Stories Jesus Told Part One A Rich Man and a Beggar Luke 16: 19-31

Transcription

1 Page 1 Stories Jesus Told Part One A Rich Man and a Beggar Luke 16: Text: (NIV) 19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 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.' 25 "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. 26 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.' 27 "He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.' 29 "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' 30 "'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' 31 "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'" We just heard something quite amazing. Stunning might be a better word. We just heard this: At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus I ve seen beggars on the way into Comerica Park. I ve seen beggars years ago in New York City. I ve seen beggars on the corner up on Grand River and so have you. But I have never, ever fallen over a beggar when I went out of my front door. And if I did, I might wonder who put the beggar there since he could not move himself to such a place? And how many days or weeks or months could I step over him and go on my way? And would I be annoyed that he lay there reminding me that many people in this life are miserable? And would I cry out to myself that Hey! I moved here precisely so I would not have to see this side of life? I might in my comfortable existence find this whole experience downright irritating and most unwelcome! And frankly, I might want to ask why Jesus would bother me with a story such as this one? Let s be honest here. This narrative this story is, in the end, truly unpleasant. Much to ponder in this portion of the Word of God. Why did Jesus tell this story? What was he trying to impart to his disciples? And...since we believe the Bible is the Word of God and that it is a living set of documents what is Jesus trying to say to us in this parable? Not just what was Jesus trying to say to a group of listeners two thousand years ago but what is Jesus (present tense right now real time) saying to us? These are good questions. But first, let us pray.

2 Page 2 Today we begin a twelve part series on some of the parables of our Lord. I have always wanted to do exactly this.examine the parables closely hoping that we can apply them to our lives. There are, of course, more than twelve. Lord willing, we will look at many of the others in the future. But today we start out with one that is truly difficult but it fits perfectly into the way the Lord Jesus Christ liked to preach. Jesus was a story teller. He said things like A man had two sons or A woman had two silver coins and lost one or A man was walking from Jerusalem to Jericho. Jesus was a story teller who often spoke in parables. The parable was one of his favorite methods of teaching spiritual truth. In fact, the very word parable is from two Greek words: para meaning to come alongside and ballo which means to throw or to aim. So, the parable attempts to draw us or push us into a word picture by illustrating a truth thru an imagined story. It throws us alongside of a fictional life-event. We must determine what the original meaning was and then ask the Holy Spirit to apply it to our lives in a suitable way for us to use it. In other words, no one here would ignore a beggar at his or her front door. And no one here would become a beggar lying on someone s porch. So, even when we examine the text as to what it meant, we must ask what does it mean in my life here and now? OK for today what point does our Lord wish to impress upon us? As we said, where to begin? Well at the beginning. Actually, it s almost impossible to know where to start with this parable. And yes, I take it as a parable. In every other case, parables do not contain any proper names yet in this one we meet a fellow named Lazarus. Scholars consider this one exception with a proper name as a parable in part because the very name Lazarus means one who finds help in God. This fictitious Lazarus is not to be confused with the actual man named Lazarus who was raised from the dead in John Chapter Eleven. And sometimes commentators refer to the rich man as Dives which is a Latin word meaning wealthy. But that name is not in the Bible text. It is not likely that Jesus meant to teach much about Heaven and Hell in this parable because the elements in the story do not really match any other details about Heaven and Hell in the Bible. Not everything in a parable is meant to be taken literally. Far more likely our Lord is trying to make a point about ungodliness and how hard hearts become even harder. We will come back to that idea. We read: 19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. The ancient world was just like our own world. It was filled with Haves and Havenots and lots of people in between. But the really rich people in the ancient world were dressed in purple signifying their status. In our world the really rich people drive

