A BRIDGE TO GOD

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Fr Luke A Veronis

You can’t find a sharper contrast. Two men, living side by side, and yet their hearts and destinies could not be more different. One is a rich man, clothed in purple and fine linen, living each day in comfort, luxury, and self-indulgence. At his gate lies a man, poor, covered in sores, hungry, forgotten. His name is Lazarus, the only character in all of Jesus’ parables given a name, which means “God is my help.”

Every day the rich man lives his luxurious life, yet whenever he leaves his house he passes by Lazarus. Does he pretend not to see him? Does he ever feel a twinge of pity? Or has his heart been hardened and numbed by his wealth and comfort that he doesn’t even notice the pathetic man outside his gate? In a worldly sense, society would envy the rich man and his lifestyle. Yet, from the perspective of eternity, Lazarus is the one who enters paradise, not the rich man. Why?

Jesus does not tell us that Lazarus went to heaven because he was poor, nor that the rich man went to hell because he was rich. Wealth and poverty are not moral categories; they are spiritual tests. Our comfort or discomfort are not moral barometers, but spiritual trials!

Lazarus’ poverty and suffering became the context in which he met God. Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra, one of the contemporary spiritual elders we are studying in our Wednesday night class, notes that suffering is but “a bridge that carries us from this earthly and mortal existence to God.”

In contrast to the trial of suffering, the rich man’s wealth and comfort is another form of test. In response to this trial, the rich man allows his prosperity to make him numb, creating a wall that isolates him from God, from compassion, and from the suffering brother right at his doorstep.

Elder Aimilianos goes on to explain: “For the person of faith, an illness or some other life challenge is not simply an opportunity or gift from God, but it is the very presence of God Himself. Illness and suffering can be a blessing, but it all depends on how we respond. The spiritual life is not the avoidance of suffering, but its joyful acceptance. The question is whether we will accept or reject our suffering, which is another way of saying whether we will accept or turn away from God.”

Elder Aimlianos offers a beautiful story to highlight this situation. Fr. Arsenios was a monk in his monastery who had a problem with his eyes. One doctor told him he would needed cataract surgery but that he should not do it right away, but instead wait for the condition to progress in order for the surgery to be done properly. Fr. Arsenios waited. And then suddenly he lost his eyesight completely. He went to another doctor who told him that the first doctor made a mistake and that he should have gotten his surgery right away. Now, it was too late. The monk would remain blind for the rest of his life. Fr. Arsenios didn’t get angry or complain. He didn’t blame the first doctor for his misdiagnosis. Instead, he simply said, “May it be blessed. God knows what’s best for me. It was God who “blinded” the first doctor when he made his mistaken diagnosis.” And until the day that he died, Fr. Arsenios never complained and never said a word against the first doctor, nor were his thoughts troubled by his predicament.

“May it be blessed!” Fr. Arsenios allowed his unfortunate circumstance to act as a bridge to a deeper communion with God. He trusted in God’s loving providence even to the point of becoming blind and believed that his situation was not something to complain about and live with regret, but it was an opportunity to draw closer to his Lord.

This must have been Lazarus’ response to his desperate situation. In his poverty and suffering, he remembered his name, that “God is my help.” He trusted in the Lord and didn’t despair, nor did he didn’t condemn his rich neighbor.

Now let’s take a closer look at the rich man. His problem wasn’t that he was wealthy but that his wealth numbed his spirit of love. His comfort dulled his spiritual senses. His luxurious lifestyle led him to forget what life is truly about - it is not measured in our comfort, pleasure, or success, but in the divine and sacrificial love we offer to one another.

The rich man did not see the divine image shining in the poor man Lazarus. And by refusing to see the image of God in Lazarus, he turned away from seeing God Himself.

Elder Aimilianos warns us that “The greatest tragedy is life is not to suffer, but to live comfortably without ever meeting God. To suffer with faith is to see God face to face; to live without love is to be blind, even if you possess everything.”

The rich man’s limitless feasting blinded him. His extreme comfort deceived him with its false illusion. Even after death, the rich man still treats Lazarus like a servant when he asks “Father Abraham, send Lazarus to bring me a drop of water.” He doesn’t repent; he doesn’t love; he doesn’t know himself. The loneliness of a closed heart on earth gave him a foretaste of the loneliness of a closed heart in Hell itself.

Every trial in life, whether an unexpected sickness or tragedy, poverty or suffering, grief or misfortune, as well as the testing of wealth and riches and comfort, can act as a bridge or a barrier to God according to Elder Aimilianos. When we accept suffering with faith and humility, it becomes the bridge that carries us into the arms of God. When we curse our suffering as a punishment from God, or question His sovereignty in the midst of our challenges, it becomes the wall that keeps us far from the Lord.

Lazarus’ sores and suffering became his bridge. The rich man’s banquets and feasts became his wall.

The same can be true for us. An unexpected illness, a financial struggle, a disappointment or even a tragedy are not meaningless accidents. Each one is an opportunity for us to draw closer to God. Elder Aimilianos emphasizes, “God hides Himself in the circumstances of our life, so that by accepting them, we may find Him.”

The parable also reveals that heaven and hell are not future destinations but realities that we begin experiencing here through the choices we make and how we handle the trials and challenges of life. When our hearts harden toward others, we begin tasting the isolation of hell. When our hearts soften with love and compassion, we begin to experience the peace of heaven.

Lazarus lay right outside the rich man’s gate, trusting and hoping in God. In his poverty he experienced God’s Presence. The rich man, in all his luxury and comfort, became numb to the Presence of God right outside his doorstep.

May we take care and notice the Lazaruses that are around us. Maybe someone in our family is lonely or sick. Maybe a friend struggles with depression or anxiety. Maybe a neighbor, someone we pass by every day, faces financial challenges. Do we notice them and how will we respond to them?

The parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus is not a story about two men long ago but is a mirror held up to each of us. Every illness and any hardship we face can become a bridge toward God if we walk across it in faith. When suffering comes, let us not see it as God’s absence but as His mysterious presence.

Yet also take care to remain vigilant in the midst of our comfort and prosperity. Don’t allow our pleasant circumstances to numb us and blind us to the needs of others. The Lazarus outside our doorstep is Christ Himself. In the end, our salvation is not determined by what we have or what we lack but by how we respond to whatever our circumstances are as a means to draw closer to God.

“If you accept your suffering with faith,” says Elder Aimilianos, “you will find that your illness, your weakness, your trial — it is the very hand of Christ, stretching out to lift you to Himself.”

May we walk across that bridge, and find ourselves, like Lazarus, resting in the embrace of Abraham — in the eternal comfort and love of our God.