The story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16. 19 – 31) is one of the best known in the New Testament. Its powerful imagery makes it difficult to ignore. This parable, more than perhaps any other of the parables told by Jesus, is a story of contrasts. Contrasts between rich and poor, hell and heaven, and, perhaps most significant of all, between the way of greed and the way of generosity.
As in the parable of the Rich Fool, where a farmer stores up what he has for himself and then dies when he had expected to eat, drink and be merry, this parable is about the dangers of gaining wealth solely for oneself. Here, the focus isn’t on the inevitability of death but instead the impact of greed in the afterlife.
The selfishness of the rich man in this life results in separation from God in the next. When he realises his predicament, the rich man wants to warn his siblings who are still alive so that they will follow the path of generosity rather than the path of greed, but is told that they have all the warning they need in the scripture – Moses and the prophets. If they don’t pay heed to their sacred writings then they are unlikely to pay heed to anything else.
So, the contrast between the way of greed and the way of generosity is the central contrast within this parable. The parable is told to encourage its hearers to take the path of generosity in their lives.
The story of the rich man and Lazarus is chiefly aimed at the Pharisees who, we are told in an earlier verse, were lovers of money. It was not only the Pharisees’ love of wealth that set them apart but, more importantly, their hardness of heart. While we might feel revulsion at the lavish lifestyle of the rich man, the horror lies in the fact that he ignores the needs of his neighbour.
Throughout his ministry, Jesus draws the rich as well as the poor into fellowship. He eats with the rich and teaches them about the kingdom of God in their own terms (Luke 14: 16 - 24, 28 - 30). Jesus does not prejudge people on the basis of what they own. We see in Mark 10 that he loves a rich man who is overwhelmed by the command to sell all he owns and give the money to the poor. What is significant is people’s attitudes towards wealth and what they do with it.
Most of us are not wealthy in the sense that the rich man in Jesus’ parable was wealthy, so we may think the parable has little to say to us. One way in which the contrasts made in this parable continue to play out in our society today is in attitudes to payment of tax.
Christian Aid has in the past estimated that developing countries have lost at least $160bn of tax every year because of tax dodging by unscrupulous businesses. Tax dodging hurts us all, especially when global companies and large sums of money are involved. It robs countries of the taxes they're owed – money that could be spent on essential services. Christian Aid has shown that in poor countries tax dodging results in a lack of clean water, sanitation, roads, schools and hospitals; and in people going hungry. Their tax justice campaign has highlighted how developing countries lose $160bn every year - one-and-a-half-times what they receive in international aid. Church Action on Poverty has shown that in the UK tax dodging contributes to cuts in benefits for families, children and disabled people, reduced care for the elderly, less childcare and fewer libraries, youth services and other vital community facilities.
Financial secrecy is at the heart of these problems – especially the secrecy offered by tax havens. Thanks to loopholes in the global financial system, money that could provide vital services like schools and hospitals, is being pocketed by unscrupulous companies. In addition, the wealthy are also often funding others to make the political argument that our problems in our society are to do with levels of immigration rather than levels of tax compliance. This is a deliberate distraction away from the reality that, if those with wealth were to pay their due instead of engaging in tax avoidance, our problems of debt and poverty could actually be eradicated overnight.
Christian Aid’s campaigning arguing that wealthy people and companies pay the tax they owe and that developing countries obtain the revenue that is rightfully theirs is not one that is biased against the rich. Instead, it asks us all to consider the following questions:
• Who is our neighbour?
• Are we so wrapped up in our own fulfilment that we forget our neighbours whose potential is denied?
• Are we ready to share our resources so that we can all become the people God would have us be?
These questions are as pertinent now as they were in Jesus’ day. And now as then, they are not questions to be put off for another day, so supporting such campaigns is one way to respond to Jesus' teaching in this parable.
Our lives in a world of 6.5 billion people mean that the question of ‘who is my neighbour’ is many times more apposite and complex today than when it was first put to Jesus by a lawyer (Luke 10). The story of the rich man and Lazarus does not call us to condemn wealth, but to notice the needs of our neighbours – both on our doorsteps and further afield – and to examine our own lives in the light of this. Next year, in Lent, our reflections will be on precisely this question – ‘Who is my neighbour? – so, it is very helpful to reflect on this passage now, in advance of that course.
Jesus teaches that our resources are for the benefit of everyone. He continually considers those who are poor and those who are on the margins of society first. Interestingly, this is seen in this parable by the fact that it is the only one of Jesus’ parables where someone is given a name. And the named person is Lazarus, not the rich man.
In our society, the rich and powerful are constantly named to us, giving the message that these people are of more value than others. Who is it that we name and value? Is it the people society gives value to, or is it the people of the poor countries who are eating the scraps from our table? The answer to that question will reveal whether we are walking the way of greed or the way of generous love.
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Methuselah - Luke.
