Somehow over the centuries we've shifted what Jesus says here & elsewhere (&, for that matter, Scripture in general) about the way we live now, to setting ourselves up for life hereafter. We've shifted the pertinent question, "What are we here after?", to, "What will get us there after?". Jesus is always on about us living Now for the Lazaruses 'at our door' in any sense. God's Rule is always Now! Not then. Not what happens to us & the world's Dives & Lazaruses later. If we don't recognize God in Lazarus now, can we have any real expectation of recognizing God later? I think not. More, we also need to be able to recognize God in Dives! Yet there are branches of, & emphases within our churches that are far more interested in 'heaven' than earth; failing to recognize heaven on earth wherever God reigns. And he more usually reigns through us, the enSpirited Body of Christ than by supernatural intervention. If we stick at that end of the scale, we haven't discerned the Truth of the Son of Man, earthed as well as divine. Suffering as well as reigning. Suffering in his reigning.
What we are here after isn't simply a matter of providing adequate social services, safety nets, etc., important though they be. God calls us not to pass by our Lazaruses on the other side of the road - maybe pointing them to Centrelink or Anglicare on the way - but grasp, discern that compassion is always a matter of relationships, no matter how fleeting, as in an emergency of some kind. If we aren't there to relate to Lazarus for God, who will be?
Another aspect of an issue that won't go away any more than God will go away is how we use what we are provided with. When is enough enough? When is enough to share? Often, in my experience, a more awkward question for those of us at the 'Dives' end of the scale than for those Lazarus end. Yet if we won't face the implications of that question, God will keep on asking it until we do. On this earth! And Jesus gives a strong impression that if we don't find how to live eternal life now, we won't know how to later. Anywhere.
