Monday, October 10, 2022

Gates to Chasms, Chasms to Gates

September 25, 2022
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C
Luke Luke 16:19-31



Preamble Advertisement: 

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?

-----

 

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

-----

 

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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