This past Sunday, Rex Fowler of Hartford City Mission shared with us about God’s love for the poor and oppressed and the fact that we all have resources to share with those in need, even if we do not have much money.  One of the things Rex said is that they teach the kids in their ministry that everyone has something to give, no matter how poor you feel you are. As he said, the greatest poverty is thinking that you have nothing to offer. This truth reminded me of one of my favorite stories of this past year, which I read on the author Donald Miller’s blog.  I’ve reprinted the blog post below, so please enjoy, and I hope you are challenged by what you read:

My friend Bob Goff started a school in Uganda where he provides an education for children who come from what any American would consider extreme poverty. But you best not call Restore International a charity. Bob won’t have it for a second. Instead of taking funds from wealthy Americans, the kids at Restore are actually growing crops and selling them in order to donate the money to American charities! Why? Because Bob Goff wants to instill dignity and purpose in the lives of his students.

Here’s a guest blog from Justin Zoradi, the Marketing Director for The Mentoring Project, the non-profit I started three years ago. Justin reflects on his interaction with Bob and the unusual emotions involved in accepting money from children a half world away:

Bob Goff, founder of Restore International, called me last week to let us know young men from The Restore Leadership Academy have decided to make a donation to The Mentoring Project to provide mentors for kids in Portland, Oregon.
Apparently, with the help of Restore, a number of these young men have started growing & selling their own crops.

After hearing about The Mentoring Project, they wanted to give a small portion of their profits to our work. 
When we heard this news we were shocked, and a little unnerved. What were these young men thinking? Are we seriously going to accept donations from kids in Uganda? Many of these students were former child soldiers, their lives upended by poverty, conflict, and civil unrest, and now they want to give to The Mentoring Project?
It’s easy to be cynical about something like this and assume it’s not in the best interest of The Mentoring Project to accept donations from young people who are,  for the most part, in a much harder situation than the fatherless boys in Portland.

But in talking to Bob about it, we realized that accepting the contributions and allowing Ugandan youth the opportunity to give generously is the most empowering thing we can do.

Bob described these students as the future leaders of Uganda and how this donation is a powerful incentive for the development of their country. The gift is a boost for us, but also an act of nation-building for them.

Due to an eclectic mix of colonialism, foreign investment, and resource allocation, the world of international aid and development is dominated by 1st world countries supporting the livelihoods of 3rd world countries. Rarely, is it the other way around.

Coincidentally, alongside my work with The Mentoring Project, I run an international education organization called These Numbers Have Faces. As both organizations solicit support through various means, it’s exciting, and also inspiring, to see ordinary Americans, Canadians, and Europeans feeling empowered and overjoyed to give to our work in America and South Africa.

We’ve learned that there is something meaningful and deeply enriching in the act of giving itself, regardless of the amount.

Remember the parable Jesus told about the widow who gave her last coin to the poor in Mark 12? In the same vein, let’s not take away the opportunity for the boys from Uganda to be blessed by God and experience the joy of giving.
We wanted the students in Uganda to know how much we appreciate their donations, so we mailed them a few copies of this thank you page showing one of the mentees they are helping us support here in Portland.

Basically, Restore International is turning charity on its head. They are saying that the privilege of financial progress and the joy of financial generosity shouldn’t be reserved exclusively for the global north. And, maybe if we gave the global south more opportunities to experience the joys of giving, they’d be more likely to pull their own countries out of poverty.

Needless to say, we’re just thrilled to be along for the ride.
- Justin Zoradi, Marketing Director, The Mentoring Project
justin@thementoringproject.org 

This post is reprinted from http://donmilleris.com/2010/06/04/bob-goff-turns-the-idea-of-charity-upside-down/.  If you have any thoughts to share, please post a comment!

Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments.” “Which ones?” the man inquired. Jesus replied, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’” “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:16-24)

And now, excerpts from Bonhoeffer’s commentary (the whole commentary is much longer but worth reading):

The young man’s enquiry about eternal life is an enquiry about salvation, the only ultimate, serious question in the world.  But it is not easy to formulate in the right terms.  This is shown by the way the young man obviously intends to ask one question, but actually asks another… what he expects from the good master and great teacher is a weighty pronouncement, but certainly not a direction from God which would make an absolute claim on his obedience… The answer to the young man’s problem is – Jesus Christ… It is now a question of yes or no, of obedience or disobedience.  The answer is no.

When he was challenged by Jesus to accept a life of voluntary poverty, the rich young man knew he was faced with the simple alternative of obedience or disobedience… If, as we read our Bibles, we heard Jesus speaking to us in this way today, we should probably try to argue ourselves out of it like this:  “It is true that the demand of Jesus is definite enough, but I have to remember that he never expects us to take his commands legalistically.  What he really wants me to have is faith… It is not important that I should have no possessions, but if I do I must keep them as though I had them not, in other words I must cultivate a spirit of inward detachment, so that my heart is not in my possessions.”  Jesus may have said, “Sell thy goods,” but he meant:  “Do not let it be a matter of consequence to you that you have outward prosperity; rather keep your goods quietly, having them as if you had them not.  Let not your heart be in your goods.”  We are excusing ourselves from single-minded obedience to the word of Jesus on the pretext of legalism and a supposed preference for an obedience “in faith.”… If Jesus challenged us with the command:  “Get out of it,” we should take him to mean:  “stay where you are but cultivate that inward detachment.”  Again, if he were to say to us:  “Be not anxious,” we should take him to mean:  “Of course it is not wrong for us to be anxious:  we must work and provide for ourselves and our dependents.  If we did not we should be shirking our responsibilities.  But all the time we ought to be inwardly free from all anxiety.”  Perhaps Jesus would say to us:  “Whosoever smiteth thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”  We should then suppose him to mean:  “The way to really love your enemy is to fight him hard and hit him back.”  Jesus might say:  “Seek ye first the kingdom of God,” and we should interpret it thus:  “Of course we should have to seek all sorts of other things first; how could we otherwise exist?  What he really means is the final preparedness to stake all on the kingdom of God.”  All along the line we are trying to evade the obligation of single-minded, literal obedience.

How is this absurdity possible?  What has happened that the word of Jesus can be thus degraded by this trifling and thus left open to the mockery of the world?  When orders are issues in other spheres of life there is no doubt whatever of their meaning.  If a father sends his child to bed, the boy knows at once what he has to do.  But suppose he has picked up a smattering of pseudo-theology.  In that case he would argue more or less like this:  “Father tells me to go to bed, but he really means that I am tired, and he does not want me to be tired.  I can overcome my tiredness just as well if I go out and play.  Therefore though father tells me to go to bed, he really means:  ‘Go out and play.’”

There is an element of truth underlying all this sophistry.  When Jesus calls the young man to enter into the situation where faith is possible, he does it only with the aim of making the man have faith in him, that is to say, he calls him into fellowship with himself.  In the last resort what matters is not what the man does, but only his faith in Jesus as the Son of God and Mediator… So far then we are quite right; it is possible to have wealth and the possession of this world’s goods and to believe in Christ – so that a man may have these goods as one who has them not.  But this is an ultimate possibility of the Christian life, only within our capacity in so far as we await with earnest expectation the immediate return of Christ.  It is by no means the first and the simplest possibility… This is only possible and right for somebody who has already at some point or other in his life put into action his single-minded understanding, somebody who thus lives with Christ as his disciple and in anticipation of the end…

Anybody who does not feel that he would be much happier were he only permitted to understand and obey the commandments of Jesus in a straightforward literal way, and e.g. surrender all his possessions at his bidding rather than cling to them, has no right to this paradoxical interpretation of Jesus’ words… The elimination of single-minded obedience on principle is but another instance of the perversion of the costly grace of the call of Jesus into the cheap grace of self-justification.

