The Gospel this week really poses an important question for us that ties in nicely with last week’s parable of the dishonest steward. How do we measure one’s value? Last week, it was clear that the dishonest steward measured his value by how much money he could extort from his master’s clients. Even when he knew he was going to lose his job, he was fixated on continuing to live a comfortable life and was focused on how to find a new situation that was comparable to his old situation. He only saw his own value in terms of his wealth. In this week’s Gospel, we have the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. It is similar in that like the dishonest steward, the rich man sees his own value and the value of others in terms of their wealth. When Lazarus comes to him in need, he pretty much dismisses him. It’s only when both men had died, that Lazarus is carried away by angels to a place of comfort, while the rich man is the one in great torment and misery. It’s a pretty stark reminder to us that the distractions of the world, which are temporary, simply are of no value to us in eternity. Jesus uses this parable, and the rather extreme conclusion to it, as a way to remind us that our value cannot be measured in that which is temporary. What goes with us is simple, it’s our relationships, our love, our kindness, our faith, our friendship, our acts of mercy, our dignity, our trust in God, and most importantly God’s love for us… in short, our value is best measured in what lasts.
