Compassion Bridges the Great Moral Chasm

Luke 16: 19-31

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Level 4

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by Rev. Norman Prenger

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STATEMENT FOR SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

Our Lord’ s story of a certain rich man and a beggar named Lazarus is one which has excited the imaginations of both theologians and common folks alike. Interpretations have run the gamut. I submit a theological interpretation which I believe is faithful to the intentions of Christ as well as the rest of Scripture.

There are four analogies which Jesus uses to make his point against the Pharisees, who are sneering at his teachings (16:14,15). He uses them to submit a moral critique of legalism as a substandard way of life and an impediment to the kingdom. The four analogies are the Rich Man (the present state of Job in shalom), Lazarus (the present state of Job in Suffering), the Bosom of Abraham (the coming order of compassion and comfort), Hades (the coming order of agony and exclusion).

The Pharisees, as Jesus himself tells us, were drawn to wealth. For them, wealth represents God’s favor and the outcome of a virtuous work ethic. Combined, however, these two motifs induce spiritual pride and a reluctance to upset the status quo. The righteous Job was a biblical type or icon Pharisees could aspire to. Unfortunately, as a perversion of the message of Job, a prevailing understanding of the Pharisees was that if virtue is blessed with riches, then those who suffer poverty or infirmity are only enduring the consequences of their own immorality (John 9:2 ff).

This transactional understanding of the present world is doomed to pass away and it was the expressed mission of Christ to overturn it (Luke 1:51-55; 4:16-19; Revelation 18:14-17).

Another aspect of this age is the order of suffering. How this order can co-exist with the world of riches and power is the subject of the book of Job. Lazarus himself is covered in sores as was Job (Job 2:7). He is a personification of the opposite human experience. He is in pain. He is excluded and dependent on the generosity of others. Lazarus’ world and the rich man’s world do not touch each other, even though the beggar sits just outside the rich man’s home and is passed by daily.

The hallmark of this suffering age is powerlessness. Like the congregants surrounding the Bethesda’s pool (John 1:1-3), those who suffer the pain and inequities of this age, anticipate a stirring of the waters with God’s gracious intervention. They need compassionate assistance, as Lazarus’ name implies.

There are clues Lazarus’ situation will change. One clue is Lazarus’ own name, Λάζαρος, derived from the Hebrew name Eleazar which means “God will help”. While dogs are unclean animals, they are the only creatures which seem to assist Lazarus in his diseased state, just as the desperate Job used pottery shards to scrape his itching sores (Job 2:8). Whether this is an ironic reference or empathic reference, the import is plain. Lazarus represents the old order groaning for liberty and comfort (Rom. 8:18-21).

Death is what radically transforms the moral order of things, with the rich man dying, being buried, and descending into the torments of Hades. This emphatic death sentence (compare the emphasis in the Apostles Creed) would be a complete shock to a traditional interpretation of death, whether Sadducee or Pharisee. Shocking also to traditionally-minded hearers, is how Lazarus’ death immediately places him into the “bosom” of Abraham, without mentioning a burial, (Enoch, Moses, Elijah). While the dead body of Lazarus is not envisioned in the story, his final rest is assured as Abraham’s legacy, whose purchase of Machpelah is the first deed to the promised land (Gen. 23:7,8 “out of sight”, Rev. 20:1-5).

The bosom of Abraham represents the final realization of the eschaton, the ceasing of all pain and inequity which characterized the old order of things. It is the final demonstration of God’s compassion for his children, whose sufferings are always in God’s heart (Ex. 3:7, Jn 18:35; Rev. 21:4). While this vision of shalom is only realized when one has crossed death’s threshold, the ethical implications for this life is clear. Abraham’s children are destined for shalom, and it is important for God’s people, if they have compassion like God has compassion, to work for the shalom of those who suffer today. To be their helper, as God is their helper, as much as is possible before the Last Day.

