Living in South Africa Today
Poverty and Inequality
Luke 16v19-31
This morning we come to the last talk in our series: “Living in South Africa today”
We ran a survey; asking people: What's the best thing? What’s the worst thing about living in South Africa? I’ve been preaching in response to that survey. And this morning the theme is: POVERTY AND INEQUALITY. This is one of the thingsIwould have said is the worst thing about our country. This is one of our deepest problems.
I mean think of unemployment.
25 percent of our people are unemployed. According to some measurements, it’s as high as 34 percent. That’s 1 out of every 3 people who don’t have a job.
50 percent of our population live in poverty (that’s according to international definitions of poverty).
And what makes this all the more painful is that alongside this poverty we also see great wealth.
You might have heard of the Gini coeffiecent. Its something that economists have come up with to try and measure inequality. And this is how it works. If all your wealth in your country was perfectly distributed between all your people, then you would have a gini co-efficient of zero.....Impossible situation...... Everyone with exactly the same amount of wealth. That’s a Gini co-efficient of zero.
But if on the other hand, all the wealth in your country was owned by just one person. Then you’d have a Gini coefficient of 1. Again a ridiculous situation.
And so your gini coefficient varies between nought and one. Most countries have a gini coefficient of between 0.3 and 0.5.
Well South Africa’s Gini coefficient is close to 0.7. That's getting pretty close to the ridiculous situation of 1 person owning all the wealth.
And according to some sources we have the highest Gini coefficient in the world. Although that’s difficult to know. Because some countries just don’t have enough information.But we do know our Gini co-efficient is higher than Brazil. And higher than India. You think of the massive inequality in those countries. Ours is worse. And so definitely we are amongst the most unequal societies in the world.
And this inequality underlies so many of the other problems we face. We just need to look at the 'Fees must fall campaign'. And whatever we say about the validity of the cause, it does highlight the frustration amongst the poor. I mean here you've got students so desperate to get an education that they are willing to get hurt and even to die for this cause.
This is a massive problem.
And look, there are so many passages in the Bible that deal with this issue. This is one of the biggest themes in the Bible. And so we not going to be able to cover everything. But I just want us to look at one parable of Jesus' which I think will be helpful.
If you can turn to that passage that Kirsty read for us, Luke chapter 16. I want us to see three points in this parable. Firstly, present inequality. Secondly, future reversal. And thirdly, what’s the link? (repeat)
So firstly in verses 19-21 we see a classic picture of inequality. It's a very South African picture. One we are very familiar with.
Just compare our two main characters. You've got the rich man in verse 19.
Because of his wealth he’s able to wear the fanciest clothes. According to verse 19, he’s dressed in purple. Purple clothing was a luxury in those days. It was made of a dye extracted from a rare type of Phonecian sea snail. And so it was a rare and expensive luxury. Reserved for the rich and famous.
And his fancy clothes extend even to his underwear. It says he was dressed in purple and fine linen. And the commentators agree the word for linen here refers to underwear. And so he’s gotfinelinen underwear. Probably made from an expensive Egyptian cotton.
And so in today’s terms, this man iswearing the latest, most expensive, name brand clothing. Nikey shoes. Billabong shirts. Calvin Klein undies.
And he’s also able to eat the finest foods. According to verse 19, he lives in luxury every day. And the word for luxury here refers to feasting. He indulges his taste buds. He’s been watching masterchef. He knows, if you want to eat the best, you have to have the finest ingredients: those special spices. those tasty herbs, those tender meats. This guy doesn’t hold back. And notice he lives like this every day.Everyday there’s a feast served up in his home.
And thirdly he’s able to decorate his residence. In verse 20 it refers to his gate. And again the Greek word here isn’t just a normal gate. It’s a fancy gate, a decorated gate. It is the kind of gate you see in our wealthy suburbs or at the entrance to many of our housing estates.
So that’s the rich man. Dressed in the finest clothes. Eating the finest foods. Decorating his residence. Living in luxury every day.
But right alongside him you’ve got the poor man. Verse 20.
Notice, he’s so weak, he can’t even walk around. He has to be laid outside the rich man’s gate.
He’s a beggar. He has to beg for survival.
