TORONTO (February 21, 2008) -- Back in the days before universal refrigeration, the farmers used to say "The rich people have their ice in the summer and the poor have theirs in the winter!" While this was meant as a wry joke, it contained a kernel of truth in that assumption that sooner or later, you'd get yours
The scripture of the day today is that of the Rich Man (Dives) and the Poor Man (Lazarus, not to be confused with the Lazarus who rose from the dead, or Lazarus Long, for that matter). Dives is described as enjoying his wealth and not noticing that there was a beggar, Lazarus, at his gate. Some of us who live in Toronto find it hard to get out of our gates without stepping on at least one beggar, but apparently Dives had a back door. So anyway, he lived a comfortable life and enjoyed all his Goodies, and then he died. And, as the communists always tell us they will, he went to Hell; Lazarus, naturally, went to heaven and never the twain shall meet. That is an indication, say the communists, that You'll Get Yours. If not in this life, in the next, and you'll see the people who Got Theirs, that you hate, getting stiffed in the next world.
However, this is not what the story of Dives and Lazarus is about. Dives' sin was not enjoying his wealth while someone else had none. His sin was that he did not extend hospitality to a brother.
In the deserts where this lot lived, Hospitality was literally the difference between life and death. That is, if a caravan wound its way to your door, much less a single beggar, and you did not share with them, it was pretty likely that the stranger or the beggar would perish. So everyone as in pioneer days shared what they had with the full expectation that (1) the visitor would not rip them off and (2) would reciprocate when someone else came to his door. Unlike today, where people feel entitled to everything others have simply because they themselves lack it, and thus justify hitting them over the head and taking it away, a breach of hospitality was in those days punishable by death. Not only because the guy you ripped off would be justifiably angry and want his stuff back, but because you do that often enough and the next guy down the pike is going to pay the price when he asks hospitality and gets the answer that the last time he tried it, he got ripped off, so no thanks and move along.
This is the problem with beggars, too. When one town passes a law that moves beggars out, for example the Squeegee Kid Law that moved them out of Toronto, they move to a town with more lenience and pretty soon your town looks a lot like Calcutta. The more hospitality you give them, the more they congregate, just like cats or birds who know who puts out the food. So while it is necessary to practice hospitality, consideration must be given as to when, how and where, lest your doorstep become a stopping place for stray cats, birds and beggars. This does not mean you ought not or cannot dispense hospitality. You must do so because we're all in this together and sooner or later you'll be where that beggar is.
The Bible has nothing at all to say about whether wealth or poverty is the preferred lifestyle for humanity in general. Don't listen to the communists who tell you that if you don't cough up here on Earth, you will be laughed at in the afterlife when you are forced to cough up and watch the beggars enjoying your stuff. What it does say is that hospitality is a two way street, and you'd better be prepared for the day when you'll need yours and if you have been hospitable in your turn, you'll get yours.