September 28, 2025
There is a door in our laundry room at home that serves as an entrance to the garage. You have to be careful before you head to the door because you could easily trip. The floor level of the garage is about a foot lower than the floor level of the laundry room. It’s a bit of a dip! I know from experience. In order to avoid an accident, there is a small sign we put above the door to the garage that reads: “Mind the Gap.” A polite reminder to be very, very careful.
“Mind the Gap” is a phrase that became popular in England, first introduced in 1968 as a warning system for those using the London Underground train. It served as a reminder to be mindful of the space between the train and the platform, especially around curved platforms. Like our warning sign at home, it prevents people from getting hurt.
As often happens with such popular phrases, “mind the gap” is used in a hundred different ways. It is used to describe disparities in life like the generation gap, price gaps, trade gaps, cultural gaps and so on. Then there are economic gaps, like the gap between the rich and the poor.
How do we mind that gap?
Homelessness, hunger, poverty and economic inequality are facts of life in our world and we don’t have to look far to notice because the gaps are in this city. Still, in spite of the gap between those with abundant resources and those without, we may choose not to see the gap. Instead of ignoring such disparities, it is well for us to mind them – to be mindful of them.
The gap did not exist for the rich man in Jesus’ parable, even though Lazarus, a poor man, lay outside his gate. Lazarus experienced the gap. The rich man chose not to see the poor man.
The distance between the rich man’s door and the gate isn’t so great. It is not a far distance from the porch to the gate, but even such a short distance between the door of the opulent rich man basking in luxury and the poor man at the gate is great because it points to a really big gap that is pervasive in the world
It isn’t as if the rich man didn’t have a view of the poor man lying outside his gate. It couldn’t be more obvious. I’ve often imagined the rich man walking over Lazarus or simply ignoring him. His actions or inaction reveals the enormity of the disparity: The rich man living luxuriously and feasting sumptuously while the poor man, Lazarus, begs for a morsel of bread as dogs lick his sores.
The poor are closer to us than we choose to imagine or choose to see.
For centuries, artists and Christian icon writers have pictured this parable in a variety of ways. Sometimes Lazarus is pictured as hanging out on the rich man’s doorstep. Sometimes he is pictured with the dogs licking his sores a farther distance away but still in the rich man’s view. Other depictions find Lazarus sitting right next to the rich man’s table. Still others depict him laying beneath the table.
So close and yet so far.
The gap grows larger in the parable after Lazarus dies and after the rich man dies. Angels minister to Lazarus by carrying him to a place of eternal safety in the bosom of Abraham. Lazarus, whose name means “one helped by God” is safe and secure. Meanwhile, the rich man goes to hell and as the flames increase and the heat intensifies and he is in great torment. He calls out to Father Abraham asking for Lazarus to cool his tongue but his wish is not met. So, he asks that his brothers at least know what is in store for them unless they change their ways. Father Abraham tells him that his brothers have had opportunity to mind the gap just as he did when he was alive, by listening to God’s word. If they didn’t listen to Moses and the prophets, why would they do so now?
It’s a tragic tale with a tragic ending for the man with excessive wealth and his kin. In this parable, Jesus exposes the gap that in God’s world leads to a reversal of fortune. What was a gap while the rich man was alive now becomes a fixed chasm – a chasm so deep that no one can cross the chasm to the rich man. Nor could the rich man cross the chasm to Abraham and Lazarus.
Being the good story teller that he is, Jesus paints the pictures in an extreme and unforgettable way and it surely makes his point.
And what’s the point? The way I read it, the purpose of this parable is that we may hear and see and repent.
Repentance is one of those “churchy” words that deserves some unpacking. To repent is to change. Repentance describes the Christian life that is on a continual journey of change. We find ourselves following Jesus who is always probing us to change our hearts and our minds. Jesus prods us to change our lives. To repent is more than noticing unjust gaps and feeling sorrowful, though that’s a right and good place to start. Repentance isn’t about being filled with guilt or beating up on one’s self. To repent is to make a U-Turn. It is to change course. It is to change one’s mind by stepping forward into God’s newness in the deep confidence of God’s forgiveness.
In the case of the rich man, change would entail recognizing Lazarus as a fellow human being worthy of respect and care. It would mean seeing him not as a throwaway person but a neighbor in need. It would mean unlocking the gate, sharing from his festive table and filling in the gap.
It is interesting to me that earlier in this same chapter of Luke’s Gospel, Jesus describes the Pharisees as “lovers of money.” The instruction to Timothy in today’s second reading says it plainly: “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. In an eagerness to be rich, some have wandered far away from faith.”
The parable of the rich man and Lazarus describes in a vivid way what love of money produces. A huge gap and taking a leave from the journey of faith.
We know the allure of having a lot of stuff and a lot of money. Money and possession in and of themselves are not a problem. We enjoy them. The challenge for us, as follows of Jesus, is to not place our trust them. Again, from the second reading:
As for you, people of God, shun all this: pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness … set not your hope on the uncertainty of riches but rather on God who richly provides. Be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share.
There was a group of parishioners at the congregation I served in Portland, Oregon who were discerning what it meant for the church to reach out to the neighborhood. They chose to mind the gap and discovered that there was great need. By the prompting of the Holy Spirit and with God’s help, they discerned that it was time for the parish to begin a food pantry. To this day, the food pantry continues as a thriving ministry of the congregation.
At first, it was a tough sell. Not everyone was sold on this new ministry. I think there was fear among us. There was fear of the unknown. What would it require to pull this off? What were the potential problems? Would this ministry disrupt the neighborhood in destructive ways?
And underneath it all was the question, “Will this disrupt our lives and to what extent?” It was scary.
One gentleman became a spokesman for those with deep concerns and he said publically that it was fine that some of our offering money should go to such things but that “we need not get our hands dirty” by running a food pantry. We need not get our hands dirty.
In spite of such pointed protests, the ministry went forward and something remarkable happened. This very gentleman who complained so loudly got involved in the food pantry ministry. He got his hands dirty. Later, after I had moved on to another parish, I learned that he got so involved that he delivered food from the Oregon Food Bank distribution center to the church pantry once a week and joined the volunteers in handing out bags of food. In fact, what I heard was that he was having the time of his life.
God gets our attention and manages to change our hearts. The gaps get filled in and we begin to see. The gift of repentance takes hold. As we heard from 1 Timothy, It is to take hold of the life that really is life.
Yes, God continues to heal the world, fill in the gaps, and change our minds and hearts.
In this season here at FLCWS where you who are members are filling out pledge cards and discerning your commitment to the church for 2026, it is good for us to always remember that there is often a gap between the things of God and idols of our own making. And it is important to know and remember that first of all, it is not up to us to fill the gap. God has already taken care of that in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
We serve and we give as a response to this most amazing gift.
We do not give to assuage guilt or save ourselves or feel good about ourselves. We give because it is not about ourselves. We give generously not only to church but to others as a sign that the God’s new world has indeed broken into our troubled world. We get to be part of that wonderful good news in what we do and in what we say and what we give and what we share.
The poor rich man in the parable is told that the chasm between life and death is fixed. There is no road for him to get there or for the angels of life to get to him. There is no path between them. The chasm is fixed … but, we know that is not the case.
There is a path above the chasm and it is shaped in the sign of a cross. You see, Jesus has bridged that gap, or more accurately, removed the chasm between God and the world. Through Christ, we traverse a road of freedom forged by forgiveness. Christ has risen from the dead and we get to hear, listen, respond, and with joy and wonder give thanks! Amen.