The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 2 — Section 80

Vers. 19, 20.-Poverty at the gate of wealth. Here is a picture which we recognize in England in this nineteenth century quite as readily as it would be recognized in Judrea in the days of our Lord; it is that of poverty and wealth in very close associa- tion. It is not only a picture to look upon but a problem to solve, and one of much urgency as well as great difficulty. I. POVERTY AND WEALTH IN OLOSE JUXTAPOSITION. As the rich man of the parable could not enter his house without seeing Lazarus lying in rags and sores at his gate, so are we unable to pass our days without being impressed with the fact that "the poor [even the very poor] we have with us," and indeed all around us. Lazarus lies at our gate. Not only have we the professional beggar, who has adopted" begging" as his means of livelihood, but we have the whole army of the unfortunate, who have been incapacitated by some means, and who cannot "work that they may eat ; " and we have also another large and equally pitiable multitude of the ill-paid, who cannot earn enough by the honest industry in which they are employed to sustain themselves and their families. And so it comes to pass that in England to-day, side by side with competence, with wealth, with inestimable affluence, is poverty walking in rags, lying iu loneliness, shivering with cold and hunger, working without reward that is worthy of the name. It is a sad sight in a Christian land; and it is not sad alone, it is alarming; for such extremes are full of evil and of peril. II. THE PAINFUL ASPECT OF THIS FEATURE OF OUR MODERN LIFE. For who can doubt: 1. The dangers attending great wealth P It leads to luxury, and luxury favours sloth, indulgence, a false standard of the worth and purpose of life, a proud heart, and a haughty bearing. In circumstances where there is no necessity for energetic and patient labour, and where there is every opportunity of enjoyment, many evil weeds grow fast, and there the best flowers that grow in the garden of the Lord too often languish. Or who can doubt: 2. The perils of extreme poverty 1 These lead down by a straight and steep path to servility, to craftiness and cunning, to falsehood, to dis- honestv, to envy and hatred. And who can fail to see: 3. The evil influence on the State of these two extremes? Here there can be no true brotherhood, no proper associa- tion and co-operation; here is separation from one another, a division as great as that which is interposed by the high mountain range or the broad sea; nay, greater than that I Many Enalish people see more and know more of the inhabitants of Switzer- land than they se~ and know of the denizens of the streets of another part of their own parish. It is the uninteresting and objectionable poor at their gate who are the "strangers." • T.1me:.-u. e  THE GOSPEL ACCORDING 'l'O S1'. LUKE. [orr. xvi. 1-31.