Where are our blind spots? (by Sarah Scott)

While I was preparing for today’s message I read through all of the recommended lectionary readings and these two really stood out to me. On the surface I thought both were focused on the material gains of this world and were a warning against them and I thought…well this could be an interesting challenge.

But the more I studied, the more fascinated I became with message within the parable that Jesus was telling the Pharisees, the scripture is not focused on having wealth as being negative, it’s what happens if we pursue wealth and become blind to human need.

As the story opens we are introduced to our main characters. One man known only to us as “Rich Man” and Lazarus a poor man. Our Rich Man lives in exorbitant wealth, while Lazarus who is covered in sores sits at the poor man’s gate hoping for some cast off food. During my study of the scripture I learned that at this time in history there was no silverware or napkins. Everyone from rich to poor ate with their fingers. But what the truly wealthy did was wipe their fingers on hunks of bread that they then threw away…this is the scrap that Lazarus was hoping for.

This is all we hear about until the two men until the die. So I challenge you, I will read the opening again. What did Lazarus do, what commandment did he break that justified him being put into purgatory? Did he deny Lazarus his scraps? Did he have him taken to jail for sitting at his gates? Did he bully him?

¹⁹ “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰ And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, ²¹ who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 

Did he do any of those things? As far as we know, none of these things happened. In fact, nothing happened. It was as though Lazarus didn’t exist.

And once in purgatory did the rich man learn his lesson? Not so much, as he speaks to Abraham he continues to believe he is wealthy and a peer to Abraham, asking him to order Lazarus around as though he was a servant. Through the entire conversation with Abraham the Rich Man always refers to Lazarus in the third person … as though Lazarus didn’t exist.

Its almost as though the rich man had a blind spot when it came to Lazarus, he just simply didn’t notice him. With everything that the rich man had: a roof over his head, food to eat, fancy clothes on his back, it made it easy just to focus on his world and not the world outside his door. I’m not saying that this was intentional, it just was the way that the world was. And the rich man was willing to accept it, and although he had the resources to intervene and improve life for Lazarus he couldn’t even see Lazarus to know that something needed to be done. And that is the issue that Jesus is addressing.

Maybe its hard for us to relate to the rich man in the story, but maybe you can relate to this. Its late at night and you’ve been up watching TV and a mini-infomercial pops on with a sad story about children, vets or animals. Each one aimed at making you feeling something that will hopefully inspire you to action. But honestly, how many of us are just tired of all the sadness and violence we see? From social media to the news to commercials it is all around us, all the time and eventually we become desensitized to the issue that needs to be changed. The minute we see something like this we change the channel or click past it on the screen. It’s not that we want our world to be that way but sometimes it’s happening too far away and we don’t feel we can change anything. We start to accept that this is the way the world is and we convince ourselves that there is nothing we can do about it.

The other issue we face is that even if the infomercial brings us to action we might still miss what’s outside our own door. When I used to live in Rotterdam. There was a gentleman who would come around the neighborhood on trash day and he would dig into our recycling looking for returnable’s. Honestly? He probably could’ve used some help and I know I had the resources to do something, but I can truly say that I did nothing. I knew that it happened. I watched it, but I just accepted it as part of the world and didn’t think there was anything I could do to change it.

So if the issue is we are accepting our world the way that it is and we’re not motivated to change it and help those in need….how can we avoid the fate of the rich man? How can we open our eyes to see what we cannot see today?

First, pray! Remember the words from Philippians 4:6-7 “ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (NLT)

So in this case, what do we need to ask God for? You know I learned a bit of information this week. I was told that it is actually possible to adjust the mirrors in your car in such a manner that you almost completely alleviate your blind spots. So if I can alleviate the blindspot in my car by readjusting my mirrors and looking at more of the picture, why can’t I ask God to do that for my personal blind spots? We can pray to God to open our eyes to see what we cannot already see.

The scriptures can help us understand a little more about how we should understand this new world our eyes will be opened to.

Matthew 25: 35 – 40

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me I was in prison and you came to visit me. The righteous will then answer have Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink. When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you, when did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you. The King will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.

Once we start to see those in need around us, how differently would we react if we thought there was a chance he/she was Jesus? Something like a celebrity sighting wouldn’t you go out of your way to do something to be noticed by the person? Personally, if I ever thought I could sit down and have a face to face conversation with Jesus I would do everything in my power to make that happen, I would give everything I had to show him who I was. Because didn’t he already give everything he had for me?

Jesus made it very clear in Matthew 25:34 what happens if we open our eyes and treat everyone as though they were Jesus “Then the King will say to those on his right “Come, you who are blessed by my father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” Doesn’t that sound better than the purgatory that the rich man ended up in?

So pray, pray to God to open your eyes to see those who need help and see Jesus in everyone around you.

Once we can see what we currently do not see we need to understand that we aren’t all meant to change the whole world. Understand that God knows what your resources and talents are (after all he gave them to you!) and he will lead you to those who most need your help. But its up to us to take that next step and act.

Earlier this year I had the privilege to take a lay leadership course and while I was there I got to meet some of the most incredible people, one of whom told a very inspiring story of one of the ways that she ministers to the homeless or those in need of a little help. She told us that she goes out and buys a handful of Walmart gift cards and she keep some on her at all times. This allows her to help someone in need without the pressure of giving them cash. Such a simple idea. Another idea was the blessing bags. I preached about these, the last time I was here and we must’ve handed out a dozen or so. Something so simple a Ziploc bag full of things that might help someone out, again what a simple way to help out. What could I have done for the man in my neighborhood? Maybe left a bad of our returnable in the recycling for him? So many simple ideas so many ways that we can help someone in need.

The final part of the parable warns us that there will be no burning bush, no spirits of past, present or future entering into our lives to convince us to change our ways. We have the bible and the messages that were given to us by the prophets and Jesus. We need to pray, listen to them, learn from them, but most of all act on them. Because at the end of days we will be judged based on our responses to human need.

So heed the fate of the rich man, and pray to god to open your eyes to see Jesus in the world around you and to inspire you take action to improve that world so that we may be able to sit at the right hand of God.