Mind the gap! When you ride the Metro Underground in London, you quickly become very familiar with this short little warning. At every station, as the doors of the train open for passengers to get on and off, an announcement politely reminds everyone to “Mind the gap!” The “gap” is the space between the train and the edge of the platform. Sometimes it is wide enough to catch a foot or a leg. The warning to “mind the gap” is a polite way of saying “pay attention or you might get hurt.”

At the heart of Jesus’ story about the rich man and Lazarus is that same warning. Sometimes gaps (chasms) open up between us, and if we aren’t careful they can do some real damage, both for us and for those on the other side of those gaps. “Mind the gap,” Jesus says, “before it’s too late.”

But before we delve any further into this idea, it is important to say a word or two about what not to focus on in this story. It would be very easy to get sidetracked by the whole business of heaven and hell, reward and punishment. I believe to do so would be to miss the point almost entirely. It is the setting for the story, not the focus of the story. Such an understanding of the world was a part of the basic cultural view in Jesus’ day. And to the extent that you insist on focusing on those details anyway, it is worth noting that the rich man’s torment and agony are not attributed to any particular outside agent (God or the Devil). A very legitimate alternative interpretation is that such agony and torment are self-inflicted whenever we recognize our own blindness and the harm which resulted. In addition, it is much more likely that with this and many of his other stories, Jesus is pointing not to notions of reward and punishment for individuals, but to the consequences of corporate, societal systems in which we participate. Regardless of how you read such details, I would simply warn against spending too much time and energy focusing on the edges and the background of the story and more emphasis on what I believe was Jesus main thrust -- what we do with the opportunities for connection and community which are before us everyday.

The rich man in this story is not “the bad guy” because he is rich. His problem is that he has allowed his wealth to blind him to the needs of those around him. Every day Lazarus sat at his doorstep. This story doesn’t say that the rich man abused him, or taunted him, or mistreated him in any way. He simply didn’t see him. Singer/songwriter David Wilcox wrote a humorous song several years ago about finding meaning in the experience of a head cold. He suggests that it is the grim reaper writing us a warning ticket when we get so caught up in our own worries and concerns that we forget to pay attention to anything around us. (click here for the words to COLD by David Wilcox)

It was not the rich man’s wealth that was the problem. It was that his preoccupation with the lifestyle associated with that wealth had left him out of touch and disconnected from the world around him. Every day he had the opportunity to reach out and make contact with someone in desperate need of human compassion, and every day he missed the chance. And eventually he ran out of chances.

We don’t know what the future holds in store for us, either in this life or the next. We are promised eternal life with God, but the details of what that looks like are really beyond our grasp. Perhaps it is streets paved with gold. Perhaps it is a limitless supply of chocolate. Perhaps there will be endless opportunities for a second chance to correct all the oversights and mistakes we make along the way. But even if all of that is true, the fact remains that there comes a time when we run out of chances to do it differently in this life. Sometimes that is when we die. Sometimes we run out of chances far sooner. When we miss an opportunity to truly connect with someone, that moment is gone forever. Maybe there will be another moment, and maybe there won’t. But that particular chance will forever be lost. Christine Lavin is a singer/songwriter who wrote about this experience in a song entitled, “The Moment Slipped Away.”

“Mind the gap!” Jesus says. Pay attention to that which threatens to separate us from each other. Maybe it’s your wealth. Maybe it’s your social status, or your education, or your fear. But whatever it is, don’t let it prevent you from noticing those daily opportunities to reach out beyond yourself and touch the life of someone who needs to be touched. It is a sacred opportunity. Don’t miss the chance. You will only regret it later.