3 Page 3 Beamers instead of Buicks and live behind gates to signify their wealth. But they also live more modestly and we all qualify as rich people as we sit here. But this man was really rich! This man wore purple and fine linens. Most people wore simple woven cloth. So, he stood out as wealthy. When Jesus says the man lived in luxury, he uses an unusual word ( lampros ) which means splendor! That s whom we are considering here. A man who had everything in life. Everywhere he looked within his little castle he saw splendor. He was wealthy. We are not told how he acquired it. It may have been inherited or perhaps he had earned every dime. Jesus is not commenting on that. And notice clearly that Jesus is not even commenting on the rightness or wrongness of his wealth and splendid living. If Jesus thought that a financial net worth of over a certain amount was wicked and meant the person was going to Hell, this would have been the perfect place to teach that. He could have at least said You people who live in splendor should be ashamed of yourselves! But he did not. The parable is about something deeper than that. Jesus is about to comment, ironically, on the rich man s poverty! His poverty of spirit was obvious because there was one place in his life where he was shown to be poor! Because there was one place in his life where he was forced to see the hideous and the ugly! One place where there was no splendor but rather a gross reminder that not everyone was happy in life! One place that should have woken him up but he, day in and day out, worked his way around it rather he literally stepped over it! Jesus goes on to say: 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. Lazarus is so weak that he cannot push away the roving dogs that lick his wounds for their salt content! He is a beggar who is happy just to receive scraps but the dogs probably grab the scraps before he can eat them at times. The scene is repulsive to any decent human being but all the more...it should have totally repulsed a first century Jew. Why? Because the Old Testament was filled with requirements that said the Godly person does not just care about himself but he cares about the poor and needy. That was, for the Jews, the first sign of love of God. A man might hide away from the poor but not when someone has placed the poor person in front of them! Literally at their gate so they d have to step over them. But this man did! How many times have we stepped over something that God has placed in front of us? A different sermon perhaps but this man? He showed how little he knew or cared about the Word of God because he should have known it said things like this:

4 Page 4 Deuteronomy 15:7-8 (NIV) 7 If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. 8 Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. Isaiah 58:6-7 (NIV) 6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Ok we do not live any longer in a land that allows slavery but we still have the poor and needy. And we could debate all day about economic systems and how the poor are often victims with no opportunity to get out of their poverty. But then many people are poor from very bad choices or even laziness. But whatever politics you and I embrace there is a tension here. There is a balance taught in the Word of God about helping the poor. Especially if they are helpless. Like Lazarus. The Bible has nothing good to say about people who are lazy. We read in Proverbs: Proverbs 26:15 (NIV) 15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth. The Apostle Paul spoke of lazy people who could help themselves and their fellowship of believers but simply were looking for handouts. He wrote: 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (NIV) 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: If a man will not work, he shall not eat." At the same time, again.the Bible requires and expects God s people to help those who are helpless. The man in this parable is helpless indeed. He can t even get away from the dogs that slobber all over him. This rich man in our story should have known this truth that God expects his own to show kindness and generosity to those who are helpless or need a hand to get on their feet. The rich man should have known these passages and, if he was Godly, he should have immediately on day one when he found the poor beggar in his doorway he should have immediately used some of his wealth to help the man. But he did not. He stepped over him. Let s pause. It s getting uncomfortable in here. Does this parable teach us, in this affluent place, that if we are really saved we should immediately sell our nice sometimes fabulous homes in Brighton or Novi or Ann Arbor and move to inner city Detroit? Should we necessarily get rid of any car worth more than ten thousand dollars and give the money to the poor? Does this parable at least tell us that we should be ashamed that we live well and as Christians? Actually, no. Not at all. Oh for sure, this parable

5 Page 5 speaks to us who live in fine linens and splendor but what is it really saying? Hold onto that question 22 "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. Consider what just happened here. Death is the great leveler. As Shakespeare said: Golden lads and girls all must, as chimney sweepers, come to dust! No matter our status in this life, we will all die and there will be no distinction between what we had here and what we wore and where we lived. Lazarus and the rich man are now as one in death. They both died but the beggar was a spiritual man who obviously belonged to God. Which should dispel the notion that if we belong to God He will always make us healthy and wealthy. And all the while the beggar begged the rich man and was ignored God was using the beggar to speak to the rich man about the rich man s own condition. Because, on the spiritual level, the beggar was wealthy and the rich man was poor. The beggar had treasure in Heaven and the rich man had an empty account on God s ledger. Now, the rich man is shocked at where he finds himself. Not because he was rich but because he was unsaved as evidenced by his very hard heart. We read: 24 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.' Jesus says the man was in Hell in torment. The torment of Hell is not a physical suffering. The horrors described are meant to illustrate the agony of a soul that realizes that after a lifetime of denying God and His rightful commands after avoiding God and contradicting the Word of God the hard-hearted unbeliever is shocked to realize all in a moment that there is place know as Hell where the souls of the lost will suffer for eternity longing to know the God who made them.and they will never ever be able to cross over and get a second chance to be saved. This is why our Lord shows us Abraham saying: 26 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.' Suddenly our wealthy man finds compassion. He wants Abraham to send Lazarus to speak to his brothers so they won t come to Hell! But the rich man and probably his

