The Five Brothers -PENT 19C-2016

The rich man also died and was buried.  In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out...  father Abraham, I beg you to send Lazarus 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.

Nick ---was the second brother in the family, the first being the rich man who just passed away.  Nick was the manager of the quarry in Sepphoris (just outside Nazareth). His brother, being the first born had inherited the quarry from their father, that’s how he was rich – a landowner with large amounts of stone, in a time when the Herods were doing mega building projects in and around Jerusalem.  The rich man gave his brother the job of manager.   Nick’s inclusion in the riches of his brother’s, had Nick think, like his brother, that the riches were God’s affirmation of them. The riches were theirs because God was bestowing blessing on them.

In return, he offered Sabbath to God.  It looked good for him to attend the Synagogue on Sabbath, in Nazareth, and give his tithe, with extra: for the good of the people, the good of his workers, for the good of his quarry.

Zack --- also thanks to his older brother’s influence (and a large monetary bribe to Herod for the position) was granted the position of project engineer for the outer buildings of the newly completed Temple in Jerusalem.  He was king of the worksite, so to speak, with 1000s from the guild of stone masons working under his hand. His work was secure as there were many projects, for which foremen jobs could be arranged at a price; the Herodians were building not just the Temple, but, the palace, a magnificent tomb, a theatre, and a hippodrome.

Not to outdo his brothers, well maybe just a little, he was proud that he was following in his grandfather’s foot steps –for he had been a priest, one of the thousand hired to be a stone mason by King Herod for the building of the Temple; it was pious work, dictated by God, that the priests be the builders of sacred building. The gifts of God being used for the people of God.

Matt --- was a scribe – a Pharisaic lawyer of the Sanhedrin.  He was content with the latitude given Jews under Herod, to govern themselves while under Roman occupation; it did come at a price, spots on the council were chosen by Herod so as to be amenable to his administration.  Matt’s family were friends of sorts with Herod, so Matt had no trouble following Herod’s will and politics.  This job had security; once a councilman, the term was a lifetime. The council tried to pattern the Sanhedrin like the group of elders formed by Moses in his day.  Moses appointed elders to share the burden of ruling the people.

Matt, a strict Pharisee, thought of his oldest brother as a breaker of the law. Sure he followed most of the Jewish law, but, somewhere along the way, the rich brother was so taken by wealth and ownership, that his attitude became that of being entitled.  Entitlement meant a turning from the lesser brothers in the family, and embarrassingly for Matt, away from the heart of Jewish law and Jewish living which was one of a basic attitude of open generosity. The rich brother was acting like a pagan, more so everyday, especially breaching hospitality by ignoring the poor at his gate. Lazarus, who was a neighbour who had fallen on hard times because of sickness.

James --the banker of the family had a blossoming business; with no help from his older siblings.  He happily exchanged currency (charging only a little extra for his trouble), undertook demands for credit, issued international loans, plus proffered savings accounts, safety deposits, mortgages, emergency loans with interest rates at 12.5%, but, sometimes soring to 50%. James was careful in one regard, he didn’t charge interest on money loaned to the poor, as it was outlawed in God’s covenant made with Moses.

Bart -- the youngest was a herald in Herod’s court.  This was a job that had him make public announcements for the king and court.  It was a government job, and not always appreciated by his people, in fact even seen as a treason-ness kind of job, as they did not necessarily approve of the decrees of Herod or those coming through Herod at the behest of the Emperor.  Bart didn’t mind one bit.  He had a 9-5 job that he could leave at the end of the day without a care in the world.

Bart thought of his oldest brother as pompous and arrogant; definitely selfish. While out listening to the Jewish religious teachers and philosophers in the marketplace, he had chance to hear Jesus. He particularly enjoyed the day the rebel preacher Jesus rubbed it in his face.  Jesus went so far as to mention his clothes, and this was not Jesus’ regular practice.  Imagine walking around in high-fluting purple robes, with a linen undergarment.  Linen undergarments, extravagant, they were woven of Egyptian yellow flax called byssus, so luxurious the Egyptians called it “woven air.”

All the brothers, were Jews of first century Jerusalem, with good to elite jobs.  In their positions, each had come to an understanding of their relationship to the practice of the Law of Moses. They each determined the laws which they would or could bend, how they personally would determine what was ethical, and what relationship there was between one’s heart and one’s relationship with God. To varying degrees, they attended Synagogue, fulfilled required sacrifices to be made at the Temple, celebrated Passover and other festivals.

