Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

My dad will celebrate his 87th birthday in September.

Our grandchildren are now having children, so far we have 7 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.

Eventually, my dad, Billie and I, our children and grand-children and great-grandchildren will step into the next life.

It’s one of the few things you can bank on in this life.

We don’t like to think about death too much because it can be sad and depressing, mysterious and humbling.

Death is the final leveler of all people—everyone eventually faces it and walks thru the door!

For the past four weeks, we’ve been walking through a section of Luke that forces all of us to evaluate life and its significance.

In fact, today’s passage is one of the most serious treatises about life and death found in any written record.

Personal reflections:

For me, the significance of death and the fragility of life began over 45 years ago when my son and I nearly died and were rescued, I believe, by God.

I do not believe anyone can find significance in life outside of a relationship with God! Every time I have tried, and every person I have known, who attempted to define their significance without God, discovered ONLY temporary satisfaction.

Eventually life has a way for reminding us how fragile we are and how our choices determine our quality of life.

And when I think of “quality of life” I’ve learned to measure it in “relationships” rather than financial wealth.

Financial wealth makes life easier, but when it’s gone it’s gone; while relationships feed the soul, fill the heart, and continue to endure through hard times and even death.

People I love have died; but they are still with me and I will see them again.

When I spend my last dollar, I will never see it again.

No one here is really a victim of circumstances—all of us get to choose how to respond to life’s struggles.

Victor Frankl in his book Man’s Search for Meaning wrote: “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

In , Jesus finishes up a long day of teaching.

Luke records three full chapters of stories, which is the same number of chapters taken up by Jesus famous Sermon on the Mount.

The Sermon on the Mount came within weeks of the beginning of his ministry, while the teaching in Luke takes place within weeks of his death and resurrection.

which is the same number of chapters taken up by his famous Sermon on the Mount.

The Sermon on the Mount came within weeks of the beginning of his ministry, while the teaching in Luke takes place within weeks of his death and resurrection.

We know from the intensity of the teaching, that these stories were very important to Jesus.

In this story, Jesus tells about a rich man and poor man.

It’s a short story, told in two brief scenes: scene one (on earth) and scene two (in the afterlife).

It’s a short story, told in two brief scenes: scene one is on earth, and scene two is in the afterlife.

In SCENE ONE...

We meet TWO of the four main characters of the story.

We meet the rich man and we meet Lazarus.

We know the story is primarily about the rich man because Jesus tells us so in the opening verse.

He starts by saying, “There was a rich man...”

This lavishly dressed rich guy lived the easy life every single day!

“There was a rich man...” ().

Then he tells us how lavishly this rich guy dressed, ate, and lived every day.

Unlike the rich man in the last two stories we read about, this rich man is not a hero in the story nor is he a nice guy.

He’s a callused, old guy who thinks mostly about himself.

To this guy, the world revolves around his life and his needs—we’ll find this is even evident after he dies!

Unlike the rich man in the last two stories we read about, this rich man is not a hero in the story nor is he a nice guy.

He’s a callused old guy who thinks mostly about himself.

To this guy, the world revolves around his life and his needs—we’ll find this is even evident after he dies!

We know this because of the way he treats the second character in the story, a guy who is dropped off at his front gate every day named Lazarus.

In Hebrew, the name Lazarus means “he whom God helps.”

Lazarus is absolutely dependent upon God and he knows it.

He’s in bad physical condition; there are sores all over his legs, so he probably has some sort of disease.

Day after day, Lazarus is left at the rich guy’s front gate, and day after day, he is ignored and allowed to suffer without so much as a prayer or a crumb of bread.

In the story, Jesus says Lazarus was “longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table” ().

Now, when you and I hear those words, we think of a table, probably fashioned out of mahogany or cherry, sitting off the ground, maybe with a throw rug under it, and surrounded by modern furniture and artwork.

But remember, Jesus is telling this story to first century Jews, so the image in his mind and the image in their minds is far different than a twenty-first century dining room.

When Jesus said those words, everyone in his audience had a picture of a Middle Eastern banquet, with guests, servants, and onlookers watching and waiting for the after-dinner entertainment.

H.B. Tristam, toured this area of the world in 1894 before it became commercialized, describes Middle Eastern banquets in the homes of the rich:

...entertainment is a public affair.

The gateway of the court, and the door... stand open...

A long, low table, or more often merely the great wooden dishes, are placed along the center of the room, and low couches on either side, on which the guests, placed in order of their rank, recline, leaning on their left elbow, with their feet turned away from the table.

Servants stand behind the couches... Behind the servants the loungers of the village crowd in, nor are they thought obtrusive in so doing.

(H.B.

Tristam, 1894)

Got the picture?

The rich reclined at a slightly raised table, waited on by servants, and watched by peasants who were allowed into the home to enjoy the entertainment that would come after dinner.

The rich flaunted their wealth and were unconcerned by the hungry poor who looked on…

Lazarus, sores and all, is one of those poor loungers in the background.

He’s called by Jesus, “a beggar,” which was a job back then, not unlike street beggars today.

Lazarus, sores and all, is one of those poor loungers in the background.

He’s called by Jesus, “a beggar,” which was a job back then, not unlike street beggars today.

The fact that Jesus gives this beggar a name may or may not be significant.

If you study all of Jesus’ parables, you’ll discover that this is the only one in which he gives a proper name to one of the characters in his story.

For this reason, and because Luke doesn’t mention that this is a story or a parable, some have concluded that what Jesus is telling here may be an actual story of two real people.

Whatever the case, that’s scene one.

It ends with Lazarus dying and being carried heaven, and the rich man dying and going to hell.

(Literally Hades—describe the picture of Abraham’s Bosom, Tartarus, Hades (PLACE OF THE TORMENTED DEAD)

SCENE TWO is in the afterlife

This is where development of the story takes place, where the two other characters in the story are introduced, and where it becomes clear why Jesus told this story.

The third character in the story is introduced at the beginning of the scene.

It’s Abraham, the spiritual father of the Jewish nation.

The angels deposit poor Lazarus at Abraham’s side, literally right up next to his chest.

This is significant, because Jesus is describing another banquet.

Only, this is a banquet Lazarus has been invited too!

At this banquet, he’s not an onlooker in the background and he’s not a servant waiting tables; he’s an honored guest seated right next to Abraham himself.

When Jesus says, “the angels carried him to Abraham’s side” (v22) the scene portrays Abraham at the head of the table and Lazarus in the place of special honor.

Since Lazarus is right next to Abraham, what does it say about how the host of the banquet feels about him?

He’s about as special as it gets!

THINK about scene: Jesus tells a story about a guy who, in this life, rarely, if ever, got treated well.

He didn’t get any breaks, he didn’t have opportunities, and he didn’t get honors or recognition.

Throughout his life, all Lazarus evert got was gutters, sores, and crumbs!

Even dogs felt sorry for him!

But in the next life?

He is seated right next to Abraham!

That’s the picture of Lazarus’ afterlife; he’s at the great banquet beside Father Abraham.

And in contrast to that, where does the rich man wind up?

OUTSIDE looking on in torment!

The hard callused Rich Man—heartless and self-sufficient, unresponsive to God gets delivered to the place of his own making and choosing!

All of his life, he lived as if he didn’t need God.

All of his life, he put God at arms-length.

He was master of his own destiny the lord of his own life!

So in the afterlife, God grants his wish!

Just like he does with anyone who chooses to ignore and push away His invitation of grace.

In effect, he has said, “I don’t want you in my life.

I want to be my own lord, my own god!”

So in the afterlife, God grants his wish, just like he does with all those who choose to ignore and push away His invitations.