Bible
Study: Amos 6, 1 to 7. 1st Timothy
6, 11 to 16 and Luke 16, 19 to 31.
If there
is verse of Scripture that summarizes our readings for last Sunday, it would
be: “Make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when
it fails they may receive you into the eternal habitations.” Luke 16, 9. You
remember the story of the dishonest steward who upon knowing he would be
removed from service decided to call his master’s debtors to reduce their
debts? He made friends for himself by letting go of the money that should have
come to him and his master praised him for his prudence.
Today’s
readings basically continue from where last Sunday’s readings stop. In fact,
the best way to understand today’s readings is to consider them as explanations
of the points contained in that of last Sunday. In our Gospel passage, Jesus
gives a parable of Lazarus and the Rich to explain what he meant by us making
friends with unrighteous mammon so that when it fails, we would be welcome into
eternal habitations. The rich man unlike the dishonest steward last Sunday failed
to make friends to poor Lazarus with his wealth and when it failed him
eventually, he was denied entrance to heaven.
Amos in
today’s readings continues his denunciation of the wealthy. And it must be understood
that Amos is not against riches which by themselves are considered to be signs
of God’s blessings, rather, Amos is particularly against those who become rich
through dubious means, those who sell the poor for a pair of silver and the needy
for a pair of sandals; those who cheat and deal deceitfully with the balances.
His condemnation is for those who have so much even to waste but are not
grieved over the ruin of Joseph; those who have no concern for the poor.
Dear friends
in Christ, the question for me today and for every one of us is: “Where are my
leftovers?” We are told that the rich man wore purple clothes and fine linen
and feasted sumptuously every day. This was Jesus’ way of highlighting the rich
man’s excesses and wastefulness. It is one thing to be properly dressed, it is
another thing to wear the most expensive type of dressing in the world. Again,
it is one thing to have three square meals a day but a different thing
altogether to throw a party every single day.
Rather
than go for designer dresses which are so expensive simply because I can afford
it, why can’t I go for cheaper ones that can still cover my body so that what
is left-over I can use it to buy clothes for those who have nothing to wear? Rather
than cook a single pot of soup with Fifty thousand naira, why don’t I cook the
one of ten thousand and use the remaining forty thousand to help some poor
people who have not eaten for the past two weeks? As a girl for instance, why
do I need to wear human hair attachment that can buy a plot of land when I can
simply plait it and use the money to help the poor?
Dear
friends, we do not like to think of ourselves as rich but the truth is that if
we all examine our conscience, we would come to realize that oftentimes, we
have more than enough even to waste. And it is based on that extra or excess
that we often throw away that God will judge us. Yes, God will judge us because
we had more than what we needed but closed our eyes to those who lacked. God
will be angry with us because even though we see Lazarus in front of our gates
every day, we pretend as though he doesn’t exist.
Name ten
rich persons you know. Then, name ten extremely poor persons you know. Now
which set of names was easier to come by? Judge for yourself! I bet some of us
cannot even name up to ten! In the past one year, what have you done for these
extremely poor persons you know? When last did you invite one of them to have a
decent meal with you?
Lazarus
desired to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table but no
one gave him anything. Instead, the rich man’s overfed dogs came and liked his
sores. We treat people nicely only when we have something to gain from them but
when we know they are of no benefit to us, we drive them away or treat them
like flies.
Once upon
a time, I saw a short video clip. A trader had a shop and every morning, there
was this destitute beggar who used the entrance of the shop as his bedroom. So each
morning, the trader would pour water on this beggar’s body just to drive him
away but the beggar would still come back the following night to sleep there. One
day, the trader opened his shop but did not see the beggar there anymore. Since
he was already used to pouring water on his body every morning, he was worried
as to what may have happened to the beggar. So he decided to look up the CCTV
camera. What he saw brought him to tears. He discovered that all this while, he
was maltreating the beggar and never for once did he give him anything to eat, yet,
the beggar was helping him fight off a group of armed robbers who were always
coming at night to try to steal from the shop. He then noticed that the
previous night, the robbers so fought the beggar that they stabbed him to death
and that was the reason why the beggar was not there as usual that morning.
What a pity!
Dear
friends, once you can meet your basic needs, what is left extra is not really
yours; it belongs to the poor who cannot afford it. The amount of food that
some of us waste on a daily basis is enough to feed an entire village. Don’t be
like this rich man, share with the poor. Use your money to win friends among the
poor and heaven will be sure for you.
Let us
pray:
Lord
Jesus, help me to recognize you in the poor and not turn a cold heart. Amen.
Be Happy.
Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. Happy Sunday.
Fr. Abu
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