Caution! Warning! Danger! If you’ve ever seen a car, a tractor, or perhaps even a piece of heavy equipment, you’ve likely noticed an array of safety stickers. These stickers are very easy to identify. Usually there are exclamation points emblazoned upon them. Now, these stickers don’t serve an empty purpose- but they are there to give a series of reminders- that there are things that can be done that will damage equipment, injure others, or sometimes things that are even worse. Perhaps these stickers can be intimidating, but they seem to be nonetheless necessary!
Yet, imagine becoming so complacent as to ignore these stickers altogether. We see those three words of Caution, Warning, and Danger, and it triggers no sort of response internally, and rather, simply garners an empty response, or perhaps they get ignored altogether. That would seem like foolishness to us, would it not? It may not be readily evident, but we actually encounter these very same warnings in the Bible in various places, including in the course of the readings for this week. Are we aware of these warnings- and are we letting them change our lives in an appropriate way?
The first reading for this Sunday is again taken from the book of the prophet Amos, and it continues a very serious style, in continuing the theme of shrill warning. Where there was sale of the poor and the downcast last week, there is more of a focus upon those who are doing evil in the sight of God- and living very comfortably. Amos continues in and gives us this initial word: woe to the complacent in Zion. We have likely heard this word before- complacency is a sort of absent-mindedness in approaching some sort of important duty. So Amos comes out swinging right at them. Initially, he chastises them for laying simply on their couches, eating the choicest of meats, lazily taking time to improvise their own accompaniment, and they drink wine and are anointed with the best of oils. We are told that anything worth enjoying in this life is what they center themselves around, and so they are comfortable- to the point that they are complacent.
Why does this complacency matter? It matters because the Assyrians are knocking on their doorstep, preparing to drive the entire people of Israel into exile. However, it is rather profound because these people are comfortable now, and yet the prophet Amos warns that they will be the very first to be uncomfortable! They will be the ones who are driven out into chaos and confusion by this impending doom, because they truly have not paid attention to what was going on around them. Their comfort and complacency- shall indeed be done away with.
Saint Paul in his letter to Timothy continues a positive exhortation towards Timothy, and those who eventually benefit from this letter. Saint Paul gives this initial instruction to “pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness. Compete well for the faith.” He continues to expound upon this very same idea- telling those who are listening that it is time to keep the commandments, to be without stain or reproach, and to lay hold to eternal life. All of these things are part and parcel of what it is to live out a Christian life in a very dramatic and powerful way.
The Gospel of Luke continues to lay out a very dramatic scene in giving out a parable to indicate just how serious the call to follow the Gospel is, especially when we consider the consequences of either following it or choosing not to. Jesus begins by addressing the Pharisees very specifically about a rich man that we are told dresses in purple garments and fine linen, and even dines sumptuously each day- something that would have normally only happen on bigger days. As he lays in comfort, however, there is a man- Lazarus- who is outside that door that is not so lucky. We are told that this man was lying at the door of the rich man, and is so beaten by the elements and by the poor care that he has that he is covered in sores, and dogs, as an insult to injury, come to lick his sores. Further, Lazarus is so famished that he would’ve gladly eaten from whatever fell from the table of the rich man, but he was never able to do so.
As in the course of time, there eventually comes a moment of reckoning, when the chickens come home to roost. We are told that both the rich man and Lazarus die, and they are taken to the places where they will spend eternity. Lazarus, for the entirety of his life, seems to have lived a life of discomfort, and through no fault of his own. So, he is taken to a place of comfort to spend eternity in. However, the rich man is not so fortunate, much unlike his entire earthly life. He is sent to a place of torture and of suffering, where we are told that he seeks pity and even, when that is denied him at this time, he even seeks just a simple drop of water. Then, when this doesn’t happen, he begs for something that is rather astonishing, actually. Because he is in such misery, he asks for the ability of someone- perhaps even Lazarus- to go and warn his family. It seems to be a compelling argument, and yet, Abraham simply comes back with the fact that they have Moses and the prophets- and yet, the man insists that they will not listen to them. So he begs for someone to come back from the dead. Yet, Abraham again insists- if they won’t listen to them, they likely won’t listen if someone comes back from the dead! Abraham always maintains this kindness throughout the entirety of the dialogue, and yet, he is still firm in the fact that what has been done has been done.
In a certain way, we can get this rather odd view of God. It seems that some might argue that God is not exercising the fullness of mercy here, or that it seems that he is being harsh and cruel. Yet, it is important for us to realize that our God is still a God of justice, and not of unmerited benevolence. Our God is a good, true, kind, loving, and patient God, but He also isn’t one that is going to be taken advantage of. The fact of the matter when it comes to what has happened is that the rich man has devised his own undoing. Look at the entirety of that rich man’s life. He has lived out his life simply paying attention to number one. He has treated himself very well, but in doing so, he violates some of the greatest commandments that our Lord gives us: to love God above all else, and to love our neighbor as well. So, this isn’t a God that is being unnecessarily cruel or harsh, but one that is allowing the rich man to experience the consequence of his own complacency.
As we consider what has happened to this man, however, what are we to do with our own lives? What are we supposed to be aware of?
First, we should note that this life is not meant to strictly be a life of comfort. One constant phrase that Benedict XVI came back to time and time again- you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness.” We cannot simply seek after both, nor can we strictly live where life is comfortable, but God calls us to go out of those places we are used to and seek after him truly. So, the prophet Amos gives us that reminder- we shouldn’t get used to comforts that this world has to offer, for fear that we should begin to become lazy or complacent ourselves.
The second reminder comes from Amos and the Gospel together: we should not allow ourselves to become complacent or even to become corrupt ourselves. It can be so easy to convince ourselves that we are doing the bare minimum, or perhaps even doing a few notches above that, when in reality, we are actually not doing quite a bit of what our God is asking of us! It isn’t enough to simply scrape by, but we need to seek out the fullness of what God asks us to do, especially in loving our God, and loving our neighbor, as uncomfortable as that might be. We should be willing to go out of our way, not just to aid the poor and the destitute in material goods, but to aid all of those who need our charity and our help in any way, whether or not we consider them rich, or even poor. We cannot grow cold and callous in this life, or we may find ourselves in a very similar situation as the rich man. We cannot live indifferent to the mandates and requirements of being a faithful disciple, but we must rather seek after our God in a very full and devoted way.
Though it is a minor point, I think it is good to consider Lazarus’s perspective in this also, because it could be something that we might identify with. Notice that Lazarus, even when life deals him a difficult hand of cards, or when the rich man mistreats or ignores him, he doesn’t become jaded nor does he become irresponsive to Jesus. He continues to stay the course and hold to his faith. Whether the rich man has always ignored him, or if he has just grown cold over time, it doesn’t seem to matter much to him. Rather, he keeps his sights on heaven, and not on those that might make the way more difficult.
Finally, this should lead us to be those faithful disciples like St. Paul was encouraging us to do- we are to live out this life differently. We cannot commit ourselves and our energy on simply “keeping up with the Joneses” or we know that we will end in a place of ruin. We have some Cautions, some Warnings, and even some danger ahead. Let us not be complacent but rather be attentive so that we can reap eternal reward as was given to Lazarus. Let us hold fast to faith and continue to seek after that relationship with God, not just now, but in the life to come as well.
