Our Gospel reading last Sunday concluded with these words of Jesus: `No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will hate one and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.` Today we hear The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus which graphically illustrates that passage.

In the Parable, the rich man seemingly had everything in life. The poor man, Lazarus, had nothing. When they died, their status changed. The rich man finds himself in hell, Lazarus is in heaven.

The rich man enjoyed all the pleasures of this life. Why shouldn`t he? Why shouldn`t we? Don`t cancel that cruise! Don`t tell the builder not to come now that you`ve ordered that extension! Don`t cut your Christmas present list to bars of kit kat or mars bars! Spending money, enjoying the resources God has, after all, given us, is perfectly all right. But it is our attitude to money which is crucial. If we hug money to ourselves, using it only for our own pleasure, we are not living out the Gospel. If money is paramount in our lives, we have made it something which motivates our lives. It has become the equivalent of a god which we worship. Our Epistle reminds us that all that we have comes through God`s goodness and kindness: we are to share all that he gives us with those around us, not least with those in need. If we say we are Christians, we are to reflect the practical giving and caring that Jesus showed on earth. The way we spend our money reflects what we believe about faith. As we spend and share our money, we are ministering to Christ himself. The Choir sometimes sing an anthem from Margaret Rizza which echoes that thought:-

Take my hands Lord to share in Your labours

Take my eyes Lord to see Your needs

Let me hear the voice of lonely people

Let my love, Lord, bring riches to the poor.

We live in difficult times, and we often find it hard to work out how we should give to those in need. Yet there are many calls on our money. We think of those across the world who need our help. We remember those nearer home who need us to share as we help the Food Bank for which there is a special Harvest Appeal this year. We think of the continuing need to finance the sharing of the Gospel through the work and witness of St Peter`s. We are grateful for all those who volunteer, and grateful too for gifts of money.

So how can we be sure that we are giving in the best way possible and so reflect the giving God whom we serve?

We need to sit down each year and work out what proportion of our income we want to give to those in need. Many Christians choose a percentage of their income to give away – maybe five or ten per cent. It`s amazing how little that sum looks in our hands when we are buying a special item for ourselves – and how much it looks in our hands when we are preparing to give it away. Do we give what is right – or what is left?

Then we need to think about which charities we want to support. It`s good if we choose Christian charities among those we support because they will on the whole only receive gifts from Christians. It can be that those who support health charities such as Great Ormond Street Hospital or Cancer Research may not support Christian based charities like Christian Aid and World Vision, so often working in disaster areas across the world. It`s good to set up bankers orders and use Gift Aid which enables taxpayers to reclaim money from the Government.

After being systematic about our planning, we shouldn`t feel guilty about our giving which may be perhaps at present a bit haphazard and impulsive. As Christians we work out systematically what is right for us and think about what reflects who we are in Christ.

The name `Lazarus` means `God is my help`. The man in the parable relied on God to supply his needs. God relies on us to be his agents, to minister to the world and so to Him.

We continue to remember with thanksgiving the ministry of the late Queen Elizabeth II. There have been many tributes to her. All of them are shown in the clear path of faith that she followed, and the service she showed to so many millions across the world who have given thanks and pledged themselves to continued service in the way they lead their lives.

We endeavour to show the world what God, the Servant King, is like. Let me end with the practical words of Martin Luther King on the subject of service: `Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don`t have to have a college degree to serve. You don`t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don`t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don`t have to know Einstein`s theory of relativity to serve. You don`t have to know the second theory of thermo-dynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.`

Jesus said: `I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.`

(Revd.) Pat Hopkins