Daily Reflections ...

In many ways, the sin of ‘the rich man’ is ‘failing to see’. For years, he ignored the man at his gate. He failed to recognise that his unwillingness to engage with Lazarus and attend to him in his need would ultimately rebound on himself.

Finally, the rich man sees. After his death, he sees where Lazarus now resides and reaches out for just a little of what Lazarus has—even just a drop of water. Sadly, it is too late.

Yet, the rich man in this story is not without the desire to look after those he loves. We all do as much, do we not? As one of five brothers, his attention turns to them, and he asks that they be made to see. The rich man wants Abraham to give his brothers a dramatic sign so they will repent and live according to God’s will for them. Abraham replies that they (i.e., we) have already been given enough if they would only pay attention to it.

Of course, the desire for a spectacular sign is understandable. We live in a highly stimulated world, and something must be spectacular to attract our attention. We secretly think, ‘If God wants my attention, he better do something big.’ However, there’s a problem with this need that we have. It is this: God does not comply with it. God’s agenda has only two big, attention-grabbing things: creation’s beginning and the end of life as we know it with the second coming of Jesus. Everything else God does quietly, subtly, in a way open to other interpretations. We can fail to notice what God is doing in the here and now because we are focused on things that ultimately do not matter.

by Shane Dwyer