Jesus welcoming the outsiders in - characters unique to Lukes gospel

Luke 16v19-31 Parable of the rich man and Lazarus

Have you seen a beggar this week? If so, what did you do? How did you react? Are you one of those who will reach into their pocket and give them something as you walk past? Are you one of those who will look them in the face and speak to them? Perhaps take them to a shop and buy them the food they are asking for? Or are you one of those who ignores them and walks past thinking "perhaps another time, I'm in a hurry right now".

Jesus said "you will always have the poor with you", and he is right. Today's passage helps us to think about how we interact with "the poor" and I hope it will be an encouragement to some of us and a challenge to the rest.

Often the way which we behave shows what we *really* believe…

Jesus had been instructing his disciples when the Pharisees came along scoffing at him. They are identified as lovers of money and Jesus warns them about the difference between mans estimation of someone's position and Gods estimation. (v14-15) Jesus then goes on to illustrate their problem with this horrific parable.

Note, the place in v23 is Hades, not Hell. While Hell is used for the ultimate eternal destination of the ungodly, Hades is used to represent the "realms of the dead" - it is a Greek expression for the Old Testament Sheol, and refers to the place where the dead await the final judgement - or final glory. We read in Revelation 20 that "death and Hades give up the dead which are in them" for the final judgement. We know from rabbinical writings of around Jesus' time that the then current view was that this intermediate state was different for the godly and the ungodly - and Jesus' story here reflects that view.

Contrast the rich and the poor man - in life, in death, in afterlife. The rich man was clothed regally in expensive material, Lazarus was covered in sores. The rich man feasted sumptuously living in luxury every day, Lazarus longed for even what was discarded from the rich mans table. Lazarus was laying at the rich mans very gate, but he might as well have been invisible - although we see later that the rich man knew his name…

Then they die. Lyrically, Lazarus (whose name means "he who God helps") is carried by angels to Abraham's side, a place of blessing. Somewhat more down to earth, the rich man was just "buried". He found himself in Hades, tormented by fire, unable to help himself and unable to help others, unable even to receive aid from any outside source.

Paying attention to Gods Word for the lost

What is the real issue in this story? it isn't teaching that wealth is bad, nor that poverty is good. It isn't giving us a detailed theology of life after death. No, the rich man ended up in torment in Hades for the same reason that his brothers were liable to - he had not paid attention to Moses and the Prophets (v29, 31)

Jesus is making a very serious point - what happens when you die depends upon your response to Gods word today. The rich man had ignored "Moses and the Prophets" - the word of God - and faces an eternity of torment. Lets look at some of the scriptures that should have influenced his life…

Deut 15:7
If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted towards your poor brother.

Deut 15:11
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be open-handed towards your brothers and towards the poor and needy in your land.

Is 3:13-15
The LORD takes his place in court; he rises to judge the people. The LORD enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: "It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?" declares the Lord, the LORD Almighty.

Amos 2:6-7
This is what the LORD says: "For three sins of Israel, even for four, I will not turn back [my wrath]. They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor as upon the dust of the ground and deny justice to the oppressed…

Ezek 16:49
"'Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.

It was sin and disobedience that led the rich man to Hades. Mankind needs to beware today too, for these very same attitudes are endemic in our society - and creep into our own lives if we are not careful. Gods word warns us what behaviour is unacceptable to God. What hope is there for any of us?

Happily it also tells us the solution to the problem of sin. Jesus Christ himself has provided the answer to sin. We know from the New Testament scriptures that Jesus died on the cross on our behalf, bearing our sin in his body, facing the wrath of God for everything we have done wrong - why? because he loves us.

Happily what we have to do to be saved from this terrible destination is spelt out more directly for us… Confess Jesus Christ as your Lord and believe that he was raised from the dead, having paid for your sins on the cross.

Neither then nor now are miracles needed to persuade people to turn to Jesus and be saved. We notice that Jesus didn't do miracles to change the mind of people who were hostile to him.

If the scriptures are not enough, people wont change their mind even if someone comes back from the dead. After all, that's just what Jesus did…

Dave was a chap that I knew at university. He often used to talk with me about Christianity, but couldn't bring himself to make a commitment. One evening he was walking home, arguing with God - and he said that if God would give him a sign, he would believe, but if there was no sign he would turn away completely. As he thought these things he saw a shooting star - the first he had ever seen. What went through his mind? "Is that a sign? Or was it coincidence? How do I know if that's a sign?" He never did turn to God while I knew him, but perhaps by now… I don't know. If someone is not willing to accept the scriptures, they are not particularly likely to accept a sign as from God either.

How we respond to Gods word determines what our future holds for us. As it says in v16 - since John the Baptist the good news of the kingdom of God is preached. If you want a future of eternal pleasure and happiness then you must turn to Jesus - trust that he died on the cross for your sins, believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead and confess with your lips that he is your Lord. Because those who don't face only torment for eternity.

Serious stuff, but I make no apologies for sounding a clear warning - because it is the clear warning that Jesus gives throughout the gospels. If you are not yet saved, turn to Jesus today, I implore you.

Walking in step with Gods heart for the poor

For those of us who are already saved, already followers and disciples of Jesus - what does this story tell us? God is concerned about the poor, the refugee, the dispossessed. He always has been and always will be. Those Old Testament scriptures haven't changed, God still feels the same way about those issues.

Jesus is telling this parable as a warning to the Pharisees, who loved money, and loved money more than God. They were arrogant, overfed and did not help the poor and needy. If our riches are more important to us than the suffering of people around us, we are out of tune with Gods heart for the poor.

We hear people talking about the global village, and it is true - we live in a much smaller world than even our grandparents did, let alone those of thousands of years ago. We are aware of the desperately poor and suffering all over the world, like those we have heard about today. What is our response to that, I wonder? There are several common responses that I'm aware of:

We can offer our energy & time (voluntary work, letter writing), we can offer our money & material goods (sponsoring children, supporting organisations, providing refugee parcels). At the very least we can offer respect.

When Jo & I were visiting refugees in Yugoslavia, we were able to bring them three things - aid in terms of food and clothes, hope - the message of a future with Christ, and respect - because we would sit and talk with them, listen to them, accept their hospitality and enable them to think of themselves as human beings again, rather than unwanted flotsam and jetsam. There are homeless people on the streets of our towns and cities who are longing for small act of recognition that they are a human being too.

If we want to follow Jesus truly, we need to be concerned about the same things that concern our master.

It is great that so many of us here are already working in one way or another, giving our time, effort and resources in aid of people needing it - whether writing letters to those in prison, sponsoring children, supporting charities (Christian and otherwise) or even regularly buying the Big Issue. I'd like to say "thank you" to every one of you who is already doing these things - you are walking in step with the heartbeat of God towards the poor. Be encouraged, God sees you even when no-one else does and he is pleased with you!

And for those of us who have not been making a conscious effort to look out for the poor - lets start this week, eh? Perhaps we can become more aware of the producers of our food and goods - fair trade goods may cost a little more, but they don't exploit the poorest third-world workers. Perhaps it is worth finding out which corporations have a particularly good or particularly bad reputation in their treatment of the third world. Perhaps we could buy a copy of the big issue, spare a few words for a beggar, look through the tear fund information. Let us learn to be generous with our time, our energy, our wealth.

As James says, we demonstrate our faith by our actions. Lets do some demonstrating!

Alex White

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