![]() In the light of events at the time it was wasted money and a pointless transaction. Why do you say that? King Zedekiah asks and instead of answering directly Jeremiah says ‘The word of the Lord came to me’ And the word God gave Jeremiah was to purchase a piece of land in a country that would be ransacked and occupied by Babylon. We read in our OT reading that Jeremiah is in prison because he has prophesied that Jerusalem will fall into the hands of the Babylonians waiting at the gate. This is not ‘charity’ This is the meaning of true community. Everyone can benefit if the true humanity of everyone is seen and valued and that’s the gospel imperative. It’s about what the desire for more than we need can do when it isolates us from recognising the humanity of others, on a personal, corporate or government level.Īs Paul says, if we are fortunate we can do much good, and if we are not fortunate we can benefit, in community, from the compassion of those who are. It’s not about feeling guilty because you have enough if you are fortunate enough to be in that position. To be clear the desire for enough to live on, even perhaps to have a little comfort isn’t evil. If I’m honest it reminds me of some of the wealthy and privileged people in power at the moment, who are full of advice on living cheaply on pasta and porridge, wrapping up to avoid using the heating and what children really need and don’t need. He has cut himself off from humanity completely through his hoarding of his wealth. And in the story Jesus tells even when the rich man is dead he doesn’t get it. To be cut off from feeling compassion for that reason. To be unable to see the humanity of another human being in need. That seems to me the saddest thing in the world. It isn’t even that he doesn’t have compassion for the beggar at the gate, Lazarus, it’s that for him Lazarus isn’t even on his radar, although he walks past him every time he ventures beyond through the gate in the wall that separates them. His wealth and privilege has enabled him to construct his life in a way that cuts him off from any reality but his own. In the story told by Jesus in today’s gospel reading the rich man has become so distanced from the reality of life for the poor that he notices nothing beyond the wall and the gate that contain his wealth and his privilege. The continued attempt to demonise the poor is insupportable. The ex-chancellor and ex-prime minister Gordon Brown said ‘the coming battle must be against poverty, not against the poor’ And he is absolutely right. Requiring those entitled to Universal Credit to prove they are looking hard enough for more hours of work, by threatening to penalise them, if they can’t provide this proof, is simply cruel, especially when a sizeable proportion of people in that situation, working part time and entitled to claim universal credit, are in that situation because they are unpaid carers for vulnerable children or adults. Lowering tax rates is less than useless if you don’t earn enough to pay much tax to start with. It’s somewhat ironic to be preaching to you about this today in the light of the recent mini budget, supposedly to address the current financial crisis, which yet again privileges those who have wealth while punishing those who don’t. ![]() To sit lightly to the dangerous desire to amass more than they need. His recommended advice for anyone troubled they may have fallen into the trap of this misplaced desire for gain is to use what they have for the common good, to benefit others, to share what they have. It’s very similar to Pauls exhortation to Timothy in today’s NT reading ‘for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil’ Paul has real concern regarding the dangers of wealth, and the attitudes of mind and habits of life that the desire for gain, acquisition, and possession can cause. Radix malorum Est cupiditas… translates as ‘the desire for gain is the root of all evil’ It’s never come in useful before but it’s certainly pertinent today It amazes me that I, who can go upstairs, and forget what for by the time I get up there, can remember a Latin quote from many, many, years ago. ![]() ![]() ![]() By some strange quirk of memory, I still remember a Latin quote from it. When I did my A levels, I studied a story by Geoffrey Chaucer, a 14 th century writer. ![]()
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