The Great Divide

Gospel: Luke 16: 19-31

For those who love to speak of God's judgment on people, there is a great distance between the things they want judged and the things Jesus mentions for judgment.  The modern Christian is fixated on issues of sexuality, condemning those who are poor, immigrants, migrants, and refugees.  They condemn communists, freemasons, Muslims, people of color, liberals, and anyone not belonging to their particular denomination and liturgy of preference.

Meanwhile, today's Gospel of Lazarus and the rich man reinforces the picture of judgment Jesus provided in Matthew 25 wherein the criteria of judgment was in whether we provide food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, clothing to the naked, housing to the homeless, care for the prisoner and sick, and welcome to the immigrant, migrant, and refugee.  The rich man does none of these things, for which he finds himself in a place of eternal torment.  He is forever without a name.

Christianity is not about creating poor people and refugees through constant war on other people as the modern Christian thinks.  The way of Jesus is about care for the poor and marginalized, the sick and imprisoned, the immigrant, migrant, and refugee.  The way of Jesus is going about from place to place doing good - healing those who are sick, liberating those who are possessed, and nourishing those who are hungry.  It is there where our judgment lies.