NR 26-09-04
Lk 16:19-31 Dives and Lazarus
Story: A little girl was standing outside her Sunday School classroom when the pastor - a liberal theologian - noticed she was holding a big storybook entitled, “Jonah and the Whale.”
The pastor wanted to have some fun with her so he asked her, “Do you really believe that Jonah was swallowed by a whale?” The little girl frowned –as little girls can and answered, “Of course I do!”
The pastor pushed her a bit further and said, “Do you really believe that a man can be swallowed by a big whale, stay inside for three days and then come out and still be alive?”
The little girl said, “Absolutely. The story is in the Bible and we studied it in Sunday School today.”
Then the pastor asked, “Can you prove to me that the story is true?”
She thought for a moment and then said, “Well, when I get to Heaven, I’ll ask Jonah.”
The pastor went on, “Well, what if Jonah’s not in Heaven?”
She then put her hands on her little hips and looked at him sternly and replied “Then you can ask him!”
Today’s parable speaks of the afterlife – and Jesus clearly challenges us with the question: “Where will we spend eternity.”
It is one of the few explicit passages that talks about heaven and hell – and the finality of the choice that we make on this earth.
The Book of Hebrews is also explicit about the finality of our choice:
27Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
The Bible has no truck with re-incarnation however comfortable that doctrine might be.
Once this life is over in this world, we will live by the decisions we made in this life
None of us know when the end is. We do not have privy to how much time we have left before we meet God.
That is why how we live our life is so important.
Prov. 27:1 reminds us Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.
There are two valuable lessons to be learned from the Parable of Dives (the name simply means rich man in Latin) and Lazarus not just about the future – in heaven or hell but about the present!
1. The first lesson is thi: We can be so busy with our wealth that we don’t hear the Lord speaking to us – crying out to us to help!
Story: A young and successful executive was travelling down a road in a poor neighbourhood going a bit too fast in his new Jag.
He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something.
As his car passed one set of parked cars, a brick smashed into the side of the Jag!
He slammed on the brakes and backed the Jag back to the spot where the brick had been thrown.
The angry driver then jumped out of the car, grabbed the nearest kid and pushed him up against a parked car shouting,
“What was this all about and who are you? Just what do you think you are doing? That’s a new car and that brick you threw is going to cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?”
The young boy was apologetic. “I’m sorry but I didn’t know what else to do. I threw the brick because no one would stop.”
With tears dripping down his face, the child pointed to a spot just around a parked car.
“It’s my brother,” he said. “He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.”
Now sobbing, the boy asked the stunned motorist, “Would you please help me get him back into his
wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”
Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat.
He hurriedly lifted the handicapped boy back into the wheelchair, then took out a linen handkerchief and dabbed at the fresh scrapes and cuts.
A quick look told him everything was going to be okay
“Thank you and may God bless you,” the grateful child told the stranger.
Too shaken up for words, the man simply watched the boy push his wheelchair-bound brother down the road towards their home.
It was a long, slow walk back to the Jag. The damage was very noticeable, but the driver never bothered to repair the dented side door.
He kept the dent there to remind him of this message “Don’t go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention!”
God whispers in our souls and speaks to our hearts. Sometimes when we don’t have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at us. It’s our choice to listen or not.
In Jesus’ story today, God was trying to get the attention of the rich man. He threw a brick at him everyday. The brick’s name was Lazarus.
Everyday Lazarus laid at the gate of the rich man hoping that Dives would have compassion upon him.
Lazarus was Dives’ opportunity to use his wealth wisely but he never slowed down enough to notice.
2. The second lesson from the Parable of Dives and Lazarus is this – We only have this time on earth to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with our friends and neighbours
It might seem an obvious thing to say – but we need to be reminded that our time is short.
Dives, in Hell wanted Lazarus to be sent back to his brothers – because “if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent” (Lk 16:30)
But Jesus goes on to say: “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets they will not be convinced if someone rises from the dead”(Lk 16:31).
