Posted on 09/30/2007 10:59:17 AM PDT by Charles Henrickson
“Who Will Help Poor Lazarus?” (Luke 16:19-31)
Rich man, poor man--which would you rather be? Let’s look at an example of each in a story that Jesus tells. He begins:
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.”
Wow, quite a contrast, isn’t it? Rich man, poor man--which would you rather be? I think we’d all agree, we’d rather be the rich man in this story. This rich guy has got it all going for him, doesn’t he? In terms of the basic necessities--food, clothing, and shelter--this fellow has got all that and more. Much more. He’s clothed in “purple and fine linen.” These are expensive fabrics, top-of-the-line stuff. It’s like he’s got $1200 Armani suits in his closet, and those are just for casual Fridays!
For food, it says he “feasted.” No, wait, there’s more: he “feasted sumptuously.” No, wait, it says even more than that: he “feasted sumptuously every day.” Jesus piles up the phrases to emphasize how this guy piled up the delicacies on his plate. The rich man would be having the finest cut of beef and the most expensive bottle of wine--he’d have filet mignon and Dom Perignon, not just for a super-special occasion once every few years, but as his ordinary everyday fare.
Then there’s where he lived. We’d say this rich man lived in a “gated community.” Well, at least it was “gated.” I don’t know how much of a “community” it was. ’Cause this rich man seems rather cut off and isolated from others. The gate served its purpose of keeping out the less desirable elements of society.
In fact, he’s got one of those less desirables lying there right at his gate. That’s the poor man in the story, and the rich man doesn’t want to be bothered with him. And you and I sure wouldn’t want to be him! I mean, look at this poor guy! Just lying there, reduced to begging. I mean, this guy is so low, he’s got to look up to see the curb! His body is covered, not with purple and fine linen, but “covered with sores.” He’s not feasting sumptuously every day, but rather every day he would be content with just a few scraps from the rich man’s table. But they’re not coming. Who will help this poor fellow? Certainly not the rich man.
The poor man in the story is lacking the basic necessities of life. He doesn’t have any food. He doesn’t have nice clothing. He doesn’t have decent shelter. He doesn’t have anybody to help him out, either. But there is one thing the poor man does have. He has a name. Yes, that’s the thing that jumps out at you in this story. The poor man has a name. That’s unusual. In fact, this is the only time in all of Jesus’ parables that he gives one of the characters a name. Here he does. Jesus gives a name to the poor man. His name is Lazarus.
Now “Lazarus” would not have been that uncommon a name back then. Remember, Jesus even had a friend named Lazarus. And “Lazarus” is simply how we get into our English Bibles the Hebrew name, “Eliezer.” “Eliezer” means, literally, “My God is help,” or, “My God helps.” We can put it more simply like this: “Lazarus” means, “The one whom God helps.” And that’s the name Jesus chooses to assign to this poor fellow in the story: Lazarus, “The one whom God helps.” The rich man wouldn’t help poor Lazarus, but God will.
And he does. Look what happens when Lazarus dies. Indeed, look at what happens to Lazarus, in contrast to what happens to the rich man when he dies:
“The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. . . .”
Now the roles are reversed. Now the tables are turned. Now the poor man is listed first, and the rich man after him. And look at the difference in descriptions. The poor man dies and is “carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.” That’s a beautiful and elegant description of the blessed death of a believer, being “carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.” In contrast, for the rich man, it just says he “also died and was buried.” No angels. No Abraham’s side. Just “and was buried.” Now I’m sure the rich man was able to afford a very lavish and impressive memorial service for himself, with lots of flowers and professional mourners. But none of that counts now or is even worth mentioning. The poor man dies and is carried by the angels to Abraham’s side, in heaven. The rich man also dies and is buried. And he ain’t goin’ to heaven.
