HOMILY FOR TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C

AGORSOR AARON AGBESHIE

AMOS 6:1, 4-7/ PSALM 146/ 1TIMOTHY 6:11-16/ LUKE 16:19-31

THEME: THE POOR ARE THE VEHICLE FOR OUR SALVATION

Today’s Liturgy draws our attention to Jesus’ preferential option for the poor. Therefore, the readings abound in images and metaphors that drive home the point strongly. Parables are meant to evoke a personal response from those who listen. As in every story, you must find yourself identifying with one of the characters. We are called upon to wake up to the reality of our calling as Christians to show concern for the poor if it is in our power to do so.

In the first reading, it is our purple and fine linen, our life of ease and our love of wealth to the detriment of the poor is what is being mocked today by the Prophet Amos. When God lifts us from our misery; from the dung heap and places us in the company of princes, we easily forget about the miseries that poverty brings to us. We behave as if we have never been poor. Even if we have never been poor, what the poor demands of us is a little bit of respect and dignity. In our negligence, we miss the vehicle to our salvation namely the poor. Amos warns those who “…drink wine from bowls, and anoint themselves with the fine oils but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph…” to drink wine from a bowl shows that you have in abundance because we drink wine from a wine glass. The images bring out the fact that we exploit the poor to make our life comfortable. We sleep on ivory beds and relax on our couches as if everything is alright but we know that it is the poor we are exploiting to make our life comfortable.
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What Jesus brings out in this parable is not because the Rich man feasted always but the fact that not even the scraps from the Rich man’s table was even given to Lazarus. Yet, this is because Lazarus longed to eat the scraps that fell from the masters table. This means that he was not considered a human being at all. Indeed the Rich man never took notice of him. Dogs will even lick his wounds and he has no strength to drive them away. Have you realized how our negligence can reduce the human being to nothing? Sometimes we allow our wealth to cloud our vision towards what really brings us true peace. The rich man saw everything round him except Lazarus. Lazarus did not ask to seat at table with the Rich man to dine with him let alone come near him. He only requested for the scraps from his table. Again, he failed to see Lazarus but the dogs did. He could have sent him away but he did not. This means that he did not regard him as a human being at all. He failed to see the vehicle of his salvation namely Lazarus. Martin Luther King JNR once said “I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” Perhaps the poor men is not interested in holding hands with the Richman or even walk with him, but he wants to be treated like a human being created in the image and likeness of God.

Now the Lazarus dies and immediately he is recognized by the Richman perhaps now he recognizes he cannot be independent or self-sufficient but it was too late. Hence the answer to the Rich man’s demands calls for reflection. “If they will not listen either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead (Luke 16:31)” These words strike us as strange as first. We tend to think that everything would be different if there were some striking, dramatic proof of the gospel, or some overwhelming demonstration of God’s existence. Then we would listen. Indeed, the presence of Lazarus at the gate of the Rich man and his brothers is enough witness to their faith. Yet they missed the opportunity to repent. Why is it that we hear the words of scripture so often but our lives are not appreciably changed? Any student who heard the same lesson a hundred times and could not learn it would be dropped from school. Yet we hear the same basic message in the Scripture Sunday after Sunday and our lives do not show any appreciable difference.
To conclude, which of the three characters - the rich man, Lazarus, and Abraham do you identify with? Remember that the purpose of this parable is to emphasize Jesus’ fundamental option for the poor. Did the Rich man’s brothers ever get the message? We are not told; for that is the question the parable leaves us to answer. Each of us will write our own ending to the story.