"Rich Man, Poor Man: The Power Of Just Being Kind”

I would like to which to preach on the subject from our Scripture that was in your hearing, a familiar story, a parable told by Jesus, “RICH MAN, POOR MAN: THE POWER OF JUST BEING KIND”.

There’s an observance on November 13th of every year called World Kindness Day. According to Wikipedia, World Kindness Day is to highlight good deeds in the community focusing on the positive power and the common thread of kindness of good which binds us. Kindness is a fundamental part of the human condition which bridges the divides of race, religion, politics, gender and location.

What if, the rich man in the parable that was in your hearing would have been kinder to Lazarus? Should the rich man show more mercy to Lazarus? To some, the answer would have been yes because it is a positive way; that common thread of kindness which binds.

The “players” casted in this story starts with Jesus, the master storyteller who tells this story so elegantly and so masterfully giving us details to every “player” in this story.

Then we have our two main characters, The Rich Man, who we do not have a name for and the other main character, Lazarus the poor man. This is a tale of two men and what their fate will take them both.

Let’s take a look at this rich man. First, this rich man was

1)THE HAVES, A MAN OF MEANS. This rich man had expensive taste and wearing expensive clothes and probably had rich friends sipping on expensive champaign and wines treating life as a party every day. He probably was living in a high price, high rise somewhere like Miami or New York. But does this rich man knows what Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” This rich man doesn’t know further down the path of his life that his time of all the rich parties, friends, and all the glitz and glamor that goes with it will soon came to an end. The rich man represents those who had the truth. In Galatians 3:7, it tells us this, "Knowing ye thereof that which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham” Then, there’s...

2)THE HAVE NOTS, A MAN WITHOUT MEANS. Lazarus, a beggar that’s sitting in front of the rich man’s house. Lazarus would have eaten any scraps from the rich man’s table. This poor man we don’t know if he had family in order to help him and during that time there were no social services to assist those in that condition. There were no shelters to house those who fell in the cracks of society but a poor man who was hungry and physically sick.

Leviticus 25:35 tells us, "If your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you”. As you see from this story, the rich man did not treat Lazarus as a person but treated him as if he was nothing. There’s a type of love that depicts this and that’s brotherly love, a love for one’s fellow man as a brother. The Word of God tells us that, “A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” Proverbs 17:17. The next events between these two men will change their lives forever. Please note that the crumb of food depicts God’s Word that’s found in Jesus Christ

3)DEATH OF TWO MEN. There was two deaths Jesus mentioned in this parable: two deaths with two different circumstances.

A) Lazarus, the same man who sat at the rich man’s gate, begging for food and had sores on his body suffering, died and the angels carried him to be with Abraham. The bosom of Abraham as in the King James Version meaning the loving care and protection. The poor man was close to Abraham; this depicts the righteous of God or safety of God.

B) The Rich Man. However, the rich man died and was buried and when awakened, he was in hell. The rich man depicts the Jewish nation but today who have the truth or as it says in Revelation 3:17, “You say, ‘I am rich, I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing’. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” What the rich man realizes that he sees in the distance both Abraham and Lazarus yelling at them wanting Abraham to have mercy on him sending Lazarus to dip the top of his finger in water to cool off his tongue because he was suffering in that fire. While the rich man was in hell, he did not receive that mercy in which there was as the Bible describes as “great chasm” or “great gulf” that is so great, he or anyone else will be able to cross it and so, the rich man will be a permanent resident in hell.