Mrs. Lauder

HIE P.3

10/10/2023

Parable of the Rich Man

There is a rich man who has nothing to worry about and plenty of money to never work another day in his life. His name is David; he is the VP of a big company and he believes God is a waste of time. He says that instead of wasting time on God, he could be making more money. David is coming back from a steakhouse dinner one night and since it is dark and he lives in a noisy city, he doesn't know, so he drops his wallet. A teenager who is impoverished picks it up and hands it back to the rich man. Since David doesn’t like to talk to the poor, he has a bias that all homeless people are bad and deserve nothing because they are stupid. The man thinks he has stolen it and is giving it back because he doesn't think their's a lot of money in it. He says, “You dirty theif, your lucky I don’t call the cops on you. Now get away from me; your presence is making me feel poor.” 

Over the next couple of years, David makes various poor financial decisions and takes a couple bad breaks. It gets to the point where he loses anything and ends up being homeless. Later in life, the man makes very poor financial decisions and ends up being homeless. He is sitting in the same area where the incident occurred many years ago. He is caught in many different cases, gets in trouble with the law a couple of times and ends up in jail for a bit of time. It is late at night and David sees a man drop his wallet, pick it up, see there's no money, and give it back. The man who dropped it is very appreciative and gives David five bucks because of his gratitude for not stealing the wallet. He then realizes that this is the kid who picked up his wallet many years ago. David then realizes his mistake from years ago and repents instantly. The man tells him to stop and they have a great lunch after and end up being great friends.

Mrs. Lauder

HIE P.3

10/10/2023

Parable of the Rich Man

The Kingdom of God most often views people who prioritize money as blind as a bat. One day, there is a rich man who has nothing to worry about and plenty of money to never work another day in his life. His name is David; he is the VP of a big company and he believes God is a waste of time. He says that instead of wasting time on God, he could be making more money. David is coming back from a steakhouse dinner one night and since it is dark and he lives in a noisy city, he doesn't know, so he drops his wallet. A teenager who is impoverished picks it up and hands it back to the rich man. Since David doesn’t like to talk to the poor, he has a bias that all homeless people are bad and deserve nothing because they are stupid. The man thinks he has stolen it and is giving it back because he doesn't think their's a lot of money in it. He says, “You dirty theif, your lucky I don’t call the cops on you. Now get away from me; your presence is making me feel poor.” 

Over the next couple of years, David makes various poor financial decisions and takes a couple bad breaks. It gets to the point where he loses anything and ends up being homeless. Later in life, the man makes very poor financial decisions and ends up being homeless. He is sitting in the same area where the incident occurred many years ago. He is caught in many different cases, gets in trouble with the law a couple of times and ends up in jail for a bit of time. It is late at night and David sees a man drop his wallet, pick it up, see there's no money, and give it back. The man who dropped it is very appreciative and gives David five bucks because of his gratitude for not stealing the wallet. He then realizes that this is the kid who picked up his wallet many years ago. David then realizes his mistake from years ago and repents instantly. The man tells him to stop and they have a great lunch where he learns the teenager's name, which is Andrew. Andrew is a lawyer and he volunteers at a soup kitchen. However, his most proud accomplishment is being a follower of God so he spreads the word to David about the Kingdom of God. He also mentions the upside-down-kingdom and how it is crucial to understanding the main idea of the kingdom of God. After their lunch, they become very close friends and David starts going to church more and more until he eventually finds God. 

My parable is very closely related to the Parable of the Rich Fool, which is a parable we read in class but I have also been familiar with it for a long time. David is much like the man in the Parable of the Rich Fool because he has so much money without a care in the world that he could never work again in his life and he could be alright. A verse that stuck out to me was from Luke 18:24-30 when it says, “For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” This shows that no matter how much money you have made or how important you are, their is no way to buy yourself into heaven. The Parable of the Mustard Seed was also essential for me because I wanted to portray David as the mustard seed based on his development throughout the parable.

I see my parable as very unpredictable and you don’t know what’s going to happen next because the character’s have very different lives. I used simile’s early on in the text to make a clear connection for the reader. Many rich people are influenced to make more money rather than focus on what really matters because they are full of greed. 

Additionally, I referenced slide 28 in the Who is Jesus slides, which includes the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37. Andrew in the story, who later grows up to be successful, shows that even though David is portrayed as dirty, greedy, and not trustworthy, he can still be trusted because he is a human being like all of us. Despite thinking of how disrespectful and mean he looks, Andrew is a believer in God so he knows that everyone should be treated rightly and justly. The Kingdom of God video helped me learn a little more about the Kingdom of God so that I am not including misinformation in my parable to make it the most accurate. 

In the end, Andrew teaches David about the Kingdom of God, what it is all about, why he should become a follower of God, and how God’s kingdom is eternal rather than our brief human lives.