The Rich Man and Lazarus
(Luke 16:19-31)
1.
If you were asked to make a list of single words that
describe Jesus as you understand Him, what are some of the words you would
choose? Here are a few on my list:
LOVING COMMITTED STRONG
POWERFUL GENTLE GRACIOUS
FOCUSED FORGIVING CARING
GENEROUS PRESENT WISE TEACHER GOD SAVIOR
LORD SERVANT KING
JOY PEACE PATIENT
FORTRESS SACRIFICE LIFE
ROCK LIGHT HOPE
FAITHFUL TRUE KIND
HONEST CALM FRIEND
ETERNAL HOPE MERCIFUL
WONDERFUL COUNSELOR POWERFUL
DISCERNING OBEDIENT WELCOMING
COMPASSIONATE HOLY HEALER
And, of
course, you can no doubt think of many other words that would be appropriate to
use to describe Jesus.
2.
However, there is one word—not matter how little or how
much a person may know about Jesus—one word that would never be used to
describe Him. And that is the word “SELFISH.” No matter what else one may think of Jesus,
no-one can make the claim that He was selfish, that He lived primarily for
Himself. His life was the very
antithesis of selfishness.
·
The Scripture says in Philippians 2 that when He
came to our world He “...emptied Himself,
taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of man.” [Philippians 2:7]
·
During His earthly ministry He constantly talked
about the importance of denying self and putting others before self, and He
demonstrated that kind of life for His followers to see.
·
And, of course, the great climax of His earthly
ministry was the voluntary laying down of His life for the sins of the world,
the One with no guilt dying in place of the guilty, the righteous dying for the
unrighteous, the just dying for the unjust so that we could be pronounced not
guilty, righteous, and just in the eyes of God.
3.
And Jesus, who lived a life of perfect unselfishness,
calls those who follow Him to that kind of life as well. You cannot read God’s Word without hearing
the call to a life of unselfishness.
·
Philippians 2:3 tells us to “Do nothing from selfishness...”
·
Romans 2:8 warns us that those who are “...selfishly
ambitious...” face the “...wrath and indignation...” of
God.
·
2 Timothy 3:2 lists “...lovers of self...”
which basically means those who are selfish, among the very worst of people.
·
James 3:16 reminds us that “...selfish ambition...”
leads to “...every evil thing.”
·
Proverbs 23:6 says that we are not to “...eat
the bread (which means to fellowship with or associate with) a
selfish man...”
4.
Today, as we continue looking at some of those
stories in Luke’s Gospel that are found nowhere else in the Scripture, we have
come to a story that has much to teach us about the danger of selfishness. Look at the last part of Luke 16. (Text – Luke 16:19-31)
T.S. – The temptation
we face in trying to understand this story is to focus on what it teaches about
life after death. And there certainly
are some important lessons in this story about that, but those lessons are
secondary to the main point of this story.
In the larger context of Luke 16, it is clear Jesus told this story in
response to the obvious selfish, self-centered attitude of the Pharisees, who
by this time in His ministry were questioning everything that Jesus did. This story must be read in light of Luke 16:14 which says, “Now the
Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things, and
they were scoffing at Him.”
And in response to that, Jesus said to the Pharisees, “God knows your hearts. He knows you are selfish and self-centered
people.” Then He told the story of
the rich man and Lazarus to warn them of the danger of that kind of spirit. From this story I want to point out to you
why a life of selfishness is dangerous and why God instructs us to avoid that
kind of life.
I. Selfishness is
dangerous because it diminishes our lives.
1. One of the great lies
of Satan is that the more I focus on me and the more I look out for myself, the
better my life becomes. Actually, just the opposite is true. The more we focus on self, the less fulfilling
our lives are. People who are
preoccupied with self are generally the unhappiest people you will ever meet.
2. Everything that Jesus
says about the rich man in this story indicates he was preoccupied with
himself. Verse 19 indicates that nothing
but the best was good enough for him. He
dressed in the finest of clothes.
Everyday was a feast day for him.
He lived a classic life of hedonism, pursuing pleasure as the way to
meaning and fulfillment. But there is no
evidence that he found any meaning or fulfillment, either in this world or the
next world.
·
It is interesting that absolutely nothing is
said about the rich man’s life in this world except that “...he
habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, gaily living in splendor every
day.”
Nothing about his vocation.
Nothing about his family. Nothing
about his spiritual commitments. Nothing
about anything he did to make the world a better place. His life in this world was an empty life that
made no positive impact on anyone or anything.
·
And certainly his experience in the afterlife
was not positive. He found himself
separated from God and in torment.
And one thing we can
learn from all that is when we live only for ourselves, our lives are not
enhanced; they are diminished.
3. In his book on Leadership, Bill Hybels writes about Howard
Hughes. He says that Howard Hughes was
one of the most self-willed, self-centered people who ever lived. He lived to
satisfy his personal desires.
·
He wanted
more money, so he parlayed inherited wealth into a billion-dollar pile of
assets.
·
He wanted
more fame, so he broke into the Hollywood scene and soon became a film-maker
and star.
·
He wanted
more sensual pleasures, so he paid handsome sums to indulge his every sexual
urge.
·
He wanted
more thrills, so he designed, built, and piloted the fastest aircraft in the
world.
·
He wanted
more power, so he secretly dealt political favors so skillfully that two U.S.
presidents became his pawns.
