WHO MATTERS TO  GOD?

Luke 16:19-21  “There was a certain rich man who clothed himself in purple and fine linen, and who feasted luxuriously every day.  At his gate lay a certain poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores.  Lazarus longed to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table.  Instead, dogs would come and lick his sores.”

In his parables, Jesus often challenges our usual way of doing things.  He punches holes in our preconceived notions and reveals our misguided methodologies as in this parable.   We too often think that rich people are more important than poor people.  If you possess money and power, everyone knows your name.  Dropping the name of a rich person you know can open doors.

But in this parable, it is the rich man who is unnamed, and it is the beggar who is named, the only parable where Jesus uses a name.  To the rich man, the beggar is useless, worthless, not worthy of a name, just a “beggar”. 

But to God, he has a name.  He is not known as a “beggar”:  he is Lazarus.

When we teach the Dementia Friends program, there are 5 key messages.  One of those is “there is more to the person than the disease.”  I think we all need reminders of that from time to time.  We talk about “get to know the person as a person.”  But sometimes we even need reminders that these persons have names. 

God calls each of us by name.  “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you: I have called you by name, you are mine.”  (Isaiah 43:1) God knows us personally and cares about us as unique individuals.  Each one of us matters to God.  Jesus reminds us that how we treat and serve our neighbors who wait outside our gates matters. 

PRAYER:  God, when we are tempted to turn away from the deep needs of our neighbors, give us courage to do what we can because we know that they—and we—matter to you.