Thursday of Second Week of Lent
Jer 17: 5-10; Luke 16: 19-31
Dc. Larry Brockman
Doesn’t he get under your skin and irk you, this prophet Jeremiah?
Listen again to that first sentence: “Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings, who seeks strength in the flesh”. “Cursed” he says- pretty strong language. And as you listened to that, didn’t you bristle just a little bit because all of us, no matter who we are, listen to human beings and seek strength in the flesh?. We listen to doctors and lawyers and all kinds of worldly experts; and we surround ourselves with trusted family members and friends. And don’t we seek strength in the flesh? How many of us work out or watch carefully over our diets? And don’t we look up to certain people in this world who either physically look good or have some special talent or personality trait which attract us? We all trust people and seek strength in the flesh. In fact most of life is interaction with people and this world. And so Jeremiah’s words make us uncomfortable, just as they did the Jewish people long ago.
But notice that Jeremiah adds the phrase: “Whose heart turns away from the Lord”. And that is the key point. We all depend on each other and we quite naturally seek certain people out. There are people we want in our lives and others we don’t. And we all, quite naturally avoid things and people that we don’t like and that make us uncomfortable. It’s just we have to do that kind of living in this world without turning our hearts from the Lord. It’s a matter of focus and emphasis and balance.
The Rich man in the Gospel is an example of the kind of person Jeremiah is talking about. He doesn’t have the proper focus, the right emphasis, nor balance in his life. For whatever reason, God blessed the Rich man and his family of 5 brothers in this world. We don’t know exactly what that blessing was- talent, charm, inheritance, luck, or whatever. But the upshot of it is that he is rich and comfortable. And based on this Gospel vignette about Lazarus, the Rich man appears to be clueless on the plight of Lazarus. He recognizes him alright, or else he wouldn’t have asked for Lazarus to bring him a drop of water. But that is all; he apparently ignored Lazarus in his lifetime. Lazarus was an annoyance to be looked beyond.
The Rich man lived life comfortably because that’s just the way it was for him, comfortable. He didn’t have to think about the suffering of others; he didn’t think about his own salvation. He didn’t focus on the reality of what life was all about and where he fit in. He didn’t emphasize the right things as he lived life; and he didn’t balance his own wants and needs with those of others. It isn’t that he was a bad man; he was just clueless.
Jesus and Jeremiah are both warning us of the same thing: Life is about more than comfort and meeting our own daily wants and needs. Each of us needs to focus on more than that. We need to listen for God constantly and what he tells us in the depths of our hearts. And then trust God in our lives. That is harder to do when things are going well for us, as they were for the Rich man. And so, we have to make it happen.
Lent is the perfect time of year to do that, to put aside some time to find the Lazaruses in our lives that we look beyond. Who or what is it that God has put into our lives that needs our attention; and yet, we keep looking beyond like they it wasn’t there? It will be something that is inconvenient for us and interrupts our comfort zone. But God is calling us to refocus our lives; pay attention to that call; and focus on somebody or something else.
The trust part is very important. Because when we trust the Lord, then even these uncomfortable situations, the Lazaruses in our lives, can be managed because our roots will reach out to the stream, the inspiration of the Spirit of God. It’s important for us all to find Lazarus in our lives because God rewards us according to our ways. He finds what’s in our hearts.
