"Time for a Decision" - a sermon on Luke 16:19-31

I want to hear your response to this passage, so please think about the following questions: How do you react to this text? What is it saying to you? Have you noticed that, for my sermons, I’ve picked out some of the tougher readings from Luke as Jesus heads for the cross! First, I’ll give you my reaction. This passage for me is about decision-making. It is about being clear-minded regarding what is important and about being grounded in God. It is about knowing who God is, and then living in sympathy with this. It is about considering the needs of others as the appropriate response to hearing the Word of God. It is about the influence we can have for good. In a nut-shell, it is about timely and firm decisions about what our life will amount to. For we see in this text a spectacular example of failure. It is often the lure of material things, or a primary focus on the protection of our personal financial situation, that compromises our decision-making and thus our spiritual growth. Earlier in this chapter, Jesus, in response to the Pharisees being lovers of money, had said to them, “...what is prized by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:14-15). Jesus now tells a story to illustrate – with two very contrasting characters: one extremely wealthy, the other destitute. We should note too, that to its original hearers, who would have seen wealth as God’s blessing, and poverty and illness as God’s punishment on sin – the suggested reversal of fortune in this parable would have come as a shock. Firstly there was a “rich man” who had everything he could possible want in a material sense; and he showed it off in public every day. He had more food than he could possibly need or eat. Then, outside the gate of his property was another man – a poor man named “Lazarus”. It is not clear whether Jesus was suggesting any connection with the Lazarus mentioned in John’s Gospel who Jesus raised from the dead, yet the last verse of our reading may indicate some connection. The more important factors about this name though are that: (a) this character was given a name when the “rich man” remained nameless; and (b) what that name Lazarus means. We’ll come back to these matters. “Lazarus” was in a pitiful state – covered with painful sores (probably ulcers), malnourished and starving hungry; and given that he “lay” at the “gate” suggests he was either physically disabled or extremely weak. Lazarus was hoping for gifts of food to come from the palatial home within the grounds, and probably was also begging from passers-by. So we are given a graphic and dramatic picture of one man arrogantly feasting, while another just outside his front gate starved to death. There must have been food scraps at the very least, but these were not offered to people like Lazarus. The “rich man” could so easily help, but does not! This “rich man” shows no concern or sensitivity or consideration towards poor Lazarus at all! He should of course have known better. He only had to recall Deuteronomy 15:7{-8}, “If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of the towns within the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your needy neighbour. {You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be}”. There are so many other texts like this – this priority is unmissable. Jesus is not only addressing very personal one-on-one issues, but making prophetic observations on the state of the world ... to those who could do something about it but chose not to. We should pause to think about the implications of ‘richer’ nations holding out on ‘poorer’ nations. This would also bear relevance to how nations address the real everyday needs of its more vulnerable citizens. [On this we can view the film “Dave”, a scene which shows that you can review priorities if you have the will, and that others can be drawn into such a process.] The name “Lazarus” means ‘God helps’. Just as well ‘God helps’ in the case of Lazarus ... where humans haven’t! This naming is truly significant, for it is the only time a character is named in one of Jesus’ parables. God looks upon this scene with compassion and draws Lazarus into His care. The one who society has failed is taken up by the angels and brought to Abraham (the father of the Jewish nation) in heaven. The listeners to this story customarily believed that gaining a place of intimacy at Abraham’s bosom was the greatest honour imaginable (hence the song “Rock my soul in the bosom of Abraham”). God well knows who society has failed, and who was the cause of this! It was a decree of creation that we looked after the earth, each other and all its inhabitants. Who was it that said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men (sic) do nothing”? That saying is attributed to Edmund Burke. We all have our ‘pet’ issues, and our crosses to bear, and we should say something and do something, if for no other reason than stopping frustration building in us. But do we consciously consider and understand that our sins of omission can be just as bad as our actual committed sins. These are those things that we haven’t done that we know we should do ... or should know that we should do. For we have the clear witness of Scripture. I fear that many who say they believe in the words of the Bible, actually believe in what they would prefer to be the words of the Bible. It is not surprising that, given his condition, the “poor man” died. God receives Lazarus into His company. But what of the nameless “rich man”? One day he died and his body was buried and his spirit was being tormented. The