What is your confidence based on?

Confidence

I’m going to apologise to Jim Lawrence in advance - my opening illustration might be a little hard to hear - but I wanted an illustration of misplaced confidence, and well, the Parramatta Eels kept coming to mind.

Now I’ve been an Eels supporter from as early as I can remember, choosing my team because - well, that’s who my Dad supported!

I was six years old when the Eels last won the premiership - I can hardly remember it.

Every so often, the Eels show great promise.

In 2001, I was so confident they would win the comp, I bought the early release Grand Final tickets, even before they got to the Grand Final, only to be utterly disappointed because some person called Andrew Johns played for the other team.

In 2009, there was a player called Jarryd Hayne who had the most amazing run of good form, taking them all the way to the Grand Final. My confidence in that player was later smashed.

And then there was last year. They made the Grand Final yet again - and sure, it was against the team that was dominating the competition, but yet, there was this confidence that they could do it.

Unfortunately, yet again, my confidence was misplaced.

Now the reality is, we constantly put confidence in things that let us down all the time. Doing it with a football team is one thing - the results of which can see havoc being played with your emotions. In other areas of life, it can be more than just your emotions.

Sometimes it’s other people. Or perhaps other organisations - maybe even the church.

Although, I suspect most of us have been burnt along the way, and so we’ve learnt to be cautious when it comes to trusting others.

Funnily enough, although we seem to have learnt the lesson about not trusting others we fail to forget that putting your confidence in your self is just as foolish.

You see, here’s the thing… when we perceive that we are in control of something, then we perceive that the destiny is also in our control, and so we can be more trusting of it.

It’s foolishness really. If we’re honest, we know that we make just as big a mess of things as the next person, but yet we feel like we have control.

And so as we build up our possessions, that illusion of control grows.

You have a few successes in your life, the confidence grows.

Now, as Christians we know in theory that our worldly possessions have no bearing on our eternal salvation.

But I say in theory, because I think the reality is that the confidence that grows inside us when we build up our worldly possession has this subtle (or sometime even a not-so-subtle) shift in our actual thinking whereby we conclude, well, if I’m having all this worldly success, God must be pleased with me - and it doesn’t take long for that to translate to sub-consciously thinking our salvation is more secure.

Now, I suspect that it is partly this type of idea that forms the background of the parable of Jesus that we’ll look at today.

Comfortable - Uncomfortable!

Jesus saw first hand the way many of the rich people became so confident in themselves and he wasn’t afraid to make them feel uncomfortable.

But, there’s something I absolutely love about this particular parable.

You see, as we begin to explore it, we’ll find that it simultaneously makes the those who are comfortably confident feel uncomfortable… and those who currently are feeling uncomfortable in their circumstances, feel comfortable.

And this applies to you today.

For some of you today, you might be coming in here feeling pretty smug with yourself… thinking that you’ve got it all sorted… and if that’s the case, this parable should make you squirm a bit in your seat.

For others, you might be feeling that you just can’t get a break… that everything you try fails… and if that’s the case, this parable should be like sweet relief.

I suspect for most of us, we need both a bit of that sweet comfort and having some of our feather’s ruffled.

Well, let’s take a look at this parable, because we’ll find this is a really interesting one.

The Rich Man and Lazarus

Well, this parable has two main characters.

The rich man

The first one is just called a rich man, and to emphasize the point, Jesus describes him as being dressed in purple and fine linen and living in luxury every day.

The significance of the purple, by the way, is that purple dye was very expensive owing to the difficult way in which is was produced - which if you’re interested, it involves a particular type of marine snail. But in those days, purple was something that was typically worn by royalty or nobility - so Jesus is picturing someone of substantial position in society.

Lazarus

The second character contrasts very sharply with the rich man - its a beggar… the connection being that he begs at the gates of this rich man.

Now there is something quite remarkable about this character.

Of all the parables taught by Jesus, this is the only character that is given a name!

Now why does he do that? Well, in part, we can only speculate.

Certainly naming him adds to the contrast. The rich man who thought he had it all together is really just another nameless character, whereas this beggar, the one who in the eyes of the world is nothing - is actually a somebody with a name.

His name is Lazarus.

