Saturday

“In your lifetime you received good things...”

Read Luke 16:25.

I have a really blessed life. I have a warm, safe, charming home, plenty to eat, clothes to wear, a great job, a family who loves me, dear friends…I could go on and on. There are many others around me who are not as blessed. They haven’t had opportunities for education, they don’t have enough to eat, they are in loveless homes. Sometimes I am frozen with the enormity of the injustice and inequity. The rich man lived in luxury daily. Lazarus…did not. And after they died, Abraham attended to Lazarus and the rich man was separated from Jesus. Is that same fate in my future because of the wealth I have been given?

Reading more closely, though, it becomes clear that not only did the rich man have nice things, but he seemed unconcerned about the poor. This was his downfall. Luke tells us earlier in his gospel that “from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (12:48). This is both a relief and a weight. The relief in knowing that being blessed in this life does not mean being cursed in the next. But the weight in knowing what a hefty responsibility I have. I have been entrusted with much and mightily blessed by God. And in turn I have a responsibility to use those blessings to God’s glory.

During Lent we often focus on service and helping the poor. Not out of compulsion. Not out of duty. Not out of ritual. But as an outpouring of our gratitude to God for all he has given us. It is a time for me to examine anew how I am using the time and resources God has given me. -AB

Lord, thank you for your blessings. Help us to know how to best bless those around us. Amen.