Of them, the rich brother who has passed away, is concerned for them and their place in life after death.  Looking back from torment, he sees how his choices could have been different, how he could have applied himself to hospitality and living the fullness of the law and into covenant relationship with God. 

Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.”

The rich man said, “No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.”

Abraham 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.”

The family I created, while demonstrating life, practices, and facts from the first century – the time of Jesus- the five brothers from the Gospel of Luke are fictitious. We know nothing about the five brothers, other than they had a rich brother who was callous and disregarded the needs of the poor at his gate.  The point of the story is the rich man’s lack of hospitality; not adhering to the Jewish law on relationship and the responsibility of others, and this was caused by an alienation of his heart from God and God’s covenant.

If we apply this reading in someway to our living lives today, think for a moment of your siblings or cousins. Based on family dynamics, your birth order, varying degrees of relationship with each, what can you tell your siblings? Have you ever wanted to tell them exactly how you feel? Have you ever wanted them to act a certain way, to have faith, certain beliefs, to live a certain lifestyle, to go to church, to get rid of what you consider “bad habits?” Have you wanted to proselytize – or perhaps have and found it just doesn’t work. Is there forgiveness required in the relationship?

I have a brother.  I would say “yes” to some of that list.

Consider yourself the 7^th sibling in this family and you have chosen to follow this upstart philosopher, teacher, rebel Jesus. Your brothers, other than maybe Bart, will hear nothing of it. It is a hopeless endeavour and a great way to drive a wedge into the relationships.  So how do you act to not follow Jesus example, but, continue in Jesus’ ministry:

With Nick, don’t hold it against him that he has a better job because the eldest brother gave it to him as owner of the quarry.  Even though he thinks himself better (swallow hard and bite your tongue), then treat him like the others; making sure he gets an invite to thanksgiving dinner and a pair of socks in his Christmas box.

With Zack, take coffee to him on the work site; attend the opening of the buildings he has built.

With Matt, refrain from criticizing his political allegiances, and corporate decisions in which he took part; comment and commend those that uphold society by seeking justice and peace; and those that support the poor and disenfranchised.

With James, no matter what the sibling relation, do business with him to support his business.

With Bart, make a to-do of his accomplishments, show interest, send him a text, despite your frustration that he has the least earned job of the family and a work ethic that might not satisfy you.

 And if over a lifetime: they end up sick you visit them, dispossessed you welcome them into your home, hungry or thirty you feed and water, naked you provide clothing, in prison you visit them; where there is hurt you forgive. You share your faith by the way you live. You invite them to join you for church, not to convert them, but, because you are seeking relationship with them.  In all things you are hospitable.

And perhaps this is another meaning of this passage – for the living:

Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of this finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.”  When life is over as we know it, it is too late for relationships.  In the present God’s kingdom can come through us and alleviate the agony of flames (living hell). Be hospitable; generous and friendly to strangers, guests, or visitors; creating an environment where plants, animals, and people can live and grow easily; and ready and willing to accept and consider something new.

All This Talk About Money - Pentecocst 18C

In a lifetime, how much time is spent being shrewd and clever in acquiring, accumulating, and dispersing money? It is a lot, when one considers: working for money, paying rent and other bills, budgeting for groceries and other necessities, planning for retirement, paying taxes, borrowing money, investing, banking, worrying about finances, making ends meet, supporting causes and projects, considering garage sales and other ways to make just a little bit more…  We seriously have trouble with money, having too much or not enough, compounded with complicated systems, pensions, taxes, credits, investments, pay checks, debts – it is a topic that consumes a lot of our energy, takes vast amounts of time, and is in someway involved in almost every aspect of life as we know it.

No wonder, money and possessions are repeatedly front and centre in the Gospel of Luke. 

Of all the Gospels, Luke is the one that continually returns to teachings about wealth and possessions. He uses many styles and examples, -poetry, scripture, parables, snippets of this and that-  to stress the importance of looking at one’s relationship to money, wealth, and possessions.

The beginning of Luke’s telling of the Gospel, has the expectant Mary express in song the fulfillment of God’s promise through the child she carries.  It includes the words, and he has exalted the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.  From John the Baptist sermons, Luke records, if anyone has two coats he must share with anyone who has none’ and whoever has food must do likewise.

Luke recounts Jesus quoting the words of Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth: the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.

Jesus teachings, that we know as the Beatitudes from Luke chapter6: Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God…Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.  Luke’s Jesus philosophizes, Take care and be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.

And then there are countless parables: the parable of the rich fool and the building of barns - it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The parable of the shrewd steward.  We are told the story of the tax collector Zacchaeus.