situations had been reversed. God had the final say. The last shall be first, and the first shall be last. The rich man’s name was deemed irrelevant – forgotten forever. His wealth had evaporated with his last earthly breath. Some hearers would have expected a better outcome for this man simply because of his wealth, power and position, but not so. In reality, the heaping up of wealth to the detriment of the poor has turned out to be a terrible miscalculation, even as a cause for eternal torment (Hays). Wealth, rather than being a blessing, often is a curse because of what it does to a person and where it leaves their soul. The pursuit of wealth fosters a God ignoring self-sufficiency. If we’re doing well materially, is that more likely to be a blessing or a curse, or (picking up last week’s theme) more likely to be “darkness” or “light” to us. It turns out that God’s Kingdom is “too small” for the rich and callous, but when it comes to the poor and humble ... there’s plenty of room. Some hearers would not have expected such a good outcome for Lazarus, for surely he must have deserved his earthly suffering – but again ... not so! Now of course this is a parable and as such can’t be taken literally in every aspect, and we can’t build any sort of afterlife theology on this; especially as we see this strange communication happening between the two places. It’s purely a story of contrast, a literary device, to make a very clear point; and the point is this: we have to make the right decisions on earth here and now, for they will have eternal consequences! This is not just a matter of believing in Jesus and receiving salvation, but also about how we apply that salvation in our daily lives. We can never think that we can ever accept Jesus and then go on living unchanged ... it doesn’t work that way. Making the decision to accept and follow Jesus involves being sincerely and seriously committed to God’s ways. We have here (from verse 23) an afterlife scene, where the now deceased “rich man” looks with envy from “Hades” toward Lazarus who is obviously in a much better and cooler place in the company of Father Abraham (who is somewhat representative of God). It’s interesting that the now deceased “rich man” is referred to as “child”, which suggests there is still a level of compassion and creational connection with this man by God. Yet his arrogant and unsympathetic attitude on earth has become a huge barrier ... too big a barrier in fact! And nothing much has changed as this man still expects Lazarus to come and serve him (with that little drop of water), even though he never lifted a finger to help Lazarus when he had ample opportunity and resources to do so. He expects mercy when he had offered none himself! “I am in agony” ... wasn’t Lazarus in agony!! If only this “rich man” had extended this level of compassionate hospitality to the poor man at his gate. This “rich man” calls upon his religious heritage by calling Abraham “Father Abraham”, but due to his earthly inaction, this claim is a sham. Verse 26 reinforces that it is our decisions on earth that determine our destiny. The distance that the “rich man” had kept away from the needs of others on earth has become a distance that he cannot cross. It is time for all of us to make the right decisions! Fortunately we don’t have to do a four year degree or work in the mines or do any penance, because God has provided a free gift of grace ... which we only have to say “yes” to! There is a gift of mercy to accept, unwrap and begin to experience. No doubt then, when we see the face of “Lazarus” in need at our gate we will be prepared to help. As a sort of footnote in this story, this deceased “rich man” now turns his concern toward his family back in life on earth. He wants Lazarus sent back to them (like a slave) to warn them about where he himself has finished up. But again it’s too late! They have had ample opportunity in growing up in the religion of Israel to accept the teachings of the prophets but have failed to do so. No miraculous sign, not even a resurrection of a person from the dead would properly convince them if they have become so hard-hearted. The rich man’s family shouldn’t have needed a sign; they simply needed to follow what God had already revealed to them (Jon Lindsay). This was of course aimed straight at the Pharisees who had decided to absolutely reject Jesus, despite all the evidence that he is indeed the Son of God. Their wrong decision had become so permanent it could only be reactively defended. The sad fact is – Jesus’ own resurrection would not even help to convince them. This is sad and tragic for them, and there are no doubt many that are this lost today. But there are many, many others that might just be open to changing their minds (and increasing their sensitivity to God’s voice). Sometimes people are looking for a ‘sign’ or a remarkable turn of events to convince them to have faith, but we have already been given ample reason to embrace faith. Better to embrace faith now, and then become enlightened as we journey forward. We should reflect on John 6:66-69: Because of this many of [Jesus’] disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” We are left with the deceased formerly “rich man” in torment who still didn’t get it. His only concern was for himself and then his immediate family, but never for the poor sick man that had been at his gate, who would remain, as far as he was concerned, a slave to his circumstances. Through this that formerly rich now poor man made himself a ‘slave’ for eternity. How do you react to this text? What is it saying to you?