Given a Place at the Father’s Side

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

Today in our text, we have a powerful parable of Jesus. Remember that a parable is a earthly story with a heavenly meaning. As we hear this parable, the main thrust is not to try and decipher different doctrines and about heaven or about hell. It’s important to hear this parable and NOT try to determine can people in heaven look down and see people in hell? Can people in hell talk to God (the Father Abraham character in this parable)? Are people really just sitting around looking at the events of the world wondering and waiting? The characters, the circumstances that are brought up are intentional - they are there to highlight a particular teaching. AndJesus is teaching something important about the Kingdom of God and how one becomes a part of it.

TT: Neighborhoods are so fascinating. The change and shift over time because of the people who live there. Maybe some of you have some great neighbors over the years and absolutely cherished living next to them. You enjoyed doing life together. You had the barbecues, you had the tailgate parties, your kids played together in each other driveways also every summer day and evening. There was this closeness about your relationship with your neighbors. You invested into each other’s lives. You gave time, You spent money for meals together, You bought gifts and cards to give to the other. There was this closeness because you invested in each other. Now imagine a close neighbor friend of yours moving. The new neighbor that moves in - isn’t as outgoing. At first, you think they are busy with the move, but after awhile you notice a pattern. Within the first few months of living in the neighborhood the new neighbor never comes to the block party BBQ - in fact he never responds to the invitation. Instead of socializing with the neighbors he is outside fixing up his lawn, making it look all nice. He puts a sprinkler system and new grass seed to make it look absolutely perfect. A little more time goes by - there is this huge storm and it causes serve damage throughout the nieghborhood. The neighbors band together to share the cost in paying for the tree clean-up and roofers to come and fix damages. And this new neighbor doesn’t contribute, doesn’t respond to the efforts of the community and instead brings his own companies in - and hires his own company to come together to build his brand-new roof. After some more time goes on, this new neighbor is found building a nice, big gated fence around his home. This new neighbor isn’t investing in other people, isn’t investing in the community, but he is only investing in himself.

In a similar way, in the parable we see this rich man - as someone who is only concerned, only investing in himself; he has no concern for Lazarus, the poor man. Jesus as he tells this parable there are few things that stick out about this rich man compared to Lazarus. The rich man is found with nice purple linens - the poor man, Lazarus is covered or clothed with sores. The rich man was fed nicely each day from food from the table - the poor man begged for food that fell from the table. The rich man has all needs taken care of - and the poor man is found laying outside the dwelling at the gate. This rich man in the parable had no concern for Lazarus. He didn’t care to interact with him, he didn’t try and help him out, he wasn’t invested in the life of Lazarus. And similar to a new neighbor who built a fence and gate around their property, this rich man distances himself from Lazarus. He separates Lazarus from his life. His concern for his life doesn’t go beyond himself. And this rich man - no matter how hard he tried to distance himself from Lazarus or how much he looked down upon Lazarus from his own “ivory tower” they had the same fate, death. Except the rich man, finds himself distanced from the promises of God, distanced from the comfort and goodness of the promised Paradise, this rich man finds himself cut off left with nothing because all the things he invested in, the status and importance he thought he had - disappeared, were no longer. He finds himself in place of torment and suffering, hell. We see in this place, hell, that this rich man still fails to realize his short comings. He still tries to order Lazarus around -hoping that Lazarus can give him a drink. He begs Father Abraham to let Lazarus to return to give his family a better warning than he got - he is implying that he wasn’t warned enough. Everything he found status in is gone, and he finds himself cut off from life.

GT: I imagine Lazarus being a person that would have been completely overlooked by everyone around him. I almost imagine people in streets stepping around him - not concerned to know him, but to get past him to talk to the rich man. This Lazarus - the poor man in this story - was someone who had nothing in this parable. He was covered with sores, someone who simply begged for food at the table - fighting the dogs for the food, and he was someone who had no place in this rich man’s house - sitting at the gate. For many people on earth, there is no desire to know a person like this Lazarus. In parable we see this great reversal! Lazarus and the rich man both die and it’s Lazarus who is given a place at the side of Abraham, it’s Lazarus who is given a spot in heaven at the banquet feast that has no end, it’s Lazarus being clothed in robes of righteousness. And the biggest difference between this rich man and Lazarus - is that the rich man is never given a name. But Lazarus is called and known by name. The name Lazarus - literally means, “God helps”. He is brought near and not kept at distance. His name and status isn’t given to Lazarus in this heavenly life just because he was poor, but it is because of faith. To use the language of the parable - Lazarus heard the promises of Moses and the Prophets and he believed them to be true! He believed them to be his. Lazarus is no longer looked over in God’s Kingdom because it’s through faith in the promise - that he receives this great reward. It’s through dependence on God - rather than himself.

TW: What are things that you are found investing in at the expense of others? Or at the expense of your relationship with God? There are moments and times when we can look around see hurt and brokenness of our literal neighbors but instead of caring for them - we would rather invest in our own pleasure. Or maybe there are situations and relationships that God has given you - and instead of pouring time and energy into them - we are found investing in our own self care. What opportunities has God given you to shine as a light for His world - but instead we are investing concern or care into the things of our own Kingdoms - the Kingdoms of our own hearts. We would rather spend time and energy building our own thrones and castles, building and investing in our own kingdoms. And as we sit on the thrones of our own hearts, we find that we have built walls to divide us from others, we find that we built walls and gates to divide us from those who think or act differently than us, we find as we sit behind the Kingdom walls of our own hearts - indulging ourselves, we really have built walls of sin that divide us from God and His promises.

GW: The rich man in the parable despite his place in hell, doesn’t realize the severity of what is happening. He things he can exercise power to send Lazarus to give him comfort. But it is in the midst of this parable, that Father Abraham says to this rich man, “Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able to, and none may cross from there to us…” Father Abraham says to this man - you can’t cross this big barrier that has been fixed. The rich is left not knowing the promise of faith. He is left in his kingdom that he built with disintegrating walls and tapestries that are burning. There is nothing he can do or pay to get out - although he tries, he says, if I can’t cross, “Send Lazarus to my father’s house - for I have five brothers - so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment. But Abraham said, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them… If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” Abraham says - you didn’t listen to Moses and the Prophets - you won’t even believe someone rising from the dead. The good news for us - we too were like this rich man, we built barriers, we built our own kingdoms and thrones, and we were behind the greatest chasm, sin. And Jesus loved you so much, that He became a “Lazarus” figure for you. He traded His robes of royalty, for a robe of wounds and scars. Jesus came to take the form of a servant for you. And Jesus doesn’t just leave you with Moses and the Prophets - but came to this world - to literally rise from the dead that you may know the love of the Savior! And it’s through faith in Jesus, that we too are given a place at the Father’s side, we too are given an identity won by Christ, we too are loved and known in the Kingdom of God which has no end. Jesus the greater Lazarus crossed the greatest chasm of sin and death so you could have a place in His Kingdom and know the love of God!

May you and I today, continue to set down the things that we are as importance or the thrones that we have built for our status - and find comfort and peace in the Good news of Son; the One who gives us a place in His Kingdom!