Trinity Lutheran Church

Sermon by Anna Theded

Luke 16:19-31

Wow! Now that is some scary Gospel lessons isn’t it? Lets take a minute and think about what we just heard: there were once two men. The first man is rich. He has everything he could want. He was very well dressed. He has plenty of food. He is healthy. He has a large family that is also healthy. He owns a big house. He has servants. He is secure in himself and his surroundings – he feels safe. His life is safe, his family is safe, his belongings are safe and protected. This man has everything he could need. The second man is not rich. He is sick. He is hungry. He lacks for a safe place to sleep, eat or get cleaned up. He does not have relationships with others,; he is lonely. This is the story that we heard today. The story of these two men. In life they are as opposite as you could imagine. When the poor man dies, no one on earth cares for him. There is no funeral. He simply ceases to be alive. When the rich man dies his family give him a splendid funeral. His loss is mourned because he was so blessed. Now here’s the turn in the story: when the poor man dies he taken by the angels to Abraham, and the rich man is buried.

The second half of this story is about the two men in the after life. Here the rich man is experiencing what he never did in life – hard work, suffering, and incredible pain. In the distance he sees Lazarus walking with Abraham. Now we need to pause just a moment to talk about who Abraham was from the Jewish perspective: he was the Father of all Jewish peoples. All Jewish people were considered to be a part of his family. Abraham was the human being that God chose to start the followers of God. In some ways, Abraham is like Jesus for Christians – the beginning of faith. Abraham is for the Jews what Jesus is for Christianity and Muhammad is for Islam – the foundation; the chosen, the first called and designated one of God. For a Jew, and for the first hearers of this parable, Abraham was the one who had been promised many descendents, the land, and a special relationship with God.

Ok, so back to our story . . . the rich man sees Lazarus walking with Abraham and he calls out to Abraham. He clearly identifies himself with one of Abraham’s own family that had been promised God’s helping and blessing, and asks only for a little water but Abraham tells him no. He understands that the rich man is part of his own line of descendents but he informs him that since he had all the blessings imaginable in his life now the fates of him and Lazarus are reversed. Abraham tells the rich man that there is an uncrossable chasm between them, and neither side can cross to the other. So the rich man makes a second appeal: send Lazarus to warn my brothers so they don’t end up here where I am. And this time Abraham’s response is quick and short: No. They have had the prophets and the law which they don’t listen to and they will also not listen to one risen from the dead. And this is the end of the lesson.

Now this story can be particularly troubling because of what is missing from this story. We have no idea about anything from the rich man’s life or from Lazarus’. We are never told how the rich man became rich, or how he acted with those riches. We do not know why Lazarus was so poor or sick or without family and resources. Now it would be easy for us to say: see the rich man is being punished for how he lived his life on earth and Lazarus is being rewarded. But, really, we have no idea why either one of them ends up where they do. The text does not tell us why Lazarus gets to go to the place of peace with his ancestors while the rich man ends up in hell and is forced to slave and never rest.

In fact, according the understanding of many first century Jews the rich man must have been living his life in a way that was pleasing to God. The Pharisees taught that when someone “obeys God they will be blessed in war, in the marketplace, in the field and at home” (Deut 28). When people looked at the rich man they saw God’s blessings being poured out on him. In comparison,, Lazarus was being punished by God. There was no other reason that his situation would be as dire as it was. In first century Palestine there was a clear link between blessings or favour with God and safety and security in life. Blessings were shown through health, wealth and happiness. There are lots of examples from scripture where it looks like people are blessed by God in this life because of doing the “right” kind of actions. Yet in this parable Jesus tells hi listeners that they misunderstand the message just as they misunderstood the law, the prophets and Jesus.

Thinking about this story is caused me to ask: do we believe that health, wealth and happiness are the signs of God’s blessing? Are health, wealth and happiness what we are looking for from God? Do we glorify God when we receive these things? How? And how do we respond in the times when we are unhealthy? When we are concerned about how to provide for our families and ourselves? Do we still glorify God when we are unhappy, struggling or in pain?

