Please Read: Luke 16:19-31
There was a story about a rich man who was determined to take his wealth with him. He told his wife to get all his money together, put it in a sack, and then hang the sack from the rafters in the attic. He said, "When my spirit is caught up to heaven, I’ll grab the sack on my way." Well he eventually died, and the woman raced to the attic, only to find the money still there. She said, "I knew I should’ve put the sack in the basement." (Russell 88)
The scripture lesson for today talks about a rich man with no name, and a poor man named Lazarus. Both of them died and ended up in the opposite sides of the afterlife. Lazarus was carried away by the angles to be with Abraham and the rich man was just simply buried and ended up in a place where he was tormented. And the rest is a dialog between the two sides of Hades.
The context of the story tells us that Jesus was teaching people about the danger of falling in love with money. Verse 14 says, “The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all this, and they ridiculed him.” Right before this passage, Jesus warned his followers that we cannot serve both God and mammon, meaning we cannot serve both God and wealth.
In last week’s parable Jesus talks about the dishonest manager who tried to correct his error at the last moment of his career, and we compared the parable with the story of John D. Rockefeller, who came to a similar realization in his deathbed and turned around to do what was right for the rest of his life.
However, in this week’s story, Jesus talks about someone who came to realization too late. This person completely ignored the opportunity to do what is right during his lifetime and ends up facing judgment upon death, and yet he still doesn’t seem to repent. Let us look at the important lessons that Jesus is trying to teach us using this parable. I picked three important points from this lesson and call it the three tips to eternity, or the three tips to timelessness.
The first tip is...
1 - Trust God for Help
In this story Jesus doesn’t literally say that Lazarus was his follower and the rich man was not his follower, but he implies it with their names. Normally, Jesus doesn’t name names when he tells a parable. But in this particular case the he uses the name Lazarus to describe the poor man. Lazarus means “God has helped,” which suggests that this poor man is someone who trusts God for help. On the other hand the rich man doesn’t have a name. In some versions of the story, his name is Dives, which simply means “rich.” So it means that this rich man relies on his wealth as his ultimate help and security.
Jesus is not suggesting that wealth is not good, he is saying that when wealth becomes our ultimate help and protection, we can easily ignore God’s message around us. The Bible says this man was dressed in purple and fine linen. This kind of purple dye was obtained from the purple fish, a species of mussel. It was very costly and was used for the upper garment by the wealthy and princes (royal purple).
You might remember, in Mark 15:17, when Jesus was being tortured, the Bible says, “And they clothed him in a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him.” The purple cloak is a symbol of rich and royalty. That tells how rich this man is. He also feasts sumptuously every day. When someone is having a sumptuous feast everyday, he definitely didn’t have time to be aware of the reality out there.
The reality out there is a poor man lying at his gate. The Greek word used here for the ‘gate’ is the word used for a huge and grand gate, like that of a mansion. Lazarus must be a cripple and he was covered with sores and the dogs would come and lick his sores. Being licked by the dogs might even sound cute for the Americans, but not in that society; dogs were symbols of degradation, and it just depicts how sad his condition was. Someone must have left him here at the rich man’s gate hoping that he would bestow some compassion upon him, at least by feeding him with what fell from the table. However, he obviously had ignored him.
The rich man was absorbed in his luxury and failed to heed the message of God. What is the message here? Read Matthew 25, “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
One of the practices in Buddhism is to avoid eating too much because the Buddhists believe that food can make you stupid, or ignorant. You might have heard that the Buddhists worship wisdom and all their practices are aiming at the enlightenment, which is to attain the wisdom of all knowing. They believe food is one of the major obstacles to enlightenment. That’s why the Buddhist monks eat only in the morning before noon, and fast from noon to the next morning.
Buddhism cannot save your soul, but I just want to mention some of their thoughts that can help us expose the teaching of Jesus Christ about this rich man’s ignorance that was probably reinforced by his habit of feasting sumptuously every day. Being in the richest nation in the world, we American’s should be careful about the way we eat, because it not only creates all kinds of illness—I read that out of the top ten causes of America, 1 of them is car accident, and 9 of them have to do with food, such as heard disease and cancer, all have much to do with what we eat and the way we eat—but, according to Buddhism food might also generate spiritual stupidity, or dullness of mind, that is harmful to our soul.