Is there a crazier juxtaposition in the world than Thanksgiving and Black Friday?  On the former day, we are encouraged to reflect on what we are thankful for, to enjoy what we have, and to develop an attitude of gratitude.  And then, millions of people set their alarms for some ridiculous hour so that they can push through the crowds the next morning in order to get the best deals on toys and goods for the holiday season.  In the blink of an eye, gratitude turns to covetousness; thanksgiving to full-blown consumerism. 

Now, I’m not saying that it’s necessarily a bad thing to go out this Friday and save money on gifts for the loved ones in your life.  I am saying, of course, what most of us know to be true, that the Christmas season has the frightening ability to inspire the worst in us – greed, the lust for that which we do not have, impatience with the traffic and crowds, and a general stress with the busyness of the season.  Thanksgiving may last for a day, but the feelings of gratitude can fade quickly in the bright lights of the holiday season.

So why not decide to take a different path this year?  Why not decide as an individual or as a family that the money you would spend on others could be put to better use this year, perhaps to meet the needs of someone who truly has needs?  There are countless worthy possibilities out there, and you may just find that, as Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than receive” (Acts 20:35).  Here are just a few worthy causes to consider this Christmas season:

1) Check out www.donate.worldvision.org and click on the “Gift Catalog.”  There you’ll find a long list of ways you can meet the basic needs of impoverished people around the world.  $75 will buy a goat that would nourish a family in Kenya; $100 would buy a well with a hand pump that would help provide clean water to a village; and for just $25, you can buy two chickens for a family in need.

2) At www.kiva.org, you can help support third-world entrepreneurs through microloans that could finance fledgling construction, food service, photography, or other businesses that can help an individual or family work their way out of poverty. 

3) Go to www.tradeasone.com to buy items from artisans around the world fairly and directly instead of buying everything through your local big box chain stores.  Once again, you help people pull themselves out of poverty without just donating money.

4) Check out www.globalgiving.com and consider giving money to community-based projects that need support.  Invest in education, health care, and other vital services in parts of the world that don’t have the resources we have.

5) Or, visit www.adventconspiracy.org and use the money you would have spent on presents you don’t need to provide fresh water wells through an organization called Living Water.

Maybe you’re ready to change up the way you do Christmas.  Or maybe you can start small, by picking one of these options and putting some money towards good use.  Or, maybe you aren’t ready this year to make such a radical change.  Whatever the case, I would encourage you to check out some of these sites, and to begin a conversation with your family and friends on how you might reject the consumerism of Christmas and instead make it about freely giving to others in the same way that our Father freely gave His Son to us so many Christmases ago. 

And if you have other ideas of worthy places to which to donate, please post a comment.

Christmas is just around the corner, which means that sometime this weekend you will be standing in the mall trying to decide what your mother-in-law or 22 year-old son might want for Christmas, and you will ask yourself that annual question, “wait, why I am doing this again?”  So, for those who resonate with that question, or who are thinking of ways to do it differently next year, might I offer a few suggestions on how your family might collectively decide to use your money to achieve a nobler purpose than procuring the latest Wii game or a newer flat screen TV?

1) Check out www.donate.worldvision.org and click on the “Gift Catalog.”  There you’ll find a long list of ways you can meet the basic needs of impoverished people around the world.  $75 will buy a goat that would nourish a family in Kenya; $100 would buy a well with a hand pump that would help provide clean water to a village; and for just $25, you can buy two chickens for a family in need.

2) At www.kiva.org, you can help support third-world entrepreneurs through microloans that could finance fledgling construction, food service, photography, or other businesses that can help an individual or family work their way out of poverty. 

3) Go to www.tradeasone.com to buy items from artisans around the world fairly and directly instead of buying everything through your local big box chain stores.  Once again, you help people pull themselves out of poverty without just donating money.

