Finding Salvation in Every Circumstance

In this thought-provoking sermon, Sub Dn. Timothy explores the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, revealing lessons on wealth, poverty, and God’s providence. He challenges us to reflect on our own lives and how our circumstances can either lead to spiritual growth or downfall.

Transcript

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

We live in an age of increasing wealth disparity, those who have and those who have not, the rich and the poor. And that's what we see in the gospel reading today of Lazarus and the rich man. And I'd like to take a quote today from Ilas the Presbyter. He's a contributor to the third volume of the Filia, that anthology of spiritual texts beloved to us Orthodox, to help us get some insights into this situation of rich and poor and God's providence behind such occurrences and our salvation. And this is his quote. He says, "Trials and temptations subject to our will are caused chiefly by health, wealth, and reputation. And those beyond our control, by sickness, material losses, and slander. Some people are helped by these things and others are destroyed by them."

In other words, if we are rich and healthy like the rich man in the story, then we will face a unique set of trials and challenges. Or if we are poor or unwell or destitute like Lazarus, that also has some trials of its own. However, each position also has its benefits. Each has the possibility of being the means by which God can save us. Depending on who we are and at different points in our lives, we might identify more with the situation of the rich man or the poor man. Either way, there's a blessing and a challenge in each.

So, let's explore this a little bit further. Just prior to telling this story, Jesus has had tense and pointed words with the Pharisees over wealth and riches. Jesus says his famous words that no servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. The text tells us that the Pharisees who were lovers of money heard all these things and they ridiculed him. Jesus has a comeback and he says, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God." And that's when he gives this next story.

So we see that his primary audience is these rich Pharisees who are behaving in a certain way with regards to their wealth. We start with the rich man who has misused his riches. Dressed in purple, which was very costly and hard to come by, he dined sumptuously every day and he ignored the beggar at his gate. Some accounts of this story even give him a name, Divas, or it looks like the English word Dives. This is simply Latin for rich man. To be called rich man as his name shows that riches were what defined his identity. And this life of hedonism and luxury rightly condemned him to Hades.

He has failed the test of riches and a comfortable life. They could have been the means by which he could have found salvation. But he didn't. St. Paul makes this clear in his first letter to Timothy chapter 6. He says that those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare that is a trap, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. He says people lose their souls because of the love of riches. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs or pains.

Later in that same chapter, he says what the rich should be doing if they are to find the salvation of their souls. As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty. He says charge—some translations say command. He's not saying if you feel like it or if you feel God lays it on your heart, right? He's saying command the rich in your congregation not to be proud or haughty nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches but on God who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

This is the way the rich can lay hold of that which is truly life by being generous, ready to share, and rich in good works. So if you are more like the rich man and you have many things in this life, money, health, time, possessions, you have options with which you can apply your will. As Ilas the Presb says, you get the luxury of choice. You get to choose what you do with these things. And this might just be how God will save you. If with the things that you are given, you show generosity, charity, that you're willing to share, that you are unattached to your wealth, that you have your trust placed in God, or it will destroy you, right? If you become hardened in pride, lose your trust in God, become obsessed with money-making and image, and a hedonistic lifestyle just like our rich man.

Let's turn our attention now to Lazarus and those who identify more with his condition of being in lack, of being ill, of being without something. As Ilas the Presb says, these things happen against your will. You don't want them to happen to you. You didn't choose for them to happen and you cannot just will it away.

It's not just being poor that automatically saves one, right? But Lazarus is showing a definite attitude and approach to his terrible situation. A Greek elder by the name of Athanasio Mitilinio says that the name Lazarus has the meaning God is my help. Someone may ask, since God was his help, why didn't God deliver him out of poverty? Why didn't he heal his sores which covered his body? We must change our idea of what divine help is. Divine help does not mean for God to take away my poverty or my sickness, or to change my adverse situation. God's help is rather to help me endure all these things that I might see the face of God. Being in these situations can just be the way that God will save us.