He’s covered in sores. Even the dogs come and lick his sores. And in those days dogs weren’t viewed like they are today. They weren’t beautiful pets. They were viewed as unclean scavengers. And so this is a shameful, dirty picture of these dogs licking his wounds. Either he doesn’t have the strength or maybe he doesn’t have the motivation to chase them away.
He can smell the rich foods being cooked inside. It says he longs to eat even just the scraps that fall from the rich man’s table. You only long for something if you don’t have it. So that just highlights the lack of compassion this poor man receives. He’s not even given scraps from the rich man’s table.
And we know the rich man sees him. Later in the story the rich man recognizes Lazarus when he sees him in heaven. And so the rich man knows about him. Heseeshim lying outside his gate. But he shows him no compassion.
In the words of Kent Hughes, “Day by day as the (rich) man passes through his gate wearing his purple robes, his perfumed aroma collides with the beggar’s stench. Occasionally their eyes meet, but with no recognition and no feeling by the wealthy man. The beggar is simply part of the landscape – an unpleasant sighthehas to endure. Soon the beggar will be gone.”
And so this is a striking example of a cold and heartless response to the poor. And yet it’s not far removed from what we see in our land.
We too are confronted with this kind of poverty.
We see beggars..... Standing next to the robots. Lying outside our restaurants.
Sometimes they are covered with sores. Sometimes they are crippled. They long to eat even our scraps. We sometimes see them searching for food in our rubbish bags.
And the danger is that we've become sousedto it that we’ve becomenumbto it. We see the beggars. We see the townships. We see people living in poverty. But it no longer affects us. It no longer fills us with compassion.
And like I said last week: we can’t only blame the non-Christians. 85 percent of our country claims to be Christian. And so surely it’s not only the atheists and the non-religious and those who don’t go to church who are responsible. Surely there are many so-called Christians and religious people who are also living in luxury and ignoring the poor.
And in fact I want you to see that that’s exactly the people to whom this parable is addressed. If you look back to verse 13 you can see who Jesus is speaking to.
Verse 13 Jesus says: “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Then notice verse 14.
“The Pharisees who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.”
And so this is who Jesus is speaking to: The Pharisees.... The religious people... Who work in the temple.... Serious about religion. And yet they also love money. And they are unconcerned for the poor. And so that’s who Jesus is talking to. So in this parable, Jesus makes it clear that this rich man is religious. And you can see that from the way he refers to Abraham in verse 24. Notice. “The rich man called to him, “Father Abraham.”
This man considers himself a child of Abraham, part of the covenant people of God. And yet somehow his religion hasn’t affected his heart. He's unconcerned for the poor. And sadly the same is true for many “Christians” today. Our country is full of religious people; so-called Christians who are unconcerned for the poor.
So that’s present inequality.
2) Secondly, we see future reversal.
In verses 22-26 the beggar and the rich man both die. And notice how their circumstances are reversed.
In verse 22 the beggar dies. And there’s no reference to his burial. Unable to afford a tomb, his body’s probably just dumped on a rubbish heap. But hisspiritis no longer there. He gets carried by the angels to heaven.
The Bible often pictures heaven as a great feast. And in those days when there was a feast people wouldn’t sit at tables. They’d all lie on their sides and food would be placed in the middle. So Lazarus gets carried up to this feast. And notice where he gets placed. The angels carried him to Abraham’s side. Abraham is the great patriarch of God’s people. And this poor beggar gets to feast next to him.
So this is a great comfort. If you're one of God’s people, He might allow you to suffer great poverty in this life. Even the extreme poverty like we see in this parable; a beggar, covered in sores. But you need to know: this life is not all that there is. This life will come to an end. And there’s an eternal feast for you to enjoy. Your circumstances will be reversed.
But Now look at the rich man. He also dies. And hedoesget buried. Probably a fancy burial in an expensive tomb. But his spirit has also left. And notice where he gets taken. Verse 23.
“The rich man also died and was buried. Inhell, where he was intorment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, “Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water andcool my tongue, because I am inagonyin thisfire.”
And so this is a reminder to us of the reality of hell. There’s torment. There’s agony. There’s fire.
You might be shocked by this strong language. But we need to remember who is speaking here. This is Jesus. The most loving and compassionate man the world’s ever seen.And so he doesn’t use this language to try and crush us and break us down. He uses it to warn us so that we can be saved.
