Introduction – Fire Alarms and the Conscience
Many electronic fire alarms have an internal switch triggered by a beam of light. As long as light is received unbroken by the photo-sensitive receiver, the detector is quiet. But if smoke or moisture or an insect obstructs the beam for even a split second, the alarm sounds. Our conscience resembles such an alarm. When sin obstructs our connection with the light of God's Spirit, the conscience signals us that there's life-threatening danger.
As we study God’s Word today, there are many things which set off the alarms of our soul and conscience. Talking about death, hell or money are sure ways to alienate someone. Well, today is the day your alarm bells may go off. There are many things we don’t want to talk about. They may include but not be limited to the “birds and the bees” talk with our kids. It may be a talk with our daughters about “that day” in their month. We are uncomfortable about societal ills. Even in church, we may like the “Joel Osteen” positive messages about the “best in our lives.” But realistically, we must preach the whole counsel of God which includes death, hell and money.
So, let’s begin.
"There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. "Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' "Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' " Luke 13:19-31
There are four things we will examine today. We will examine the two destitutes, deaths, destinations and decisions.
We find first that…
It’s a story about two Destitutes.
One was rich and the other poor.
Here you have the worldly, wealthy unnamed man which everyone loved!
He was pampered, privileged, popular, and possessive. He would be considered filthy rich and narcistic today. He thought only of his needs. How do we know?
He fared sumptuously. He was wealthy in material possessions.
He wore purple and fine linen. It was a luxurious lifestyle.
This went on every day. It was an ongoing lifestyle.
Lazarus was laid at his gate. He possessed a mansion or large home to have such a gate.
Here was a man who was self-indulgent, lived in luxury and extravagant living. He was utterly selfish.
Hosea 6:6 states, “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings.”
Then we have the indigent nobody cared for. His name Lazarus meant God has helped. He had nothing, yet he had it all.
To the world he was pitiful, poor and pathetic.
The word “laid” means to be cast or thrown down. He was discarded by others. His condition reflected the love of the society as a whole and the rich man specifically.
He was covered with sores. He would have been considered unclean and unworthy to love.
He was hungry. No job, no family, no help. His closest friends were the dogs who licked his sores. They were the disgusting low-life scavengers. They were probably the rich man’s puppies. Here we find the dogs showing more compassion than the rich man.
Illustration – Kindness Trumps Riches
Like many American Christians, Keith Taylor has benefited from the generosity of other people in different times and different ways. For example, while Keith was attending graduate school in Tennessee, his car broke down, and the subsequent repair bill caused him to be short on his rent that month. Fortunately for Keith, his boss at his part-time job paid the rent bill in full—a gift, not a loan.
One evening in 2002, Keith was reflecting on the kindness of his boss, and on the other acts of generosity that had contributed to the happiness and stability of his life. And like many American Christians, Keith decided that he would one day dedicate his life to helping others. "When I'm really rich, I'm going to start an organization to help the working poor."
But then Keith was seized by a remarkable thought. "It occurred to me all of a sudden," he says, "that no one who had ever helped me had ever been wealthy. They had just been nice. They'd just had compassion." And that's when Keith Taylor became unlike many American Christians, because that's when he began to act.
Keith decided he would try to help one person each month get through some kind of financial crisis, and he set aside $350 to get started. He also set up a very basic website that invited requests for assistance. But when that site was featured on a popular blog, Keith's plans went out the window. He received 1,100 emails the next day—most were from people requesting assistance, but a surprising amount were from people who wanted to help.
A short time later, Keith incorporated a nonprofit organization called Modest Needs. The organization's first official grant saved a woman's life—she received money for a mammogram that discovered a tumor—and it has been gaining steam ever since. Now fronted by a popular website, www.modestneeds.org, Taylor's organization gave away almost $2.5 million in grants in 2009.
"Every day is another miracle," Taylor says. "It's beyond my imagination."
One more exciting thing about Modest Needs is that almost 70 percent of individuals who receive money from grants end up donating money back to the organization sometime later. In other words, kindness produces more kindness and generosity produces more generosity—which sounds like a great way to love your neighbor.
