Jeremiah sets before us two kinds of life.

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the Lord.”

And then:

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.”

The difference is not external.
It is interior.

Both men live in the same world.
Both face drought and difficulty.
But only one has roots in God.

The one who trusts only in himself
is like a shrub in the desert.
He may survive for a time,
but he has no depth.

The one who trusts in the Lord
is like a tree planted by water.
When heat comes,
it does not panic.
When drought comes,
it does not collapse.

This is not a promise
that life will be easy.
It is a promise
that life will be rooted.

And then Jeremiah adds a warning:

“The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?”

We are not good judges
of our own motives.

We think we trust God,
but often we trust comfort.

We think we trust the Lord,
but often we trust success.

And God says:

“I the Lord search the heart
and test the mind.”

God does not look at appearances.
He looks at allegiance.

This prepares us for the Gospel.

Jesus tells a parable
about two men.

One is rich,
dressed in purple and fine linen,
feasting sumptuously every day.

The other is poor,
named Lazarus,
lying at his gate,
covered with sores,
longing to be fed
with what fell from the rich man’s table.

The parable is not about wealth alone.
It is about blindness.

The rich man is not accused
of stealing.
Not of cruelty.
Not even of direct injustice.

He is accused
of seeing and not seeing.

Lazarus is at his gate.
Not far away.
Not hidden.

But he might as well not exist.

This is what Jeremiah meant.

Trusting in flesh
does not always mean arrogance.
Sometimes it means comfort.

A life arranged around ease
slowly forgets mercy.

Then both men die.

And the positions are reversed.

Lazarus is carried
to Abraham’s side.

The rich man is in torment.

This is not revenge.
It is revelation.

It shows what their lives
were already becoming.

One lived dependent.
The other lived insulated.

One lived with need.
The other lived with abundance
and no attention.

And then comes the most serious line.

“They have Moses and the Prophets;
let them hear them.”

The rich man asks for a miracle.
A sign from the dead.

Abraham says no.

“If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets,
neither will they be convinced
if someone should rise from the dead.”

The problem is not lack of evidence.
It is refusal to listen.

The Word of God
has already said:

“You shall love your neighbour.”
“You shall care for the poor.”
“You shall not close your heart.”

The rich man did not need
a resurrection.
He needed attention.

This is the connection
between the two readings.

Jeremiah says:
Trust in the Lord
or wither.

Jesus says:
Ignore the poor
and you will not see the kingdom.

Both are speaking
about where the heart is planted.

The heart can be planted
in God
or in comfort.

In obedience
or in ease.

And God searches the heart.

Not to accuse.
But to reveal.

Lent is the season
when this revelation is meant to happen.

Not to frighten us
but to free us.

Where is my life rooted?

In what do I seek security?

Who lies at my gate?

The poor man’s name
is Lazarus.

It means:
God helps.

The rich man
has no name.

Because a life built on itself
finally loses its name.

Jeremiah says:

“He is like a tree
that does not fear when heat comes.”

The Gospel shows us
what happens
when the heat of judgment comes.

Only what is rooted in God
remains.

This parable is not given
to shame the wealthy.

It is given
to wake the comfortable.

Not because wealth is evil,
but because comfort can be blinding.

The danger is not that we have.
It is that we do not notice.

And God does notice.

He sees Lazarus
at the gate.

He sees the heart
behind the table.

So the question today
is not:

Am I rich or poor?

It is:

Where do I trust?

What do I ignore?

What do I step over
each day
without seeing?

Jeremiah says:
The Lord searches the heart.

Jesus says:
The poor man waits at the gate.

Lent says: Now is the time to see and to turn.

To plant ourselves again
by the water of God’s word.

To let mercy
interrupt comfort.

Because a tree that trusts the Lord
will not wither.

And a heart that learns to see
will not be lost.