The 16th Sunday After Pentecost:
Scriptures: 1 Timothy 6:6-19; Luke 16:19-31
Key Verse: “Thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life. (1 Timothy 6:19)
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Hello, This is Jade.
Welcome to Yi.kigai
A space for all to explore the intersection between faith and daily life
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I enjoy hiking for many reasons. One of things that makes each hike exciting is crossing bridges. It can be any kind of bridge, like a tree trunk or one made by humans. The longer, the better. I still remember crossing a river while hiking the Gothic Basin Trail in June 2020. We read a warning about crossing rivers but were surprised to see the speed and the amount of the water in the river.
My husband and I looked around and couldn’t see any bridges or big rocks that we could step over. Not wanting to get my shoes and socks wet, I took them off and tried to cross the river. What I didn’t expect was that my feet cramped right away after taking only a couple of steps. The water was just too cold for my feet. Then we noticed that several big rocks were piled up in the middle of the river. Someone must have tried. So, we began to look for more rocks to pile up so that we could step on them and jump to the other side of the river. Still, there were not enough big rocks. Besides, it was time consuming. As we were about to give up while walking further up along the river, we saw a tree trunk that was good enough for us to cross the river. Then we saw the trace of footprints others left that led us to the main trail.
This experience came to my mind as I thought of any chasm in relationships. We can never overlook the courage, patience and humility needed to cross a chasm in a relationship. Sometimes, it takes not just one person but a community to make reconciliation happen. On rare occasions, it takes decades or centuries to make the first move of having a peaceful conversation between nations or tribes. And most of the time, healing goes much faster if both parties have the same goal and make efforts together.
Several years ago, a good friend of mine got angry at me. The sad news was that I didn’t know the reason. I went to her and asked what happened. She explained her perspective briefly, but I still didn’t understand why she was mad at me. Since I cared about our friendship very much, I apologized to her first. But she didn’t want to accept it and walked away. I remember I prayed about it and kept apologizing to her. Then she finally calmed down after several weeks and was able to hear me out. It turned out that she misunderstood the situation and me. I often thought about this incident and wondered why I didn’t give up that friendship right away but kept trying. The reason was simple. Our relationship had a good foundation, and we cared about each other very much.
How about the chasm between the rich man and the poor man Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31? What kind of relationship did they have? And who caused the chasm of their relationship? Is the rich man’s richness, his pride, his prejudice, or his ignorance? Didn’t he see Lazarus at his gate? Is Lazarus’ poverty being homeless and jobless? Or is it the inadequacy of their social and educational system? Thanks be to God that Lazarus was with Abraham and received comfort eternally. It’s interesting to hear the rich man’s suggestion on how to bridge the chasm. Since he couldn’t get out of his agony, he thought that his five brothers might have had a chance.
What have we learned from this story in Luke 16:19-31? Yes, the relationship between the poor Lazarus and the rich man didn’t have a good foundation to begin with. What the rich man had accumulated while living wasn’t helpful to his afterlife. Jesus used this parable to teach us a reality that we all know of but too often forget about. In comparison with the length of an eternal life, earthly life is significantly short. Through Jesus’ cross, God has reconciled all relationships through Him and in Him. All wrongdoings, intentional or unintentional, are forgiven. May we store up the treasure of a good foundation - crossing chasm alongside each other - for the future and take hold of the life that really is life as St. Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:19
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May your coming week be blessed by God’s grace
As together we explore the intersection between faith and daily life
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