Pastoral
Insight
After the Christmas season
there is no doubt that everyone
is so glad to be back to normal. Everyone has a nice bed to
sleep in, lots of
food and a chance to rest from all the activities. Our gifts
have been given
and maybe now we can get back to the business of living.
This is of course
assuming that normal life has some semblance of normality.
That is to say we
have a job, our children are normal; we have a place to
sleep and food to put
on the table. We drive our vehicle and we wear decent
clothing.
This is not the case for many
of our neighbours; you may be
surprised to know that the person you just passed in your
neighbourhood has no
place to sleep tonight. They may not have eaten for a few
days and the clothes
they are wearing are ragged, worn out, and do not keep out
the winter cold.
They are always searching for the bare necessities of life,
and are seldom
treated with any form of courtesy.
I was appalled to learn that
there are people in this part
of the world who are homeless, who have no place to sleep in
40 below weather,
who have no food and very little clothing. Sometimes when I
am talking to
people I find it so easy to blame them for the way they are.
It is so easy to
cast them aside when we can apply blame to their drastic
situation. It’s a very
sad situation when we, and our government, spend millions of
dollars to build
and support gambling casinos and gambling avenues via
internet, - and
now I hear gambling is also coming to I-
pod cell-phones. I’m not writing about gambling, it’s just
an example I have
used to indicate what and how other terrible things get more
attention than our
brothers and sisters in Christ who are destitute.
I am reminded of the story in St Luke’s Gospel (Luke 16:19-31)
19"There was a rich man who was
dressed in
purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20At
his gate
was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21and
longing to
eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came
and licked his sores.
22"The time came when the beggar
died and the
angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died
and was buried. 23
In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw
Abraham far away, with
Lazarus by his side. 24So he called to him,
'Father Abraham, have
pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in
water and cool my
tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.'
25"But Abraham replied, 'Son,
remember that in
your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus
received bad things,
but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26And
besides all
this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so
that those who want
to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over
from there to us.'
27"He answered, 'Then I beg you,
father, send
Lazarus to my father's house, 28for I have five
brothers. Let him
warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of
torment.'
29"Abraham replied, 'They have
Moses and the
Prophets; let them listen to them.'
30" 'No, father Abraham,' he said,
'but if
someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
31"He said to him, 'If they do not
listen to
Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if
someone rises from
the dead.' "
Let us remember as we go about
our daily life that we
celebrate Jesus’ birth at Christmas; however He later died
and rose again from
the dead to bring us life. It is important that we as
Christians follow the
example of Jesus and learn to help those around us and not
suffer the fate of the
rich man on that last day. Salvation is for everyone all
year round. Please let
us not confine our love, compassion and generosity to the
season of Christmas,
and when the next Christmas comes we may be able to
celebrate the love we have
shown throughout the year and the difference we have made in
the lives of the
Lazarus’s in our society. May God bless you richly as you
study God’s Word.
Your
friend in Christ,
Roy
