Practice Loving
If someone you care about is doing the wrong things, how do you try to convince them to change?
He said to him, "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead."- Luke 16:31
In today's lesson, Jesus shares a story. In it, a rich man and a poor man die. Suffering in Hell, the rich man pleads with Abraham to send the poor man to the home of his father and brothers to convince them to change their ways.
The response is a prediction of what will happen to Jesus himself and how we will react.
We can look upon this rich man and understand the lesson this way. We should give to the poor.
That is true, but there is much more to learn here.
Like most of the parables of Jesus, there are many layers and angles to see. Is it enough to give to the poor if we are failing to follow the laws of Moses, the Commandments?
I am sure you would agree that we are adept at rationalizing away much of the sting of the Commandments, leaving us with mild interpretations of how we should and do live our lives.
Even Paul tells us we do not need all these rules if we follow the one Golden Rule of Jesus, to love God with all our heart, mind and soul and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
But do we know how to do that?
In the parable of the rich man, Jesus paints a picture of someone who enjoyed the banquet while another failed to satisfy his hunger with what fell form the table.
We could never see ourselves do that. When we throw a party, we wrap up all the left over food and donate it to a soup kitchen. We're good, right?
Some might say that is not enough, while others would say that is more than enough.
What do you say?
I think the main message here is to ask ourselves if we are doing enough. It is not about where we end up, but how we live now.
If we think we could be doing more, we probably can. And if we think we are doing well, we probably could do more.
So, let's all try a little harder practicing loving each other.
We cannot solve all the problems of the world by ourselves, but together we can make a big difference, with each step, each day.
More to come...