Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15

Oh my God, how much Jeremiah must we suffer? Now we have to read about his business transactions as if they are signed by God himself! This is seen as a prophecy. It follows the pattern; instructions from God, fulfillment, interpretation. It’s a symbol of some sort investment in the future, a hope for future beyond the Babylonian exile.

Amos 6:1a, 4-7

Amos makes it clear a few times that the wealthy, the “notable”, the “secure”, should be worried. The kingdoms around them are getting conquered and so will they. The references to Joseph and later in the chapter, after the lectionary verses, to Jacob, are probably referring to the divided kingdom.

1 Timothy 6:6-19

I hope you have heard this before, and hopefully have the correct version, not that "money is the root of all evil", but that the "love of money" is. It then goes on about "good" and the "good fight" and "righteousness". A very typically ambiguous passage about just what "good" means. The clarity here is that hope and joy do not come from money. There is also a clear statement about "works", as opposed to some of the clear statements about "faith" we have heard in recent weeks.

There is an echo of Amos in these words, but like Amos, there are few details on just what you do with wealth. This can be somewhat forgiven in Timothy since it was unlikely the new Christian community would be wealthy anytime soon. The statement about “the commandment” in verse 14 is not clear. Is he referring back to the last couple verses, or to this entire epistle, or to some special commandment that we should know?

The idea of "storing up for ... the future" is also pretty clear. The true riches will be found after you are dead, in heaven. That is the "life that really is life". For someone living a miserable life, a slave, or anyone who is part of a culture that has been oppressed for centuries and is seeing some of the worst of that under Emperor Nero, that must have been a very appealing message. I'm sure they would have enjoyed hearing it preached to their Jewish brethren who were doing well too. They could be comforted in knowing there was some cosmic justice for those who are good.

In a more prosperous time, preaching this to people who are living in prosperous places, it can have a negative impact on doing works. Why work for a better future for people who are living around you when you are clothed and fed, and the real future is beyond your lifetime? Hopefully people are not being "haughty", but just how "generous" do you need to be, if the important thing is to get to heaven? This is the kind of passage that leads to programs that send Bibles to victims of an earthquake.

Luke 16:19-31

This passage is covered in William Herzog’s Parables as Subversive Speech, but I won’t be covering it in quite as much detail as I have some of the other passages in that book. That’s not to say that Herzog doesn’t do just as good a job with this one as the others.

This parable needs to be taken as a whole. If only parts of this parable are taken into consideration, its full meaning is lost. Given the other readings this week, I think the lectionary creators are leaning toward this full meaning. And I think it’s conclusion fixes some of the problems I’ve mentioned above. The message in the section at the end is, follow the Torah, you'll get rewarded in heaven. But the earlier sections tell us who is in hell. It’s the rich man. And it tells us of his life. He was among the "clean" in life, as far as the elites who said they followed the Torah would have been concerned. The parable doesn’t mention anything he did wrong, except that he ignored the beggar at his gate, and it only mentions that as a matter of fact. It says he "received good things". The beggar is in heaven. In life, he would have been “unclean”, not Godly at all. So, what’s going on?

This parable upends the legitimation of the system of oppression that was in place. Myths are needed by systems like that to justify the human arrangements. The age to come must be a confirmation of the present. If there is a two-tiered system of heaven and hell, then there can be rewards and punishments on earth. This parable undermines that.

If this is the correct interpretation of the story, a lot of people need to rethink their place in it. Do you view the poor as deserving of their fate? Is your comfort a sign of God's graces being bestowed upon you? What does it mean to follow Jesus, to follow God? There is a point in this parable that answers it in a rather unusual way. Exactly what is Abraham saying when he says “they have Moses and the Prophets”? Which prophets? Which laws? In this case, there may not be any particular prophetic message or messages intended here. Rather, Abraham is used as a symbol. Abraham is the symbol of the chosen people, and the rich elite think they are it. This parable says they aren’t.

We know prophets don’t always agree. We have seen the contrast recently between Amos and Jeremiah, and of Jesus teaching against what the Pharisees teach. There is a message here for the poor, but I don't think it is to read the Torah then wait for your reward in heaven. I think the message is to question the system you are living in now. The rich also, need to answer those questions or they’ll end up in the other place. But this parable is not about delaying that conversation for later. It’s about what we can do now.