For most of us our first response to the question: do we believe that the good things in our lives are signs of God’s blessings, is yes. And it is part of our call as Christians to glorify God, and thank God when we experience moments of greatness. It is a good response for us to thank God when we are healed. When Doctor’s are successfully able to cure someone of cancer, that is a moment to say thank you God. You are a great God. But this not the moment to think that being healed is God’s response to our being a faithful servant. Health is a freely given gift, not God’s response to some action of ours. When a person receives a promotion, or comes into money, or a stock portfolio grows this is a wonderful gift it is about God blessing us, but it is not a reward for how we are living our lives. It is good for each of us to do work in this world and to do so to the best of our ability. When we work to all our given ability, especially for the betterment of our community and others, we are glorifying God to those around us through our very actions. And while it is also good to receive recognition for that work God functions differently than we expect. Finally, it easy to glorify and thank God when we are happy. When life seems to be all that we could expect it to be, that is a gift from our God, but it not because of any actions that we have taken. It is God openly and actively being at work in the world. It is God providing for humanity and all creation. When our happiness is centred around seeing God at work in the world around us, and through us, then we are being good servants. This is a goal – be God’s good servant. And say thank you, and be grateful, and acknowledge that what is good in our lives comes from God.

But then we get to the challenge: how do we respond to God in times of illness, poverty, or sadness? Do we respond the same way? Do our actions still glorify God? When it is our loved one who is sick with cancer, or AIDS, do we still turn to God and say thank you God for being the God that you are? This is our call, that we glorify God even in the midst of this challenge.  That regardless of what life hands us, we thank God for being the creator and sustainer of us all. We thank God for sending the Holy Spirit to fill us and our loved ones with the peace that does pass understanding, with the love that takes the fear away from death, and the promise that at the end we will be reunited with those who have gone before us.   God promises to be there whenever we struggle with life, God is constant, always there to support us and often when we struggle to glorify God during hard times we come to realize how powerful God’s blessings are during these times of difficulty.

In 2000 years, the belief that Christ is challenging in this lesson is still very commonly held: that blessings in this life are a reward from God.  In North America, we struggle with consumerism. None of us can escape it. We live in a society that teaches us that happiness is related to possessions. We are taught that when we have nice clothes, a nice car, a nice home this means we are successful. So when we are not successful and loose a job, a retirement fund, or our home do we still glorify God? Do we still take the time to acknowledge that God is still there with us? Even in this time of challenge? God is with the poor, the social outcast, the marginalized, the undesirables in our society and God’s glory is reflected in them the same as it is in any other person. It is part of our calling to recognize that fact. When we are open and welcoming to others despite their situation we are embodying God’s love, and giving glory to God in heaven. It is difficult, but it is our call. It is also difficult to glorify and thank God when we are in moments of pain, loss, or unhappiness but this too is part of our call. When we turn to God in the midst of our loss and say “you are a great God, you do provide” then we are responding as we are supposed to. It is not about God giving or taking away because of our actions – it is about God being there in all situations.

This is a difficult story to talk about. It has deep messages that directly conflict with those that we receive from society.  This is true for our 21st century society just as it was for Jesus’ own society. Jesus tells us that God’s expectations of us are different than what the world thinks. God has a different way of measuring the success of someone’s life. We are called to be God’s good servants, who know the laws and follow the teachings of the prophets and Jesus. We are here to Give GLORY to our God in all situations. If we are the rich man, we are called to thank God. If we are Lazarus we are called to thank God. God freely gives to humanity and all of creation. We are warned not to equate earthly blessings with God being pleased with how we are living our life.  It is our place in this life that we have been given, to recognize that we are given everything we need by our God. It is not always easy. When it is easy we need to be thankful and acknowledge that all we have comes from God, and when it is difficult we need to acknowledge and thank God for being there with us and giving us all we need to carry on. Every life has struggles, what we are called to do is respond to God with thanksgiving, and love. And part of our task is to live out that thankfulness for all people to see – so that they may hear us and see us acknowledging the one who loves and created us. ss