While first century Jews were able to understand the parable and ground it in the biblical teaching about justice and the obligations of wealth, we seem to have lost that capacity. We no longer hear and understand the voices of Israel’s prophets and we are unable to apply scripture to our economic life. Our individualistic "me and God" version of our faith hides from us the fact that our entire global economic system is geared to one end–the making of vast amounts of money. This results in tremendous wealth for a great many people, but increasing misery for vast numbers of our fellow humans.

In the early 21st Century we are literally living out this parable of Jesus, but we have to ask the question: on which side of the parable’s dividing line do we stand. Are we with Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham or are we on the other side of the eternal divide?

It has been proved beyond doubt that our economic system is rooted in a Calvinistic version of Christianity. But the concern of early Calvinists for living a common life before God has long since eroded and we are now in what Max Weber called an "iron cage." We are left with only a pseudo religious language that justifies our acquisitiveness, but with no real rooting in religious faith. Weber wrote: “In the field of its highest development, in the United States, the pursuit of wealth, stripped of its religious and ethical meaning, tends to become associated with purely mundane passions, which often actually give it the character of sport.” Max Weber died in 1920 and we are now much further along the road.

The struggle over Wal-Mart is only a symptom of a global process gone mad. The issue is touched only lightly in the present political campaign, but no political leader anywhere in the world dares to really deal with it.

Before he died in the year 1600, the great Anglican theologian Richard Hooker said that he thought the Reformation had gone too far in the direction of individualism. In the 17th Century, Descartes gave individualism a new dimension by relating everything real to the his own clear and distinct ideas. By the middle of the 20th Century, Descartes’ "I think therefore I am," had become a Freudian "I feel therefore I am." By the end of the century, consumerism and the commodification of everything has led us to the bumper sticker conclusion that "I shop therefore I am."
As the 20th century neared its end, the industrial side of capitalism gave way to the financial and the name of the game became moving vast amounts of money in and out with huge profits for a few and impoverishment of the multitudes. So the parable in today's Gospel has no less significance than when Jesus first told it. Even worse, we are now living out on a global scale that which Jesus condemned.

Most of us feel trapped by these large systems, so why bring this issue up at all? Well, none of it had to be this way. Individualism didn't have to run rampant. For centuries there were correctives, but people allowed them to erode. We didn't have to give our own feelings priority over every other consideration, but we did. We didn't have to define ourselves primarily as consumers, nor did we have to allow everything to become a commodity, but those were the choices along the way that we decided to take. None of this is set in stone. Things are reversible. The future is always open ended. But the direction of the future depends upon us. Twenty-first century capitalism does not have to embody almost completely the life style and the choices of the rich man in the parable, but it now does. What do we do about it? How do we take this parable seriously in our lives?

Well, begin with small things. Is shaving a few pennies off the cost of everything of primary importance? Do we really need to feed these huge corporate gluttons every time we go shopping for something? And we need to ask how we encourage our politicians to feed our narcissism and greed? Yes, there is a huge con-game going on and we are being "had," but we are willing victims, consenting at every step of the way. So the first step is recognition, the second is action.

While still working in a large health care system, it was clear that cost-cutting measures were conflicting with the needs of patients. I asked a colleague what we should do about it. I will never forget her answer. One word: "Resist." She was right, at every step of the way, resist and make patient care the first priority. Our resistance made a difference. So, in your work place, resist to the fullest extent possible the intrusions of those dressed in the purple finery of today’s parable and act in behalf of Lazarus.

It is not possible to do this unless we understand the full extent of how profoundly authentic religious language has been eroded and replaced by a market-driven drivel that even Calvin wouldn’t recognize. Scripture reading, meditation, reading theology, thinking critically: all these are crucial first steps in seeing through the distortions and deceptions that surround us today.

There is another reason for bringing this up today. History shows that human nature remains pretty much the same. That’s the reason Scripture is always true and always relevant. But there are moments of ebb and flow in human affairs. There are times when various types of evil are turned loose in the world and reach epidemic proportions. At other times a sense of the common good prevails and the monsters are held in check at least for awhile. Some serious observers believe that our current global economic system is leading us towards upheavals of catastrophic proportions. I believe this is true and I believe disastrous consequences will be felt both at home and abroad. The rise of global terrorism and the mass migrations of people are not unrelated to the economic system.
Now is the time to wake up. Now is the time to recognize that this is not just a political or economic issue, but a religious problem of the first magnitude.

The most serious distortion of religious and moral discourse now lies in the economic arena. A shallow "me-and Jesus" blessing on the relentless pursuit of money and the market mentality that trumps everything else has no connection with the Christian Gospel. Today’s parable should bring us up short and remind us that there are insuperable obstacles to the kingdom of God. When you read today’s parable in conjunction with the judgement scene in Matthew 25, you understand that Jesus attaches eternal consequences to the kind of behavior condemned therein.

We are called upon to have a certain set of attitudes within us that extend into all dimensions of our lives, including the economic. We are called upon to "have that mind in us which was also in Christ Jesus, who, though he was by nature God, emptied himself, taking on the form of a slave becoming obedient unto death even the death of the cross." We are called upon to transform our lives in accordance with his, "for God has given him the name that is above every name and at the name of Jesus every knee should bow...and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Amen. (Phil 2: 5-11)

(Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Ch 5)