Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C 25th September 2022
Lectionary Readings: Amos 6 v1a, 4-7; Psalm 146; 1 Timothy 6 v6-19; Luke 16 v19-31.
Warnings to the rich.
This week’s readings continue the theme of recent weeks about the dangers of trusting in wealth.
The prophet Amos takes the rulers of Jerusalem and Samaria to task for indulging themselves and ignoring the plight of the poor. “Do you rulers feel safe and at ease? You drink all the wine you want and wear expensive perfume, but you don’t care about the ruin of your nation.” (Amos 6 v 1a, 6).
“Your nation”, Amos is making the point that they, as rulers, have a responsibility for the welfare of the people, the nation, the descendants of Abraham. Not just for their physical welfare but also their spiritual welfare. Amos goes on to warn the rulers, “So you will be the first to be dragged off as captives; your good times will end.” (Amos 6 v7). (Israel was invaded by the Assyrians a few years later).
The Psalmist encourages us to praise God the creator of all that is and to recognise God’s priority of justice for the poor and needy.
Luke offers us another of Jesus’ stories about the perils of wealth. Lazarus, the poor man and the unnamed rich man find their fortunes reversed in the next life. Towards the end of the story the rich man speaks to Abraham seeking help to warn his brothers of the consequences of failing to obey God’s commandments. Abraham replies “If they won’t pay attention to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even to someone who comes back from the dead.” (Luke 16 v31)
I think the point that Jesus and Luke are making is that even though we may be well aware of what scripture teaches us about the sort of people God would like us to be, many chose not to be so.
The apostle Paul, regards this as a form of self-harming. In his letter to his young friend Timothy, Paul warns about the temptations and distractions of wealth. “People who want to be rich fall into all sorts of temptations and traps. They are caught by foolish and harmful desires that drag them down and destroy them. The love of money causes all kinds of trouble. Some people want money so much that they have given up their faith and caused themselves a lot of pain.” (1 Timothy 6 v9,10).
Paul goes on to ask Timothy to “Warn the rich people of this world not to be proud or to trust in wealth that is easily lost. Tell them to have faith in God, who is rich and blesses us with everything we need to enjoy life. Instruct them to do as many good deeds as they can and to help everyone. Remind the rich to be generous and share what they have. This will lay a solid foundation for the future, so that they will know what true life is like.” (1 Timothy 6 v17-19).
Jesus said, “If God has been generous with you, he will expect you to serve him well. But if he has been more than generous, he will expect you to serve him even better.” (Luke 12 v 48b)
We, citizens of the ‘developed world’, who are thought of as ‘rich’ by the rest of the world, have a responsibility to care, as God cares, for the poor and needy.
Bible quotations are taken from the Contemporary English version.