“The Rich Man & Lazarus”
Pastor Bob Leroe, Cliftondale Congregational Church, Saugus, Massachusetts
You may be thinking, “Hey—wasn’t Stewardship Sunday last week? Although I’m sure there’ve been plenty of sermons on this parable that condemned the misuse of money, that’s not what I want to focus on today. However, I need to say that Jesus’ parable is not teaching that it is sinful to be wealthy (Abraham was rich); nor is He indicating that it’s a virtue to be poor. Our worldly state—whether prosperous or miserable—is no indication of our condition in the eyes of God.
A few interesting facts about this parable: Ancient Hebrew tombs often carry the inscription, “Asleep in the bosom of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” The term expresses the fellowship that exists in the life beyond the grave. Jesus used terminology familiar to His audience. And the name Lazarus means “God is my help”. In this parable Jesus draws a dramatic scene of contrasts: riches and poverty, heaven and hell, compassion and indifference, inclusion and exclusion, faith and unbelief.
The rich man in the parable ends up in hell, and for the purpose of the story, it’s a hell in which the condemned can see heaven. During Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia we used to say “This isn’t hell, but you can see it from here.” The rich man calls to Father Abraham to send Lazarus to help relieve his suffering. His whole, comfortable life he never needed to ask for anything from anybody else, till now. He then asks that Lazarus be sent to warn his family to mend their ways, so they won’t end up in fiery torment. C.S. Lewis told about a tombstone that read, “Here lies an atheist—all dressed up and no place to go.” He commented, “I bet he wishes that were so.”
This parable doesn’t tell us much about the afterlife, but it tells us plenty about the human heart. Abraham sadly replies that “if they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” Jesus’ parable tells us plenty about the nature of unbelief.
There a point of irony in this story that no one caught at the time. Right before Jesus’ death, He performed a miracle involving another Lazarus; not a beggar, but the brother of Mary & Martha. Lazarus was dead, and Jesus wept—not because Lazarus had died, but because Jesus knew that His miracle wouldn’t change a thing. The people would still cry out “Crucify him”, rejecting their Messiah. Lazarus was raised from the dead, and the people weren’t convinced. In fact, some sought to kill Lazarus, to put to death this obvious, divine miracle. The rich man of the parable urges Abraham, “If someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.” A real-life Lazarus did—to no avail. Jesus was rejected in spite of His miracles. Miracles can attest to the authority of the prophet but they cannot produce conversions. It still takes faith to accept Christ.
Throughout the ages there have been scores of skeptics, who deny anything supernatural. I spoke with someone this past week who reminded me of Voltaire, the French philosopher. He claimed that within a hundred years Christianity would be dead. Within a hundred years Voltaire was dead, and his house had become a Bible publishing company. Skeptics raise objections to Christianity, yet we are still in business. No one has offered any objections that have caused our faith to topple.
That’s not to say that that there have been no casualties along the way. I’ve heard stories of young people going off to college and having their beliefs assaulted by godless professors. Christians have been treated as ignorant, misguided simpletons by some in academia. Yet the truth is, you don’t have to commit intellectual suicide to be a believer. Faith isn’t a leap into the dark; it’s a leap into the light. Ours is a reasonable faith. We accept Christ because we are convinced of the validity of His claims. And every negative charge against the Bible has been answered by scholars.
I think we’re often afraid to talk about our faith because we’re afraid that people are going to argue with us, and ask us something about the Bible we can’t answer. If that were to happen, the solution is to admit what we don’t know, then find an answer. See me, or do some study on your own. Then go back, and you have another opportunity to share the truth of God’s word. Know that Christianity is defensible.
Another reason we don’t talk about our faith is because some people we encounter are a bit obnoxious. I was talking to a young soldier from Fort Jackson, who was raising one objection after another. Finally I said to him, “If I could answer all your objections to your satisfaction, would you pray and ask Christ to be your Savior?” He laughed and said, “Probably not—I just like to argue.” Josh McDowell, who writes books defending the Bible asked the same question to a college student who admitted, “I wouldn’t accept Christ because I don’t want to have to change my lifestyle.” Some people don’t care if Jesus walked on water or changed water into wine—they don’t want to have to repent, to turn their lives over to God.
The Pharisees saw Jesus perform miracles, and instead of believing, they saw His power as a threat to their power, and launched plans to kill Him. They asked for signs from heaven, yet when they saw miracles they refused to believe. In the rich man’s words they heard an echo of their own words. The parable was addressed to them. Philip Yancy writes that miracles in the Bible often created distance between people and God. Seeing is not believing. Seeing does not remove the necessity of belief, of faith.
A recent issue of Christianity Today magazine has an interesting article on doubt. The author (Mark Buchanan) tells of meeting a man who called himself a skeptic. He asked if the man had ever read the Bible. The man answered, “No, not really. I told you, I’m a skeptic. I don’t believe it.” The author’s response: “This is not skepticism. This is a refusal to investigate, to scrutinize, to ponder deeply.” I’d add that many who claim to be skeptics are really apathetic—they don’t care enough to consider the claims of the Bible. True skeptics want to believe, but they are cautious—they want their beliefs to be based on something more than wishful thinking.
There are people who just like a good argument, and there are those with serious doubts, real concerns. It’s important that we try to reach out to them. I read a booklet titled “Doubters are welcome.” These are people who have legitimate questions and want answers. They are willing to consider the claims of Christ. We may not have all the answers, but the Bible says we should “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (I Pet 3:15). We should know what we believe, and why. Unless you’re a new Christian, there is no excuse for Biblical illiteracy. We need to have substance to our faith.
This is why our church has Confirmation classes—-to offer an overview of Christian doctrine. But the real confirmation comes after the classes are over—those who stick with their faith by remaining in this place of growth. I knew a guy in seminary who said that when he graduated, he wasn’t going to open another book. He missed the purpose of education. School isn’t an end in itself—it’s preparation for a lifetime of learning. So confirmation simply provides a summary of the Christian life, in preparation for a lifetime of discipleship. We all have plenty of room to grow. Salvation is the first step; “sanctification” is a life-long process of spiritual growth. This is why we have adult Sunday School, a church library, a mens’ breakfast and a women’s evening Bible study—so that we can become mature followers of Christ.
Human depravity can look upon the truth and not see it—we call that “spiritual blindness.” When we share God’s word with others, we need to pray that the Holy Spirit will open people’s eyes so they can see the truth and be rescued from their darkness. One point of this parable is that people can see the truth and still dismiss it. Books have been written about the reliability of the Bible, proofs for the existence of God, the validity of miracles, and the historicity of Jesus…yet people don’t even give God a chance—they reject His word, a word they’ve hardly taken time to read.
The rich man was spiritually lost—not because he was rich, but because he did not listen to the teaching of the Law and the Prophets. People say to God, “Just give me a sign.” They fail to see how our immensely complex world points to God’s handiwork as Creator. The problem is, they don’t want to have to answer to God, so they reject the signs that are all around. In their preaching (throughout the book of Acts), the Apostles appealed to the Scriptures, not the miracles, to convince people that Jesus was the Messiah.
When we realize that it is God’s persuasiveness and not ours that brings people to their senses, we can breathe a sigh of relief and go about telling the Good News. God opens eyes and hearts; God raises the spiritually dead to life, drawing sinners to the Cross. God does the saving. We’re simply His messengers, telling others where we found forgiveness.
In his book, A Ready Defense, Josh McDowell states: “You can laugh at Christianity; you can mock and ridicule it—-but it works. If you decide to trust Christ, start watching your attitudes and actions, because Jesus Christ is in the business of changing lives.”
