Today’s reading is Luke 16: 19-31

Today in we see Jesus’ final teaching this chapter on wealth.  The parable of the rich man and Lazarus.  It is sometimes called Lazarus and Dives (Dives was the word for “rich man” in the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible).  This also was one of John Wesley’s favorite preaching texts.  He would preach it quite often, primarily because it was a text that really could be used to point to issues of wealth and pride and judgment.  Welsey really liked to go there in his preaching and you could see him write in his journals many times about preaching this text and it not being received well by the crowds.  It was almost like that was his point.

I think Jesus is trying to stress over and over to the people that this world, these possessions, this wealth, this stuff, they are not what matters and define us. They don’t count for much.  Look at the rich man.  He had everything one could ever dream of in this world and it did not save him in the world to come.  Look at Lazarus, he had nothing.  Yet he found himself with Abraham in the world to come.

Jesus is telling over and over again in Luke 16, your money doesn’t save you.  It doesn’t.  Jesus saves you.  He is the way, the truth, and the life.  Not your possessions.  Not your stuff.  Nothing like this.  Jesus.  Jesus.  Only Jesus.

Today, reject the rat race of our lives that says to live we have to have more and more and more.  No, we don’t.  No we don’t.  We have to Jesus. That’s all that matters.

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