Make a Difference
“I want my life to make a difference. I want my life to make a change. I want my life to do some good here. I want my life to make a change.” These are the words to the chorus of the song “Make a Difference” by Rachel Kurtz. We sang these words at the National Youth Gathering in New Orleans in 2012 during the first worship on Wednesday night in the dome. Before we embarked into the following days of service, learning and exploring, we started with this declaration. “I want my life to make a difference.” For the High School youth, not to mention the adult leaders traveling with them, it was easy to sing this. That’s why we had come to New Orleans, to make a difference. High School youth at their core want to make a difference. They have the energy, the drive and the vision to reshape the world around them. They also believe that they can. I think that inside each and every one of us their also lives this belief that we can make a difference. We may not have as much energy, the drive might be dedicated to a different place and the vision may not be as 20/20 as it used to be, but it’s there. We believe, at some level, that we can reshape the world around us.
We follow that belief and it is then we run smack dab into something tough. After I read the gospel text for this week I promptly looked up and went “Geeze.” This one is tough. I was tempted…I really was…to just go for something else. Let me look for some other passage that is truthful but not in such a “in-your-face” way. Something convicted me though to get in the middle of it. Then came the temptation to want to stick a fluffy bunny in the middle of it all to soften it up a bit. I can’t do that either…the only remotely cute thing that we get is a dog that’s licking sores. The parable that we have is tough and that’s the way Jesus meant for it to be. One of the main functions of parables is to teach some sort of lesson in story form. Another function, that we experience this morning, is to shake up the listeners. When the parable was read, did anyone else get this sort of feeling of “oooo” or that feeling in your stomach? That is the truth of it all hitting us. We usually hear parables by identifying with one of the characters. In this case, the almost immediate connection for us is with the rich man and we know what happens to him. Jesus is pretty explicit about that.
Jesus’ parable confronts us with the way we are. Sure, we want to make a difference, until we are face to face with Lazarus. Then the song changes a bit “I’m not sure…I want to make a difference. You mean it takes that? To make a change. Well why do I have to do some good here? Maybe someone else, can make the change…” The parable personalizes it. It’s not just about hunger, homelessness, poverty, poor literacy skills, loneliness, joblessness, or any of the other big problems in our world, but now it is a person, Lazarus. What the parable tells us is that the rich man failed to see Lazarus as a person. When the rich man looked across the wall that had been built in real life he saw someone who was not in need, but rather someone who was less than himself. The rich man probably knew exactly who Lazarus was…he had to walk right by him. Even in the afterlife the rich man still doesn’t see Lazarus as a person. He talks with Abraham as though he is on the same level as him. Then the rich man essentially commands Abraham to send Lazarus down to relieve his suffering or at the very least to go to his household to warn his family. Lazarus even in the afterlife is treated as some sort of servant, as less than. The rich man is the one who creates this great chasm in both life and death.
When we look at people today do we see only their needs or do we see them as a person? I think we know the answer when we read the parable and we have the uncomfortable feeling. We feel that when we’re faced with the fact that we look past people without even acknowledging their existence. It might even be with the best intention: We want to help them. We want to alleviate their pain. Sometimes it’s just because we are wrapped in our own thoughts, our own life, our own hurts and pains. Often it’s in self defense and self preservation: I don’t know what they might do, they’ll just spend the money on something else, or I need to get to something else. In an age where we have the potential to be the most connected and actually see one another, we spend more time trying to stay at arm’s length from each other. I want to get just enough involved to show I care, but any deeper down the rabbit hole and I am out. Relationship is messy and tough. Other people’s lives are messy and tough. Our lives are messy and tough.
It is into this messy and tough world that God came in the form of Jesus. There’s a big word for it because it is a big part of our faith: incarnation. This is huge! God decided to span the great chasm and come live among us. The Word became flesh and got messy with us. God walking along side you and me through the messiest and most tough parts of life. God, in the form of Jesus, then took it one step further “You gave your life to make a difference. You gave your life to make a change. You welcomed all to your table. You’re telling us to do the same.” At the cross, Jesus experienced death, possibly the most tough and messy thing we ever deal with. Death’s tough and God didn’t shy away from it. God didn’t try and soften it up a bit. Jesus came to experience it all so that he could make a change. That change is to shatter every wall and chasm that stands between us and God and Us and each other. To shake us up and help us to see a different way that’s paved with service and love. To see us where we are, but yet, to change us with love and grace.
So do you feel significantly shaken up? The parable is not a hard and fast rule. It’s not a “this will be the case”. It is a story that outlines the way we are. What it doesn’t outline is the way we could be. That part of the story is unwritten. We are writing that part of the story here and now. I want to encourage you to continue to believe. Continue to believe that you can make a difference because God’s spirit working in you will be the one to make a difference. We can’t do it on our own, but with God all things are possible. Someone said that once…oh yeah! That was Jesus. We can make a difference with God’s help. We can reshape the world around us. Tell a different story. Really see people for who they are and love them. You may not feel like you have the energy, drive or vision and that’s okay. That’s why we go together. It’s not easy and it’s messy, but God walks with us. “We want our lives to make a difference. We want our lives to make a change. We want our lives to do some good here. We want our lives to make a change.” Amen
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