4) Check out www.globalgiving.com and consider giving money to community-based projects that need support.  Invest in education, health care, and other vital services in parts of the world that don’t have the resources we have.

5) Or, visit www.adventconspiracy.org and use the money you would have spent on presents you don’t need to provide fresh water wells through an organization called Living Water (thanks to St. Paul’s Collegiate Church for these suggestions).

Maybe it’s too late to reverse course this year.  But I would encourage you to check out some of these sites, and begin a conversation with your family and friends on how you might reject the consumerism of Christmas and instead make it about freely giving to others in the same way that our Father freely gave His Son to us so many Christmases ago.

Wow.

Certainly costs a lot of money to have a building, doesn’t it?  Closer to home, the Episcopal church up the street from our office just recently completed a $1.64 million renovation and addition to their building.  Again, Wow.

Why do I bring this up? 

Well, our church, from day one (16 years ago) has never owned a building.  We have rented the same office space for awhile, and have rented space in various schools and now a Lodge for our Sunday worship gatherings.  The biggest benefit has been that the majority of our money goes towards ministry and not facilities.  The biggest drawback has been that we are still pretty invisible in town, and our growth and impact has likely been hindered by our lack of a permanent space.  This past Sunday, I told the congregation about a rental opportunity that has presented itself that would essentially double the amount we spend in rent, but would also give us a seven-day a week presence in an excellent location.  I think that this opportunity is an appropriate time to ask two foundational questions that we need to consider:

 What should be a church’s attitude towards buildings?
 What option would help us best live out the vision God has given us?

I remember dealing with similar questions when I graduated college and moved into my first apartment.  I can recall struggling with whether or not it was appropriate to buy a couch, or whether it would be more Christlike to sit on cardboard boxes and give the money away.  In the end, I decided that I could be the best steward of God’s money by using it to create a hospitable environment, and then using my apartment as a place of ministry (I ended up hosting a youth ministry at my place for the next four years).  The key word was stewardship – how can we make the best use of God’s money?  By renting a place one day a week to meet in, even though we may end up invisible and have minimal impact?  By renting a 7-day a week facility from which we can engage our community, even though we’ll be spending a lot of money on a building that is not really ours?  Or by owning our own facility, even if it means having the danger of one day spending $500,000 to replace pillars?  It’s not an easy question.

One problem is this:  I don’t think we can really answer that question until we answer the second question – what is our God-given vision, and which option will help us fulfill that vision?  If our purpose is to come together once a week to teach and encourage Christians, then perhaps it would be good stewardship to rent a place to meet one day a week.  But if our vision is to see lives transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ and to see our community and world transformed by the gospel (which it is), what will give us the best chance of making that happen? 

I know that a seven-day a week facility is not the answer for everything, but I believe it does go a long way, especially in New England, towards having a transformative presence in town.  It establishes some permanence, as well as a base from which to minister to the community.  In New England, where I believe most people equate “church” with “building in which people worship,” having a seven-day a week facility can give a church legitimacy and cause people to visit who would never visit a church in a school or a Lodge. 

On the other hand, having a seven-day a week building, whether it is rented or owned, means that there will be more issues of stewardship, and a greater potential of wasting valuable resources on non-eternal things.  How can you avoid spending half of your budget on bills related to your facility?  How can you be economical with every purchase, so that you have more money to give towards ministry?  How much is too much to spend on rent, or on a mortgage?

So what do you think?  If our purpose and vision is to see lives transformed by the gospel and to see our community and world transformed by the gospel, what role does a building play in that?  Will it help, by offering a permanent location from which to minister, or will it hinder, by tying up resources – monetary and time – in facilities instead of in people?  I would love to hear your thoughts.  If you have anything to share, please add your comments.

