NOTES: 1] Beware of taking parables literally. This one is about how we act now, not what happens to us hereafter. 2] The Lazarus here is not Jesus' friend from JN's Gospel. 3] The thrust of the parable is what Richard Rohr (Luke, Crossroad , '97, p.154) calls 'living now what matters forever'. 4] Jewish views of life after death were general rather than specific. Sheol (Hades) normally refers to the place of the dead, whereas Gehenna (Ge'ena) means a place of destruction. While Dives & Lazarus seem to be in separate 'sub-divisions' of the next world, again, don't take this literally; it's a parable.

WARMING UP: Is it true that good things always come to those who wait?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Identify God at work in anything that's happened since last week's group?

EXPLORING GOSPEL:

19-21   Is the gap between rich & poor in our society any less now than it was when Jesus 'captures it on camera' here? The gap between rich & poor nations? Are our governments doing enough to see that today's Lazaruses don't just live & die outside someone's door? Or isn't that the job of governments? Are there steps we ourselves could be taking to make provision for the Lazaruses 'at our gate'? Or aren't there any? If we can't all be 'Dives' (the Latin word for rich), why do so many have to be Lazarus? When does 'enough' become 'enough to share'? How do we know when enough is enough? If communism began by standing up for the poor & oppressing the rich, & progressed to oppress the poor, too, is it reasonable to wonder whether capitalism that oppresses the poor will also take its toll of the rich, too? Or is that too political? Isn't Jesus being political here? Doesn't he stand for the policies / politics of God?

22-31  Does the fact that both rich & poor die have any real impact on the way we live? If one point of Jesus' story is that we should live compassionately now for compassion's (God's) own sake, rather than waiting till it's too late, what other points can we discern in this tale he tells? Given that in Jesus' story, Abraham speaks of a gulf between where he is & where Dives is, how much do we feel a gulf between us & dead loved ones? Is a reason so many fall for spiritism, seances, & the like, that we / they haven't developed a healthy belief in a relationship between this world & the next? Do we have any real belief that God will 'even up the scores' later? Why not now?

           Do we see ourselves having any responsibility to encourage those we live among to live a Godly, compassionate life now? Do we take enough notice of Moses, the Prophets, Jesus himself, the church as Jesus' Spirit-filled Body, about how we should live towards each other? What would be a reasonable summary of the teaching we receive from the above? Could we imagine it making any difference to us if someone came back from the dead to persuade us to 'repent'? What would we need to repent of anyhow? Has Jesus' own Resurrection thrown any new light on what he says here? Changed anything? What practical effect, if any, does his Resurrection have on: a) our living compassionately towards others here & now? b) the expectations we have of an after-life? If it has no practical effect on the way we live, was it just a waste of time so far as we're concerned?