This parable of Jesus is a parable of
extremes,
extremes that Jesus sees around him. This parable’s a sharp jab at some of the
Pharisees, a loud call to hear, to repent and believe and return to God’s way
of justice, righteousness and community. Just because God has blessed you with
so much, this doesn’t mean he’s happy with how we’re living with it. Are we
seeking God’s pleasure, or are we focused on the stuff he’s given us? Have we
given up on pleasing him because we’re happy with where we’re at in life? This
parable reminds us that what we do matters, it matters a lot!
Just before this parable is a reminder of the importance
of God’s Word for our lives. How we live reveals our hearts and what we really
believe. Here Jesus tells us about an extremely rich man, dressed in purple and
fine linen, signs of great wealth and privilege. He has all the good things in
life, living in the lap of luxury. On the outside, it looks like God loves him
because he’s so blessed. But Jesus doesn’t give him a name, is Jesus suggesting
that his listeners insert their own names into the story?
Then there’s the beggar Lazarus, perhaps named after Jesus’ friend.
Lazarus is brought to the rich man’s gate; the sense of the word is that he’s
dumped there. Likely Lazarus is a cripple, and if so, this means that God’s
unhappy with him and punishing him for his sin. Lazarus lies there by the gate,
hoping to eat whatever falls from the rich man’s table. Often people would eat
in their courtyards under a cover. Their property would be surrounded by a low
wall and people walking by could join in the conversations and see who was
entertaining who. The food was often served on bread platters and discarded
under the tables where dogs would come and eat the scraps. These are not pet
dogs. Now these dogs also gather around Lazarus and lick his sores.
You wonder how the rich man could not see
Lazarus and give him at least the scraps before the dogs got them, but it’s
easy to not see the poor and hungry and walk right by them. In Montreal, we
took our youth downtown once a month to feed the homeless. The first few times
the teens were frustrated because they had a hard time giving away the lunches
and recognizing who was homeless and who was not. A number of times they
offered lunches to people who told them, “I’m
not homeless, leave me alone.” When we first began offering lunches, they
would walk right by a homeless person and not even see them, instead looking
right over them as they walked by. But over time, they began to develop an eye
to see the homeless, recognize them, and because part of offering a lunch was
also sharing their name and asking for their name, they began to hear the
stories of how these people ended up on the streets and the teens’ compassion
grew stronger. We have a growing number of homeless people, a sizable number
of poor people in our own community, are you able to see them, what’s your
compassion level when you see them?
Then comes the great reversal. Both the rich man
and Lazarus die. Lazarus is carried to Abraham’s side by angels. On earth he’s
not important enough to be buried, but in heaven he’s treated as a dearly loved
child of God. The rich man is buried and given all the honour and glory through
the rituals and religious services. The rich man ends up in Hades though, in
torment; a completely unexpected twist in the story to Jesus’ listeners. Now
the rich man’s able to look up into heaven and he sees Abraham far away, with
Lazarus at his side. The veil between Hades and Paradise is thin and yet deep.
Yet some things stay the same. The rich man
still feels he’s entitled to special treatment. He asks 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.”
Strange how he knows Lazarus’ name. He recognizes him as the beggar at his
gate, but the rich man simply doesn’t get it, he’s still treating Lazarus as
someone lower than himself. Lazarus is only a servant to do his bidding. He’s
asking Abraham and Lazarus to show him pity, something he never showed to
anyone else while he was alive. Even though the rich man is in Hades, he still
considers himself part of God’s people even though he couldn’t be bothered to
follow God’s way as revealed in the Law and the Prophets; God’s call to be
compassionate and generous to the poor, the widows, the orphans and the
foreigners. Like many Christians today, he believes that as long as he does the
religious things, shows up at temple and gives his tithe or offering, that God
is fine with him. But faith is both head and heart; it has to change your life
and how you live with others. God’s love in Jesus changes hearts.
Here’s a few warnings and calls to mercy from the
Prophets. Amos 5, “You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax
on their grain. Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not
live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their
wine. For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins. There are
those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice
in the courts.” and “Seek good, not evil, that
you may live. Then the Lord God
Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is. Hate evil, love good;
maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord
God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.” and Micah, “He
has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and
to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” God’s
way is a way of mercy, compassion, generosity and humility, all things the rich
man ignored.
Abraham responds to the rich man, “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.” Jesus isn’t saying that everyone who has
wealth and good things in this life is going to end up in torment, remember
that we read this parable in connection with the others just before and after
this one as Luke has recorded them. This is about being rich and having no
compassion, no generosity, no concern for those who are suffering, hurt or
oppressed, no sense of responsibility to others, failing to follow God’s call
to mercy and responsibility. While the rich man had all the good things in
life, he walked right by Lazarus everyday and did nothing to help him.
The rich man doesn’t get it, he still believes his family deserves special
attention from Abraham. He asks Abraham, “Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, for I have
five brothers. Let him warn them, so they will not also come to this place of
torment.” The rich man’s brothers seem to have his same heart and lack
of compassion. Abraham gives him an answer that we need to pay attention to
today, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them
listen to them, if they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not
be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” This happens when
Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead and all that did was spur the Pharisees to
work even harder at getting rid of Jesus.
Jesus
came because our hearts are hard. Only Jesus’ sacrifice on
the cross can wash our hearts and souls clean, only his Spirit can soften our
hearts so that we can respond to him and allow God’s Word to shape our lives,
hearts and souls. Jesus calls us to live out what he has taught us, he
summarizes God’s compassion and hearts in Matthew 25, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who
are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you
since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you
gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed
clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison
and you came to visit me.’” Doing these things doesn’t save us, living
like this comes out of gratitude for Jesus’ sacrifice and God’s grace as we
join Jesus’ mission to reveal more of God’s kingdom here on earth, and so
others can be won over for Jesus. Following Jesus is about putting our faith in
action.
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