The agonies of Hades typify the consequences of failing to show compassion. The rich man sees Abraham and Lazarus as far away and out of reach, though before he died the rich man had the beggar very close by. The rich man calls out to Abraham, but not to Lazarus, whom he may well have compassionately recognized at his gate before he died and called him by name (Matt. 25:44), if he had chosen to. Now the rich man doesn’t have the dignity of being known by his own name, though Abraham calls him his “child”, pointing to the story’s moral obligation for Abraham’s present-day children. The rich man asks for Lazarus to dip his finger into water to cool the man’s tongue, the smallest sort of kindness which the beggar was not offered before he died (Matt. 10:32). Cooling an inflamed tongue may also be an illusion to how the tongue itself is a destructive fire, capable of unjust judgements rather than showing compassion (James 3:5,6,9,10). The pain of the rich man as Jesus describes it is in the Greek word, ὀδυνῶμαι, implying the gritting or gnashing of teeth mirroring, once again, the suffering of Lazarus.

Once the great chasm is pictured in the story, with the tension between ultimate compassion and ultimate torment at its greatest, listeners are brought to the edge of decision. This is prodded by adding the rich man’s request that his living family be warned by sending Lazarus with a message about this moral chasm. Abraham reminds the rich man that his family have ample testimony about compassion in Moses and the Prophets. The rich man counters that a miraculous resurrection from the dead will convince his family of its truth. Abraham finishes the debate by predicting even a bodily resurrection will not be persuasive for people refusing compassion.

This last portion of the story is critical, since it sets up a conundrum for the legalists. It leads Jesus’ listeners to a decision: What is the decisive moral factor which assures future comfort in the bosom of Abraham? Who are our neighbors as candidates for our compassion? It is similar to the question later in Luke posed by the rich young ruler who asked Jesus what he should do to inherit eternal life. All three synoptic gospels record it. The answer is to take up the cross and die in Christ led life of compassion.

As the story shows, the summit of righteousness is trusting that God is our help even in our suffering and living a life of compassion in anticipation of all things made new. The assurance of this truth is demonstrated in Christ, who suffered, died, was buried, and has become the bosom of Abraham.

I know homosexuals by name, as does God. I break bread with them. I know they love Christ and I know they suffer exclusion, bigotry, loneliness, and injustice even though they cannot help their sexual attraction any more than Lazarus was at fault for his sores. They are children of Abraham, too. No one is asking for their same sex attractions to be idealized or glorified. Neither are heterosexual attractions to be idealized or glorified in the kingdom of heaven. They will pass away with the old order.

Meanwhile, we can demonstrate empathy and fairness by supporting our brothers and sisters seeking solace in same sex marriage (1 Cor. 7:9; James 1:13–15; 1 Thess. 4:3-7; 1 Peter 2:10-12; Hebrew 13:4) where they can enjoy the same opportunity to express mutual love, fidelity, social recognition and compassion which anticipate the age to come, just as heterosexuals can.

Our inability to show this sort of compassion may well turn our destinies upside down, in this life and in the next. Christ our Lazarus has risen to warn us.

RESPONSE

The response given below is the same as that given for the paper on The Servant Who Was Shown Compassion.

The church must certainly show compassion toward those who deal with same-sex attraction. The Christian message is one of patience, mercy, caring, and long-suffering. This has long been manifested e.g., by a number of hospitals that have been founded by churches. There are accounts of parents kicking their teenage son out of the home because he is same-sex attracted. How can that be a good thing to do? The current report to the CRC Synod of 2021 has a good number of references to the compassion Christians must show. In keeping a balance, the church must also know what God’s will is with respect to acts that people commit.

The purpose of these webpages, and this paper as well, is to determine if same-sex erotic acts are in some cases pleasing to God. In striving to determine whether an act is moral or immoral, how can it be beneficial to turn to peoples’ reactions to that act? I dare say it is true that some in the church respond to those attracted to members of the same sex the wrong way. Some respond in a very wrong way. But what light does that shed on same-sex erotic acts? It is not possible for the matter of compassion to ultimately shed light on the question of whether or not the Bible prohibits all same-sex erotic acts.

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