Title: When Love Crosses Every Bridge
Intro: Every day we choose whether to build bridges or walls.
Scripture: Luke 16:19-31
Reflection
Dear Friends,
There is something about a story that changes us. Jesus knew this. He told stories that would lodge themselves deep in our hearts, stories that would wake us up in the middle of the night years later with their truth still burning bright. The story of the rich man and Lazarus is one of those stories—the kind that makes you put down your coffee cup and really think about what matters.
Picture this scene with me. There is a man who has everything. His clothes are purple—the most expensive dye money can buy. Fine linen adorns his body. Every single day is a feast. Every meal is a celebration. His table groans under the weight of abundance while his heart grows light with indulgence. This man lives behind gates, separated from the world’s pain by wealth and walls.
And right outside those very gates lies another man. Lazarus. His name means “God helps”, but from where he is lying, covered in sores, fighting off dogs just to survive, divine help seems pretty far away. He is hungry. He is sick. He is forgotten by everyone except the God who knows his name. The crumbs from the rich man’s table would be a banquet to Lazarus, but even those simple crumbs never come.
Now here is the thing that grips me about this story—these two men live so close to each other. The rich man walks past Lazarus every time he enters or leaves his home. This is not about ignorance. This is not about not knowing. This is about seeing and choosing to look away. This is about building walls so high in our hearts that we can step over suffering without even bending down.
As parents, as family members, we teach our children to notice. We teach them to see the person sitting alone at lunch, to spot the neighbour who might need help carrying groceries, and to recognise when someone is hurting. But somewhere along the way, life can make us tired. Success can make us comfortable. Comfort can make us blind. We start walking past our own Lazarus moments without even realising it.
Both men die, as all of us will. But here is where the story takes a turn that should make every one of us pause. Lazarus finds himself in Abraham’s arms, comforted, loved, and finally at peace. The rich man finds himself in torment, looking up across a great chasm, finally seeing clearly what he missed his whole life. And what does he do? He begs Abraham to send Lazarus—the same man he ignored every single day—to serve him. Even in his anguish, he still sees Lazarus as less than, as someone who exists to meet his needs.
“Father Abraham”, he cries out, “have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.” Luke 16:24 shows us a heart that still has not learnt to see others as equals, as beloved children of God deserving of dignity and respect.
But Abraham’s response cuts straight to the heart of everything: “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.” Luke 16:25-26 reveals that some chasms are fixed by our choices, built stone by stone through our indifference.
The rich man then shows his first spark of love for others—he thinks of his five brothers. “Send Lazarus to them, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” But Abraham reminds him, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.” And when the rich man insists that surely if someone rises from the dead, they will repent, Abraham delivers the final, sobering truth: “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” Luke 16:31 tells us that the miracle we need is not more dramatic signs—it is softer hearts.
Friends, we live in a world full of gates. We have gated communities, gated hearts, and gated minds. We have smartphones that can connect us to anyone on earth, yet we have never been more isolated. We have more wealth than any generation in history, yet people are dying of loneliness right next to us. We have Lazarus at our gates, and we do not even know his name.
But here is the beautiful, hope-filled truth that this hard story points us toward: love can cross every bridge. Love can breach every wall. Love can close every chasm—but only while we are still breathing, still choosing, still walking past or stopping to help.
In our families, we have the power to teach this kind of love. When our children see us stop to help someone in need, they learn that people matter more than schedules. When our kids watch us share our abundance—whether it is money, time, or simply attention—they discover that joy multiplies when it is divided. When our families make room at our table for the lonely, the struggling, the forgotten, we show them what the kingdom of heaven looks like.
This is not about guilt. This is not about condemning wealth or success. This is about remembering that whatever abundance God gives us—whether it is financial resources, strong relationships, good health, or simply the gift of another day—all of it is meant to be a bridge to others, not a wall that separates us from them.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 25:40, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Every Lazarus is Jesus. Every person we pass by, every need we ignore, every opportunity to love that we miss—Jesus is there, waiting to see if we will stop.
The chasm in this story was not created by death. It was created by choices. Every day we choose whether to build bridges or walls. Every day we choose whether to see or to look away. Every day we choose whether love will cross every bridge in our lives or whether we will let indifference create chasms too wide to cross.
So tonight, when you kiss your children goodnight, when you hold your spouse close, when you think about tomorrow’s possibilities, remember: love is the bridge that crosses every divide. Let it start in your family, flow through your community, and reach every Lazarus at every gate. Because in the end, love is the only thing that can transform both sides of every story.
May the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all. Amen…
