Dr. Rodney Plunket

Luke 16:10-15; 19-31

I hope you absorbed the responsive Scripture reading from Luke 16:10-15, because that passage makes a point that is very important for American Christians.  We live in a place and time when the buying of more and more material goods is considered almost a divine right.  But the words of Jesus in Luke 16:10ff reveal a danger in wealth that we American Christians commonly ignore.  The danger is that we will become slaves of our wealth.  We think of ourselves as the owners of our possessions, but Jesus’ words in Luke 16:13 make clear that people commonly are deceived about this matter of ownership.  Hear Jesus’ words again:  “You cannot serve God and wealth.”  The Greek word translated as “serve” here is douleuéoœ, and that word means to “serve as a slave.”  This statement from Jesus as well as what He says in the verse as a whole make clear that it is very easy for the wealth which we possess to become the master to which we are enslaved.

These words of Jesus can indict and confront those who love money.  They can even make us wealthy Americans angry.  But I would be careful about responding in that way, because that reaction is very similar to the reac­tion of the Pharisees who were so often the target of Jesus’ strongest words of accusation.  Luke 16:14 reveals that the Pharisees did not like Jesus’ words so they responded by ridiculing Him.

Jesus responded to the Pharisees’ ridicule by giving a brief comment on the Law and the Kingdom followed by a brief comment on divorce.  Both of these statements appear to be responses to Pharisee philosophy and behavior.

But, after these fairly brief comments, Jesus gives a parable clearly intended to confront head on the Pharisees’ love of wealth.  Please turn to Luke 16 and follow along as I read verses (vv) 19-31.

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.  And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores.  The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham.  The rich man also died and was buried.  In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.  He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’  But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.  Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you can­not do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’  He said, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’  Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’  He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’  He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

A straightforward reading of this parable’s primary message is disturbing, and I want us to feel that disturbance.  So please, take off your insulation and feel the sharp edge of this parable.  Listen again to verse (v) 25.  There Abraham says to the rich man, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is com­forted here, and you are in agony.”

This is a very simple parable of reversal.  That is, the way you have it in this earthly life is the exact opposite of the way you will have it in the life to come.  If your life here is characterized by ease and material blessings, then you will suffer in the next.  If your life is characterized by suffering and pov­erty in this life, then you will be comforted in the next.  And, this parable teaches, if we do not learn this lesson from Scripture then we will not learn it, and clearly the consequences of not learning this lesson are extremely serious for those of us with lots of “good things.”

I think we preachers have been too quick to soften the impact of this par­able.  I think that we have feared that we might run people off if we allowed the point of this parable to be heard without softening it.

But I want you to know that this parable hurts me, and I think it is sup­posed to.  You see, I have lots of material things.  I have material things that the rich man in the parable could not even imagine.  I need to feel the pain of this parable’s sharp point.  So whatever discomfort you feel as you read this parable, I want you to know that I feel it too.  This parable has forced me to think about what the next life holds for me if it is a reversal of what I have now.  I believe that sort of thinking has been very good for me.  I think it will be good for you too.  Most of us have lots of possessions.  Most of us make salaries which the rest of the world can only dream of.  We go to bed in com­fort.  We wear a variety of clothes housed in well-stocked closets.  Just like the rich man, we eat sumptuously and never need miss a meal.  We drive automo­biles that cost more than many in the world will earn in a lifetime.

That’s scary, isn’t it?  It’s scary because the reverse of that in the life to come would be, to put it mildly, unpleasant.

Now, let’s place this parable in the overall teachings of the New Testament (NT).  Please look with me at 1 Timothy 6:17-19.  There we read,

As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.

This passage makes clear that the early church had rich people in it who were not condemned by the church because they were rich.

However, to keep us from getting too comfortable, let’s notice that in this same book and in the same chapter of this book we have another comment about riches.  Look at 1 Timothy 6:9-10.

But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

And let’s also remember that Jesus, in Luke 18:22, says to the Rich Young Ruler, “Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.”

Sisters and brothers, at the very least, the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus and the Bible as a whole teaches us that riches in this life are an impediment in our spiritual journey toward the next life.  At the very least we must be shaken out of our wealth-induced ease and comfort.  We must become uncomfortable for those who are poor and hungry.  We must not leave the Lazaruses outside the gates hungry and hurting.  We must respond to Paul’s call “to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share.”  We must become less confident in the way we so easily blunt the sharp points of the Bible’s message regarding the spiritual danger of wealth.

I want to share a story with you that I hope will point us all in the right direction.  This story was sent to me by e-mail in 1998 by Rhonda Cox.

I am a mother of three . . . and have recently completed my col­lege degree.  The last class I had to take was Sociology.  The teacher was absolutely inspiring with the qualities I wish every human had been graced with.  Her last project of the term was called “Smile.”  The class was asked to go out and smile at three people and document their reac­tion.  I am a very friendly person and always smile at everyone and say hello anyway . . . so, I thought, this would be a piece of cake . . . .  Soon after we were assigned the project, my husband, youngest son, and I went out to McDonalds, one crisp March morning.  It was just our way of sharing special playtime with our son.  We were standing in line, waiting to be served, when all of a sudden everyone around us began to back away, and then even my husband did.  I did not move an inch . . . an overwhelming feeling of panic welled up inside of me as I turned to see why they had moved.  As I turned around I smelled a horrible “dirty body” smell . . . and there standing behind me were two poor homeless men.  As I looked down at the short gentleman, close to me, he was “smiling” . . . his beautiful sky blue eyes were full of God’s Light as he searched for acceptance.  He said, “Good day,” as he counted the few coins he had been clutching.  The second man fumbled with his hands as he stood behind his friend.  I realized the second man was mentally defi­cient and the blue eyed gentleman was his salvation.  I held my tears as I stood there with them.  The young lady at the counter asked him what they wanted.  He said, “Coffee is all Miss,” because that was all they could afford (to sit in the restaurant and warm up they had to buy some­thing . . . they just wanted to be warm).  Then I really felt it . . . the compulsion was so great I almost reached out and embraced the little man with the blue eyes.  That is when I noticed all eyes in the restaurant were set on me . . . judging my every action.  I smiled and asked the young lady behind the counter to [sell] me two more breakfast meals on a separate tray.  I then walked around the corner to the table and laid my hand on the blue eyed gentleman’s cold hand.  He looked up at me, with tears in his eyes, and said, “Thank you.”  I leaned over, began to pat his hand and said, “I did not do this for you . . . God is here working through me to give you hope.”  I started to cry as I walked away to join my husband and son.  When I sat down my husband smiled at me . . . .  We held hands for a moment; and, at that time, we knew that only because of Grace were we able to give.

I share that story with hesitation, because I think it can feed within us the ten­dency to do an occasional good deed and think that such an act confirms that we are not slaves of our wealth.  We must allow God to teach us that the prob­lem is much more profound than that.  Are we deeply committed to helping the poor and the hungry?  Tony Campolo spoke in Lubbock on Thursday night and said that over 2,000 statements in the Bible relate to helping the poor.  This is not a side issue.  This is a doctrine of the Bible.  We cannot be doctrinally pure and we are not practicing “sound doctrine” if we fail to love and help the poor and the hungry.

We have a special opportunity to help the poor and the hungry.  We have the opportunity to contribute to the Second Helpings Program of the South Plains Food Bank.  We have asked every member to miss at least one meal and give the money not spent on that meal to this program.  But I hope you will do more than that.

Most of us know that our Carpenter’s Church on Avenue S and 8^th Street sprung out of Carpenter’s Kitchen, our part of the Second Helpings Program.  We know what God can do with this money.  We have seen lives changed.

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