26.09.04 Steve Dives
and Lazarus - Luke 16: 19-31 Godliness with Contentement
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few years ago I belonged to a church congregation, among whom was a charming
couple, distinguished by the fact that they were demonstrably 'loaded'.
They were both soft spoken, positive thinking, people of faith who were
very committed to the life of the church - one was on Vestry, the other
convened a home group, they were always present for worship and any extra
events/meetings, etc etc. My confession to you is that I always struggled
in myself with the fact that they were so demonstrably loaded. They had
an enormous detached house in the most expensive part of town. They each
drove around (I never saw either of them walk anywhere) in brand new, enormous
Mercedes saloons - the expensive kind (I mean £30-40,000 cars) - they were
nearly always new because they seemed to change them about once a year.
Each car had personalised number plates. I used to wonder about the nature
of my internal struggle. For all I knew, they donated vast sums to charitable
giving. What, after all, distinguished their wealth from my own? - if I
took even a moment to place myself on some global/historical scale of wealth
I'd be way up there in the top bracket, compared with so many of the world's
poor. In my first inglorious career as a trainee property surveyor, I had
to begin learning the business of property valuation - and was shocked to
discover that a house isn't worth anything -in itself...... but is only
ever worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. In the same way - being
'rich' doesn't mean anything except as a function of comparison.
(pause for thought)
As I was expoloring last week - there is, in the gospel of Jesus, and in scripture as a whole - a very clear thematic thread of the incompatibility of being a child of God and being 'loaded' - how ever we interpret that or deal with that, there's no getting away from it. Our lection readings today are a follow up to last week. We didn't have the follow up reading from the prophet Amos, who continues to berate the idle rich.....
Amos 6:1a, 4-7
6:1a
Alas for those who are at ease in Zion, and for those who feel secure on
Mount Samaria.
6:4 Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory, and lounge
on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the stall;
6:6
who drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but
are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!
and most worryingly of all.....
6:5 alas for those who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp, and like David improvise on instruments of music; (!) (even then the successful musicians earned enough to be lumped in with the idle rich - especially those who improvise....)
And in our gospel reading, we have Jesus' retelling of a tale from folklore (there are parallels to this story in Egyptian folklore, and in a famous Jewish story of a rich tax-collector called Bar Ma'yan) - and here, the story of the rich man and the poor man at his gate. Dives and Lazarus. Dives - Latin for Rich Man - and Lazarus, meaning God helps/Helped by God/God is my helper. - the tale of their reversal of fates in the afterlife in the terms of contemporary Jewish thought. The question Luke seems to be asking is - will the five brothers, and Luke's readers follow the example of the rich man - or heed Jesus' teaching (and that of the OT - 'they have Moses and the prophets'), regarding provision for the needy. If they do not, they will not have places at the messianic banquet. As I was saying last week, we must never be tempted to move too far away from this theme of our whole faith heritage - if we are followers of Jesus, then we should arguably also be preoccupied with the plight of the poor, and with the spiritual corruption that is so closely associated in Jesus' mind with wealth and the pursuit of wealth.
(pause for thought)
However, the text I'd like to suggest we take inspiriation from this morning is the first verse of our reading from Paul's letter to Timothy, 6:6 - Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment;. KJV - 'But godliness with contentment is great gain'........ Perhaps we should learn it by heart. St Paul, as they say in the world of cricket, bowls the occasional 'peach'. And this great verse is a peach of two halves..... But godliness with contentment is great gain
Godliness? - a concept of dispute between peoples, cultures, faiths, philosophies..... what would be your definition of it? St Paul has provided clarifications of what he means by it elsewhere - one of which comes a few verses later - vs 11 -But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. I think we'd do well to define godliness as Christ-like-ness - qualities that we're after here, week by week - and the quest for which will never cease to challenge us and which will never disappoints u.
Dives needed a bit of godliness. He wasn't a bad bloke - he didn't abuse Lazarus, he didn't have him removed - he didn't kick him - he wasn't deliberately cruel to him ..... he just didn't see him - he just accepted Lazarus as part of the landscape, and therefore effectively accepted that it was perfectly natural and inevitable that Lazarus should lie in pain and hunger while he wallowed in luxury.
But godliness with contentment is great gain
Contentment? - not relaxing with Classic FM. The word here used signifies "sufficiency"; and so it is rendered in the Vulgate Latin version: The Greek word autarkeia was current from the time of Aristotle to the time of the Stoics. It was used to describe the virtue that makes a person content with what he has.
"True contentment is a real, even an active, virtue - not only affirmative but creative. It is the power of getting out of any situation all there is in it." GK Chesterton
"The greatest wealth is contentment with a little" English proverb
This is not a matter of personality, but a spiritual
discipline.
A few signposts in the spiritual discipline of contentment...
Guarding against the culture of discontent - A culture of conspicuous consumption, rising expectations, and keeping-up-with-the-Jones breeds discontent. In a capitalist society, contentment is considered fatal to economical growth, because it reduces the competitive spirit and our hunger for consumption. For liberal democracy to avoid the human costs of ruthless competition and irresponsible consumption, we need to develop alternative models of sustainable growth and a counterculture of simplicity and selfless idealism.
Accepting our limitations - Acceptance of our own weaknesses and negative life circumstances is the necessary starting point for personal growth and transformation. However, acceptance does not imply resignation, fatalism or belief in karma; it simply means facing the reality, no matter how bleak, and being at peace with oneself in spite of the struggles.
Affirming our own worth - We can live with ourselves without grumbling or despair, only when we can affirm the intrinsic meaning and value of our existence. Even when everything is taken away from us, we can still maintain a sense of personal significance and believe that there is something worth living and dying for.
Practicing loving and giving -- Loving and giving go together. Those who look for love and intimacy without giving will only find rejection and loneliness. Love demands an object. Love is always an act of giving, serving and caring for the love object. It is more blessed to give than to receive, because the more we give to God and others, the more we receive in return. A contented soul is always extravagant in loving and giving.
Practicing gratitude - Count our blessings as long as there is a breath of life in us. Give thanks for the gift of life and remember the thousands of gifts of simple pleasures. It is all a matter of perspective. In every situation, one can either find grounds for complaints or reasons for thanksgiving. We have the freedom to choose the perspective, the attitude that brings contentment.
Developing our spiritual maturity - Worldly attractions quickly fade away, once we have experienced God's faithfulness and grace. True spirituality does not depend on religious dogmas or rituals; it is based on dwelling in God and drinking freely from His spirit. Spiritual transformation, regardless of one's faith traditions, requires dedication and discipline, but it can yield lasting benefits, including peace and contentment.