And so we need to hear this warning and we need to heed it. Because now is the opportunity to repent. This parable makes it very clear that once we’ve died, then there’s no going back
Look at verse 25. Lazarus asks just to have a drop of water to cool his tongue. But verse in 25,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. 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.”
You see, I think we’ve got used to those Hollywood movies; where the heroes often get trapped in a locked room with no windows and a steel door and yetsomehowthey always seem to find a way to escape. Well not so with hell. There’ll be no escaping the agony of hell.
And so this is where the rich man ends up.
And you need to realize how shocking this would’ve been to Jesus’ listeners.
In that culture and at that time, if anyone was going to end up in heaven it was the religious Jew who was also rich. If you were rich in those days. Then it was simply assumed that you'd been blessed by God. His favour was upon you. And so surely you, of all people, would end up in heaven. That’s how many people thought.
And sadly that’s how many people still think today. Many people in South Africa think like that. I confess that I’m tempted to think like that.
I mean, if I see a beggar digging in a rubbish bag outside a wealthy Summerstrand home, I’m tempted to think that he’s outside of God’s favour. Its unlikely in my opinion that this is a blessed child of God. It’s more likely in my opinion that I’ll find a blessed child of God living inside the home.
You see its not only the prosperity preachers who make this mistake. This is a subtle mistake. I’m also tempted to equate material prosperity with the blessing of God.
But that’s one of the main myths that this parable destroys. You cannot equate prosperity inthislife with the blessing and favour of God. Here you've got a poorbeggar. And yet he ends up in heaven. Here you’ve got a wealthy Jew. And yet he ends up in hell.
That’s the reversal we see in this passage. Just look at verse 25 again.
'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”'
And so that raises the third point from this parable.
3) What’s the link?
What’s the link between how we live inthislife and where we go in the next?
I mean is it a simple case that there’s a set amount of prosperity that each person in this world is allowed to enjoy? And so if you use up a lot of prosperity here on earth then you’ll face bad things in the future life?
And If you suffer poverty here on earth, then you’ll have stored up prosperity for the future?
Or is it like this rhyme that I heard?
Live life well, go to hell. Suffer pain enjoy great gain.
Is that the teaching of this parable?
Well it can’t be as simple as that. That’s a simplistic reading of this parable. And we can know that if we think about Abraham. Abraham was a wealthy man. One of the richest people of his time. And here we see he’s in heaven. And there are lots of examples in the Bible of wealthy people who still go to heaven. We can’t say that just because someone’s rich they will go to hell.
Neither can we say that just because someone’s poor they will go to heaven.
That’s been a common mistake in the history of the church. People who think that if they can just make themselves poor, then they’ll be saved.
According to 1 Corinthians 13, it’s possible for you to sell all your possessions and give it all to the poor; and yet still to be nothing in God’s sight, because you're not doing it out of love.
And so there must be a deeper reason. If it’s not a simple case of the rich going to hell and the poor going to heaven, what’s the link?
Well we’ve already received a clue if we look back at these two characters in this parable. I wonder if you noticed it. There’s one thing here that the poor man had (even while he was here on earth) that the rich man didn’t have. Can you see it? Its there in verse 20....one thing that the poor man has that the rich man doesn’t have.
The poor man has a name. The rich man doesn’t have a name. In other words from the perspective of God, this rich man is anonymous. But the poor man has an identity. He is known by God. He’s in a relationship with God. That’s why he ends up in heaven.
And more than that, his name is Lazarus which comes from the Hebrew word Eleazar which simply means: “God helps”. And so this is a clue for us that during his life here on earth, Lazarus was dependant on God. He lived a life of faith. God was his help. That’s why he ends up in heaven.
And by the way that’s one of the great dangers of being rich. Jesus said it is hard for rich people to be saved, because we live our lives here in comfort. We feel like all our needs are met. Its hard to have that desperate dependence on God.
So that’s a clue we’ve already received. The poor man has a name. But I think we get another clue in the final verses of this parable. In verses 27 to 31.
The rich man realizes that he can’t be saved. Its too late for him. And so he begins to plead for his brothers. He begs Abraham to please send Lazarus to go and warn his brothers.
And then he has this debate with Abraham. According to Abraham, these brothers havealreadyreceived their warning. They’ve received Moses and the prophets, which is just a shorthand way of referring to the whole Old Testament. According to Abraham that should be enough.