“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.” (Psalm 127:1)

Come let us worship and bow down…

Is there any doubt that one of the greatest American Idols that we are tempted to worship, emulate, or believe will save us is the idol of consumerism?  Unless you live under a rock, it is impossible to ignore the constant stream of advertisements crying out for your attention and your money every hour of the day.  And is it not true that the mall is the temple of this idol of consumerism, the place that promises to fulfill your every need and wants to sell you more than you could ever afford or find a place for? 

This is the false gospel of the idol of consumerism:  The more you have, the happier you will be.  This idol is calling to you that if you could only own all of the latest and coolest clothes, gadgets, music, and whatever else you could get your hands on, you would become the envy of all you meet and the happiest person around.  This is the message emanating from the temple known as the Mall.

When I was a child, I used to love calling in for contests on the radio.  I still remember that no prize captivated by attention like the shopping spree.  Just imagine – five minutes in Toys R Us with $1000 to spend on anything you like!  In my mind, that would have been the most thrilling time imaginable.  Even though I am older now, there is still something captivating about having money to spend on the latest fashions, or the cool new CD’s or gadgets.  There is something about walking out of the Temple of the Mall with the latest and greatest stuff that makes me come alive, builds up my confidence, and makes me walk with my head a little higher.

Until the next great thing comes along…

Have you ever reached the point with music, or gadgets, or clothes, where you recognized the futility of keeping up with the latest and greatest?  Where you realized that if you bought all the CD’s or downloaded all the songs you like, that you’d go bankrupt?  Or if you kept updating your computer and cell phone and mp3 player and everything else that you soon would have no money left for food?  Have you ever checked out the back to school fashions, only to groan as you realize that once again the manufacturers have decided to change what is “in” – from wide legs to tapered legs to skinny legged-jeans, from plaid to solids to stripes, and so on?  At what point did you throw your hands up in the air and decide that you’d rather commit the sin of being unfashionable and outdated than try to keep up with every new trend?

Because here is the real truth underneath the false gospel of the mall:  the more you have, the more of a slave you become.  You may experience the thrill that comes from having the latest and greatest, and you may indeed become the envy of everyone for a short time, but before long you will have lost your freedom and become a slave to the idol of consumerism.  Because when the latest and greatest becomes last year’s style, you have to run out and buy more or risk losing your favored status.  And the more you own, the more you have to take care of, and the more time you spend on all your stuff (amen, anyone?).  The more you own, the more things end up owning you; and the more you care about what others think of you, the more you become a slave to their opinions.

Remember that one of the problems the people of God had in the Old Testament was that they were continually trying to merge worship of the one true God with the worship of idols from the surrounding cultures.  So what happens when you try to merge the worship of the one true God with our consumer culture?  You get a God who wants to bless us with good things, material things, who wants us to have nice houses and cars and stuff.  You skip past all of those pesky Bible verses about selling all you have and giving it to the poor (Matthew 19:21), or all of Jesus’ warnings about money and greed (Matthew 6:24).  You turn the page quickly after reading how Ananias and Sapphira, two early Christians, fell down dead because they kept money for themselves instead of giving it for the care of other Christians (Acts 5:3-4).  You skip the Prophetical books entirely and all of their warnings about what would happen to those who neglected those in need.  You turn a blind eye to the poor and suffering and convince yourself that God wants you to relax and enjoy your stuff.

Beware of merging worship of God with the Idol of consumerism.  Before you know it you will be worshiping at the Temple of the Mall on Sundays instead of in the house of God.

Remember that in First and Second Chronicles, one of the first things all of the good kings did was to smash down the idols that had been erected by the previous kings.  So how do we smash down the Idol of consumerism in our lives?  Give away instead of hoarding more; as Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).  Jesus tells us to store up treasure in heaven instead of treasures on earth (Matthew 6:20), to give in such a secretive fashion that even your left hand does not know what your right hand is doing (Matthew 6:3), to trust in Him to provide all we need (Matthew 6:25). 

