The Rich Man and Lazarus

Introduction

Good morning. Please open in your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 16. Luke chapter 16. A nice way to start an energetic Sunday morning is to talk about death, right? Think about dying, and in case you think that’s weird, you can thank Aaron Cusumano for talking about that yesterday at the men’s prayer breakfast. Talking about a near death experience. As he described the near-death experience, of course, the application is clear. Are we considering what we have done with our life? Has it been worth it? Has it been well spent? And maybe even dealing with the most difficult question there possibly can be wrestled. What if? What if I had just changed one or two decisions? What if I could take back one or two conversations? What if I didn’t go down that one path that I think changed my life?

In Luke chapter 16, Jesus gives a story, and there is debate over whether this is a parable or a story, but we can have no doubt that it’s a story for two particular reasons. One, he names Lazarus in this story. And in parables, they all went unnamed. And secondly, the parables were a physical story with a spiritual or heavenly meaning. This is a largely spiritual story with a largely spiritual meaning of a seemingly real person. And so the reality of this is that much stronger than a parable. So as we read this, think about what if. Think about the end of our lives, and think about what Jesus wishes to accomplish with these strong words. In verse 19, 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 afar 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. As we stop for a moment and consider the parable of the rich man in Lazarus, we have to be confronted with the undeniable truth Jesus is sharing with us, that we are all going to face this moment of separation.

In fact, we’re going to reach two moments of separation. The first is from this physical body or container. You know, we spend a lot of time on our bodies. Have you ever thought about a ring, an engagement ring? It comes in a nice box. Imagine if you treated the box without the ring in it like the ring. You got the box all polished up. You kept it in the nicest place you could. You spent a lot of money to make sure it was guarded. And by the way, you put spent a lot of money to make sure it looked really nice. We’d say, Well, that’s silly. The ring is what is of value. Guard the ring. The box is just the container for what is of true value.

But then we stop and think, how much time do we spend on our bodies? My favorite person to pick on for lack of taking care of his body isn’t here, Ken. So I’ll have to make do with myself. How many times do you find yourself like me in the morning waking up and trying to make sure you’ve dressed appropriately? You’ve cleaned appropriately. You’ve brushed your teeth appropriately. Why? For health reasons, yes, but also to look good. If you look in a mirror and saw something was amiss, you would fix it. And if you didn’t, by the way, somebody would tell you to fix it because we care about what we look like. But how much more should we care about our soul? That first moment of separation shows us, and when Jesus tells us the story, he emphasizes that moment of separation shows the body doesn’t matter.

The soul, on the other hand, is of infinite value. But then there’s the second separation. Look back with me in verse 22. The poor man died and was carried by angels to Abraham’s side, but the rich man died, and he finds himself in verse 23 in Hades in torment. Now we do need to address something here. Hades means realm of the dead. Some mistranslations over the years have made Hades become synonymous with hell. That is incorrect. Jesus did not go to hell. He went to Hades, which is the realm of the dead. Both Lazarus and the rich man went to Hades. But the rich man went to torment. And what was it like for Lazarus in Hades? It was a place of great comfort. He was next to Abraham in Abraham’s bosom, as Jesus calls it in this story.

So as we think about this second moment of separation, it’s not just that we leave our bodies, which doesn’t matter. It’s that our soul goes to its ending place in a manner of speaking, to be with, closer to, or farther from and apart from God. And of course, then there is that all too important line found in verse 25. As the rich man has called out for relief, recognizing he’s stuck in torment and says, Abraham, you can do something about this. Send Lazarus. Just give me some relief. 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.

1. Our Lives All Have the Same Ending

Do we see the second moment of separation might have even more finality to it? We won’t go back into our bodies, but at least our soul presses on. But in this location, in this separation, the rich man and Lazarus will forever be separated. And they’ll be separated based upon that life lived in the body that we’ll have separated from. As we go through this lesson, though, and we consider the what ifs, the first thing we have to do is think about no matter what your life is like, whether you’re here this morning with a broken heart, and all manner of frustration, confusion, and sadness or grief. Or maybe you’re here and you happen to be at the top of life’s ups and downs. You’re having one of the highest ups that God has blessed you with.