“. . . and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’”
The rich man now finds himself in a different place. Oh, by the way, after he dies and is buried, notice that he is no longer called “the rich man.” Not only does he not have a name, like Lazarus does, he doesn’t even have the descriptor, “the rich man,” anymore. You can’t take it with you, and he doesn’t. Now, “The Man Formerly Known As Rich” finds himself in Hades. And it’s hell. Literally. Hades, or hell, is a place or torment. It is a place of anguish, ablaze with flame. Unquenchable thirst. And it is fixed. Eternal. A great chasm has been fixed between heaven and hell, and after death, there is no crossing over. As it says in Hebrews, “It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgment.” There is no purgatory, where you can work off your sins or have some relative or saint pay them off for you. It’s too late.
Part of the anguish for the rich man--the formerly rich man--is that he realizes this, that it’s too late for him. And so he asks about those he knows who haven’t died yet:
“And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house--for I have five brothers--so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”
In other words, if you’re so concerned about your brothers not ending up in hell, well, they have the same means to prevent them from going there that you had, namely, the Holy Scriptures. “Moses and the Prophets,” that’s a way of saying what we call the Old Testament, which was the extent of the Bible at that time. And Moses and the Prophets were enough to keep the rich man and his brothers from going to hell. For Moses and the Prophets warn against a reliance on self. They warn against a consuming desire for riches and material wealth. They warn against a forgetting of God as the source for all your blessings--or even worse, thinking that God is blessing you with all these good things because you have been so good and pleasing to him. Or even more crassly, imagining that you can use God and manipulate God, by following some secret success formula, into giving you your best life now. And the Scriptures warn us against neglecting our fellow man, the poor man at our gate, whom God may have placed there so that we can be God’s channel of blessing and help for that person in need.
The Scriptures--and we can add the New Testament, Jesus and the apostles, to Moses and the Prophets--the Scriptures warn us against all these vain imaginings. And they call us to repent of our folly. For whether you are rich or poor or somewhere in between, you, in one way or another, focus on self, forget God or try to use him, and fail to help the person who needs your help. In one way or another, we are all poor miserable sinners, unable to get up, lying outside the gated community called heaven.
But the good news is, inside this gate there is a rich man who will help you. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” Yes, Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, came down from heaven, came down to where we live, and suffered and died for you, for your sins. The holy one, the truly rich one, emptied himself for your sake. He suffered anguish and torment so that you would not. On the cross he cried out, “I thirst.” His clothes were stripped from him. On his back he bore the bloody stripes of beating and flogging; on his head he wore a crown of thorns. In his hands and his feet and in his side, he was wounded for our transgressions. All this he did for you. He saw you lying there, dying in your sins, and he came out and took your place.
It is because of this unfathomably rich grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that when you die you too will be carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. Heck, it’s because of Christ that even Abraham is there to begin with! Jesus died and rose again and lives forever, and it’s solely because of him that all of God’s people receive the divine help that only God can give.
And God has given you a sign that he has helped you in this way. He has given you a name. In Holy Baptism God placed his saving name upon you, claiming you for his own. “Our help is in the name of the Lord.” You bear the name of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God has given you a name. You belong to him. He will help you--yes, he will!
Rich man, poor man--which would you rather be? You want to be, and you truly are, the poor man made rich by the grace of God! Now, in Christ, you can put yourself into this story: Your name is Lazarus, “The one whom God helps”!
[Jesus said:] “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house--for I have five brothers--so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”
Ping.
Our priest gave a good sermon on this Gospel today. I guess the title of it would be, “you have all you need” for salvation. That’s what Abraham said to the rich man about his brothers. They have everything they need and even if someone returns from the dead, they will not believe. I think Jesus is prophesying his own resurrection here and that even then, there will be those who do not believe.
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Nice sermon. It's a good thing when a man "finds his calling". I'm glad you have found your's
Sounds like my wife and I. For the past two days we have been gorging on prime rib buffet at the Seminole Casino in Hollywood (FL). What happened is that we so the billboard advertising that special for just $5.99 so we went there fully realizing it was just a gimmick to hook us into gambling there which we vowed we wouldn't do no matter what. Okay, so we show up at the buffet section and the cashier told us we had to get the Player's Club card to get the buffet. Uh-oh, I think but we spent a half hour signing up for that free card and also got tickets for $20 of free casino play for each of us.
