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The scene is a familiar one. The mansion with
the ornate ironwork front gate. Marble steps and carved
mahogany doors. Overlooking a well cared for street. A
street marred only be the presence of a filthy beggar,
sprawled beside the entrance to this palatial mansion. A
beggar who hardly moves, except when the garbage is put
out, because that's dinner time. Inside the gate is the
sweet perfume of flowering plants, augmented by the
essential oils used by the rich man to quarantine him
from the reality of the outside world. Outside the gate
is the smell of the street. The smell of human waste and
rotting flesh. |
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But the story isn't so much about externals, as
it is about people and their response to God's word. |
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Two Actors |
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There are 2 actors in the story, as well as 5
brothers who take a subsidiary role. |
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The Rich Man |
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The first actor is a rich man. In fact that's
the sum total of all we're told about him. "There
was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen
and who feasted sumptuously every day." In fact if
you think about it that's not a very impressive obituary,
is it? You'd hope at the end of your life that people
will be able to say more about you than that you were
rich. Even if your riches were achieved by your own
efforts and not those of your family or people who worked
for you, you'd still hope that there was more to say than
just that. Yet that's all we're told. This man's whole
life is summed up in a sense by his riches. Perhaps
that's how he saw it himself. He wouldn't be the first
person to assess his life's achievements by his bank
balance, or by the power he's able to wield, or by the
fine food and clothing he affords himself. Yet as we'll
see, such things are passing and in the long run don't
amount to anything. |
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The Poor Man |
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In stark contrast to the rich man is a man who
lives in abject poverty. He's sprawled at the rich man's
gate, starving, longing to eat even the scraps that are
left over after the rich man has finished feasting. His
skin is covered with sores, no doubt caused by
malnutrition. And the implication is that he's starving
because of the rich man's neglect. No doubt the rich man
holds his handkerchief to his nose and looks the other
way whenever he passes, trying his best to ignore this
man. Forget the call of God's word to care for the poor.
Let someone else worry about that. It isn't my concern.
Who knows how he got himself in this state anyway. In any
case he got himself into it, he can get himself out of
it. And so the rich man ignores the beggar, while, we're
told even the dogs care for him to the extent of licking
his sores clean. |
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Now we miss some of the impact of this throw
away statement, because we live in a different culture as
far as dogs are concerned. We think about a dog and our
thoughts are warm and rosy. We think of that cute pet who
greets us at the door when we get home. Who plays chase
with a tennis ball or a stick. Who's the faithful
companion, who never disagrees with us when we complain
to him. But in Jesus' day, dogs were despised animals,
outsiders, curs, confined to wandering the streets. Yet
even these despised animals showed care to this poor
beggar. |
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One Name - Lazarus |
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But you know the most striking thing about this
man isn't his poverty, or his sores. It's the fact that
Jesus names him. In fact this is the only occasion on
which Jesus gives a name to a character in one of his
parables. Now that isn't because this is based on a real
story as some have wondered. Rather it's to show that
there's more to this man than his poverty. You see a name
is important because it indicates a relationship. You
only need a name if you're known to someone. A name
distinguishes you as an individual. |
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Now that doesn't mean that the rich man didn't
have a name. But as far as this story is concerned, he
might as well not have. On the other hand the poor man's
name is significant because of its meaning. His name in
fact tells us who he was known by. 'Lazarus', in Hebrew,
would be Eleazar. And that means 'He whom God helps'.
Jesus gives him this name to indicate that Lazarus is one
who waits on God to help him. He doesn't blame God for
his situation. He doesn't plot revenge. He simply waits
for the vindication of the Lord. He knows that as bad as
his plight might be in this world, there is a life to
come that will make this life fade into insignificance. |
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Here then is a story of contrasts. Two men who
are totally unequal. One with incredible wealth, yet
without identity. The other poor beyond bearing, yet
known personally to God. 2 types of inequality in fact.
Material and spiritual. Jesus wants us to consider which
is the more important. "What does it profit them if
they gain the whole world," Jesus said in Luke 9,
"but lose or forfeit themselves?" (Luke 9:25
NRSV) |
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Two destinies |
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But not only do these 2 men lead different
lives. They also have 2 very different destinies. |
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First the poor man dies. We're not given any
details of a funeral. We're probably expected to
understand that such a man wouldn't have been given a
funeral. At best he would have been carried away to a
suitable place and his body burnt. But that's in fact
irrelevant anyway, because we're told the angels come and
carry him to Abraham's side. Now, we mustn't get carried
away by the details here. We have to remember that we're
reading a parable, and a parable is a device that teaches
spiritual truths by allegorical means. So the
descriptions Jesus gives for the mode of transport or the
details of heaven and hell aren't meant to be taken
literally. They're there purely to teach us spiritual
truth. The picture of Lazarus being carried by the angels
to Abraham, is perhaps meant to remind us of Elijah, or
even Enoch, who weren't buried but were simply taken to
be with God at the end of their lives. And he's taken as
a sign that God is with him. |
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By contrast the rich man dies and is buried. He
has the full funeral. No doubt someone reads an eloquent
eulogy about his success in life, about the way God had
obviously blessed him. Yet the reality is far from
anything that those mourning his death might imagine. We
find him in Hades, being tormented. The nature of this
torment isn't commented on, though thirst and heat are
implied by his request of Abraham. But again, the detail
isn't important. What matters here is threefold: |
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1
Heaven and hell are real, whatever the reality of such
states might be. Here's what we glean from
the parable. Hell and heaven have the following contrast
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- An awareness of
what has been lost or gained
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- Utter separation
from God or intimate companionship with God and
his people.