All these different lives. The rich man and Lazarus could not be more different in how they lived in this world. And yet they had that same ending. Those same two moments of separation. Go back to verse 19. Here is a rich man, and you know this, so we don’t have to emphasize it too much. He was clothed in purple. He lived in splendor. He was important. He feasted sumptuously. But notice in verse 20, not just that there was a poor man covered with sores, not just that he was a beggar, but where was he in verse 20? Laid at the rich man’s gate. There is much said, and we’ll emphasize some of that in the coming minutes this morning, on how to take care of those who are in need, those who are poor.

But notice one inescapable biblical conclusion. We are to help anybody and everybody we see and can. In 1 John chapter 3, John made it clear. Anyone who sees his brothers and needs and has this world’s good, can the love of the Father really be in him if he does nothing? Rhetorical answer. If you have something to help somebody with, and you see that need, you feel it. And that’s one of the abuses of the rich man here. It wasn’t that he was simply rich, it wasn’t that he wore purple. It was that here was Lazarus at his gate, and what was he being comforted by? Not the rich man. In verse 21, the dogs were licking his sores. Lazarus was desiring even to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table.

2. Death Brings True Finality

It’s interesting, you can be heartbroken, you could be joyful, you could have everything going for you, or everything working against you. But at the end of this life, that moment of separation, body from soul, is the same for every single person in this room and outside of it. And that’s startling. But it’s also the great equalizer. Death comes to all. So we may as well embrace the thought of what it’s going to be like. And going ahead and getting ready for when it comes. And that leads to the second point. Death brought true finality. You think Lazarus ever was finding himself suffering, thinking, I just wish it was over. I just wish it was done. And then when it was, who carried him away? In verse 22, the poor man died.

What a powerful picture this is. And by the way, if you accept the premise that this is a story, that this is true. And Jesus is talking about a real man named Lazarus. Consider verse 22. The poor man died and was carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom. What a reward. How fascinating. He was carried by angels. You want to talk about ending life’s problems, no longer being caught up in the here and now? Be with God and his servants. Be carried away with the angels to a place of paradise. That is amazing. That brings finality away from our problems. But then there’s the rich man on the other hand. We wouldn’t want this type of finality. He finds himself in severe anguish and torment. In verse 24, he is calling out for mercy.

And the mercy he requires, the mercy he demands, he requests, is just give me just a tip of cold water. Just a little bit of cool water to bring me relief from this extreme anguish and flame. At this point, despite what many would like to teach, Jesus is clear. Death brings finality. We’ll either be with God and his servants or apart from them. There is that chasm fixed between them. There would be no crossing over. There was no help to be offered because they couldn’t, because God has fixed it this way. And so while we talk about all this life and this body isn’t where we should put our focus, this life and how we serve God absolutely is. All of a sudden, if all of us have the same ending, no matter your background or story, and if all of us are going to come to this place of finality, of no crossing over, of fixed on God’s side or farther from him, then what I do in the here and now becomes crucial beyond measure.

3. Faith Is My Responsibility

But then I have that pesky what if question. What about those decisions I can’t take back? What if I in the future, if God wills me more time, do something, or somebody does something to me that alters my future in decision making. What we see in the section we left off from reading is that faith is my responsibility. In verse 27, he said, Then I beg you, Father Abraham, after his plea of relief has been denied, 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 them, if they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. An excruciatingly painful explanation of truth is given by Abraham. I think I am a lot like this rich man in the sense that I would love to think that if I or my family was presented with somebody resurrected from the dead, that would be it. Faith would be had, my destiny would be changed, my faith would become complete because I would be so motivated by the unimaginable act of resurrection that I would know there is a God and He’s worth my entire life. But then I remember Jesus was resurrected. Jesus did raise people from the dead. Some refused to believe. Some did believe, and yet, even in the middle grouping, as we would like to call them, they believed in Jesus, but were unwilling to do anything about it because it threatened their here and now.

