We met a little boy in a village. He was around six years old and openly envied his uncle for his beautiful car. He spoke freely because, unlike adults, he had not yet learned to wear a mask..
From our casual conversation with him, we learned that he is very happy when his grandfather goes to the local pub to drink. Surprisingly, he gave us a simple explanation: ‘When I go to him, he buys me whatever I want.’ We laughed at his honesty and realised that his stingy grandfather only became generous after a drink.
‘Make friends out of unfair mammon,’ the echo from a week ago sounds in our ears and touches today’s parable. The rich man and his grandfather share a common trait: an inability to share. It seems that the quality alcohol at the feasts didn’t help the rich man.
In the Old Testament, the so-called ‘poor of Yahweh’ are mentioned several times. These were people who had no one on earth to rely on, so they put their trust in the Lord and witnessed the fulfilment of his promises.
This is how they experienced the breath of eternity. To entrust one’s life to the faithful is to have everlasting life. This is why, in the parable, the poor Lazarus was taken to Abraham’s side after death — he is his father in faith.
If someone relies solely on themselves and manages their own life, they may fall into the belief that material possessions will bring them happiness. That’s why a wealthy man dies, and the land he believed in so much will repay him in its own way by covering him forever.
Jesus also identifies two paths that run throughout the Bible: the path of the righteous and the path of the wicked. The rich man from the parable wants to highlight this to his brothers so they can make an informed decision. However, he feels that neither Moses nor the prophets provides sufficient argument for this. Therefore, he wants someone to return from the realm of the dead to speak to them.
Did Christ return in this way, and did anything change? The rich man was asked for more than the occasional act of charity; he was called upon to deliver justice. This should be a mandatory part of every social group, from families to states. Charity is merely the icing on the cake.
In today’s society, we often encounter an inevitable confusion that affects some people. Families should not expect to receive state support out of love. This is based on the concept of justice because our children will one day earn our pensions. Distributing money only to the loyal and buying the votes of those who will support you puts the world upside down.
This is aptly depicted in the film Leviathan. The Russian director holds up a mirror to his own country, sobering up those drunk on power and vodka.
Entrusting life to the faithful is, in fact, having life forever — life everlasting.
If everything works correctly, employees should also receive a fair wage. This applies to both the company and the charity facility. Employers cannot do charity by shortening their employees’ salaries because they are from Ukraine, cannot defend themselves, or because their trade unions do not work.
Even in Christian communities, how many things need to be set straight? If artists perform and talented individuals speak there, they are earning a living and cannot do charity work. Supporting someone is a decision that must be made freely. Doing good in the right way is an art form.
This is also part of the financial literacy that is missing from schools and broader society, where approximately three million people are executed each year. What does this indicate? It suggests that the rich man in the gospel story has not yet learned about charity or justice, and that Lazarus has not learned to manage his finances responsibly, free from unnecessary debt and the advice of unscrupulous bankers and moneylenders.
The religious motive of selfless charity can be found in the psalmist: „Blessed is he who remembers the poor man; on the day of calamity, the Lord will deliver him.“ His words were taken to heart by one of the two rabbis from the following story.
Two rabbis lived in neighbouring villages. While one of them kept telling the synagogue that they had little money and the faithful were stingy, therefore they could not fix anything, the other was its opposite. He enjoyed giving gifts to people, his speeches were relaxed, and he was perceived as a “chill” person. Nevertheless, he also managed to build new things and restore the old synagogue.
The envious neighbour met him and asked for an explanation. He shared some life wisdom with him: ‘You know, you always talk about money. They can sense that you like the sound of rustling banknotes, so they also started to like money. That’s why they don’t want to part with it. I cough on money. People see that, so they despise it and get rid of it. And what’s left for me? I just collect them…’
