping off the path. A guy in a black-and-white-striped referee shirt, a whistle around his neck, is timing their progress.

A German Shepherd goes first – very serious and all business – she runs straight to her master without missing a beat. Next goes a little Australian Shepherd – very anxious, but quick – who pauses halfway down the runway to sniff something, but doesn’t let the temptation get the best of him and continues on to the master who was calling his name. And finally, the video cuts to the happiest looking Golden Retriever you’ve ever seen, sitting like he should be at his end of the runway.

When he gets the command, though, the Golden Retriever takes a couple of steps and mouths the very first tennis ball along the path, takes a few more steps and gobbles a couple bites of food in the bowl he finds, jumps to the opposite side of the path to sample some food from another bowl, trots a few steps forward to toss a stuffed animal in the air, then he goes backward, to the start of the runway, and cleans two plates of some other tasty treats – all while the referee and timers smile and laugh, and while his poor, embarrassed master charges backward down the runway calling and pleading and begging for him to follow; which he does, sort of, while stopping at every other distraction and temptation along the way to lick plates, gobble kibble, and scarf down some hot dogs until his master has to grab him by the collar and drag him to the end of the course, to finally stop the clock“No one can serve two masters.” “You cannot serve both God and wealth.”

The truth is, when it comes to money and things and stuff, we are all more like the Golden Retriever on the obstacle course of life in this world, than we’d like to admit, right?

Here we are, here we sit, with God calling to us in ways we have been trained and instructed to go – to be faithful; to be generous; to give more than we take; to use only our fair share; to sacrifice, even, for the sake of others – with the example of Jesus shining like a beacon at the end of the runway.

And since Jesus does, we have to consider that it’s wealth and money and everything they represent – that tempt us and distract us and steal our attention from following our master as faithfully as we could. Like the tennis balls and stuffed animals and bowls of kibble that golden retriever couldn’t resist, we do our thing in this world tempted by too many things and by so much stuff – taking what we can get, whenever we can get it; gobbling up more than we need; ignoring the call and command of our master, too much of the time.

And all God wants for us is to keep our eyes on our master. With our attention focused there… With our eyes trained on Jesus’ example… And with our ears listening for his call and instruction, we will put God first – God’s ways, God’s wishes, and God’s will, I mean.

Because God knows it’s exhausting to have and to manage so many things and so much stuff, when we don’t do it well. It’s tiresome that so many of us in this culture live to work, rather than work so that we might live more fully. It’s debilitating and dishonest to keep up with the Jones’s at every turn. It’s a drain on our psyche and our spirit to serve the master of debt the way too many of us do or have done.

(The average household credit card debt in the U.S. is $5,700.00. For households that carry a credit card balance from one month to the next, that average debt climbs to over $16,000. And for households with the lowest net worth – for people with the least amount of money – the average credit card debt is something like $10,300.)

When we’re forced to service that kind of debt – or any desire, really, that feeds our greed (this isn’t just about credit cards) – we can’t possibly pretend to also serve God as fully as God calls us to, or as fully as we would like. We can’t give food to the hungry, clothes to the naked, or water to the thirsty. We can’t give as much to the church or to charities that do God’s bidding. We can’t be a blessing for the world around us the way God has blessed us to be in the very first place

There’s hope here, of course. And an example of it shows up in that video with the dogs, too. That sweet, selfish, squirrely Golden Retriever gets pulled across the finish line, not to be beaten or punished or shamed in any way. He’s made to sit, still smiling when it’s all said and done. He’s patted and stroked and loved by his master, anyway, embarrassed though she may be. And I imagine he has some more lessons and training and second-chances in his future.

And so will we, by the grace of the God who loves us no matter what, until we learn to love and to serve and to give in response to that kind of provision; when we recognize that God’s grace is more valuable than anything our money can buy; and that our wealth is only worth a thing when we learn to share it in the name of the master who gives it all in the first place.

Amen

Namaste – Luke 16:19-31

"One Master, One Mission" – Luke 16:10-13