Luke 16:19-31
We have different kinds of
purple cloth in these days. Our wealth
might be symbolised by the kind of car we drive, the size of our portfolio, or
the size of our house. Our wealth might
be demonstrated by our position on the corporate rung or the number of letters
before, or after our name. The purple
cloth symbolises the privilege of education, power, authority and money.
And on this night when we
celebrate the Valedictorians this purple cloth may symbolise the opportunities that
lie before you. As young men you may not
quite appreciate the access to wealth that you have already had – the wealth of
experiences and education that you have been exposed to, and the wealth that
might lie ahead for you. But on this
night as we gather and listen for what our futures might hold it is clear to me
that we in this room, all of us, have purple cloth.
The story that Jesus tells, a
story known as a parable, is a primarily not a story about whether a person is
going up to heaven or down to hell. Whilst
Jesus uses this as his context Jesus’ primary concern is about how to live in
this world and he is challenging assumptions and making a corrective.
The symbol of power and
wealth, the purple cloth, had become a blindfold for him to the needs of
others. The access he had to be able to
live a life of leisure meant that as he came and went from his home he was
blind to the suffering man at his door.
Part of the irony of this
story for Jesus listeners, and so now also us, is that this poor man has a name,
Lazarus. In both the ancient world and
in our contemporary one it might be assumed that those with the purple cloth
are known – that they have made a name for themselves. Yet, in this story, it is the rich man who
remains anonymous whilst the beggar is known and named.
It may be an interesting
aside for those of you who read the scriptures that Lazarus is in fact the only
character in any of Jesus’ parables that is given a name and in being given a
name Lazarus is given value. He is known by God.
The message here is pretty
clear for those of us who hold the purple cloth there is a responsibility to
remove the blindfold and see the suffering and need in the world and to
respond. To show compassion and
generosity.
For those of you who are
about to finish your time at Kings you may discover that there is a much bigger
world out there where people suffer and where our struggles as human beings appear
to be intensifying.
There is a sense in which
college life is a bit like life in a humidicrib. It is controlled and contained environment and
if you want to, you can traverse your years in college concerned only for
grades and your sporting and social life within the college. In some senses protected from some of the big
issues we face.
Yet whilst you have been in
the protected world of Kings the rest of the world continues on:
The Syrian Crisis has
deepened and concerns about terrorism have grown. Malaysian Airflight 17 was shot from the sky
over the Ukraine. There are more refugees
and asylum seekers across the globe than at any other point in history. There have been typhoons and cyclones, earthquakes,
floods and fires. In West Papua the
indigenous people continue to be persecuted by the Ind. Whilst in Australia the incarceration rates,
abuse, and suicide of young aboriginal people remains at shocking levels. And just today I read that across Australia
the number of children living below the poverty line has increased from 13% to
17%. That’s nearly 1 in 5 kids living in
poverty in this country. We do not have
to go far to find Lazarus at our gate.
Our obsession with consumerism
and the need for economic growth in a finite world have left us coming far
later in our response to climate change than I am comfortable with. Just this month we have passed 400 part per
million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
One article I read about this suggested we may face sea level rises of a
number of metres in the next 50-150 years.
If this is the case we will see climate refugees coming to us from our neighbouring
Pacific Islands. Such is the deep impact
human beings are having on the environment some scientists have labelled this
age in which we live the Anthropocene. The
potential is that that more people are going to be impacted and endure great suffering
in the decades to come, there will be even more people like Lazarus.
As people who hold the purple
cloth, for those of you young men embarking into the age of the Anthropocene, the
question is will the cloth become a blindfold for you or will you see Lazarus? Will
you see those who suffer? Will you make the connections between our own lifestyle
and the condition of others? Will you see and will you respond? Do you have the capacity to shift not only
your own mindset but the mindset and the overarching narrative of our culture
which is very much about personal success and happiness?
I cannot answer this question
for you but I can identify how difficult it is to make the leaps that I am
speaking about. The great Canadian
Philosopher Charles Taylor talks about the blindfolds we wear to not only block
out those who suffer around us but also to keep out God. He describes us as having become buffered
from God and each other. Rather than the
porous life of our predecessors which allows God in we seek to hold God and
each other at bay. The constant response
that I have had from many of you “that we don’t do spiritual stuff at Kings” is
a reflection of that very buffering.
So with you on the cusp of
leaving Kings and with this story of the purple cloth of the rich man and the suffering
of Lazarus I can offer you two ways of listening to what I am saying.
The first is to say to you
that this story is a political, philosophical, moral and ethical imperative which
challenges those of us who have the purple cloth, who are wealthy, to think of
more than ourselves. In an age of
rampant individualism and isolationism the challenge of this story is to live
for the community of humanity more than simply for yourself. For me that is the basic meaning, the secular
meaning, the simplistic meaning of the story.
But as a follower of Jesus there
is also a deeper meaning that I would highlight, a spiritual meaning. All lives matter, and even the lowest
anonymous beggar like Lazarus is known to God.
Our lives are intricately entwined and joined to one another’s lives and
to God’s own life. The spiritual invitation
is that Jesus’ presence in the world is an invitation to you to share more
deeply in life by living a divine life; to live as God created you to live caring
for one another and sharing all that you have for the sake of the common good.
This kind of challenge can
bring phenomenal changes in a person’s life and it brings to mind the hymn
write John Newton who live about 150 years ago.
He was a slave trader who had an encounter with God and so gave up his
purple cloth – he turned away from trading in people’s lives and began to help
people. Many of you will know the words
of his famous hymn:
Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am
found
Was blind but now I see
He had been blinded by the
world and by the purple cloth of wealth and ambition. The change in his life was monumental. He began to live on earth as it is in
heaven.
This simple piece of purple
cloth may not mean much to any of you.
But 2000 years ago when Jesus was telling his story this purple cloth
was hard to come by. It was an extravagance. It was a display of wealth. It was a symbol of power.
What will you do with the purple
cloth you hold? Will it become a blindfold to the needs of others? Will it become a gift that allows you to help
others? Will it become the inspiration
for you to seek more deeply into God’s love for you and all people? What will
do with the wealth of knowledge and opportunity that you have?
As always my invitation to
you is to be open to the spiritual meaning of what I have shared and if
something has challenged or moved you to speak to me or another person of faith
that might help you understand the God of love who comes seeking us.
Regardless, of how you might
answer the questions I have put before you it is my prayer that God will bless
you and guide you in the years ahead and I would say to you that it has been a privilege
to get to know you. May God bless you
all!
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