6 Page 6 brothers have already shown that they do not believe the Word of God and so Abraham says: 29 "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.' 30 "'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.' 31 "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'" Thus, the horrible story ends with Jesus making the point that the unbeliever has denied the laws of God and the Prophets and they will even deny the Resurrection of the Christ when it comes. So is this story about Heaven and Hell and hard hearts and denying the Word of God? For sure. But I have something else on my heart that this parable speaks to it and it is this: we rightly concern ourselves for the poor. We try to help those with material needs. But the spiritually poor are all around us and neglected. The rich man in the story is everywhere in our neighborhoods but we are largely disobedient to the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is what I mean: when did you last tell someone about your faith in Jesus and the gift of eternal life? What if the rich man in the parable said to Abraham Ok! I hear you father Abraham. But I have not met anyone anywhere in my neighborhood who actually believes Moses and the Prophets! Let s not leave this morning thinking Oh what an interesting story about a hard hearted unsaved man. I m glad I m not like that! Let s be honest and ask this question: are we reaching out to those wealthy people on our streets to make sure they have been invited to hear the Gospel? Because friends the real poor are all around us and we are supposed to challenge them to consider the Good news! I am praying for three to five couples or individuals or families to join me in a new outreach. If it works, we will expand it. Here it is: the challenge will be to get the names and addresses of everyone on your street and begin to pray for them by name for thirty days. At the end of the thirty days, we will send them a hand written personal note inviting them to a gathering at your house on such and such a Friday night or whenever. The note might say something like this: Dear, As you know, our world seems to be coming apart in so many ways. Increased violence. Hatred and strife. And many people are realizing that despite living in nice homes and enjoying life something seems to be missing. If that is your situation, we hope you will join us on Friday night Nov. 11 at our home on. We will have other guests who are eager to share the hope and peace and joy they have found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Interested? We hope so! Please try to RSVP as soon as possible or simply join us even if you don't do so. Any questions? Feel free to call us at. We pray God will bless you especially as you consider this invitation! Sincerely,.

7 Page 7 Why don t we do this? Because it might be offensive to our neighbors? Could be. Because it is the church s job to evangelize the lost? It is. But we are the church. Because we re afraid people might actually come and we don't know what we would say? No problem. If you get a group to come to your gathering one of the Pastors or Elders will be there to help explain the Gospel. Friends we have poor rich people all around us. Jesus said we are to be his witnesses on the mission field in Brighton and Novi and Ann Arbor and on Village Square and in Oak Pointe and everywhere else. Do you know that thanks to modern technology you can get the names and address of everyone on your street? And you can begin to pray that the Holy Spirit would open their hearts so that they would respond to the Gospel? Sure, invite them to the cook out on your street if there is one. Chat with them as you walk to the mailbox. But don't bail out on what you are called to do. Invite them to your home politely to hear the Good news about Christ. Study to be prepared! Not to win every argument but to share how important the Lord Jesus is to you and how important he has been in your life! Be his witness! Please let me know if you are confident in the Lord to take on this challenge; Donna and I will be doing it with you and we will meet and work out a plan together. And one last thing. You may find out your neighbor s full name but God sees many even most of them having a name that we do not see: On a lot of those mailboxes, God sees this: Dives. And the Holy Spirit is saying to us Yes Dives was ignoring the beggar but are you ignoring Dives! Let us pray.