Sam O'Neal, Geneva, Illinois; source: Jim Kavanagh, "The Unexpected Power of $10 to $20," www.cnn.com (12-22-09)
Then…
It’s a story about two Deaths.
The first is Physical.
Funny thing about death, it get’s every one of us. Hebrews tells that “it is appointed once for all men to die.” The percentage has never changed.
Second, death is Eternal.
There are no mulligans. There are no do-overs.
Lazarus body was simply disposed. There was no mourning or weeping over a nobody.
But the rich man had an extravagant funeral. People flocked to his funeral because he was a somebody.
But both men’s souls received their reward. One was one in faithfulness. The other was in faithlessness.
Illustration - Death is Inevitable
I was on an airplane and the flight attendant started going through the pre-flight spiel, instructing us on what to do "in case of a water landing."
I looked around. We were on a 747 jet. This plane isn't equipped with pontoons. A 747 doesn't "land" on the water. It explodes on impact into pieces the size of my toenail.
The proper way to prepare for an event like this is not to stick your head between your knees (as if there were room to do that anyway) but to scream until your throat bleeds and pray in six languages at once.
I arrived home (without experiencing a water landing, thankfully) and turned on the TV, and a commercial came on for life insurance. This guy walks onto the set all somber-looking and explains the benefits of their policy. Then he says I should sign up so my family will be taken care of "in case the unthinkable should happen." Of course, by "the unthinkable," he means "in case you die."
But the thing is, death isn't unthinkable; it's inevitable.
What kind of culture calls things that are inevitable unthinkable? What kind of world refuses to think about what is certain but instead spends its time worrying about things that aren't?
Steven James, Sailing Between the Stars (Revell, 2006), pp. 130-131
Then…
It’s a story about two Destinations.
The first is about Heaven.
It was simple and direct. He was cared for by God. The Jewish mindset would have been shocked. Those cursed in the world would be considered cursed in the afterlife.
The second is about Hell.
The rich man was blessed and happy in the world. He had placed his life in all the world had to offer. He was probably even religious.
But he had not changed. He was narcistic. It was all about him and his needs.
But he was in torment, alone and alienated. There was weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Illustration – Playing with Bombs
For years a WWII-era bomb rested outside a bar in Alaska—a harmless dud that people could marvel at, take pictures of, climb on. Seeing as the bomb is an important part of history, a local resident decided it needed a better resting place, so they donated it to the Kodiak Military History Museum. And when military officials were preparing the bomb for a display at the museum, they realized something pretty important: the bomb wasn't a dud. This one can obviously be used as a cautionary word that even the things that seem utterly harmless might carry devastating power.
Finally,
It’s the story of two Decisions.
There are two choices when it comes to the eternal. You can choose Life or death. To choose death, there is nothing to do. You’re set and ready to go. But to choose Life means you must receive Christ and repent of your sins.
You see it really is all about Jesus.
The rich man went to hell because he rejected both God’s Word and God’s Way of salvation. It was revealed by how he treated others. What he believed was revealed by how he behaved.
God looks and examines our motives, desires and goals of the heart. He knows what really possesses us.
It’s time to decide whether you want to trust Jesus or not. It’s your choice.
Illustration – Arteriosclerosis/stony hearts
If your LDL cholesterol is greater than 130, you're making cholesterol, which is clogging your arteries. This is "arteriosclerosis." If your LDL is between 80 and 130, your blood vessels are stable. If it's less than 80, you're reversing any hardening of the arteries.
Once you have established hardening of the arteries, you can reverse it if you lower the LDL to less than 80. If you do primary intervention before someone has a heart attack, you'll cut down their risk of having a heart attack basically by 2% for every one point you lower that LDL.
The heart can and will grow hard. Much like arteriosclerosis, there can be a reversal. There must be a receptive, believing heart to experience true Life.
There is a test for Christians! If your material wealth is amassed for your own pleasures, if you are not generous and compassionate in your use of wealth, if you hoard our money, if you give crumbs to others, then you truly do not believe God’s Word! It exposes your values and the God whom we serve! 1 John 3.17; James 2.15-6
