Dr. John Tamilio III

A rich man dies and goes to Hell. He can see into heaven and begs Abraham to let Lazarus (not the Lazarus whom Jesus raised from the dead, mind you) he begs Abraham to allow Lazarus to dip his finger in water and touch his tongue. This man is in agony, of course, and is looking for any relief. Lazarus explains that he can’t honor his request. Why? There is a huge gulf between the two that cannot be traversed. But notice what is said:

The man in Hell was rich. He had everything. Lazarus, who was poor and covered with sores, would be willing to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Now the roles are reversed: Lazarus has received the greatest riches of all — a seat in God’s eternal kingdom. The rich man, on the other hand (notice that he is nameless), now suffers the tortures of the damned. The reason for the reversal is clear: the rich man never cared for Lazarus.

There is a profound lesson here. How we treat other people really matters in the eyes of God.

I utterly despise the saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” Wrong, wrong, wrong. Names sometimes do worse damage than sticks and stones. Broken bones mend; emotional scars take much longer to heal, if they ever do.

We all know that we live in a political climate that is becoming increasingly divided. People on both sides of the aisle (Democrats and Republicans) say things to each other that we would never tolerate if such speech came from the mouths of our own children. Seeing grown adults behaving like cry babies and bullies is sad, not honorable.

Is it any wonder why bullying is rampant in our schools? Children see us behaving like bullies. We need to stop saying, “Kids these days,” with that air of disgust, when we should be saying, “Adults these days.” Kids these days are pretty great, overall. They’re smarter than we were, and they are more engaged in civic service than my generation ever dreamed of being. When kids do behave like us, we pull out another terrible saying out of our parental toolbox: “Do as I say, not as I do.” This adage is so counterproductive, because the operative word in that statement is “do.”

And it isn’t just politicians. Reality TV and the ever-present gossip mongers are quick to dish the dirt on the latest celebrity scandal. Hollywood loves a juicy story. They love when people fall from grace. But think about it: they love such tragedies, because we do. No one can sell something that no one else wants to buy. Tabloids would go out of business if we didn’t buy them. So, it makes us feel good to gloat over rich parents being punished for trying to bribe their children’s admission into college. It makes us feel good to see a celebrity marriage fail — “Let’s face it; they were never going to make it anyway.” It makes us feel good to see an actor or actress caught in a drug scandal.

And it isn’t just celebrities; it’s us. Have you noticed that social media platforms like Facebook have become the new road rage? They enable people — and I am talking about people my age — they enable us to act in ways we would never think of acting if we were talking to people face to face. It used to be that people would shout obscenities out of their car windows, because they felt safe behind their steering wheels. Today, they feel even safer behind their computer screens. People write the vilest things through online posts and blogs, not to mention text messages.

Can we, with an honest voice, say that this is what Jesus wants — that this is how Jesus wants us to behave? All we need to do to answer this question is look at the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In other words, treat other people the way that you want to be treated. My wife told me how she taught this lesson to her kindergarten class three days ago, and she didn’t even know the topic of this week’s sermon. (Great minds think alike!)

But Jesus’ teachings about how we are to interact with one another go far beyond that. In the story of the great judgment towards the end of Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus tells his listeners that whenever they give food to the hungry, or drink to the thirsty, or clothing to the naked, or welcome the stranger, or visit the sick or imprisoned, that they are actually doing these things for Christ. Imagine that! In doing a kind, compassionate act, we are doing these things to Jesus. He also warns us: he will judge us if we do not do such things. Matthew tells us that Jesus will say to those who did not minister to others: “’Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’” “Then [Matthew says] they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matt. 25:45-46).

I think I can guess what some of you are thinking: “Isn’t it great that Dr. John is preaching on this topic on family Sunday — on the day that the children are in worship with us for the entire hour!” I’ll admit it: as I read the Gospel Lesson earlier last week in preparation for today’s homily, it did occur to me that the children and youth would be with us and that this might be a good message for them to hear, and understand, and apply to their lives. But, as I started to put my thoughts on paper, I realized that this sermon was for the adults among us as well.

We all need to look at how we treat one another (young and old and everyone in between). If Paul is right, and that we are all members of the same body, then we harm ourselves when we harm our sisters and brothers in Christ — when we harm anyone for that matter. This is not what Jesus would do, and it isn’t what he wants us to do. Find me a passage in the New Testament wherein Jesus advocates that people hurt one another. Find me another passage in which he says that we won’t be held accountable if we do such things.

The rich man wanted a second chance. He wasn’t about to get one. The passage ends with him begging Lazarus go and warn his five brothers so that they don’t suffer the same fate. (The implication is that they are just like their rich brother.) Abraham says that they have Moses and the Prophets (meaning the Bible of Jesus’ day) to warn them and direct their behavior. He concludes by saying, “’If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” (How’s that for a bit of foreshadowing?)

Well, someone did rise from the dead — and came to teach us how to behave. If we are a faithful church, then we will listen and act accordingly. How we treat one another truly matters. Amen.