“THE THING ABOUT THINGS”

LUKE 16:19-31

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.'"

The advice is simple. Don’t be like me.  Don’t live your life the way I lived mine.  That’s the message that the rich man wanted to give to his brothers.  It’s also the message that the rich man would give to us if he were here right now.  Unfortunately, the rich man made a big mistake when it came to the way he lived his life.

The rich man wasn’t a overly generous.  After all he certainly didn’t do anything to ease the suffering that poor Lazarus was experiencing.  There’s a modern day parable that describes the way the rich man lived his life.  In this modern day parable a $1 bill strikes up a conversation with a $20 bill while they’re in the same wallet.  The $1 bill turns to the $20 bill and say says, “Hey! Where have you been?  I haven’t seen you around lately.”  “Well,” the $20 bill replies, “let me tell you. I’ve been here, there and everywhere.  I spent some time at the casino and then I went on a cruise.  Then when I got back I went to a couple of ballgames and to some really cool stores over in the mall.  After that I went to a couple of fancy restaurants before heading over to the beach for a little vacation.  How about you? Where have you been?”   The $1 bill lets out a little sigh and say, “Oh, you know, the same old ting….church, church, church.”

The rich man didn’t do anything to ease poor Lazarus’ suffering, but he wasn’t a bad man.

It wasn’t like he kicked Lazarus every day when he walked by him.  It should also be pointed out that the rich man didn’t cry and complain after he died and ended up in that really hot place that doesn’t have any air conditioning.  He didn’t make excuses. He realized that he could have at least given Lazarus the scraps from his table, but he didn’t.  So, the rich man accepts his fate and he also doesn’t begrudge the fate that Lazarus is enjoying up there in heaven.  The rich man also shows some compassion by asking Abraham to let Lazarus go and warn his brothers so they don’t make the same mistake that he made.

The rich man wasn’t a bad man.  It’s just that he was so busy admiring his purple robes that he didn’t even notice Lazarus sitting outside his gate.  He was so busy planning his next banquet that he didn’t notice the dogs running over to like the sores on Lazarus that were all over his body.

When you look closely at the Parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus you begin to realize that the good life is nice, but it does come with a price.  That’s because the more things you have in your life the more things you have to take care of and the more things you have to worry about.  Just look at all the anxiety that people are feeling these days with all the ups and downs in the stock market.  One man admitted to a friend of his that it really had him worried.  The friend knew the man had lost a ton of money by investing a lot of his money in real estate.  So, he asked him an honest question.  “I have to ask you,” he said.  “With all the money that you’ve been losing how do you sleep at night.”  The man just shook his head.  “Well,” he said, “to tell you the truth I’ve been sleeping like a baby.”  The friend was amazed.  “You have?” he said.  “Yep,” the man replied. “I wake up every two hours and cry my eyes out!”

The good life is nice, but it does come with a price.  If you’re not careful you could end up just like the rich man in the parable.  That’s why I’ve always liked the definition for sin that says that people were made to be loved and things were made to be used and sin is when we get the two mixed up.  In other words, you end up loving things and using people…or in this case you don’t even see the people who need you.

That’s what happened to the rich man.  Now one of the things that is unique about this parable is that it’s the only parable where a fictional person in the parable is given a name.  It isn’t just the beggar who sat outside the rich man’s gate.  It’s the beggar who’s name was Lazarus.  By giving the beggar a name it makes him real.  It makes him into a real person.  It makes his tears real and his suffering very real.  So the parable begs the question.  Is there a Lazarus sitting outside your gate? 

The Lazarus could be a someone at work who’s going through a divorce and could use a listening ear.  The Lazarus could be a elderly neighbor down the street who doesn’t have anyone to shovel the snow off her front steps.   The Lazarus could be someone at school who is shunned because he or she is a little different.  The Lazarus could be a child half way around the world who doesn’t have the medicine that he needs or shoes to wear or goes to bed hungry every night.  

By the way I have a movie to recommend to you.  It’s a National Geographic documentary and it’s called “God Grew Tired Of Us.”  It tells the story of the Lost Boys of the Sudan.  As many of you probably know the Muslim government of the Sudan has been waging a campaign of genocide against Christians in the southern part of that country.  Over 200,000 people have been killed.  The documentary tells the story of seven lost boys who grew up in a refugee camp in Kenya and then ten years ago were relocated to this country.  It’s an inspiring documentary and the title comes from a comment that one of the lost boys made when he was interviewed after he arrived in this country.  He said that while he was in the refugee camp he began to believe that God and everyone simply grew tired of them.

The lesson in the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus is simple.  Don’t let the things in your life become more important than the people in your life.  Don’t let the things that you think you need keep you from being there for the people who really need you.

One evening a minister was standing in a parking lot outside a shopping mall.  His wife worked one of the stores in the mall and he was there to pick her up.  Since the minister had just come from the car wash he decided to wipe down his car while he waited.  While he was doing that a street person walked over to him.  The minister didn’t really wanted to be bothered at that particular moment.  So, he hoped the man wasn’t going to ask him for money.  He didn’t.  Instead he sat down on the curb in front of the bus stop.  After a few minutes the man spoke up.  “That’s a very nice car,” he said.  The minister thanked him for the compliment and continued to wipe down his car.  The plea for money never came.  Even so, the minister began to hear a voice inside his head.  “Ask him if he needs any help,”  the voice said.  The minister didn’t want to do that because he knew the man would say “yes,” but his conscience eventually got the best of him.   “Do you need any help?” he finally asked.  Instead of reaching out with a grimy hand and saying, “Yes, I do,” the man looked at the ministry and said very calmly, “Don’t we all?” 

That simple three word answer hit the minister like a ton of bricks.  The minister realized that the man was right.  In some way or other we all need help.  So, he pulled out his wallet and gave the man enough money for bus fare and for a hot meal.  Looking back on that grace filled moment the minister later wrote, “those three little words still ring true.  No matter how much you have, no matter how much you have accomplished, you need help too.  No matter how little you have, no matter how loaded you are with problems, even without money or a place to sleep, you can GIVE help.  Even if it’s just a compliment, you can give that…Maybe the man was just a homeless stranger wandering the streets.  Maybe he was more than that.  Maybe he was sent by a power that is great and wise to minister to a soul too comfortable in himself.  Maybe Someone looked down, call an Angel, dressed him like a bum and then said, ‘Go minister to that man cleaning the car, that man needs help.’ – DON’T WE ALL?”

As you go through the week ahead don’t let the things that you have and the things that you want keep you from being there for the people who need you.  Don’t let them keep you from being there for the Lazarus who might be right outside your gate or half way around the world.  Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

September 30, 2007