I had a bad dream recently. I was the designated guest preacher for a nearby church, so I left early knowing the pastor in charge wanted me there on time. I decided to walk. It got later and later and I had still not arrived. Wandering in the city lost, I turned a corner, looked around, but did not recognize a single landmark. “Where am I?” I asked. “Minneapolis,” someone said. “Help,” I said, “I’m in a bad dream!” That’s the retired clergy version of the anxious dream. What’s yours?
The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus has that bad dream quality. A wealthy man feasts sumptuously, ignoring Lazarus who begs nearby while the dogs lick his sores. But in the afterlife the tables are turned and the rich man cries out, “Help, this is not what I thought would happen!”
But now it’s too late. What is Jesus trying to tell his listeners? Is he anti-rich? Is he fixated on the perils of hell like the annoying street preacher who can’t seem to keep out of other people’s business? What’s the lesson?
I believe Jesus sought shock value in his story. I suspect this because his other stories and sayings utilize hyperbole, exaggerating for better effect. A deep reading of this parable, and the Gospel of Luke as a whole, brings us to questions of wealth and poverty, but also of paying attention versus being oblivious. And nobody wants to wander through life with their eyes closed.
-Rev. Dr. Dana Horrell
Rev. Dr. Dana Horrell is a retired United Methodist pastor who served churches in the Upper New York Annual Conference after earning a Ph.D. (Univ. of Chicago), Masters in Public Administration (Syracuse Univ.), and M.Div. (Drew Univ.). He and his wife, Rev. Marti Swords-Horrell, live in Clifton. He is the author of Engage!: Tools for Ministry in the Community (Fortress Press, 2019), and is currently working on a documentary about Springfield, Ohio.