Jesus came to set us free from slavery to the idol of consumerism, to rescue us from the Temple of the Mall.  He came to set us free from the constant need for more so that instead we might be content with what we have.  He came to free us from the need to be worshiped and envied by others so that we might receive all of our self-worth from the God who loves us enough to die for us.  As Paul writes in Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” 

The gospel is about freedom.  Expose the idol of consumerism, the Temple of the Mall.  Resist the urge to see God as an American God who wants to bless us by giving us more and bigger and better.  That new pair of pants won’t save you, and that new computer won’t make your life complete.  Remember instead the words of Jonah:  “Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs… Salvation comes from the LORD” (Jonah 2:8). 

 (The setting is a dusty road in Africa.  An American preacher, dressed in suit and tie, opens his Bible and begins to address the crowd)

 “I’m here this morning to tell you that God is calling you up higher in your life.  God has great things planned for you.  All He’s asking of you this morning is to believe it – to believe that He has great things in store for His children.  He’s asking you to claim His promises, to stand on the truth that He is a good God who wants to bless you.  Praise be to God… give the Lord a hand clap this morning”

“How many in here believe that God wants to give you good things today, tomorrow, and for the rest of your life?   How many of you believe that if you would just trust in the Lord with all of your heart, that He will cause you to prosper beyond your wildest dreams?  Make no mistake, my brothers and sisters:  the Lord wants to bless you this day.”

“Remember, my brothers and sisters, what that great prophet Moses said to the people of God, and take it to heart this morning.  He said in Deuteronomy 28 that if you will hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, if you would observe and do all his commandments, that all His blessings shall come on thee, yes and even overtake thee.  You will be blessed in the city and in the field.  Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your cattle.  Your basket and your store will be blessed.  Can I hear an Amen?  Is anyone out here this morning who loves the Lord?”

“Indeed, Moses said that you will be blessed coming in, and blessed going out.  Your storehouse will be blessed, and all that you set your hand to will be blessed.  Yes, my brothers and sisters, ‘you will be blessed in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.  He will open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand.’  Is anyone catching a vision for the prosperity which God intends to rain down on you?  Hallelujah.  Let’s give the Lord a hand clap this morning.”

“Oh, the Lord is good… I can feel Him in this place.  Brothers and sisters, believe on the Lord this morning.  The Lord has good things in store for you.  He has promotion in store for you in your work.  He is saying to you this morning that if you would only believe in Him, He will strengthen your marriages and your families.  We need to expect great things from the Lord today.  We need to choose to be happy.  We need to expect that we will be happy, healthy, and whole, for that is the Lord’s will for you.  Brothers and sisters, I have no doubt that you are facing some difficult situations in my life.  I want you to know that I’ve been there.  Why, just the other day my car broke down on the side of the highway, and when I went to call for help, I realized that I had left my cell phone on the counter at Starbucks.  But I called out to the Lord, and He provided a friendly motorist who came to my aid.  Brothers and sisters, the Lord is telling you today that you can choose to be happy, even in the midst of your difficult circumstances.  It isn’t easy, but we know that in Christ, all things are possible.” 

“We’re going to collect our tithes and offerings in a minute, and I want to tell you that this collection is not because I need your money.  Yes, I believe along with the apostle Paul that ‘God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.’  We know God will provide.  No, this collection is for your benefit, for we know that a man shall reap what he soweth, that ‘he which soweth sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.’  Beloved, I wish along with the Apostle John that ‘above all things thou mayest prosper and be in health.’  And this is the Lord’s path to prosperity – ‘give and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom.’  Test the Lord in this.  Give what you have, and see how the Lord blesses you.  See if He will not ‘throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.’”

“The Lord wants to prosper you today in every way – relational happiness, promotion at work, financial windfall, a happier home.  Trust Him in this.  Enlarge your vision, and see for yourself how He blesses His children.  Amen.  Let’s give the Lord another hand clap this morning.”

(end story)

Listen to the words of Jesus, as recorded in Luke 16:19-26:

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day.  At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried.  In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.  And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’”

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.