Beth and I watched “Margin Call” the other night. It’s not my usual sort of film. I like lots of action and a happy ending. But I watched through to the end the fictionalized story of financial executives in a firm like Goldman Sachs dealing with their initial discovery of a crisis that would lead to a major sell-down, huge losses and eventually the recession of 2008.
The scene most relevant to this week’s sermon on Luke 16:19-31, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, is an elevator ride. Executives played by Simon Baker and Demi Moore share an elevator with a cleaning woman and her cart. For the whole time they talk to each other over her head as if she does not exist. They are discussing who will take the fall for the financial disaster about to happen and they totally ignore this person who will probably lose her job and all her savings.
Jesus gives us a picture (this is just a story like other parables, not true events as some have imagined) of a rich man who totally ignores the poor man Lazarus who sits at his gate. Unlike the movie, in Jesus’ parable there is judgment for this callous neglect of the poor by the rich. The rich man lands in Hades and Lazarus in “Abraham’s bosom,” a way of describing the abode of the righteous in the next life.
From the fiery torment of Hades, in verse 24, the rich man calls out for Abraham to send Lazarus with a cooling drop of water. He’s told that God has justly reversed things. He was comfortable in this life, now it is Lazarus’ turn to enjoy the comforts of God. It’s impossible to bridge the chasm between Paradise and Hades.
The depth of the rich man’s selfishness is evident in verse 27. His next concern is to have Lazarus go and warn the rich man’s brothers about their spiritual danger. He expresses no regret for his neglect of Lazarus and still sees the poor man as a lackey to come to the aid of his family.
There is a wonderful Christian irony in the last verse about whether one who rises from the dead will be believed, but the main message is a warning to all of us who are better off than others around us. Beware of ignoring the poor. The rich man ended up in the “hot seat,” but we are all in the hot seat when confronted with those in need. Will we do better?