Lazarus does not complain or condemn. He is patient even though he is alone. The fact that dogs lick his sores means there is no one else to take care of him. St. John Chrysostom says that for Lazarus this was enough for his salvation that he simply bore these things—poverty, illness, and the lack of benefactors—with serenity. That's the word he uses: serenity. It is of such great benefit to those who bear such things nobly that even if one is found who has committed grave sins, this delivers him from the heaviest burden of those sins. This admirable and noble acceptance saved him. Sometimes this is the path that God has ordained that people's hearts may be softened and humbled.

I like this example from the latter of Divine Ascent written by St. John Climicus. He tells the story of a man who comes to join the brothers at this monastery. His name is Isidor and he comes from a wealthy background. The abbot saw he was a troublemaker: cruel, proud, and sly. So the abbot tells Isidor that he wants him to learn some obedience first. Isidor says, "Most holy father, I submit to you like iron to the blacksmith." The abbot thought that was a worthy metaphor. He says, "Isidor, I want you to stand at the gate of the monastery and bow to everyone passing in or out, saying, ‘Pray for me, for I am an epileptic.’"

Isidor wasn't really an epileptic. This is just what the abbot wanted him to say. And later, when recounting his experience to St. John, Isidor says at first he completed this with great bitterness and effort. He felt he had been sold into slavery. That's how humiliated and shocked he felt. But after a while, he says his heart was no longer grieved. He began to think of the reward for fulfilling this difficult obedience. After another year, he says found in the depths of my heart, I began to see how unworthy I was to live in a monastery, to encounter the fathers, to share in the divine mysteries. I lost the courage to look anyone in the face, but lowering my eyes and thoughts, I asked with true sincerity for the prayers.

If he had not seen this obedience through to the end, if he had only had a temporary experience, he wouldn't have been so profoundly changed. He wouldn't have been transformed if he stopped at bitterness or thinking, "I'm doing pretty good here. I'll get a nice reward." So he needed to see it through. This is where we see the salvific nature of time, that is sanctifying us. We read in Philippians 1:6, St. Paul says that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion. Sometimes we need a crushing experience over time, this press on our souls for healing. We see this with debilitating illness over time or some trial over a long period. Not just days or weeks but months and years. Or entire nations, like our brothers and sisters face in Palestine, experiencing oppression and persecution even for decades.

There are people for whom it can be said of the character Fontaine in Victor Hugo's novel Les Miserables when she finds herself abandoned and living as a prostitute. "Life and the social order have said their last word to her. She has known everything, borne everything, suffered everything, lost everything, and shed her last tear."

So, if you're thinking your problem has been around a while and you cannot take it anymore, remember Lazarus, who went to his death without finding justice. Remember Isidor, who endured humiliation over years. God desires your perfection. We read in the epistle of James to count it all joy when you encounter trials, for testing faith produces patience, to be perfect and complete. This is what God desires for us: to be perfect and complete. Trials with patience, gratitude, and serenity can save us. Lazarus shows restoration and healing won't always come in this life. If we are bitter, resentful, spiteful, complaining, and angry, we can lose salvation.

Take time to reflect on what applies more to you today. If like the rich man, you have money, resources, possessions, health, and blessings, know much is expected of you. The rich man shows what not to do: being selfish, greedy, indulgent, and self-obsessed. Worldly thinking would have you focus on the next PlayStation, a better watch, a new car, a new set of clothes and shoes, another investment property, a lavish holiday. What is required is generosity, charity, being rich in good works, having a mindset that doesn't rely on possessions.

If you're like the poor man, marked by lack in money, health, or support, Lazarus shows what to do: be patient, silent, grateful, and accepting. Worldly thinking would have you blame and complain. Realistically, we will experience both extremes. On the spectrum, we're somewhere in the middle, or more at one or another point at stages of our lives. All is ordained by God's providential hand. May we trust him and find the salvation he desires for us. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.