Hieromonk Roman: True Treasure in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus

Hieromonk Roman preaches on the feast of St. Prohor of Pčinja, interpreting the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. He explains that earthly wealth, luxury, and self-indulgence are perishable and reveal service to false gods such as money, the belly, ego, and technology. Voluntary poverty endured for God, like that of Lazarus, writes one's name in the book of eternal life.

The rich man's torment in hell comes from realizing too late what he could have gained had he served the living God through the situations given him. The speaker illustrates with the story of Apostle Thomas, who gave the Indian tsar's building funds to the poor and thereby built the tsar a heavenly palace. The tsar's dead brother was shown this palace and returned to life to testify, causing the tsar to free Thomas.

Almsgiving done for human recognition, expecting honor, control, or visibility, is not love but condemnation, because love seeks not its own. True alms sees Christ in the poor, gives from the heart without surplus or show, and stores up treasure in heaven. The parable reveals that the earthly kingdom is small and all its goods are worthless, perishable, and passing, while only what we gather in our soul through life in Christ in the Church is valuable and imperishable.

The rich man possessed every earthly desire, scarlet, silk, servants, abundant food, yet lacked God's grace and did not have God in him, mistaking the lower for the invaluable eternity. Lazarus's name is written in the book of eternal life because he endured all evils for God's sake, just as St. Basil demonstrated through voluntary poverty and wandering, suffering heat for God.

The rich man who gave Lazarus not even crumbs enters hell, eternal oblivion and non-beholding of God's face, where he fully realizes what heavenly treasure he could have acquired. We choose our eternal destiny now by whom we serve: serving the living God by accepting His given situations with patience, gratitude, and no grumbling, even in poverty, earns a heavenly palace where the soul reigns with Christ.

Serving earthly treasure, food, clothing, luxury, internet, phone, self-will, egoism means serving the god of money, mammon, belly, glory, and 'only I and my I.'