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Who has seen the series THE CHOSEN?
I just wanted to see how many had…back to that later;)
You have probably noticed that Luke’s Gospel
has offered us plenty of money talk these past Sundays
And this Sunday more of the same
EVEN more because…even though it’s hardly ever the case
…this Sunday the readings are completely thematically aligned
It’s all about wealth
…The problems and dangers that come with wealth
The wealthy get a kind of in-your-face spanking from Amos
And we have that famous line from Timothy about the love of money being the root of all evil!
And the Gospel is just on steroids in terms of its judgement on uber-wealth
But even so…I think there is something else…something more
I don’t know about you…
but I find it hard to identify with Lazarus OR the Rich Man.
The style of this parable is to offer us an exaggerated scenario in support of vividness.
AND IT WORKS!
Purple Linen
Sumptuous Feasts…DAILY
Versus…immobile, covered in sores, starving
Equally VIVID is the picture in the afterlife
Cool and comfortable in the bosom of Abraham
Versus…Roasting over the fire, parched, in agony
These extreme opposites
Recede into the background
And what takes center stage is the CHASM
The question I have been wrestling with is:
How does a gate…
a beautiful, well maintained wrought-iron welcoming gate…
one that opens both ways---become a chasm?
Did you notice that The Rich Man knew Lazarus’ name?
Had they at one time called each other by name?
There was at least some kind of relationship
They certainly SAW each other
At one time the gate was in good order
Often used,
With well-oiled hinges
What happened?
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In my reading this week I came across some research that found that as people become wealthier…the percentage of their wealth that they give away/tithe/share decreases.
Why?
The suggested that the wealthier one gets the more insulated lives become
The neighborhood
The schools
The clubs
Even the churches
All the different worlds where relationships are formed begin to look the same.
And slowly, slowly, that’s all there is…whatever lies outside that world becomes UNSEEN
It happens…slowly…hardly noticeable
I’ve watched it happen
It has happened to me
One day the hinge got stuck
And then it rusted shut
And finally the path became overgrown
And the Rich Man came in and out of his home by another path
He no longer SAW Lazarus
Out of sight out of mind
Perhaps that is how a GATE eventually becomes a CHASM
We all know this…don’t we?
20 years ago, I talked with my sister 3 times a week
Insensitive jabs, small hurts, inevitable misunderstandings
It all was easier to ignore than to mend
…and now there is at least a small chasm
Today’s parable ends hopelessly
The Chasm in the parable is pronounced unbridgeable
But Not so for us
Unlike in the parable
We are children of the resurrection
We believe that someone has been raised from the dead
And in that confession is our hope that every Chasm…even DEATH…can be bridged!
Our first question: How does a Gate become a Chasm?
Eventually leads to How does a Chasm become a Gate?
I don’t know what the medical/technical term for this is
But there are some problematic wounds…deep wounds
That must be healed from the inside out.
The process involves prolonged attention
Multiple dressing changes
And the progress is slow
But the thing is…at the origin
The wound is only a minor separation
It is bridgeable…mendable
The chasm is at the top
If I look only at the widest part…the great Chasm
1) Big Societal problems
2) global wars and conflicts
3) Long endured broken relationships
I will surely be tempted to throw up my hands and give up…too big…
Something occurred to me at the Food Pantry last week
It had to do with the architecture…the arrangement of the space
The way that the clients are greeted and give a shopping cart
The way that many of the volunteers remember people’s names
The way that conversations happen as the shopping is done
It seems to me that this layout…this architecture of space
At least in part…Bridges a Chasm
It seems to me that the arrangement helps all of us to see
that chasms that divide people into handy little boxes aren’t real!
All of this brings me back to THE CHOSEN
I think I have watched every Jesus movie or tv series ever produced
None have really grabbed my imagination, which for me, is what it takes to have staying power
But this one is so rich and penetrating
Rob and I are on our second watch…it’s better the second time…
And what I have noticed
More so in the visual drama than on the written page
Is that Jesus just lives and moves as if Chasms are a convenient cultural myth
Jesus simply doesn’t see them
He is blind to barriers!
He only sees people…Children of God
Everyone…Not just the Romans and the Religious leaders…no…everyone.
The bewildered disciples,
the woman at the well
and those who will be healed…
We humans are stubbornly comfortable with categories, boxes…Chasms
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How DOES a Chasm become a welcoming, well-oiled gate?
I think if we want it to have staying power
We best begin with Feeding our desire…to see
To SEE the way Jesus sees
And isn’t that what we are doing? Right now…right here?
We walk through that red door,
we join our brothers and sisters,
we claim our seat in a pew,
we listen to the Word of God
…and then we gather around the table to be fed
ALL OF IT is a practice of tasting and seeing
…of heightening our desire to see as Jesus sees.
And we repeat our AMENS
Our ritual language that says “we’ve got this”
That’s how Chasms become gates
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