Praxis - Look, a rich person!

     Oh, look:  there’s a rich person!  Maybe it’s you in the mirror… but let’s say it’s somebody else.  He seems so cool:  chic clothes, cool car.  She probably doesn’t have a care in the world, is jetting off someplace hip, knows all the right people.  If only I had what he has; if only she were my friend.

     Jesus says Look if you’d like, but don’t gawk.  Under the veneer there’s a child of God, with wounds, craziness, goodness, but with the complication of having enough money to fall for the lie that he’s independent, that what she needs can be purchased. 

     Jesus says Look at the rich person, and remember I asked them to part with their wealth for the good of their souls.  I warned them (and you too) about Laying up treasure on earth instead of in heaven.  One of my best stories was about a rich man who did nothing for the poor man on his door step – and he wound up separated from God by an unbridgeable chasm (Luke 16:19-31).
 
    So say a prayer for him, shed any twinge of envy you might feel – and remember that Jesus came to make each one of us unfathomably rich, people with purpose, the inheritors of eternal life, those destined to dwell in the mansions of God’s presence forever.