But why Lazarus? Again, we can only speculate. Maybe Jesus just liked the name. Some have suggested a link with the friend of Jesus with the same name - which curiously you might recall was the one who does die and in John 11 we see Jesus miraculously brought to life.

But whether this connection was meant or not, certainly by giving him a name, he is elevated greatly in this parable.

Now while the rich man has all the luxuries he wants, Lazarus by contrast is covered with sores - being in such a state that the dogs are coming to lick his sores.

His food situation is terrible. He finds himself wishing for the food that falls off the table of the rich man.

Their death

In verse 22, they both suffer the fate that everyone faces - death.

But it is here that we realise just how misplaced the confidence of the rich man was.

First, we’re told of Lazarus’ death.

The parable describes the angels carrying him up to Abraham’s side - or perhaps you’re more familiar with the translation - Abraham’s bosom.

The rich man however, he is buried, but verse 23 describes him as going to Hades where he is in torment.

Intermediate state

Now let me just pause here, because there is a very interesting question to ponder.

That question is: what happens immediately after you die?

Now, here’s the interesting part.

The bible quite clearly teaches that at some point in the future, Jesus will return and this will usher in a new age. Now, leaving aside the millennium period describe in Revelation 20, following the return of Jesus there will be a new heavens and a new earth, and this is where those who have accepted Jesus will spend eternity.

But, what about the period between now and when Jesus returns?

Some have suggested what is often called ‘soul sleep’ - a bit like when you go to sleep and next thing you know, it’s morning. In this belief, when you die, your soul is not conscious, rather, the next thing you’ll know is that Jesus has returned.

Other’s however suggest an intermediate state, where your soul is conscious. Those destined for heaven go to paradise, and those destined for hell, to some intermediate form of hell.

Interestingly, the bible does not talk about this period very much, so we don’t have a lot to form a strong view one way or the other.

This parable, however, is one of the clearest pictures we get, but the tricky part about that, is that it is a parable.

Parables tend to have one (or possibly two) main points that Jesus wants to get across, and we have to be very careful when we extract more out of a parable than Jesus intended.

That being said, I would suggest that this parable does seem to assume something more than soul sleep.

I’m always reluctant to derive too much information about this intermediate state based on this parable - for example, I’m not convinced that there will be any sort of open dialogue across what this parable calls “a great chasm”, that is to say, between Hades and those by Abraham’s side. The dialogue in this parable is used to drive home the point Jesus wants to make.

But I do think we can see that when you die, there are two places you go - either a place of comfort… or a place of agony.

The dialogue

Okay, well, let’s get back to the parable itself because we come to the dialogue that I’ve just referred to.

The dialogue isn’t between the rich man and Lazarus, rather it is between the rich man and Abraham. Perhaps it was a good thing for Lazarus that he didn’t have to put up with this sort of rubbish following his death - he did after all have a lot to put up with in his life time.

The dialogue starts with the rich man calling out to Abraham to send Lazarus to help soothe him. In fact, in some ways, it’s quite a meager request. He just wants Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool his tongue.

Abraham stands up for Lazarus - telling the rich man in no uncertain terms that it’s not happening. And he gives two reasons...

First, because it would be unfair given everything Lazarus has gone through.

And Second, because he can’t. Once your dead, the place your in is where you are. That’s the point of this great chasm that is between them. Once you’re dead, you’re dead!

Eternal fairness

But let me come back to that first point - the one about fairness.

Do you remember how earlier I mentioned how this parable is actually one that will provide great comfort to those who are currently not comfortable. Well, quite often, a big part of the reason we feel so much distress is because of all of the injustice that we see. People taking advantage of others, and seemingly they get away with it.

Well, this parable reminds us that this does not go unnoticed. Things might not seem fair now, but your day of distress will come to an end, and for those who have accepted Christ, there is great comfort coming.

Request for a warning

Well, coming back to the dialogue, the rich man accepts this response - I suspect because he has realised how set the answer is - that chasm between them is impenetrable.

Well, if he can’t save himself, his mind next go to his family. He has five brothers, and he doesn’t want them to have to suffer this torment.

