Amos – He lived in the 8th Century BC – a sheep herder and sycamore fig farmer - a farmer – … called by God to prophesy for him to the leaders of Israel – giving the warning to the comfortable and complacent - Call them back to God and his covenant – Woe to the complacent in Zion – now they shall be the first to go into exile. - But listening is hard; it might lead to something changing. The leaders of Israel did not listen – they were complacent, continued as they were, and into exile they went.
The rich man is living his life - things are good. – He is not doing anything evil. Food on the table – a nice feast – wonderful garments – a luxurious way to live - life is good – just keep going – The rich man continues living his life, enjoying all this is before him. What could be wrong with that? He is not doing anything evil.
But listening is hard. Amos warning? The other prophets? Who are they? – He does not even notice. The needs of Lazarus, lying at the door? Does the rich man even notice that he is there? No! Enjoy things while they are good – In the rich man’s view, nothing is wrong at all –He has not done evil - he is just living his life as it is before him - indifferent to what he sees, complacent … - His place in eternity must have been a surprise.
It is easy to think that the rich man could never be us – We may not be the rich man – we may not have extravagant wealth and luxuries – we may not feel that we are comfortable in our place like the rich man – we have all sorts of worries and concerns. - But it was not the rich man’s wealth that was the problem – It was not that he had fine clothes and enjoyed a feast. – It was that he did not follow the teachings of Moses and the prophets – that he did not see Lazerus right in front of him.
The rich man did not heed the words of the prophets and of Lazarus before him – but even that is not his biggest problem – he did not even know the teaching of the prophets – He did not notice his life was contrary to them - he did not notice Lazarus there at the door – he did not know them, because he did not listen to them – Not because he was not told, but because he was complacent and indifferent – The rich man did not listen – There was no subtlety to the message – Listening is Hard – but listening is essential.
In seminary, occasionally, a seminarian would be dismissed from formation. The reasons varied. Sometimes it was something he did. But usually, it was what he failed to do. Skipping class, skipping prayer, Not following instructions. Just go forward how he wanted. Being indifferent, complacent - moving on from one year to the next.
Everyone knew that he was in trouble and on thin ice. The faculty would always tell someone if he was struggling or needed to work on something; there was no great subtly. The faculty was there to help. When someone was dismissed, no one was surprised – No one except the person dismissed. He was surprised, not because he was not told, but because he did not listen.
Of course, this is not just in seminary - Many a parent has this experience with a child – in particular teenagers – give them some advice, and they never hear it – off teenagers go, thinking they know what they are doing – What do they have to learn from parents?– when frustration or failure comes – “why did you not tell me?” – It was not that they were not told; they did not listen.
Listening is hard – It takes effort; it is necessary to slow down and pay attention. There are many reasons why one might not want to listen. Things are good the way they are; we might not desire change. It could be that we already think we know all that we need to know. It could be we just do believe we can do anything, so why listen? It could simply be complacency and indifference; just let things go as they go – are not things good right now? Listening may lead to change, it may take effort, but it is also essential.
But the costs of not listening? The dismissed seminarian? His vocation to the priesthood. To ancient Israel, the cost was exile from the promised land. For the rich man, the price was his eternal soul. All unexpectedly - not because it was steeped in mystery - but because they would not listen. They did not heed the message because they did not hear it. Complacent and indifferent.
“If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead” – We have the gospel from one who has risen from the dead. Christ has given us the gospel and his word and grace to help us all in the spiritual life. But do we listen to divine revelation? Or do we go forward, assuming we are fine? Complacent and indifferent? Sure, we are not doing evil, but neither was the rich man. The rich man did not listen, do we? God has revealed himself to us - The word is there for us; the way to heaven is there for us if only we listen and follow.