The parable of the Rich Man (Dives) and Lazarus is challenging, even frightening. The Rich Man is not portrayed as an evil person. He at least cared about his brothers. Yet he ended up in hell. As Jesus tells the story his sin was not anything malicous that he did but rather not noticing the suffering around him. “There was a rich man … and lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus.” The Rich Man was so wrapped up in himself he did not see that right as his door someone was hurting. The challenge this throws down to us: what are we missing? Who is at our door — not far away but woven into our life — that we should reach out to?