Remember the Pharisees and scribes, the rulers of the people who believed but were unwilling to confess him because they love the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. If we remember that our lives all have the same ending, and death brings true finality, that will never sway a child of God away from him. If we have the proper view of death, we think about it. Think about the torment of being away from God. But dwell on and think about the joy of being with him forever, too. That is life changing. As we think about hell and heaven, we hear them so often we lose track of how powerful and real it is. We think, hell, I don’t want to go there.

Heaven, I do want to be there. Think about how wonderful it’ll be to be with God forever. Worshiping Him. Seeing His full glory. You think about the best moments of your life, the best moments of worship. And that doesn’t even touch the proverbial hem of the garment. And if that thought of heaven and avoiding hell doesn’t motivate you, and the love of Christ and a sacrifice doesn’t motivate you. God has nothing left to show. You see, he was told not just that someone from the dead won’t help, but they have all that they need in verse 31. They have Moses. They have the prophets. Let them hear.

4. God Finds Value in the Least of Us

He knows his brothers apparently are like him. This isn’t going to work, Abraham, unless you do the miracle before them, unless you can send Lazarus to them, they won’t repent. And Abraham says, that’s between them and God’s given law. And so as we make some application this morning, we think about the idea of the finality of death, the finality of the second separation, and recognizing faith is my responsibility, I have obligations. And one of them is to recognize that God finds value in the least of us. In James 4, verse 6, we know that God gives more grace. He opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. As we consider what God does, though, in the story in Luke chapter 16, who is the quote unquote hero?

Who is the positive example? Poor, hungry, hurting Lazarus. I think it’s pretty easy in a sermon and in a Bible study to think, well, that’s obvious. The rich man’s probably the bad guy. Jesus warns about how wealth can be all-consuming, how the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And Lazarus is someone who God certainly would look out for. And that’s true. And so we should have that mindset. But secondly, that tells me I have to turn my radar towards others to be like God’s.

And I’m going to help them once or twice that have done my Christian job. But how long would Lazarus be in need for? Every day. One meal wouldn’t fix Lazarus’ condition. One doctor’s appointment wouldn’t fix all of his sores. God calls us to a life of sacrifice. And to be like him. He loved his servant Lazarus. He cast his servant, the rich man, away from him because he refused to serve him. Both were men. Both lived at the same time in the same area. But God finds value in the least of us. And not only does that impact how I view others, it impacts how I view myself. Maybe someone is here and says, I am more like Lazarus. Maybe not from a financial standpoint, but from a mental standpoint.

I have my struggles. I am weak. God loves you. He sees you. And he has a plan for you. His plan is that the people around you, the people in this congregation, that we see you too. And like our God sees and cares for you, I and we see and care for you. In Psalm 113, consider the wisdom of the Psalm here, the 113th Psalm. Beginning in verse 5, who, in Psalm 113, is like the Lord our God, who is seated on high, who looks down on the heavens and the earth. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heep to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people. He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children, praise the Lord.

God sees the struggling, the weak, and the needy. And so he helps them. If I don’t do the same, can I say I am being complete or perfect as my heavenly Father is perfect? Jesus says, God is our standard. That’s a never-ending quest. It’s a never-ending journey. And if my life is going to come to an end, when I have that moment where I am reflecting back on what if no longer will it matter about a conversation about something trivial like sports or football. Football is greater than sports. It won’t matter about the friends and loved ones who I ended up being friends with anyway, but had a row with.

5. There Are No Valid Excuses

Jesus says the first shall be last, and the last shall be first. That’s what will matter. Any of my time spent in any other direction is a waste. And a waste that we will come to regret forever, like the rich man did if we find ourselves in torment away from the grace of God. The sad part of this is there are no valid excuses. Nobody can make you do anything, and God cannot, based upon his promises and law, intervene and make you be faithful. He could, but he won’t. He has promised us that he expects us to love on the basis of he has first loved us. He both modeled it for us and gave us incentive to love him by showing us what true sacrifice is.

We had no hope. We were Lazarus. I was laying at a gate with no hope, stuck in my sins. And God sent Jesus to die on the cross for my sins. And I can read about it here. I can pray to him anywhere. Isn’t our God amazing? But coming with those amazing promises and blessings is the fact that there’s no excuse. When Jesus says in Matthew 7 21, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. He makes it clear. We have to hear and do what he says. It doesn’t matter what we claim or what we know to be true. It doesn’t matter that we know Lazarus needs to be taken care of.

