I remember the first time I actually saw a homeless person sleeping on the sidewalk.  I was visiting a friend in Boston, and never in my life had I stepped over someone who was lying on a grate, covered with a blanket.  I was mortified, I looked at my friend Kaye who lived there and said, "Is this all you do, just step over them?"  I'm not sure what I thought I should do, but I was dumbfounded that there were people who had no where to go, and we all just went about our business, walking through the streets of Boston.  Of course, since those days I have lived in lots of cities and walked by lots of people who are curled up in a corner of the sidewalk, or standing at the intersection with a sign. I have talked to plenty of people who live in their cars or under the bridge.  I see them, and I go home to my house.  My house that is not huge, but has plenty of space, my house that is warm in winter and cool in summer, my house where generally a wonderful meal has been prepared by my husband.  I have a home.  Some people don't.  I see it every day, and I am not nearly as mortified as I was that day in Boston, it's just the way it is in a city.  Why is that?  Why is that acceptable?

          This story of the rich man and Lazarus is the only parable Jesus tells in which one of the characters actually has a name.  A name that means "Helped by God", an identity, he is a somebody, even though he has been thrown to the curb with no one to tend him but the dogs.  Lazarus is out there at the gate of the home of the rich man, but there is no indication of any exchange between them.  The rich man was dressed in purple and fine linen, signs of his wealth, and it says, he feasted sumptuously every day.  But then, the great reversal that is so much a part of the stories Jesus told.  Lazarus died and was taken to the bosom of Abraham, the rich man died and was tormented in Hades, the place of the dead.  Even then he didn't really get it, he still thought that somehow he had the right to expect something from Lazarus, send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and cool my tongue.  And Father Abraham reminds him that in his life he had it all and Lazarus had nothing, and now, Lazarus was getting his comfort --- and then he says the line that comes down like a hammer --- "Between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us."  And still, the rich man thinks he can ask for an errand from Lazarus, "Well, how about you send him to warn my brothers so they don't end up here".  Warn them?  Abraham reminds the rich man that his brothers have had the same warning and opportunity that he had, the message of Moses and the prophets ---- and the rich man says, yes, but if someone came from the dead, that would really make an impression, and Abraham replies, if they don't listen to Moses and the prophets, not even someone rising from the dead will convince them --- and of course, the gospel writer knew of one rising from the dead, Jesus, and when the apostles began to spread that word, there were many who did not believe.

          The great chasm --- it wasn't just there between Lazarus and the rich man after their deaths, it had been there all along. Lazarus was a stones throw away from the rich man's house, but there was absolutely no connection, no crossing over of one to the other.  Lazarus was not able to move, and the rich man never made a move toward Lazarus, not with food or comfort of any kind.  But we look around, and we know that still there is a great chasm.

The ministry of the church is to proclaim in Word and Action that there is a bridge across that chasm, the resurrected Christ.  When we hear a story like Lazarus and the rich man, we know that it is a story that is told in many ways and places, like the old fables we have heard, the morality stories like The Christmas Carol that we might read every year, there is that common theme of the reversal of fortune --- the bad guy getting his due, and the good guy coming out on top.  So what is the Christian story here?  What does a story like this mean for us? What is the purpose of the church when there are so many organizations and people who are also out there helping to alleviate homelessness and giving aid to people who are in need. How are we different?  I am reading an interesting book, Transforming Congregational Culture --- the author, Anthony Robinson says it like this:  "The purpose of the church is to bring about change in people's lives.  We seek to make disciples of Jesus.  We are in the business of Christian formation.  We want to change people in such a way that the Christian story of grace and response becomes the lens, the perspective, through which they can see and understand all of life.  And although mainline Protestant churches may be reluctant to use the word, what I am talking about is conversion, turning around, being born anew, changed, made new, given a new heart and a new mind as we become followers of the One who makes all things new.  But while changing and transforming people in the light of God's story of grace may be the purpose of the church, this is ultimately God's work, not something the church does alone nor does by employing a four, five, or ten-step manual for success. Only  God, and God's grace, can make it happen.."  The story of Lazarus and the rich man was a good reminder to the people of the day who had the belief that if things were going well for you, it was because God was blessing you, and if things were going poorly, that somehow was God's punishment or indictment of you.  NO, Jesus says, that's not how it is.

           It is so easy to lose sight of our purpose, and  think too much like the folks of Jesus time --- "Well, that's just the way it is, some got it and some don't --- either by dumb luck or poor planning".  Mary Ann called me one Sunday evening, she had a story that I have heard many times in some version or another --- she just got here, left a bad relationship, got into an apartment, has five kids, won't have access to anything until she can fill out paperwork with the county on Monday, can I help her out.  I didn't want to, I was about to have dinner with Jay and then take my oldest granddaughter Shadai who was visiting us to a movie, but, we grabbed a couple of eight packs of juice boxes that we had in the fridge, the three of us got in the car, came over to the church and got a couple of grocery cards that are part of the pastor's discretionary fund --- paid for with money that comes from all of us who contribute to this church --- drove to where she said she was and called her on the number she had given me, "Oh no, I am not there now, I am up in North Minneapolis at a friend and I can't leave here until she gets back."  I don't think God's transforming work is finished in me, I was not seeing completely through the lens of grace and response --- I was so impatient, I did not want to be running all over Minneapolis trying to find her.  But she was so desparate?  "I don't want to miss you, my kids haven't eaten all day" --- so, off we went to north Minneapolis, stopping at McDonalds for a bag of hamburgers, because it was getting late and her kids still hadn't eaten.  Finally we pulled up to the house of her friend and MaryAnn was sitting on the steps waiting for us.  I handed her the cards and the hamburgers and she threw her arms around me in gratitude. When Shadai handed her the packs of juice she said, "Oh ,thank you honey."  Shadai looked like she had just saved the world. MaryAnn  has called a few times since then, wondering if I can help out a friend.  Every time she calls I can feel the great chasm, I can give her food cards, but there is a chasm bigger than one that a few food cards will cover.

We have heard it over and over, from the prophets, from Jesus himself, and the message is the same, who is my neighbor? What is the responsibility of the wealthy for the poor?  Luke's message is woven through the entire gospel, share your wealth.  It is just that simple.  Individuals, churches, cities, countries, ALL of us, share our wealth.  The living Christ makes it possible for us to cross that chasm, even to close that chasm if we truly wanted to --- We can't claim that we never knew, that we didn't ever hear that we were sent to do something about that chasm. We cannot claim that no one told us, that we had no idea --- because we too have had Moses, the prophets, and Christ among us.  We have One who has come from the dead to tell us, the Living Christ who stands in our midst and makes it possible for us to repent, to turn in another direction, the direction of those who are in need.  Even now, God is at work to change us, to transform us.  Sometimes it feels impossible, the problems are so big and the issues so broad, the systems are broken and much more than charity is needed.  But when you get right down to it, it isn't as complicated as we sometimes want to make it, the question is, when we do look through the lens of God's grace and our response, what will we do with our wealth?  

AMEN