Proper 21 :: Amos 6:1a, 4 – 7 / Psalm 146 / I Timothy 6:6 – 19 / Luke 16:19 – 31
This is the homily
given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, September
25, 2022
“DRAWING US OUT OF OURSELVES”
(Homily
texts: Amos 6: 1a, 4 – 7 & Luke 16: 19
– 31)
“You
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And a second is
like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”[1] [2](Matthew
22: 37 – 38)
The
Lord made this statement in response to a question, posed to Him by a lawyer,
about which one of the commandments in the Law of Moses was the most important.
Implicit
in Jesus’ answer is that, if one loves God, loves the neighbor, and loves
oneself, then our perspective in relation to all three, God, neighbor and self,
will change.
Put
another way, the change that will take place is that we will be drawn out of
ourselves, out of the tendency to be self-focused and self-absorbed, into a
wider perspective which holds ever in our minds and hearts the reality that, to
live life fully and well, we must maintain a wider perspective beyond the
concerns of the self alone.
Or,
put another way, our walk with God in this life has as its primary goal the
requirement to allow God to pull ourselves out of our own shells.
The
essential problem with the ancient residents of the Northern Kingdom of Israel
in the time of the prophet Amos’ ministry there was this: The rich, idle on
their ivory beds and self-indulgent in their consumption of large amounts of
wine, had forgotten their allegiance to God and their responsibilities to their
neighbors, particularly the poor among them. We might even say that they didn’t
have a healthy relationship with themselves, focused as they were on their
material wealth and status in society.
Jesus’
Parable of the Rich Man[3] and
Lazarus, heard this morning, describes much the same sort of problem: The rich
man is self-indulgent in his consumption of large amounts of food every day. He
is one who is clothed in the manner of royalty, wearing purple and fine linen.[4] But
the man ignores the plight of Lazarus, who lays at the rich man’s gate, covered
with sores. Lazarus’ condition has just about hit bottom, for Jesus says that
the dogs came and licked his sores.[5]
Though
Amos’ mission to the people of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and Jesus’
parable were separated by about eight hundred years, it appears that the
problems in Amos’ time were still a problem in the time of Jesus’ earthly
ministry. Indeed, it seems as though they were, for the prevailing attitudes among
the prominent members of society back then back then, the scribes, the
Pharisees and the priestly class, were self-absorbed. Moreover, they regarded
those who were poor, or who were sickly, as being unclean, victims of their own
sinful actions. Instead of loving and caring for these neighbors, the scribes,
the Pharisees and the priestly class ignored them and stayed away from them.
Both
of our readings this morning carry the message that the roles of the high and
the mighty and the poor and the lowly will be reversed. (This is a favorite
theme throughout Luke’s Gospel account.) The idle rich of the Northern Kingdom
will be the first to go into exile.[6] In
the Lord’s parable, the rich man finds himself, after death, in a place of
torment, while Lazarus is comforted.[7]
Now,
let’s return to Jesus’ summary of the law.
Notice
that He doesn’t reverse the wisdom found in Deuteronomy. He doesn’t say, “You shall
love yourself, your neighbor and God.”
The
order in which the statement unfolds is important, it seems to me.
God
is to be foremost in our thoughts, in our worship, and in our devotion. Elevating
God to the most prominent place in everything we do, think and contemplate is
meant to draw us out of ourselves into a much wider and deeper awareness and
relationship. Such an understanding is the most effective antidote to
self-indulgence and self-centeredness.
It’d
be easy to follow the examples of the scribes, the Pharisees and the priestly
class in Jesus’ day, ignoring the poor, the downtrodden and the needy,
regarding them as victims of their own poor judgment and wayward ways. It’d be
easy, like the rich man in this morning’s parable, to look away from the
problems of the world and the needs of those who most need our help. Yet, when
we ask God to help us step outside of ourselves, we realize that, without God’s
relating to us from the beginning, we would be bereft of hope, alone in this
life. Our love for others is a reflection of God’s love for us. In loving
others, we are conduits of divine love.
Finally,
we are commanded to love ourselves. That part of the commandment might seem a
bit odd. Love ourselves? Really? Yes, absolutely. A healthy love of ourselves
guards against two extremes into which we human beings might fall: An
inordinate love of self which leads to self-indulgence on the one hand, and a
self-loathing on the other.
If
our perspectives aren’t widened and changed as a result of our relationship
with God, then something’s missing, something that needs to be fixed. If so,
then we’d best be asking God to help us to amend the way we see things.
AMEN.
[1] This is a reference to Deuteronomy 6:5, which is recited by devout Jews twice a day.
[2] In our traditional language (Rite I) eucharistic liturgy, this statement is read near the beginning, and is known as the “Summary of the Law”.
[3] Somewhere along the way, the rich man acquired a name, Dives, which is a translation of the Latin word for “rich man”.
[4] In biblical times, purple cloth was very difficult to make, and therefore, it was expensive. Wearing purple was reserved for royalty and for the wealthy.
[5] In biblical times, dogs were regarded as unclean animals.
[6] The Assyrians swept into the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC, and carried off many of its inhabitants into exile.
[7] Abraham’s Bosom was a common way of referring to the soul’s presence with God after death in the time of the Lord’s ministry.
