The words of Jesus in Luke 16:19-31 remind us once again about the demands - not the pleasures - of Christian discipleship. The lesson comes in the form of another parable, this one about an unnamed rich man and Lazarus, a poor beggar suffering from open sores. Already, Jesus hints at who is important in the parable: the beggar - the one who is used to being unseen, ignored, and pushed away - is the only character in any of the Lucan parables with a name.

The first scene is descriptive in which neither character speaks, though we learn a lot about them. The rich man, in this first scene, remains rich; poor Lazarus remains poor.

But this situation is reversed in the second scene. Both men die. The dimportant, so we resist the temptation to find out; the outcome is the details of their deaths are not at is most important. The rich man becomes poor: death has overshadowed his social standing, and he is now tormented in Hades. Poor Lazarus, however, receives a place of honor - he is carried into Abraham's bosom, the place of blissful eternity.

Scripture is filled with reversals.

Hannah, the mother of Samuel rejoices:

The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, he also exalts. He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor (1 Samuel 2:7,8 NRSV).

Amos the prophet, in Amos 6:1a, 4-7 echoes her testimony of God's character:

Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory; and lounge on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the stall; ... they shall now be the first to go into exile, and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away (Amos 6:4,7 NRSV).

Mary, the mother of Jesus, continues their jubilation in her own song of praise:

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty (Luke 1:52,53 NRSV).

It comes as no surprise that Jesus continues this theme in this (and many other) of his parables. So where does that leave us, as inheritors of this tradition, and what is there for us to learn?

Clearly, we are to avoid following in the footsteps of the rich man. His disease--unlike the graphic description of Lazarus' disease--was within. We could not see his sores but we know the symptoms: a stubborn selfishness that sickened his heart and made him blind to those around him; a self-indulgent contempt for the world that hardened his compassion; a Scrooge-like hatred of his neighbors that ultimately handed him a fitting reward. When this rich man finally took notice of Lazarus, it was too late. Only then did he realize he had suffered from his own disease.

There are likely several lessons to be learned from this single parable. Be careful, Jesus seems to warn. The time is surely coming, he taught, when this world will suddenly be reversed, spun on its head, turned inside out! Jesus referred to it as the coming of God's Kingdom, that time when God will reverse the standards of the world: the proud will be embarrassed; the powerful vulnerable; the rich tormented; the hungry full; the unwelcome honored; and the oppressed mighty.

Let this Gospel reading challenge us not to be caught at that time with the disease of the rich man in the parable. Rather, let us be caught with genuine neighborliness that sees the suffering of those around us and moves us to act...and not walk past those who lie at our own gates.