In our Gospel lesson today, we have two different kinds of people. One who loves God and one who doesn’t. Now my bible has the little headings in it and it calls this “The Rich Man and Lazarus”. But it really should be called the lover of God and the lover of money. Because that is what is at the heart of all the lessons today.
Let’s look at the parable that Jesus tells. He talks about two men: a rich man and Lazarus. The rich man is clothed in purple, which is expensive, and fine linen, again very expensive. He feasted sumptuously daily and lived in a gated house, you get the idea that this man lived what we would call the American dream.
And then there is Lazarus. He laid at the gate of this rich man, begging for food. In fact Jesus tells us that he desired to be fed with what fell from this man’s table. He couldn’t even imagine being in a situation where he could have his own food. It was enough for him to dream about the scraps that fell from a table.
Lazarus was also covered in sores, we don’t know why we suffered in this way, and even dogs came and licked the sores. Now these weren’t the neighborhood pet dogs that came and kissed him as a greeting. These were wild scavenger dogs, not much different than rats in our modern context.
And Jesus tells us that they both died. Lazarus died and was carried by angels to Abraham’s side, he was taken up to heaven. He is seated at the banquet, accepted into the eternal fellowship with God.
The rich man also died and he was buried, Lazarus wasn’t, another earthly insult. But he wasn’t carried to heaven. Instead he was in Hades. Hell.
He looked up to heaven and saw, far off, Abraham and Lazarus. He knows that something has gone very wrong. But even in his eternal torment, he doesn’t change. He calls out to Abraham, asks for mercy in the way of sending Lazarus to him with a bit of water for his tongue. Even in the flames of hell, he sees Lazarus as nothing more than a servant to him.
Abraham tells him that now the roles have been reversed, you had your good things, and now you are in anguish, where Lazarus was in anguish and now is comforted. And not only have the roles been reversed, but there is a great chasm between the two realities, the two places: heaven and hell. At this point, no one can cross from one to the other. Your fate has been determined.
Now the rich man shows he does have a bit of heart. He worries for his brothers. Again, he asks that Lazarus would be sent, this time to appear to them and warn them about his condition and location. Because he knows they will end up like him.
But Abraham again tells him no. They have a better witness, Moses and the Prophets. They have the word of God, the should be listening to that. That should point them to God.
The rich man pleading desperately, in the pain of the flames and anguish, says that someone raised from the dead will cause them to repent. Jesus is pointing here to his resurrection. And he says that if people aren’t listening to what Moses and the Prophets have to say, even someone rising from the dead won’t convince them of the need to repent.
And that is what this parable is about, the need to repent. Not to repent from being rich to being poor. The rich man’s issue wasn’t being rich. His issue was that his heart was focused on his wealth. He had a man outside his gate, someone he saw daily, someone whose name he knew and someone he did nothing to help.
The rich man fears for his brothers, because he knows of their need to repent of their behavior. Not of their status, but their attitude towards wealth.
Paul in the close of his first letter to Timothy encourages the same kind of behavior. In 6:8-10, he tells Timothy that those who desire to be rich all into temptation, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. Now he doesn’t say that this happens to those who are rich, but those who desire to be rich.
The desire for anything other than God puts us into temptation, because we have already broken the first commandment, “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me”.
Paul warns Timothy that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Money isn’t the root. It is the love of it. The idolatry of it. And through this craving some have walked away from the faith. By loving money many have walked away from the faith, and I think many have done this without ever leaving the church.
So Paul tells Timothy to flee these things, the love and desire of money. Run as fast and as far from these things as you can. So what do you run to?
“Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.” In short, run to God. In order to get away from an unhealthy desire, you have to go to God.
Have you ever taken a picture of something and when you look at it, the thing you wanted to take a picture of was blurry, but something else in the picture was clear as a bell?
It is because your focus is on the wrong thing. And when you focus on something, everything else will be blurred into the background.
That is why we need to focus on God, to pursue God, to follow him with every aspect of our life so we don’t lose focus.
So how do we do it? How do we pursue God and focus on him?
Paul tells us. “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called”. First, it is a fight. We don’t try to pursue God without a fight from the enemy through temptations. He prowls around us like a lion waiting for the opportunity, so we need to take the initiative and pursue God in all things and in all ways, especially when tempted, taking hold of that eternal life, clinging to the gospel and not your earthly condition for your salvation.
We need to remember that not only did we do nothing to earn our salvation, but that Christ did it all for us. Our call is to trust that fact when we are tempted to give our focus to something else, whether its money or another desire that pulls us from God.
Paul gives some more practical council in verse 17 and following for the rich in this present age. Today that is us. Each and every one of us would be considered rich globally. Set your hopes not on the uncertainty of riches, words we all know too well in this economy. Instead set your hope on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. Again, this isn’t a prosperity gospel, but as we pursue God, he will give us the desires of our hearts because our hearts will be focused on him and not on the frivolity of the world.
Money isn’t the issue. Trusting money for your comfort, you contentment and your passions is. Trusting anything for your security, your joy, your passion, your salvation, your life is sin and idolatry. And the only solution is to repent to turn away from those things and to turn to Jesus and rejoice in what He has done for you at the cross.
It is only in his work at the cross that you will find comfort in your life, contentment in any situation, the meaning your life needs. Keep coming back to Jesus. Only He will never disappoint or lead you astray.
