Readings: Amos 6:1,
4-7; 1 Tim. 6:11-16; Lk 16:19-31.
Our Sins of
Omission
Last Sunday, we read from prophet Amos as
he lashed out on the rich for exploiting the poor. His message was direct and
uncompromising. He told the people of Israel that, because of their social
injustice and religious arrogance, the Lord will punish them by means of a
total military disaster. Amos who came from the South, and preached in the North,
warned that, due to the life style of the people the impending disaster will
spare no one, it will affect the rich and the poor alike. In today’s first
reading, Amos warned the rich who feasted sumptuously and enjoyed a comfortable
life style that they “Shall be the first to go into exile, and their wanton
revelry shall be done away with.” The rich did not care about the poor, in fact,
they took no notice of them, except to exploit and use them to advance their
own selfish interests.
In the Gospel reading, Jesus presents us
with the parable of the rich man, Dives and Lazarus. Dives, (pronounced ‘Dive-ees’
the Latin for ‘rich’) was a rich man
who dressed in purple (royalty) and fine linen clothes; and feasted on exotic
and costly dishes and drank expensive wine. And there was Lazarus, a Latinized
form of Eleazar meaning ‘God is my help.’
Lazarus was a homeless, crippled beggar, who was so sick that he could not
drive away dogs that came to lick his sores. He survived on the leftovers that
fell from the rich man’s table. Though, day in day out, Lazarus would make his
way to the rich man’s gate, he did not notice him. The only time the rich man
noticed Lazarus was when he saw him in the after-life on the bosom of Abraham.
While the rich man was laughing, rejoicing and celebrating on earth, Lazarus
was in agony. But in heaven, Lazarus rejoiced while Dives suffered in hell. And
Christ warned: “Blessed are you who are poor, for the kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you
who are now weeping, for you will laugh. But woe to you who are rich, for you
have received your consolation. But woe to you who are filled now, for you will
be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will grieve and weep.” (Lk. 6:20-25).
But what was the sin of the rich man? What
was his crime? And why was he in hell? He did not kick Lazarus out, shouted at
him, or prevented him from sitting by his gate. The parable said nothing about
the source of his wealth. Being rich was a blessing from God. For Psalm 112:3
tells us: “Wealth and riches shall be in their homes; their prosperity shall
endure forever.” And Deuteronomy 8:18 reminds us that “It is the Lord, your
God, who gives you the power to acquire wealth, by fulfilling, as he has now
done, the covenant which he swore to your fathers.”
The only crime that sent the rich man to
hell was that he did not care; he did not notice his fellow man dying in abject
poverty. He did nothing to alleviate his pain and suffering or remedy his
situation. He saw Lazarus as part of the landscape in front of his gate. He
lacked human decency to pursue a life of holiness by taking care of his fellow
man in need. He failed to do what Paul urged Timothy to do in the second
reading. “But you, man of God…pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love,
patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith. Lay hold of eternal
life…” (1 Tim. 6:11-12). He failed to obey the commandment of love. He did
nothing! It was the sin of omission that
sent the rich man to hell. We contribute to the sufferings of the poor by
doing nothing to help them in their poverty!
We often feel that the poor deserve their
state in life. We seem to think that it is because they are lazy that they
remain in poverty. M.K.O. Abiola, the late Nigerian millionaire was right when
he said, “If I am the richest man, living among the poorest of the poor, I am
the poorest of them all.” How easy we
forget that the rich should help the poor in this world while the poor will
help the rich in the next. “He raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and
Lazarus at his side. And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send
Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am
suffering torment in these flames.’” Hell
is real, and we may go there if we refuse to notice the
Lazarus in our family, our community, our society and in our world. They are everywhere, but can we see them?
They are needy people, hurting people, people who need our attention, who want
us to help them with school fees. They are pan-handlers on the street corners,
and they sleep under bridges. Can you see the hurt in their eyes? They need you
now. Do not wait for the reversal of fortunes to notice them, it may be too
late then. Let us remember, as John F. Kennedy would have us do, in his
inaugural address of January 20, 1961, “If
a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who
are rich…”
Finally, it seems odd that the rich man’s
request, that his brothers be warned was refused. Isn’t it true, that if men possess the truth of God’s word, and, if
wherever they look, there is sorrow to be comforted, need to be supplied, pain
to be relieved, and they are not moved to do anything, or take action to
alleviate their sufferings; then nothing can change them, even if someone
should come from the dead? We are in no doubt as to why the rich man went
to hell; for God sends no one to hell. He
went to hell because of his sin of omission, and we are not immune to that sin. May we choose the path of
righteousness and decide to do something today, to alleviate the pains of our
suffering brothers and sisters, so that we may not join the rich man in his
pity-party held in hell. May God bless us today and always. Amen!
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