The Rich Man

I once knew a man named Ryan Duncan who got mad that his friends forgot to invite him to a movie he wanted to see. So while they were watching it he looked up the ending online and called them at the theater shouting "They all die in the end, you jerks"*

That story was completely unrelated to anything I was about to say.

As you know I've been reading two books with harsh and confusing messages. These books are Irresistable Revolution and the Gospel of Luke. And here's something interesting.

We are all familiar with the story of Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus is a poor man that sits outside the rich man's gates while dogs lick his open soars. That night they both die, the Rich man goes to hell, the Lazarus goes to Heaven, and we all learn a lesson.

In our world it often seems that the poor are nameless, voiceless. You see a homeless man on the street, he has no family, no property, not even a library card. He's nobody. We talk about the "invisable children" of Sudan becuase thousands of unncounted for children are taken away unnoticed. Even those of us with good intentions don't think if the poor by name...they are just "the poor."

Read this story for yourself in Luke 16. Lazarus has a name, the rich man doesn't.**

What does that say about the Kingdom of God?

*The Movie was "Cloverfield" and they all ended up hating it anyway. Duncan saved seven dollars.

**Another notable no-name character is the base-player from "That Thing You Do" who is always referred to as "The Base Player" and even during the credits is listed as "T.B. Player."