We go back to the buffet line and the prime rib was excellent. Having gorged on that we made a beeline out of the casino when I read the $20 coupon. I told my wife that since it expired within a couple of weeks we might as well use it now.
So we go the the set of slot machines (technically bingo machines since state law still prohibits slot machines even though that is what they really are) and attempt to play. We didn't know what we were doing but a grizzled player help us get our start.
To make a long story short, I didn't win but my wife walked out of there with over $78 cash. Soooooooo....the next night (last night) we show up again. Prime rib buffet routine and my wife and I then.....
...head for the same slot machines (Seminole Pride) as the night before. I lose $15 bucks and wife loses $5. Then she puts another $5 in the machine (after swearing she had reached her limit) and suddenly she racks up 400 points for exactly $20 and now she wants to quit. I BEG her to continue until she falls back 200 points so she goes ahead and keeps on racking up points until she has over 800 when she wants to quit. I BEG her to go on and only quit if she falls back to $600 points. She racks up more points then falls back to exactly 800 points at which point she hits the cash out button and gets a ticket for the 40 bucks. Okay, I figured it was over but then she whips out another 5 bucks and plays again. She quickly loses but with the $40 ticket she is still ahead. It is ALL OVER or so I thought because she whips out yet another 5 bucks to play. This time she had amazing luck. First she goes to over 800 points again and wa nts to quit. Again I beg her to stay in the game and only quit if she falls back to 600 points.
Meanwhile, a crowd is forming around us and laughing at the antics of me arguing with my wife. She kept trying to hit the cash out button but I kept grabbing her hand and forcing it above the play button to hit again. Sometimes she would make as if to hit the play button only to declare she was cashing out right then and there and I would have to pull her hand back to the play button. The ever growing crowd behind us is now laughing at our antics. I struggle each and every time to get her to hit the play button instead of cashing out. She grows the points up to over 1300 and is ADAMANT about cashing out then and there. I BEG her to continue play until she falls back to 1000 points. She continues to hit the play button and each time requires a screaming argument between us because she wants to cash out and I want her to play. I tell her that I swear that I will make her stop before she has a chance to fall back to 1000. Sh e still wants to cash out. Then I yell that I am like her slot machine manager and that I not only will force her to stop at 1000 but I would also prevent her from playing after that more no matter how much she wants.
So this is going back and forth and almost turns into a comedy act judging from the laughing crowd behind us. Finally she gets to just above 1000 points and then I scream at her to CASH OUT like I promised. She did so and the ticket came back with a little over 50 bucks.
I relax my guard and tell her its time to go to the cashier to redeem the two tickets for real money. Just as we get up she yells, "Just $5 more!"
I couldn't believe it. After all that struggle to keep her from cashing out, she wants to play more. Crowd is laughing. She makes like she is going to feed the machine again and I give her a big bear hug to pin her arms and lift her away from the machine. Crowd is laughing even louder especially since my wife is screaming that she wants to play MORE!!!
We go to the cashier's booth and redeem both tickets for a total of $90. So my wife won $78 on Friday night with the free play and $90 on Saturday night with a $15 investment for a net gain of $75. So for the two days she is ahead $153.
I guess the secret of those machines is to know when to quit. And FORCE yourself to quit. Going out the casino, my wife is grumbling about how we were leaving too early. However, I was thinking of that laughing crowd and how most of them, later that night, only wish they walked away $75 ahead. So who had the last laugh?
p.s. That was the FIRST time my wife ever gambled. She had been on a gambling boat before but only ate and drank with her sister and brother-in-law.
p.p.s. Sorry for going waaaaay off topic from your sermon. I only meant to comment on the feasting and got carried away. Perhaps you can use this story for a sermon about avoiding temptation (trying to win too much and end up winning nothing) and knowing when to quit when ahead.
Best sermon title I ever saw for this passage was “What in Hell do you want?”
Thanks Pastor. We had a visiting Pastor yesterday and he had a very good sermon on this as well.
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