“Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothing himself in purple and fine linen, making merry in splendor every day. [Lk. 16:19] His choice of purple color clothing is associated with royalty. It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition. It conveys wealth and extravagance. Purple is associated with wisdom, dignity, and independence. This rich man in the Gospel of St. Luke had it made, he was on easy street, and yet he had absolutely nothing! St. Isaac the Syrian said: “He who is master of possessions is the slave of passions. Do not estimate gold and silver only as possessions, but all things thou possess for the sake of the desire of thy will.” + St. Isaac the Syrian, “Six Treatise on the Behavior of Excellence,” IV, Mystic Treatises By Isaac Of Nineveh
When death came and it will come for us all, all of the rich man’s fine clothing, power, nobility, luxury and ambition had separated him from God and cast him into the torments of Hades. And there, in the absence of God, he finally discovered that he had wasted his time on Earth trying to be a little god instead of submitting his whole life to the One true God who is and ever shall be, and instead of learning how to be a good active Christian.
The rich man, now being tormented, then begged Father Abraham for some cool water and for Lazarus to then go to the house of his father and witness to them so they would choose a different path on Earth before it was too late. But would have that even made a difference? I see people who know better fall away from God more than I would like to admit. What will it take before it is too late?
The path to salvation is not an easy road. It is marred with potholes of struggles against flesh as we try to become a true servant of God and not of this world. For us Orthodox, we chose death to the world of passions through repentance, prayer, church attendance, and servant hood. As Fr. Seraphim Rose wrote: “Orthodoxy is life. If we don’t live Orthodoxy, we simply are not Orthodox, no matter what formal beliefs we might hold.” (Fr. Seraphim Rose) We simply cannot become lukewarm in our practice, no matter what struggles we are facing!
And for those who have already left this Earth clinging to their purple and fine linen, loving themselves and their things more than others, St. Isaac instructs us: “In the case of all who have passed from this world lacking a virtuous life and having had no faith, be an advocate for them, Lord, for the sake of the body which you took from them, so that from the single united body of the world we may offer up praise to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the kingdom of heaven, an unending source of eternal life.” + St. Isaac the Syrian, from The Prayers of St. Isaac the Syrian
Don’t let the great lying fool trick you into spending the rest of your days parading down easy street possessed by your possessions. “Let us pray that God will give us the grace and humility of Lazarus, so that whatever our condition in life, stressed or blessed, we may be able to say with trust and conviction – “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Such is the way of Lazarus, and it is the way of the Saints.” (Archpriest John Moses)