Now, it’s perhaps worth pointing out at this point, sometimes you hear the argument, I don’t mind going to hell, after all, all my friends and family will be there.

That is not good reasoning. Even if you are able to hang out with your friends and family (which to be honest, I’m not convinced is a reasonable assumption), the nature of the place means you won’t be able to enjoy their company in this place of agony.

The rich man seems to recognise this now, so he calls out to Abraham to send Lazarus to his family to warn them of the torment to come.

Do you notice how he still thinks that Lazarus can do his bidding. This man who was in such bitter distress on his door step who he had completely ignored and disregarded… now he thinks he can be used!

Well, let’s put aside his lack of regard for Lazarus for a moment… I think many of us can relate to this request.

What I mean is this… when it comes to putting your trust in God and not in yourself, we can think - but I need proof… I need proof that doing it God’s way is better than my way.

Usually we probably think - if only God would reveal himself to me. But I think we’d also be content that if someone came back from the dead and reported what was on the other side, this might be convincing proof that trusting in God is worth it.

Abraham, however, is having none of it. That’s because there has been no lack of people that God has sent to show the way. Abraham points to Moses and all of the prophets.

But that of course doesn’t satisfy the rich man. The rich man reasons that if someone from the dead comes back to them, then they will repent… then they will realise that it is worth shifting your confidence from yourself and put it on God.

Now this last verse, that is, verse 31… the people hearing this parable at the time would not have realised how profound it was at the time.

He says… “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead”.

Now there are a number of occasions throughout the New Testament that we see someone brought back from the dead to life again.

John 11 is a particularly interesting example, because as I alluded to earlier, the person who rises from the dead shares the name of the person in this parable.

Now, do you remember what happened after Lazarus in John 11 was raised to life?

Well, for some, it would seem it was a sign that pointed them in the right direction. But it wasn’t for those in power. In fact, John 12:10 tells us that the chief priests started making plans to kill Lazarus as well.

When someone came back to life, they were seen as a threat. When your confidence is too much on yourself, even seeing someone come back to life will not be enough.

And of course, the four gospels tell the greatest resurrection story of all - the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

For many it was the sign they needed. For many more, however, his resurrection became a threat.

Our warning

So what do we make of this parable?

Well, for some of you who might be struggling, I hope this parable can be a great comfort for you.

However, for many of you, I hope it help you to sit up and take notice.

It can become so easy to shift our confidence from God and put it on ourselves.

When we do this, we can become blind to what is directly in front of us.

God has been calling out to you… he has been putting signs in your way… and yet our confidence in ourselves has made us blind to what we should be seeing.

And it won’t be long before it’s too late.

A day will come - maybe in a few years… for most hopefully you’ve got at least a few decades… for some, hopefully many decades… but the day will come nevertheless, and on that day, you will find yourself destined to one side of the chasm or the other.

Ultimately, it’s whether you are with Christ, or you’re not with Christ.

And remember, elsewhere Jesus said, many will say ‘Lord, Lord’, and he’ll say, I did not know you. It’s not about your words, it’s about where you trust lies.

It’s the great trap of wealth. The more you have, the more your trust shifts towards your possessions, the more you move away from the Lord. Don’t let the shift happen.

I mentioned this parable will hopefully be a great comfort to many of you. But for many, it should also make you feel uncomfortable, as you realise how subconsciously you have allowed your confidence to be in other things.

Conclusion

Coming to church is not enough.

Saying the right words is not enough.

Being involved in every activity including being on all of the rosters is not enough.

Those things are all wonderful and to be commended, but they will not save you.

The only thing that saves, is putting your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Have you made that decision?

If you’re here today, or maybe if you are watching online and you haven’t… then I urge you to make that decision. Make it today even.

Speak to me after the service, or you can speak to a trusted Christian friend, and just tell Jesus, I want to stop putting my trust in these things that let me down… I want to stop trusting in myself.... and I want to put my whole trust in you.

It will be the greatest decision you ever make.

If you have already made that decision, then keep a watch when you trust starts to shift. And be ready to repent and turn back to God when you notice what you’ve done.

For all who accept Jesus, there is great comfort to come - and we can take great joy in this, whatever your situation is right now.

Let me pray...