The Parable of 
The Rich Fool

Today’s (9/29/07) Gospel reading is from Luke 16:19-31 and is Jesus�?story of the rich man and poor man who both die at the same time and the rich man goes to hell while the poor man goes to heaven. This parable reveals a great spiritual truth, however, because it’s usually interpreted superficially, it is terribly misunderstood and a source of great confusion.

In summary, the story is about a rich man who has a poor man named Lazarus living just outside his house but never gives him any food or help. They both die and Lazarus goes to heaven and sits besides Abraham and the rich man goes to the netherworld or hell. The rich man is able to see Lazarus and Abraham in heaven and asks for a drop of water but Abraham denies and tells him that during their lifetime he received what was good while Lazarus received what was bad. He then says that Lazarus is now comforted while the rich man is now tormented and that there is a great gap between them that can’t be crossed. The rich man then asks to send Lazarus to warn his family but this request is also denied.

The following are three incorrect assumptions that are often drawn from this parable and which lead to a lot misunderstanding:

http://www.brendanmcphillips.com/three-misunderstandings-parable-rich-man-poor-man

1. God hates the rich. Of course this is incorrect and the idea of God hating anybody is ridiculous. The lesson here is that when you are emotionally and mentally “attached�?to your possessions, you don’t understand what’s important. You’re suppose to be detached from all things of the material world, not only physical possessions but also base emotional and mental possessions such as superiority, depression, bigotry, anger, immaturity, pessimism, close-mindedness, lustfulness and fear. Ideally you align yourself with the “things�?of spirit and when you do you can have all the material possessions you want but you won’t be attached to them and if you lost them you would be centered in your connection with spirit.
2. God loves the poor. Again the idea of God loving or hating a person and their financial status is ridiculous. There is no virtue in being poor. The issue is not what you have or don’t have but how you’re aligned with spirit. A poor man who is attached to a sense of self-rightousness or self-importance because he thinks it’s “spiritual�?to be poor is as separate from spirit and will be as tormented as the rich man in Jesus�?parable. Further, to the extent that a person is poor due to being slothful, indifferent and lazy, he will also be separate and in torment because we’re intended to be productive and contribute to the growth of God’s humanity even if in a small way.
3. God won’t grant your requests if you get on His “bad side�? God doesn’t give Lazarus the two things he asks because, figuratively, Lazarus is distant from the divine due to his attachment to the material world and his lack of compassion toward Lazarus during their lifetimes.

The gap is not closed by simply a direct giving of the requests rather Lazarus must make an effort to understand how to be generous, compassionate and aligned with spirit and thereby close the gap on his own. In this way the divine find a stronger vehicle with which to work with and express itself.

(substitute any of the rich people you have heard of in this life, be it, Oprah, (a billionaire), Warren Buffet (a multi-Billionaire), GW. Bush Dick Cheney, all those to whom "much is given"

Now do you REALLY want to be in their shoes??