Of course Jesus’ words were prophetic because
many of Jesus’ hearers did not repent when Jesus himself rose from the dead.
The Church of England issued a theological report on Hell in the opening months of 1996.
While not suggesting that everyone would eventually wind up in heaven, the Anglican report does propose that if there is a Hell, it is empty.
The report says:
“In the past the imagery of hell-fire and eternal torment and punishment…has been used to frighten men and women….”
It concludes:
Hell is not eternal torment, but is the final and irrevocable choosing of that which is opposed to God so completely ... that the only end is total non-being." Well that is one possibility.
But I wonder if that is what Jesus believed when he told this parable.
But for me the shame about our new “understanding” of Hell is that we are no longer “concerned to keep our friends and neighbours out of it”
In the past – a lively belief in a real place that Jesus himself called Hell drove Christians into the mission field. There was a genuine concern for the lost
People like C.T. Studd – who gave up the comfort of upper class England in the 1890’s to go and preach the Gospel in China and Africa in squalid conditions
CT Studd summed it up well when he wrote once wrote:
Some people like to live
within the sound of chapel bells
I’d rather run a rescue shop
within a yard of hell.
Whatever you believe about hell
– whether it is specifically a place of torment
which would seem to be what Jesus and the early church taught or
- the latest Anglican position - that those who reject Christ go into a state of “non-being”,
the challenge has to be for us to have a concern and reach out to the lost.
The challenge of the story of Dives and Lazarus is for me twofold
1. Am I prepared to pray for the lost
Do you know that about 10 years ago a survey was taken among US and Canadian pastors.
They were asked among other things how long they during a week. Do you know the answer: 15 minutes a week on average .
If the ministers don’t have a lot of time for Jesus how much more can they expect their congregations to spend time with Him.
The second challenge is:
2. Am I prepared to look for opportunities to reach those who are seeking?
Archbishop William Temple once said: “The Church is the only society on earth that exists for the benefit of non-members.”
Dives wasn’t prepared to use his wealth to alleviate Lazarus’ sores. He wasn’t prepared to give up his comforts for Lazarus’ needs.
I wonder if we too are being challenged to give up our comforts for all those spiritual Lazaruses out there. Perhaps we are being challeneged to give up the comfort of some of our traditional services to accommodate the needs of those outside the church.
I think the challenge to tell others about the Jesus we know was put very nicely by the ’Sunday Times’ journalist Matthew Parris – a man, who by his own confession, is not a Christian. Parris wrote this :
’The New Testament offers a picture of God, who does not sound at all vague.
He has sent His Son to earth. He has distinct plans for each of us personally and can communicate directly with us.
We are capable of forming a direct relationship, individually with Him, and are commanded to try.
We are told that this can be done only through his son. And we are offered the prospect of eternal life – an afterlife in happy, blissful or glorious circumstances if we live this life in a certain manner.
Friends, if I believed that, or even a tenth of that, how could I care which version of the prayer book is used.
I would drop my job, sell my house, throw away all my possessions, leave my acquaintances and set out into the world burning with desire to know more and, when I had found more, to act upon it and tell others.
Far from being puzzled that the Mormons and Adventists should knock on the door, I am unable to understand how anyone who believed that (which) is written in the Bible could choose to spend their waking hours in any other endeavour.’ (Matthew Parris).
Hard words – but are we prepared to give up what is comfortable to us to enable those outside the church to come in.
Or are we like Dives – wanting to hang on to our comforts while Lazarus lies with sores at our gate.
We have made a start with our Family Service – but can we do more? Have we really a heart for the lost.
If we really believed in Hell – I am sure we would!
Our Gospel reading is quite a challenge – but then Jesus always seemed to challenge his disciples and those around him – because He cared so much for the lost.
Do I have a heart for the lost – as Jesus did?
Come to think of it – He was prepared to go to the Cross for the Lost – That’s quite an act to follow.
Amen
My thanks to Mike Turner for inspiration from his sermon (Once Life is over)which can be found on Sermon Central.com