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In fact the rich man's final state simply
reflects his life on earth. It's simply a continuation of
his separation from God. The only difference is that on
earth he was able to hide from himself his true
condition. The comfort and luxury in which he lived
shielded him from his true spiritual condition. I guess
the other difference is that while he was on earth he was
still able to decide how to live. Now his ability to
choose is gone. |
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2 Our personalities survive death
in a conscious state. The nature of heaven
and hell could be characterised as God sustaining us in
one of 2 states. Either a state of bliss, in company with
all who are believers, as represented by Abraham, or a
state of isolated anguish, represented by this lonely man
separated from God by an uncrossable chasm. |
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3
The 2 destinies indicate a great reversal of fortune.
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Now again, we need to be careful how we read
this story. It would be easy to argue that this is just a
story of how God evens things up in the end. How the rich
in this world will suffer in the next and vice versa as
though there were some global clearing house of life
debts. Some have used this sort of idea in fact to try to
appease those who suffer from injustice in this world by
promising that the next world will reverse our fortunes:
the poor will get revenge and the rich their comeuppance.
But that isn't the point of this parable. God isn't a
Galactic Robin Hood, robbing from the rich to give to the
poor. Rather God judges us on how we've responded to his
word. That's the whole point of Abraham's response in
v29. 'They have Moses and the prophets; they should
listen to them.' You see the rich man has no excuse. The
Old Testament is chock full of warnings and instructions
about looking after the poor. God has been described as
the God of the Poor, because of the emphasis he places on
justice for the downtrodden, on stopping oppression and
tyranny and the misuse of power by the rich. |
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In fact Jesus has just finished teaching about
the use of wealth in the preceding passage, which we were
meant to look at last week, but that I've moved back a
few weeks. There in v9 he says: "And I tell you, use
worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves so that
when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal
homes." This is what the rich man has failed to do.
He's ignored the poor at his gate rather than using his
wealth to make friends for eternity. He may even have
seen the poor man as a provision of God to show just how
much God has blessed him. |
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The Key - God's Word |
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The key to the parable comes in v29. The rich
man begs that Lazarus might be sent back to warn his 5
brothers of what awaits them that side of the grave. But
Abraham says, "No, they have all the warning they
need." God's word has been given so we'll know what
the Lord requires of us. What does Micah 6:8 say?
"He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what
does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to
love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?"
(Micah 6:8 NRSV) The failure of the rich man was a
failure to hear God's word. It was a failure to let God's
word be the arbiter of his actions. The way we respond to
God's word seals our destiny. Will we believe the gospel
it presents or go on our way pretending that all is well?
Will we take its teaching and apply it to our life? |
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Every time we open God's Word, whether it's here
on a Sunday or during the week in the privacy of our
quiet time, we open our lives to God's appraisal. Someone
has said that every time we open God's Word we stand
before the gates of heaven and hell. That's how serious a
matter it is to read God's Word. God's Word is a word
that calls for change, for repentance, for reformation.
God isn't going to send us a Ghost of Christmas to Come
like Scrooge saw. He's already given us his Word as a
lamp to our feet and a light to our path, as a mirror to
reflect the way we're living, the way we're shaping up or
not. |
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And Jesus is saying, if you won't take that Word
seriously, you won't take anything seriously, even
someone returning from the dead. |
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This is a parable, you see, that's addressed not
to the unbeliever. If that were the case it would be a
terrible thing, a message of despair rather than warning.
Rather it's addressed to believers. In the first instance
of course it was addressed to the Pharisees, but equally
it's addressed to us, who claim to believe in the Word of
God. It's meant as a warning to make sure that our lives
measure up to God's Word. That the way we act towards
others in need matches the way God feels about them. That
we don't let the busy-ness or the success of our lives
hide the reality of the world we live in or the truth
about our own spiritual life. |
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Now let me repeat, we have to be careful how we
read this parable. It's all too easy to read a parable
like this and feel despairing because we don't measure
up. But that would be to go too far. You see, the
revelation of God has gone beyond Moses and the Prophets.
We now know more about how to please God than was
revealed in the Old Testament alone. Not that care of the
needy is any less important to God, but he's shown us
through Jesus Christ how we can truly please him in the
first instance. Listen to what Jesus says in John 6:
"They said to him, "What must we do to perform
the works of God?" 29Jesus answered them,
"This is the work of God, that you believe in him
whom he has sent." (Jn 6:28-29) The primary response
asked of us by God is that we believe in Jesus Christ.
That is that we believe that he is indeed the Son of God.
That he came in humility to bring us to God. The failure
of the rich man was that he failed to hear the Word of
God. Our failure or success will depend on the same
thing: do we hear the Word of God, not just as it relates
to riches and poverty, but as it relates to Jesus Christ
and his place in our lives. Of course a right use of our
wealth should flow naturally from our faith in Jesus
Christ but that's secondary. |
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There's both a warning and a promise in this
strange tale of two men. There's the warning that to
ignore God and those that God cares about in this life
will have eternal consequences for us in the next. But
there's also the promise that those who know and are
known by God, who look to him for help, will enjoy his
presence in eternity. Why? Because Jesus himself came as
a Lazarus, as one who had nothing to rely on but the help
that God gave him. Because Jesus hung on a cross to take
away the suffering that humanity deserves, to open the
gateway to heaven for all who will turn to him for help.
Because he who was rich, for our sake became poor, so
that by his poverty we might become rich. Because Jesus
now waits for us at the right hand of the Father and on
the day of our death will take us to sit with him and
Abraham, and all who call on God as Father. |
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How can you know the assurance of that promise?
Not as some might think by making sure that we've cared
for the poor. That's not actually the point of this
parable. Rather by first believing and then obeying the
word of God. By believing in Jesus as God's instrument of
salvation. And as you believe, seeing how God gives his
Spirit to live within you to enable you to care for the
poor. "It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ
who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I
live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave
himself for me." (Gal 2:20) |
