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The parable of the rich man and Lazarus usually directs us to consider the good of our neighbors, especially those who suffer from poverty and pain of any kind, whether in our neighborhoods, our chosen communities, or even our families.

Christ teaches that we must not lose sight of them, that we must not step over them. We should instead extend both friendship and what help we can in this life so that we might together receive the blessings of glory in the next. The Lord makes clear to us that the consequences of ignoring the poor are that we can lose our souls forever simply by closing ourselves into our own worlds. He also reminds us that even if we do not notice, look upon, or love those suffering in our lives, the Lord does, and never forgets them; note that the parable gives no name to the rich man, but recalls the name of the suffering Lazarus forever.

Perhaps most striking and most urgent in this parable, however, is the conversation between the rich man and Abraham about those still living. The rich man begs that his brothers, who presumably live like the rich man himself, be warned of the coming judgment, the consequences of their selfish ignorance. Abraham’s reply should chill us. He says that those men still living already have their warning, and that if the Scriptures are not sufficient for them, then even such a miracle as a resurrection from the dead will be of no help.

Of course, Christ who is telling this story has in mind the great sign of his own Resurrection, but the point still stands that the human heart is a thing of great inertia, and even in the face of warnings and overwhelming evidence, changes slowly.

The Lord calls us to examine ourselves. We must ask not just if we pay attention to the Lazarus at our own doorstep, but even more fundamentally, if we take the commands and calls of God seriously. We must confront whether we listen to the Gospel in earnest. It is easy for the call of God to pass us by, even if we hear it each Sunday.

It requires incredible amounts of energy simply to maintain and keep up
with the daily demands of a modern American life. The paperwork alone involved in just living is enough to dull the hearts of even normal people, much less the pressures to advance in a career, to prepare for the future, to achieve work-life balance and the like.

Who can face the stark truth of eternity, who can look Christ Jesus in the eyes with great honesty and vulnerability for any length of time when there are meetings to attend, retirement to plan, weddings to attend, and news to follow? The brothers of the rich man in the parable already had their hearts closed to the saving interruption of God, and they lived in a time when the burden of daily maintenance was in many ways far lighter; in what danger must we find ourselves?

Yet, the Lord calls. He, even now, breaks in, interrupts us, and gives us grace that we can hear him and respond. We must not take lightly those moments when we experience that call to meet him. They are precious beyond reckoning. Real repentance, real change, real spiritual growth require us to turn off the autopilot of our lives, but they promise us the only happiness worth the incredible effort the world demands of us.