Luke 16:19-31
Jesus said: “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in these flames.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things and Lazarus in like manner evil things, but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ ”
Two different theaters. Two different audiences. Two different sets… BUT… One script. One play. Each audience sees BOTH the live actors on their stage, AND through a video “window” sees the other set, on the other stage, in the other theater. And vice versa. Two different perspectives on the exact same play. Got it? In one theater, the live scene is a rich person eating a lavish meal alone (Willi and Jules alternate playing this role). The butler (played by John-Arthur and Teak) stands close at hand. In the OTHER theater the live scene is the street outside. There, a very sick and homeless person (Michael Siktberg and Wendy share this role) struggles to stay warm… their body cold and wracked with pain. Their dog licks them in love but even that gentle, loving, touch just causes added pain. The lights fade. The homeless person dies.
Immediately there is a knock on the rich person's door. The butler answers. “Death is here to see you” says the butler. “Can’t he see I’m eating” shouts the rich person, “I have no time for Death right now!” “Death seems rather insistent” says the Butler and at that moment the rich person clenches their chest, falls to the floor, dies dramatically and the lights go out.
Both sets now dark, change and as the lights come back up we see on the one stage a wise looking person (played alternatively by Howard Sherman and Donna Bullock) sitting on a park bench with a much healthier, fully restored Lazarus/Lazara. On the other stage the rich person is pedaling an ancient exercise bicycle wearing a 70’s era sweatsuit, in a gym that looks like a Cold War era concrete bunker. “Jeeves! Jeeves!” yells the rich person. “Where is that damn butler! This heat is intolerable!” Looking out the “window” they yell to wisened figure on the bench. “HEY! You! Yeah, you, yes… I’m talking to you! It’s really hot here. How about sending one of “those people” (waving toward Lazarus/Lazara) down here with a bottle of San Pellegrino. Make sure it’s ice cold!”
The wise figure on the bench replies, “Oh Child, during your lifetime you received many good things while Lazarus here had a horrible time of it, but now it seems the situation has become reversed. But that’s not even the real problem. The real problem is this great chasm your life dug that makes us getting to you or you getting over here simply impossible. “Yeah, I see that. It's the greatest chasm!” Says the rich person. “Okay, so here’s what I need you to do then. Send, whose-itz, the poxy person there on the bench with you, uhhh Laz-whatever, yeah, them… Send them to my brothers to warn them about all this. Got that?” Abriana/Abraham replies, “Your brothers have been told how to treat other people. They know Moses and the Prophets. They know right from wrong… justice from injustice… they just need to do it.”
“No, no, no, no, you don’t know my brothers. They think all that ‘do justice, love kindness’ crap is… well, crap! They just love using religious nationalism to manipulate people. They don’t actually BELIEVE the religion part. They certainly don’t DO it! BUT! I'm sure they would listen to a dead person!” Abraham/Abriana replies. “If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they’re not gonna listen to anybody. Even somebody raised from the dead!” And with that, the lights on the stage dim and an woman’s voice with a very Eastern European accent yells through a speaker, “1000 year aerobics starts NOW and YOU’RE LATE!!!!”… and… Scene.
Okay, it needs to be worked up into a full script, I know, but you get the take home message that Jesus’ play is trying to communicate, right? It’s not riches that landed the one person in the gym from hell and it wasn’t poverty that got the other a spot on the bench in the park. It was that one of them KNEW they were NOT God and KNEW only God was in control and KNEW that God’s love and GRACE was their only salvation. The other continually insisted THEY were in complete control and that THEIR power, success, and influence was their salvation. Even DEATH was unable to knock that false notion from their minds! Even pedaling away in the gym from hell they STILL tried to throw their weight around and boost themselves up on the backs of others. In their minds they NEVER needed Grace in life… they were SURE as hell they didn’t need Grace now! They just needed one of “THOSE PEOPLE” to know their place, turn up the air, and get them some cold mineral water!”
THAT manipulative “I’m better than them” way of seeing their neighbors… that “I am Self Made and need no one’s help” delusion… that insistence that the world revolves around Me, Myself, and I… all of THAT is what had dug that great chasm and the only way they would ever bridge that divide, in this life or in the next, would be to realize and confess the truth… that on their own they were lost… they were stuck… that they were nothing… that they were DEAD and would always stay dead without God and without the free gift of Grace that God has given to everyone and all of creation.
Jesus wrote this play to remind us that it is only through DEATH that we receive life! Only when we DIE to our need to be in control… DIE to the idea that our own power, possessions, and position can give us life… DIE to the thinking that some people can be treated as less than neighbors and less than fellow children of God… only then… only when all of that DIES within us… only then will we find ourselves finally OPEN to receiving God’s freely given gift of Grace. A gift that has been ours all along with only a chasm of our own creation keeping us from picking up that gift and living into the real and abundant life God created us all to live. Amen
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