SAUCIER — What’s in a name?

“There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day.”

Luke’s parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus opens with an iconic line, like Melville’s “Call me Ishmael” or Tolkien’s “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”

The sentence grabs one’s attention while providing critical information.

Many listeners would have been familiar with the prosperity gospel of the day. A rich man, in the theological eyes of some, was blessed by God.

But this rich man has no name, which doesn’t bode well for someone of his status. We learn a lot about his character in those few words.

No doubt he appreciated the finer things — his Brioni robes, Gucci sandals, a lavish table — but we suspect that this lifestyle is as much about self-advertisement as it is about Epicurean tastes.

Establishing that in one sentence, Jesus reveals the rich man’s foil in the next: “And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores... .”

Many, especially those not sick or poor, would have considered disease or other ill fortune the consequence of sin. Jesus debunks that notion, depicting a reversal of fortune after death.

It’s the rich man in the torment of Hades, begging for a sip of water, and Lazarus comforted in the bosom of Abraham.

Now we realize the importance of the name.

In the afterlife, the rich man refers to Lazarus by name. So, he knew that poor man lying by his gate and still refused him any assistance.

No doubt, friends or family put him there, hoping the rich man would have pity on him, but the dogs licking Lazarus’s sores were more compassionate.

The Hebrew name for Lazarus means “God helps.”

There’s an irony here: the name didn’t do much for Lazarus during his life. But maybe that’s the point.

 The Old Testament is liberally seasoned with admonitions to care for the widow, the orphan, the poor and the stranger.

It is the economy of God’s covenant with the Israelites. The divine care for the suffering is manifested through the human actions of those who claim a relationship with God.

The rich man, by ignoring Lazarus, subverted that covenant.

The name Lazarus is a challenge to us, as well, not just to feed the hungry or welcome the stranger, not just to write a check or give to a food drive, but to see them as people, to know them by name.