Jesus warns us in Matthew 10:28, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Even though Lazarus was suffering from a disease that is destroying his body, it didn’t destroy his soul. But, the sumptuous feasting and luxury was what has destroyed both the body and soul of the rich man.
The second tip is...
2 – Seize the Moment to do God’s Will
Lazarus died first; that means the rich man lost his opportunity to do God’s will, even if he realized it later. However, he not only ignored the opportunity, but also missed it before it is too late. When in Hades, the rich man asked Abraham, “Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.” The rich man was implying that people don’t believe because they were not informed. Therefore Abraham should send Lazarus to go and inform his family members that were still alive. But Abraham said, “No, you are wrong, there is enough evidence in everybody’s life to get the message from Moses and the prophets.”
This reminds me of Bertrand Russell, known to be one of the greatest philosophers of the twentieth century, who wrote an essay entitled, “Why I am not a Christian.” He once said that if he saw God after he died, he would just tell God that, “You didn’t provide me with enough evidence to believe.” Woody Allen also has a famous humorous quote that, “If God exists, he should provide a sign, like making a large deposit in my name in a Swiss bank.”
The rich man didn’t give up, he said, “No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He was saying that they didn’t believe because God didn’t show them a miracle; with that he insisted on implying that he didn’t believe because he didn’t see a miracle. But Abraham said that Moses and the prophets were enough. Those who don’t heed them will not be responsive to even the most astonishing miracles, not even if someone rises from the dead. This harmonizes with Jesus’ other teachings that it is the evil and unbelieving generation that seeks signs, but the way to know the truth is to be obedient to God’s revealed will.
A few chapters before this, Jesus said, “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Everyone that seeks the truth finds the truth. There is no excuse.
The excuse for not having enough evidence suggests the hardness of heart. For a person with a hardened heart, wonders can not soften people’s heart. The story also seems to tell that punishment doesn’t seem to soften his heart either. The rich man’s request for Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers is more self-justifying than compassionate. But, even if he is compassionate, it’s already too late. If he wants to deliver the good news of salvation, he should have done it before he died, but not after. Jesus is saying that you are given enough time in this life to do God’s will. If you don’t do it now, it is doubtful that you will do it then. So seize the moment to do God’s will, now!
3 – Prepare for Eternity
One of the important messages that Jesus came to deliver is that life is not all there is, and that is the essential point to this story. We live up to 70, 90, or 120 years old, and we might be rich or poor in this life, but it is important to know that there is more beyond this life. In fact death is not the end of life, it is the beginning of a real life, a life eternal. Our time on this earth is to prepare for the eternity. If life is all there is, it definitely make sense to eat, drink, and be merry. But life is not all there is.
Jesus warns us of the tendency of this world’s blessings to make us self-consumed, self-important, self-satisfied, self-indulgent, ignorance, and apathy. To use the teaching of Buddhism, the luxurious possessions and consumptions can make us stupid. They believe that food, drink and even music can slow our minds down and make us become dull and ignorant. As a Christian, I don’t believe the music part, but I think it depends on the type of music you listen to. My point is that don’t let the luxury of this world keeps your mind dull that you miss to do what matters most. Simply put, Jesus warns us not to be consumed by our consumables.
How do you avoid that? In ancient time in all parts of the world, people sacrificed part of their harvest, or their catch, to God to show that they were not bowing down to the fruit of their labor, but God alone. That’s what tithing is about. By offering the first part of their income to God, Christians make a statement that they are not enslaved by mammon, or their wealth, that they are not consumed by their consumable, and that they love God more than they love money.
God has expressed this love to us powerfully two thousand years ago. He sacrificed his only son Jesus Christ, his most precious procession; in fact, since God is a Trinity—which means God and Christ is one, it is God himself in Jesus Christ. As Jesus stretch out his hand on the cross, he is telling us that “I love you this much!” God is a wealthy God, so make sure you understand that he is not against wealth. But, he wants to know if you love Him more than you love your wealth. Some Chinese like to say that life is money, money is life. From this concept, when you offer your money to God, you are offering your life, and you are responding to God’s love by saying, “I love you too!” Amen.
