The Great Omission
Notes
Transcript
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, 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, and none may cross from there to us.’ 27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
A few years ago World Vision, a Christian missions organization did a survey of pastors, in which they asked them to rate the things they considered real priorities for their churches, based on the list of ministries provided.
Explain, that there may ties in the category placed as number one:
79 % listed worship
57 % evangelism
55 % children’s ministry
47 % discipleship programs
Only 18 % said that “helping the poor and disadvantaged overseas” is the number one priority.
If we are going to take a survey in our church today, how many will really give importance and value to doing something about the oppressed, the poor, marginalized and disadvantaged of society both here and abroad.
The other day, I saw images and videos of the situation in Kabul international airport where Afghan mothers were giving up their babies and handing them over the walls of the airport to American soldiers so that these babies can be safe from the Taliban and will have a promise of a better life outside of Afghanistan.
Imagine how heart-breaking it is for these mothers to give up their children.
I don’t know how this affected all of you, because if it did not, then there is something really wrong.
What makes it even wrong is if our hearts don’t break for the people in these far-away lands and we are part of the church of Jesus.
The greatest problem in the church in America today is not obeying The Great Commission leading to the sin of the Great Omission.
Christians fear avoiding these sins: murder, adultery, fornication, gossip, profanity, exploiting the poor..
Yes God gets angry when people commit these sins, but from the Bible it seems that God gets angrier when we fail to do what He has commanded us to do.
17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.
Our story today from Luke 16 was told by Jesus - it is most likely a true story..
Notice from our text today that the Bible does not tell us that this rich man exploited or abused the poor man, Lazarus. But He was judged for what He failed to do.
Lesson #1
Wealth can desensitize people from the suffering around them.
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.
It is interesting that Luke wrote that the poor man “was laid” at the gate of the rich man, it is like God Himself placed Lazarus there intentionally to see how this rich man will respond.
But his wealth has desensitized this rich man from the plight of the poor beggar.. there is such a disparity between his riches and Lazarus’ poverty that giving him food, providing for all his needs of housing — it will not make him poor..
All he had to do was to take from his surplus.. - not talking about tithes..
You may say we are not really wealthy people — but I would say that we are wealthier than the majority of the world’s population - 85% of the world live on an income of less than $30 per day.
The “American Dream” has desensitized many here in America from the plight of the poor and the underprivileged
Lesson #2
2. Indulgence in wealth leads to eternal damnation.
22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ 25 But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, 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, and none may cross from there to us.’
Imagine the dread of being in torment in the darkest, scariest place for all of eternity.. this place Hades exists even now and there are countless souls that are there, you can see from Jesus’ story that
Hades is a place of:
Torment
Regret
Hopelessness
The rich man was given the reason why he is there in that place of torment.. in his opulence --- he did not lift a finger --- now he asks Lazarus to lift his finger — how ironic!
Now, we have to be careful here, I am not preaching a gospel of works. It is not what we do or don’t do that decides our eternal destiny. It is putting our trust in Jesus. It is very obvious that this rich man was not a follower of God, and his actions are mere fruits of his godlessness..
God is using the picture of the disparity between the rich and the poor as a lesson for us.
Third Lesson:
3. It is the Gospel that saves and leads to righteous deeds.
27 And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ 30 And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ 31 He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”
Finally, in hell, this rich man stopped thinking of himself and thought of the welfare of others.
BUT IT IS TOO LATE!
Note that he asked Lazarus to go..
Weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The Gospel - Moses and the prophets
They will not be convince if someone Someone did rise from the dead.
The world will be judged by their rejection of the Gospel.
But the church will be judged by our fruits — not unto condemnation but by a judgement of rewards.
Talk about Ephesians 2:8-10
I’ll leave you with these words from The Master Himself:
46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
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