6. Take Every Day Captive

It doesn’t matter that I know I need to be better. It matters, was I better? Was I sacrificing? Did I give everything in the name of God the way Jesus gave everything to submit to that will of God Himself? It’s the only question that matters. And so on that basis, we must take every day captive. When you consider back in Luke chapter 16, I want to point out one more element of this chapter. In Luke chapter 16. As Jesus is giving a parable this time of a dishonest manager. In Luke chapter 16 and verse 10, he gives us this principle. One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much. And one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust you to the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or to be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. And so, as we consider then, as we come down into verse 24, as the rich man calls out for relief, the answer is there is none coming. Because you have shown yourself to be unworthy and unfaithful in the little of this life that God puts you in charge of. I don’t think it’s a surprise to anybody if I were to say God has made us stewards of his time, of his resources.

Anything you have, it came from God and should be returned into his service. But as we think about what the rich man’s mistake was, and I consider my what ifs, knowing there are no valid excuses, I’m left with this one undeniable plea. I must take every day and every thought captive. In Ephesians chapter 5, Paul says we are to be redeeming the time. Because the days are evil. That is the bottom line. Do we care truly? Do we care fully about making every day the best for God? Or do we kind of backslide and say, well, I serve God a lot today. I’m going to take a break tomorrow. We wouldn’t say that, but does our life show that? If I looked at my calendar, if I looked at my month, if I looked at my planner, am I spending a lot of time doing things that on my deathbed I’ll say had no value, no importance?

Conclusion

Or will I say, I spent my life serving God? I am ready for those angels to come and lead me home. There’s only one decision to make. Serve God or don’t. And when we consider the rich man in Lazarus, we see that it’s not just a simple decision. It’s not a binary track. It’s a binary track of finality. Make the choice now because tomorrow you may not have it. Also interesting in Luke chapter 16 is it doesn’t seem to say they both grew old and died. Seemingly they both died, perhaps on the same day, perhaps not. But when their soul was required of them, one was ready. And one was not. This morning, the lesson for us is to take every day, every moment, captive for God.

When we worship, worship Him, knowing and understanding He is the great I am, and worship as if it’s the last day because it may be. When we study His Word in Bible class, take His words seriously because these are the words that lead to life. Reveal things about how great and powerful God is and how He wants you to serve Him, how He wants you to desire to not only serve Him, but realize what He’s offering if you do. And that includes peace and joy in this life. And recognize as we go into the week, when I wake up, it’s not my priorities that matter. Unless or until I’ve bent my priorities into the will of God, it will always be what does God want from me today?

What does He bless me with? Who is at my gate? And what can I do for them? The story, not the parable of the rich man in Lazarus, is crucial because it brings us face to face with what is meant one of many’s worst fears. But God says, you don’t have to fear death because Jesus died. Because Jesus wasn’t stuck in Hades and He was resurrected. There is life offered to His children. If you will accept His call. If you will do what He demands, you can be a child of God and be ready and waiting. Will it be a life of sacrifice? Yes. But will it be worth it? You better believe it. Will you go to God and pray with me? Our dear God and most gracious and loving Heavenly Father, we’re so thankful to you for this wonderful day you’ve given us to once again come together with like-minded children of yours and to worship and serve you.

We praise you as the great I am. We praise you as the creator of heavens and this earth with just your spoken word. We pray in your greatness that we recognize our humble standing before you and beg of you that you forgive us of whom we’ve been distracted, of when we’ve overlooked your commands, of whom we’ve overlooked the opportunities you placed before us. Help us to always be bold and courageous as we step out and stand up against the forces of evil, trusting in your word to guide us through, recognizing that your will is to be done above any and everything else. Thank you for loving us in such a way that you revealed your word to us. Help us to take it in, apply it, and fully trust in you as our shield and our refuge.

Thank you for Jesus and his perfect example. Thank you for his death. Thank you for his resurrection. Help us to share in that and to remember and proclaim it always. It’s in his name we pray. Amen.