What if Roles Were Reversed?
Have
you ever seen those body switch, or mind switch, or role reversal, movies?
“Big” with Tom Hanks, or “Trading
Places” with Eddie Murphy, or any of the 3 “Freaky Friday” movies, or “The Hot
Chick”, or “Change Up”, or “13 going on 30”, or “18 again”. Characters switch
places, and learn a valuable lesson by walking in someone else’s shoes.
That’s
what Jesus is up to in this story he tells to these well-heeled religious folk.
“Imagine if,” Jesus suggests, “a
rich man traded places with a poor man. The poor man receives royal clothing
and good food and comfort, the rich man sores and scraps and agony.
Previously they were separated by
a gate, now by a great chasm.
Previously the rich man was merciless,
now he is denied mercy.”
What
if the opposite was true? / What if roles were reversed? These are
deep questions.
In Philosophy, this situation is
called “the Veil of Ignorance.” If you are making rules for a society you must
do so with the assumption that you don’t know what kind of person you’ll end up
as in society, and therefore you will write rules that are fair and good. You are
less likely to write laws targeting any one group, if you yourself might become
part of that group.
What
if the roles were reversed? Think
of what this simple question does? Imagine
it!
Imagine with me,
what Monday’s presidential debate would look like if Hillary Clinton’s mind
went into Donald Trump’s body and vice versa. I’d imagine this situation would
reveal some hypocrisy, with Democratic Party Pundits extoling Trump in disguise, and Republican Party Pundits acclaiming Clinton without knowing it.
Or
imagine if a white Vietnam Vet and
Colin Kaepernick, now known for protesting the mistreatment of African
Americans in this country by kneeling during the national anthem, imagine them
changing places for a week. Wouldn’t that be a fascinating conversation to hear
on the other end of that experiment, the two of them talking through their
experiences as one another?
Or
imagine the 11 million people in the state of Georgia trading places with the
11 million Syrians who have fled their homes in the face of Civil War. How
would this shape America’s treatment of refugees? How would Syrians view
Americans after that experience?
How
would the many divisions we find in this world change if, even for a blink of
an eye, roles were reversed all over the globe, people put in positions they’d
never expected?
What if the roles were reversed?
Prayer
What if the roles were reversed?
How
would those at ease in Zion feel, if they were thrown from themselves and
inhabited the lives of their neighbors threatened by Assyrian armies? Would
they continue to luxuriate while their brothers trembled, after they themselves
trembled for a time? Or would they feel compassion?
I’ve
mentioned this word before—com-passion—suffering along with, someone else.
Would they be moved to grief at the sight of their sisters exposed to the
sword?
Would
Amos and his deep, prophetic, anger at them, be blunted and turned away—would
they at ease in Zion be spared God’s wrath, if they had the basic human decency to care?!?
What if the roles were reversed?
Would
Timothy’s rich congregants, tempted as they are, find contentment, trusting they have enough when they get what they
need, without pushing the envelope and pursuing what they want—if they traded places with the poor among
them?
If
they experienced a life where food and clothing was all you get, would they… be humble, turn away from the idolatry of
wealth, do good, be generous, and share, as Timothy is advised to command of
them? Could they too experience life that truly is life!?!
What if the roles were reversed?
That’s
what the rich man is asking too, right?
What if
my experience of this role reversal with Lazarus could be passed on?
What if
my five brothers could be warned?
If
Lazarus warns them, couldn’t they maybe be saved?
Could
they maybe see their own Lazaruses? See the folk resting hopelessly at their
own gates?
Can’t
compassion be passed on to them and this evil be avoided?
Can’t
contentment visit their house?
And
Abraham responds, “Nope.”
“Nope. The extended story of God
acting to save His people from slavery in Egypt should have been a clear signal to them that God cares about those
down on their luck.
“But!”
the man continues.
Abraham
cuts him off, “For that matter, have you even
read the Prophets? I mean, if you read the book of Amos and like it, you don’t understand it
—if it doesn’t make you run in repentance
with your tail between your legs, nothing
will!”
“But
that’s God speaking to us in a book,
no one takes that seriously!” the rich man protests, “Send someone from the
dead! How could people not be moved by a man come back from the dead?”
Abraham
replies, “If Moses and the Prophets don’t do it, even a man risen from the dead
won’t move people.”
But,
thank God, Jesus doesn’t come only to warn us—he comes to free us.
He,
in fact, switches places with us,
reverses roles with us.
He takes on our sins…
our sins, once many, are no more.
We’re freed of that debt
—but not for license or luxury or privilege—
We’re freed for community, for the sheer joy of discovering what God is up to,
where God is found.
He takes our sins, but gives us his eyes…
The whole world looks different!
Our eyes have been replaced… “we can see clearly now!”
It is as if, in Jesus reversing
roles with us, we have in fact switched place with our neighbors, and now know
a little more fully the face of God.
Yes, with these new eyes, the eyes of faith…
Christ has given us new eyes to experience
holiness all around.
Our whole life is one extended dive into the
waters of baptism;
it is an ongoing transformation of our lives
and our relationship to all people…
all of creation, even!
If we are freed
by Christ, we are freed to seek him out in our neighbors.
Once
we looked and saw no one but Lazarus, now we see our Lord.
I ask you, “What if the roles were reversed?” because they are! A+A
No comments:
Post a Comment