Sermon preached by the Reverend Donna Downs

St. Paul’s on the Green, Norwalk, Connecticut

Solemnity of St. Michael's and All Angels - September 30, 2007 at 8:00a.m.

Once a poor farmer died and went to heaven. When he reached the gates he was seated next to a man who was obviously rich. In a few moments St. Peter opened the gates and invited the rich man to enter. The farmer peeked through the gates as the two walked into the golden city. What he saw amazed him. A chorus of angels greeted St. Peter and the rich man with a rousing Bach chorale, and people filled the streets shouting. When the noise died down, St. Peter gave a short speech and concluded by saying, “Welcome to the city of God. Make yourself at home.” As the rich man walked down the street, people continued to shout and wave. When it was quiet, St. Peter opened the gates and beckoned to the poor farmer. Though he was greeted warmly there was no angel chorus or great crowds to greet him. “Welcome to the city of God.” St. Peter said enthusiastically. “Make yourself at home.”

The farmer was deeply hurt. “This is the last place I ever thought I would find discrimination,” he said to St. Peter. “All my life I have watched the rich gain privileges that the poor were denied. I thought that when I came to the home of God all would be equal. Yet when I enter the gates I am not greeted by either crowds or choruses.”

“My dear friend,” St. Peter said, “I can see how it appears that there is discrimination, but it is not true. Everything will be the same for you as for the rich man. You have to understand that today is a special occasion. We receive poor farmers up here every day, but we haven’t had a rich man in over 80 years.”.

In Charles Dickens’s well-known classic, The Christmas Carol, the ghost of Bob Marley appears to Scrooge on Christmas Eve at the stroke of midnight. Scrooge alone, in front of the fire, at first believes that his imagination is playing tricks on him. The rattling of chains and the ghostly moans get louder and louder and suddenly the ghost of his old friend and business partner appears before him. Scrooge tries to dismiss his presence but is unsuccessful. Marley beseeches Scrooge to change his selfish ways before its too late and he to suffers eternal damnation. Marley in hopes of convincing Scrooge tells him that 3 ghosts will appear; ghosts of the past, present and future.

Marley and the ghosts who walked with Scrooge before daybreak were trying to help him transform his life and recognize the suffering of others because he was indifferent to the needs of others. Scrooge lacked compassion.

The rich man in this morning’s Gospel of Luke upon his death is buried and finds himself in Hades. Lazarus the poor man dies and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man called Dives (which in Latin means rich man) asks for mercy and wants Lazarus to dip his finger into water to cool is suffering. Abraham tells the rich man that Lazarus has suffered enough in life. Then he asks Abraham to send Lazarus to his brother’s to warn them to change their lives before they suffer the same fate. Abraham tells him that that is impossible.

Lazarus longed to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. The dogs that licked Lazarus’ sores probably ate better than he. People didn’t eat with knives and forks as we do today. Food was eaten with the hands and people wiped their hands on pieces of bread which they threw on the floor. These were the scraps Lazarus longed for.

So, what was the sin of the rich man? It seems rather unfair that he was cast into hell simply because he failed to notice Lazarus at the gate. After all, he never had Lazarus removed from the gateway. He never physically abused Lazarus. He didn’t deliberately wrong Lazarus. His sin was indifference; indifference to the suffering and needs of another person. The rich man failed to notice him at all. As far as he was concerned, Lazarus didn’t exist. He was part of the scenery. This is not a parable about heaven and hell. It is about indifference and doing nothing when one has the means and ability of doing much.

Scrooge, likewise, at the beginning of the story spent the majority of his life hoarding money and ignoring the needs of the people around him. The 3 ghosts who appeared to him showed Scrooge though painful at times the impact his life had on others. He saw first hand the death of not only Tiny Tim but also his own future death. He witnessed the lack of compassion people had towards him. Actually, he saw how much he was hated at his death and that frightened him..

Scrooge realized that it wasn’t too late to recognize the needs of people and share his wealth with others. His life was transformed and he was filled with a love that helped him help to transform the lives of others. God’s thinking is different than our thinking. Whereas, the rich man and Scrooge were consumed with there own lives, me, me, me. They did nothing to help anyone but themselves. Their love was self-centered. God desires us to think in terms of us, community. God created us to live in relationships. Loneliness and selfishness can and is a destructive way to live.

Jesus doesn’t condemn wealth as wrong in and of itself. Afterall, the rich man in the first story apparently lived a different life. God’s presence is in each of us. It is in the rich, the poor, the sad and lonely. Each of these stories seeks to stir within us God’s love and compassion for people. The failure to do nothing is to failure to recognize Christ’s presence in others.

Kathleen Norris writes, “Christ will recognize us at the judgment if he already knows us, if he has seen our faces as we served the outcasts of this world; the hungry, the poor, the sick, the imprisoned. The promise is that we will recognize him as well, as we have already met him in these others. But Jesus provides no list of beliefs at all. Norris concludes, People are judged not on what they believe but on how they have loved.” I conclude with the words of Augustine, “What does it look like? It has hands to help others, feet to hasten to the poor and needy, eyes to see misery and want, ears to hear the signs and sorrows of people. That is what love looks like.”