© Seventyfourimages
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 21
Year C
I liken the parable of the rich man and Lazarus to an acorn. It looks like such a small thing in our own hands, but within the words of Jesus this acorn is truly a mighty oak. Jesus holds within this short parable the mighty power of the Gospel itself. Life and death. Heaven and hell. The imperative is that we have to share the Good News of eternal life. The reality that the Bible contains all things necessary for salvation and we need nothing more. It even addresses issues of theology such as predestination and free will. Truly this is no mere story. It is a message for us about the most important things in life. Most importantly it asks; in light of who the one telling the parable is (Jesus) how are we to live?
True life and how we receive and live is the main point of this parable. It is the main point above all else. Though Jesus clearly lays out what life is all about in our Gospel this morning, I think he says it even better earlier in Luke’s Gospel in chapter 10 verse 27. True life is this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
The life of complete surrender to God in Jesus Christ leads us to a life of Christ centered sacrificial love for our neighbor. It is this Christ centered life which opens our eyes to the true reason why God has given us anything.
Longbottom
Our talents, our treasure, our very existence has been given to us by God so that we might use it to love God, love our neighbor and to give hope to the world through Jesus Christ, who in himself is God’s love made visible to all of creation.
May we then respond to this love by truly being about loving God and loving our neighbor by building relationships through Christ centered love.
The Rev. Rob Longbottom is rector of St. Luke and St. Peter Episcopal Church in St. Cloud.