He was absolutely convinced that a self-centered, hedonistic
life-style would bring him true satisfaction. Did it work? You be the judge. At the end of his life he was emaciated and
colorless; with a sunken chest; fingernails in grotesque, inches-long corkscrews;
rotting, black teeth; tumors; and innumerable needle marks from his drug
addiction. Howard Hughes died, a billionaire junkie and insane by any normal
standards, clinging to the illusion that a self-willed life is the way to
fulfillment.
4. Selfishness is dangerous precisely because it does not lead to
fulfillment. It diminishes our lives.
II. Selfishness is
dangerous because it blinds us to the needs of others
1. The use of the name “Lazarus” in this parable is interesting. Normally, Jesus did not use names for the
characters in His parables. The name
literally means “he
whom God helps” and perhaps Jesus used that name to let His hearers
know in advance that even though the rich man did not help Lazarus, God would.
2. Lazarus was a
pathetic figure. Notice how Jesus
described Him in verses 20 and 21:
·
“poor man” –
That is rather obvious, given where he was and what he was doing.
·
“laid at his gate” – The implication is that someone placed him there,
meaning that he was unable to walk.
·
“covered with sores”
– His body was a mass of ulcers
·
“longing to be fed
with the crumbs which were falling from the man’s table” – The
insertion of the word “crumbs” is a little
misleading. The reference is probably to
the pieces of bread that were used as napkins to wipe one’s hands after dipping
meat in sauce or gravy. The bread was
thrown on the floor to be swept out.
·
“even the dogs were
coming and licking his sores” – In other words, Lazarus waited
with the dogs for the scraps to be swept from the banquet hall.
Jesus
could not have painted a more pathetic picture.
One writer describes Lazarus as “...a filthy, festering beggar.” [The
Gospels in Study and Preaching, p.34]
5.
The rich man in this story is not condemned because of
what he did to Lazarus. Actually, there
is no evidence that he did anything to him.
Lazarus was not forced to leave the gate. He was not forbidden from eating the scraps
from the table. He was not hit or kicked
or abused in anyway. Instead, the rich man
was condemned for what he did not do.
And basically, what he did not do was even notice that Lazarus was
there. He was so wrapped up in himself,
so selfish and self-centered, that apparently he felt nothing toward
Lazarus. No grief. No sorrow.
No pity. No sadness. And he felt nothing because he saw
nothing. As Barclay says, “His
was the punishment of the man who never noticed.” [Barclay, p.222]
6.
I wonder if that is a description of my life. I wonder if there are people I come across
everyday who are hurting, lonely, afraid, and overwhelmed, but because I am so
wrapped up in myself I never even see their need. That is one thing selfishness does to us. It can cause us to be so focused on ourselves
that we fail to recognize the needs of others.
That’s why the Bible tells us in Philippians 2:4, “...do not merely look out for
your own personal interest, but also for the interest of others.”
III. Selfishness is
dangerous because it distorts our thinking about God.
1.
When the rich man died and found himself in the place
of torment, he was able to look, presumably into heaven, and see Abraham who
was cradling Lazarus in his arms. Notice
what the rich man did. He made two
requests, both of which are basically selfish requests. Death had not changed the selfish nature of
this man.
·
He asked for water to
quench his thirst. There is no
indication that he cared about or even recognized the thirst of others in that
place.
·
He asked for his
brothers to be warned of the place of torment. There is no indication that he was concerned
that others be warned as well.
What I want you to
see in that is that his selfishness carried over into the spiritual realm.
- And that is the most dangerous things selfishness
does to us. It distorts our
thinking about God and our understanding of how we are to relate to
God. If we are characterized by
selfishness and self-centeredness, instead of viewing ourselves as
servants of God, we begin to view God as our own personal butler.
- Do not misunderstand what I am saying. God wants to do good things for us. The
Bible is filled with promise after promise of God’s protection of and
provision for His people. But the
deepest longing of God for us is that we know Him and live in daily
communion with Him. God’s greatest
gift to us is the gift of Himself.
- When Roy
DeLamotte was chaplain at Paine College in Georgia, he preached the
shortest sermon in the college's history. However, he had a rather long
topic: "What does Christ
Answer When We Ask, "Lord, What's in Religion for Me?" The
complete content of his sermon was in one word: "Nothing." He later explained that the one-word
sermon was meant for people brought up on the 'gimme-gimme' gospel. [Resources,
1990].
- I understand what that chaplain was saying. He was trying to discourage the view of
God as our personal servant, bringing us what we want when we want
it. But I think I would have
answered the question, “What does
Christ answer when we ask, ‘Lord, What’s in religion for me?’” with a
different word. Instead of the word
“nothing” I would answer with “everything.” Because when we lay aside our
selfishness and self-centeredness and truly seek God, we get
everything. That’s what the Bible
says in Colossians 3:10 where we find this wonderful phrase: “For in Him [Jesus] you have been made
complete...” or as the Living Bible so beautifully paraphrases it,
“You have everything you need when you have Christ...”
- The great tragedy of a selfish, self-centered life is
that it distorts our view of God causing us to miss the daily life of
communion He wants us to have with Him.
Conclusion
1.
Every day we live we must choose between living a
self-centered life or a God-centered life.
|
A self-centered
life
|
A God-centered
life
|
|
Diminishes
us
|
Fulfills
us
|
|
Makes
us blind to people
|
Makes
us sensitive to people
|
|
Distorts
our relationship God
|
Enhances
our relationship with God
|
May we
choose wisely!
