“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’” Luke 16:25-31
“Pass over in thought to the time to come, when you shall be no more; when a small plot of earth shall hold your body, insensate, returned to dust, and a little tablet, a few spans in size, shall cover all that remains. Where then will be your wealth and your gathered treasures? Who will be the heir of what you leave behind? For it is by no means certain that it will be he whom you suppose. If you leave children, perhaps they will be beaten, and driven weeping from their ancestral home by some covetous man like you.
But if, being childless, you mean to transmit the inheritance to one of your friends, do not regard your will as an immutable law, a thing strong and incapable of being set aside. It will require but little exertion to make the writing invalid. Do you not see those who are constantly contesting wills in the courts, how by all kinds of attacks they wrest them by putting forward as advocates skilful lawyers, invoking the aid of eloquent orators, suborning witnesses, corrupting judges?
So from what you see while you are alive, learn what will happen after you are dead. If you have gotten your wealth justly, use it, as did the blessed Job, for needful purposes; if unjustly, restore it to those who have been defrauded of it, as you would a thing captured in war, giving back either just what you took, or that with something added, as did Zacchaeus. If you have no wealth, do not get any by wickedness.
For as you go the inevitable way, your sin, a bitter portion, will follow you, while the enjoyment of your ill-gotten gains will be left behind for whom you know not. And then you will admire David because he says, “He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.” And observe also the rich man contrasted with Lazarus, of whom we have just read in the Gospels, a narrative which is no fable composed to inspire terror, but a true picture transmitted to us of what is to be.”
Asterius of Amasea (350-410) in his sermon, “Against Coveteousness.”
Luke’s Gospel gives us a true picture in a world filled with false messages. The time to live out your faith through generous giving to the poor is now. Jesus also cryptically alludes to His own death and resurrection and the disbelief of many that accompanies it.
The time to live out what you believe is whilst you are living, for it is not what you say but what you do shows what you really believe and where you place your trust. If these words from Asterius sound striking, it is because he aims to get your attention and mine.
He would add: do your giving while you are living, then you will be knowing where it is going! This leads me to celebrate the recent formation of the GTP Trust Fund which accepts complex asset and major gifts like estates. If you want to know more reply to this email.
People who own all or portions of buildings and businesses need help to give those assets to God. That’s why at GTP, we partnered with MB Foundation to draw on their expertise. Give one or more assets today to lift up the poor not with a handout but a hand up. Don’t wait until it’s too late!