Sunday Sermon 9/25/2016
Sermon Text: Luke 16:19–31
Sermon Theme: Rich in the world, poor in the things that matter.
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.’ ”
When you were little how much money did you need to be rich? I remember once hearing my mom and dad talk about the bank deposit and thinking to myself that it was a ton of money. I have listened to my children talk about their money. One says, I have $20, then another says I have $25, but when the last says I have $100, that child wins because that’s a lot of money.
When we were little we had no concept of what it meant to be rich. A lot of money might have been a dollar, $10 or even $100, but as adults we have a different perspective on money. We might even laugh at children because they are so naïve about what a lot of money is.
Yet,adults can be naïve about money too. I’m not talking about thinking we have more money when we don’t, I’m talking aboutoverestimating what money can get us. We can be very smart when it comes to worldly wealth. We can know how to make money, save it or spend it, but we forget that worldly wealth is not the most important part of life. We think that if we have lots of possessions, lots of money, that everything else is taken care of. We are naïve about the real value of money and possessions. As we look at Jesus words this morning we will see that we can be rich in this world, but poor in the things that really matter.
Jesus often told parables to respond to a question or a situation. He used those parables to teach or reinforce one main point. Usually the people following Jesus would understand why he was telling the parable even if they didn’t know exactly what it meant. We don’t have that ability to walk with Jesus and understand why he is telling a parable and sometimes we might get caught up in the details of the parable and we might miss the main point Jesus is teaching.
Our parable this morning has some of those interesting details that might get us to miss the point that Jesus is teaching. To understand Jesus’ point we look back at chapter 16 of Luke. Jesus had told a parable about using money in a way that benefits others. He said that you cannot love both God and money, either you will love God and use your money to help others, or you will love your money and keep it for yourself. Verse 14 says the Pharisees who loved money, heard this teaching and sneered at Jesus in anger.
Jesus tells this parable about the rich man and poor Lazarus to these same sneering, angry men who loved their money so much. He was teaching that though they might seem rich on earth, they were poor about things that really mattered.
The description of the two men in the parable are so far apart aren’t they? On one hand we have the rich man who has the best of everything. He has never wanted for anything, living in luxury with the best that money can buy.On the other hand we have poor Lazarus who has less than nothing. He is a beggar who sits at the gates of the rich man’s house. People pass by him and don’t even look at him. It is only the dogs who take an interest in him to lick his wounds.
If we had to choose between the two, I think most of us would pick a life like the rich man. The rich man was rich by every material standard there is. On the other hand,by every standard Lazarus was poor, even the dogs were better off than he is. But the standard of worldly wealth was not the standard of riches that Jesus was concerned about.
I remember speaking with a missionary from Africa. He said something that made me think wealth. While he served in the US he was in the middle class. Like most pastors, he was given a fair salary by his congregation. It was not at the highest point of the synod scale, but it was not at the lowest point either. He lived like most of us live: budgeting, planning and saving in order to have food on the table and a vehicle to drive. He told me that when he had accepted the call to be a missionary in Africa he had taken a pay cut to serve. Even with the pay cut, he and the other missionaries were targets for robberies because, in Africa, they were in the highest income bracket and considered very wealthy.
When was this missionary rich? By the US standard he was in the middle class like many other people but by the African standard he was wealthy. By any measure of the imagination we are wealthy in this country. Although we may not think that is the case based upon our checkbook balance or bank accounts. We have been blessed with so many material things, we have creature comforts and luxuries that other people just dream of. There are timeswe can’t even fit all of those things into our garages.
Commercials beg us to chase those creature comforts with our hard earned money so that we have the best of everything. We can use our money to be entertained in our down time by a show on the strip or a football or baseball game. We are even allowed to have credit to buy things that we can’t afford at the moment so that we can pay it back later. We live a life that is much closer to the rich man’s life than Lazarus’.
Working hard, budgeting well, living a life that has some comfort and entertainment, none of these things are wrong. The danger comes when we start to act like the rich man, when our world centers around ourselves and the things money can get for us. Instead of seeing that God has given us a tool in this life to thank him and to help others, we look at that money and those possessions, not as God’s money, but as our money to do with as we please. We trust that money to pay the bills and get the car fixed, without giving a thought to the God who has placed this tool, this great blessings of money, in our hand.
It’s unfortunate that many people don’t use bumper stickers anymore. There can be nuggets of wisdom and piles of stupidity. I’d like to share two that I saw. One said, “The one who dies with the most toys wins.” The other said, “The one who dies with the most toys, is dead.” Which do you think fits better with this parable?
What did the all the man’s luxury and riches get him? Jesus sums up the end of this man’s life simply, he died, was buried and he went to hell. All of the time the man spent building his fortune, spending his riches on possessions and toys for his life meant nothing when he died, he could not take any of them with him.
The rich man enjoyed his wealth and was able to fill his life with activities because of that wealth. We often have the ability to do that too. When we enjoy an activity or a hobby we look for opportunities to do it. We may plan our day or even a vacation around that activity because we like it. But, what will all that time spent on leisure activities get us in the end? God blesses us with many ways to use our gifts and abilities in this life, but in the end, they are not the most important thing. The most important thing we can and should do in life is to spend time preparing for death.
That’s a strange thing to say right: spend time during life preparing for death. The rich man had been so busy living, he had not prepared for death. Instead of spending time with his Savior in worship or devotion, he had spent time in the leisure activities that came along with his money and possessions.
Many of us spend some at least a little time every week preparing for our death in Bible Study and worship. Every Sunday we hear about our death and the life after death that Jesus has waiting for us. But how does the time we spend preparing for death compare with the time we spend living life? If we enjoy sports, or crafting, or traveling, we will take large amounts of our time doing these things. We will know the latest trends and the newest information. Do we spend time in the Word, through which the Holy Spirit is at work to strengthen our faith, are we spending time growing in our faith and knowledge of God, or are we busy living?
The rich man spent his days in leisure, in the pursuit of his money and possessions, he did not give any thought to his death, but in the parable, after his death, he certainly realized his mistake. He called out from hell to be relieved of his misery. But he could not be relieved, his time of grace was over. He pled with Abraham to send Lazarus back to warn his brothers who were also living the same unbelieving lifestyle and again Abraham said no, if they will not listen to God’s Word nothing, not even someone who is raised from the dead, would convince them.
This rich man was rich in the world, but poor in all the ways that were really important. The contrast that Jesus is teaching through Lazarus is very clear. While the Pharisees and others may have looked down on someone like Lazarus because he wasn’t rich like them, he did not have influence or possessions, or he may have struggled with illness or disease. It was Lazarus who was truly rich and not the Pharisees because although he wasn’t blessed with much materially, throughout his troubled life he held on to his faith in a Messiah that would save him.
If we are distracted by the money and possessions of this world we might miss the riches that our Savior offers. These may not be a large bank account or the best and newest possessions, but the riches that Jesus offers will bring us to eternal glory. Jesus rose from the dead to give new life to you and me and to make us rich for the world that is to come. He sends his Holy Spirit to us to build us up in that faith so that the riches of heaven don’t slide away from us because of sin and unbelief.
Riches of this world will pass away. We will not be able to take them with us. Let us set our minds on the riches of heaven that never pass away. Let us use our earthly gifts to thank and praise the one who has given us the glory of heaven. Amen.