Jesus teaches, 1. Do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.  2. When giving a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or brothers or your relative or rich neighbours, in case they may invite you in return…invite the poor…you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

Martin Luther said: The Gospel can not be truly preached without offense and tumult.

Perhaps this is the rub with the parable we are wrestling with.  It offends us, in that justice and fairness is not served. It offends because it sub-consciously hits so close to home that we miss the point – but, know there is a profound nugget buried therein. It throws us into tumult because we do not capture what exactly Jesus is trying to say.

We like it when the Gospel parable is easy enough to pick apart and fits within our sense of Western economic practices.  We come to the text with a Western capitalist view, perhaps wishing for other ideals… but all from a Western perspective. The problem with this is that the scripture was not written to us, but, rather, an ancient Mediterranean culture. This culture – the culture of Jesus’ time- had the economic principle that there were “limited goods.” The belief was that all goods and resources were already distributed, so wealth was ”limited” in the sense that to seek more, meant that someone else automatically received less; part of their share was stolen.  Everyone had been given goods – rich and poor came about because of people being greedy and taking more than their share. Seeking “more” in the Mediterranean culture was considered morally wrong.

To get around the conundrum of accumulating more, the rich, owners, CEOs, and elites, would have slaves and hired hands, managers to handle their affairs. This way the behaviour of making money at someone else’s expense, the guilt, the sin, the responsibility, and liability, fell on the shoulders of the managers, and not the masters. It meant the masters passed the blame so as to not get their hands dirty --- others laundered their money for them. In the culture, greedy behaviour was expected of managers and slaves for in them there was no honour, nor an expectation for there to be any honour.

And his manager commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

The great preacher, Fred Craddock, asks the question: “what is the lesson?  His answer: Like the steward in the parable, use possessions so as to gain, not lose, one’s future.”

Shrewd and clever are the typical words used to describe children of the light; the words are usually associated with self-serving practices. This makes it difficult for us to consider being a “shrewd saint.”

Over the years I have been part of countless church conversations about money. As money and markets and the management thereof, change in the world, the church is confronted with doing things the-way-they-have-always-been-done or embracing alternative ways to be good stewards of financial resources. Not once have I heard the word ”shrewd” used --- as in use possessions so as to gain, not lose, one’s future.

With all the dangers of wealth, there is still the ability for good “shrewd” management with eyes on bringing God’s kingdom.

Many interpretations of this passage of Luke have been offered through the years, and most break down in some part of the interpretation of the text. Preachers have done some amazing acrobatics to make this parable make sense – perhaps that is the point!  The parable is a plethora of convoluted layers, to simply get the disciples questioning: who is the rich man? Who are the slaves? What is going on? Questions that lead the disciples down the proverbial rabbit hole where discussion turns to reflection on their own practice of managing money, talking and debating with each other on issues of money and what is a “righteous” or faithful relationship to and use of possessions.  The conversation never ends.  Wrestling with wealth is a life long endeavor where the faithful try to figure out how best to be stewards of what is in their possession to bring the world closer to the equilibrium of kingdom living.

When I hear the parable from this morning, and you are free to disagree with me – or continue the conversation- I am struck by the doing of the manager. The manager makes a plan and acts on it.  In his shrewdness he gives away his master’s money by forgiving the debts of those owing the master. It may be self-serving, but, it also makes for good business.  When was the last time you lavishly, shrewdly, forgave debt – and here I am not just talking about money? When have you cleverly made a plan and acted on it?  Do we ever apply that to church life…taking risks, being shrewd or clever stewards? Do we plan and act as if all could be lost in the blink of an eye, as if this were our last few moments in the positions we are in?  Do we spend, share, re-distribute wealth now, so as to gain, not lose, the future?

There was a rich man who had a manager and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. If this were only so.

If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, all of our money and possessions- who will entrust to you the true riches like forgiveness, grace, mercy, justice – the kingdom?  And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another by seeking and taking “more”, who will give you what is your own?

Times have changed and the Western practice of capitalism and economic systems have coloured who we are and how we hear scripture written to Mediterranean sensibilities. What we do learn is that throughout time and cross cultures, money consumes a lot of time.  It is our responsibility to always keep money in our conversations and reflections. Wrestling with what wealth means is part of the practice and discipline of being faithful with our time, talents, and possessions. Wresting with wealth and how to be good stewards of it helps us to be “shrewd saints,” who make a plan and act on it, in such a way as to “give ourselves away as bread for the hungry,” and in so doing bring justice, forgiveness, and wholeness to all.