Rich Dad Poor Dad

Learning about finance from two fathers

03/10/2023

Lk 16:19-31 Jesus said to the Pharisees: "There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.' Abraham replied, 'My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.' He said, 'Then I beg you, father, send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.' But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.' He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' Then Abraham said, 'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Just a couple of thoughts about today’s marvelous parable of the rich man and Lazarus from Luke 16. First of all, it is very interesting that only in this parable Jesus actually names one of the people in the parable. Most of the time in Jesus’ parables the people who do the acting in the parable are anonymous. But in this case it is different. Jesus identifies one of the actors by the name of Lazarus. And that is highly significant. Why?

Well, because I believe Jesus is trying to make a connection, between the unbelief of the Pharisees, symbolized by the rich man, what it takes for them to come to believe in Jesus. What does the rich man ask of Abraham and Lazarus? He asks that Lazarus be raised from the dead. And if Lazarus were to be raised from the dead, then the rich man’s five brothers would believe.

Well, it just so happens that Jesus in fact raises someone named Lazarus from the dead in John 11. But do the Pharisees convert and start to believe in Jesus as their Messiah? No, they do not. And that is why Abraham says, “If they do not believe in Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone were to rise from the dead.” And Lazarus did exactly that.

So the meaning of the parable is multilayered. Not only is Jesus trying to tell them to believe in Moses and the prophets, he is also trying to show them the hardness of their hearts. Even when Lazarus rises from the dead, and Jesus gives the rich man exactly what he asked for, he and his brothers (the Pharisees) do not believe in Jesus.

That should make us ask ourselves the same question: what does it take for someone to believe in Jesus? Even after we experience great miracles in our lives, that we cannot deny as the work of God, we continue to be stubborn and not believe in the Lord. We return to our old ways. That is one lesson of this parable of the rich man and Lazarus.

Another lesson we can draw from this parable is about a book that I found rather fascinating about finances. I don’t know if you read many books about managing money, investing, and finances. But there is a book with a very catchy title, written by Robert Kiyosaki, called “Rich Dad, Poor Dad”. Maybe you have read it. It’s a series of parables, so it’s very easy to understand.

It became a New York Times Bestseller, for multiple weeks, and perhaps years. It was picked up and promoted by Oprah Winfrey, so you know it’s got to be good! Since Oprah is such a financial wizard. The parables are about Robert Kiyosaki’s dad, who was poor, and no matter how hard his dad worked, he could never quite get out of poverty. He just got by.

In contrast there is a metaphorical person, who is Robert’s mentor, who is the “rich dad.” From this rich dad, Robert learns about entrepreneurship, and investing, and managing his money. So, there are these two people before our eyes while we read this book, the rich dad and the poor dad. And he learns from the rich dad how to be rich, and from the poor dad how to be poor.

And so in a sense, the book offers us a choice. And indeed, we do all learn from our dads how to manage our money, at least in the beginning. It is interesting that Robert Kiyosaki never made any money on his own as an entrepreneur. Do you know where he made his money? From the sale of the books. So does the book teach you about money or about marketing?

We, too, are presented by the gospel today with two figures. One person is a "rich dad" who presents us with worldly wealth, and another sort of “poor dad” Abraham, who teaches us a different kind of wealth, which really looks like poverty by all earthly standards. And we, too, can choose whose example, and teaching, and wisdom we will follow.

Praised be Jesus Christ!