My heart sank when I read this passage for as those who were here last Sunday evening will know, or will if you
were listening, it has the same theme, and I said then it made me feel uncomfortable. Particularly the passage
'It is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven'. I
suppose I could try to claim exemption as a woman - after all there are some in the church who think women a
different species, but I digress (I hadn't thought of that before!)

But if we stay with the financial side are we missing the point, for it is easy to put all problems down to money to
thinking that wise stewardship is all that matters, I know its is important but if we have a reasonable amount of money
and say give the equivalent to a tithe are we saved?

I don't think so, or else we are back in the pre- Reformation attitude of being able to buy salvation,
no I think we have to look more deeply at the message.

When we look around both in our own country and in the world there are so many Lazarus's - people, communities
groups of people who are ignored treated as less human, as second class citizens. People who are ignored,
persecuted because of who they are - not what they are. So often we feel impotent, particularly with problems
like those in Burma and Zimbabwe at the moment. But is that what the rich man thought, what could he do.
Do too many people just shrug their shoulders and think there's nothing they can do - the problems are too
big.

But we can pray for them, write to our government asking them to put pressure on the UN to try to talk to the
government in Burma. We can make our views known for information will seep through to the people and they
need to know people are praying for them.

But its not just wars and persecution, there issues much nearer to home which should be concerning us. I was
very interested in Archbishop Rowan's interview in the press. In it he expressed concern at the way society
is going, how being successful is deemed to be everyone's aim in life, not the success of achieving happiness, but
the type of success that leads to wealth and fame. Programmes which encourage young people to think they
can be celebrities overnight so often without any talent, so all they get is sarcasm and humiliation. What can
that do to them.

So where does all this leave us. We hear these passages, we understand the message, for it is so clear
we can't fail to understand - or can we.

After all this teaching, all these lessons on what it means to live a godly life, we can't but fail to see
where we’ve fallen short we certainly don’t want to end like the rich man, but surely its not just his
wealth but his self-centredness

But could I be Lazarus? Could you be Lazarus? Not really, but poverty is not always the
poverty of no money. I know I am poor, or poorer than I should be by not trusting God enough. Jesus'
teaching is that we must admit our dependency on God, truly turn to him and listen to his voice.

So, is eternal life the only place where we’ll really be happy? Is that what Jesus is saying? No, I
don't think so, I think I can relate to what Archbishop Rowan said. Happiness is acknowledging all the gifts
that God has given us, and what about the Kingdom?

Sometimes it seems that we must spend our earthly lives working out all the rules and regulations that will merit
the kingdom for us. But the kingdom isn't like that; it’s a gift, bought on the Cross by our Saviour. None
of us could ever earn it, be worthy of it, no matter what we do. We are all dependent on God, in need of God’s grace.
And yet we are all rich, all of us. Not because we have great wealth for many haven't that, but because of God’s
unmerited, never ending love. God cares about everyone.

Therefore those of us who live by God’s kingdom are called to do the same, to love everyone, to share the richness of
happiness, but it is not just giving. We all have something to receive as well. What could the rich man have received
from Lazarus if he had been willing to open himself to the possibility? Maybe he could have learned from Lazarus
to be thankful for a healthy body as well as all hs had. Maybe he could have learned the joy of giving to someone he didn't know.

But Lazarus wasn't no-one he was a fellow child og God, loved and cherised by our heavenly Father. God’s care for all of us means
that everyone in need merits help from those in a position to give it. It also means that givers all are potential recipients, not
only of the gratitude of the needy but also of the lessons their lives have to share with us.

It's not having money that is the problem - it is allowing that money and concern about money to dominate us to
point where we do not care about others outside our sphere of interest. We struggle with both last Sunday evenings
and today's passage because it comes down to how we care for one another, and if we love one another we will always
feel we fall short, but if we remember God's love for us and trust in his mercy we will direct and guide us.