God Defines Everything

Intro - Seeing Who & What is in front of you

Almost ten years ago we lived in our little “house in the hood”. We were the only people with a garden. We were one of the few houses in the whole neighborhood to mow our lawn and one of even fewer to water it. We were a nuclear family - meaning it was a married father and mother with children who were only theirs. We were not on public assistance. We were not renters. We both worked. We home-schooled our kids. One of the neighbor kids told Emma one summer that she was a princess because she lived in such a nice house and didn’t have to go to regular school. The school she would have been going to had multiple drug houses across the street that took years to bust and prosecute only to have new ones pop up. We didn’t have everything we wanted but we surely had enough for us. This made us wealthy, just like the rich man in this story, in the eyes of most of our neighbors.

What about this passage would apply to Sean & Shannon, wealthy homeowners? Did we live differently or treat our neighbors badly? How do we know? Any one of you are highly likely to experience this same kind of opportunity this week if not in the next five years in some way on either side of the fence.

Consider all the people who went to serve at a homeless shelter in December that now have no time to do the same in January or any other month in the year until mid-November. Is this really serving the needs of the homeless and disadvantaged in our community or is this the rich making the care of the poor into a transactional experience meant to make the rich feel better about being rich. I heard a gross term from one of my leaders years ago that hasn’t left me since the day he said it because it has such truth to it. He talked about worship leaders who “need” the feedback of the congregation to be able to worship themselves. He called it congrebation becuase it was such a gross misuse of the leaders position as a leader - one who leads people to the presence of God. The “December only” service of people so they don’t feel so bad about their lack of concern for the poor is no different. It’s just another way to use people for yourself instead of truly giving to them in service.

1 Timothy 6:17–19 ESV

As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

I don’t think Jesus’ perspective here is about the evil of wealth at all in part because he is so obvious about it in other passages. It is about the deception of trading transformational relationships for transactional ones. It is about this tendency of those with something to assuage themselves about their treatment of those without. It is about the human inclination to scale everything in degrees in order to attach worth so that we can measure ourselves against the scales of that worth and thus feel better when we need to. The rich man’s view of Lazarus, truthfully his lack of even noticing him, is far more at the heart of this story than money itself.

This passage is also about apparent inequality, true inequity, and is part of the larger conversation Jesus is having that includes the Pharisees - the rich man vs Lazarus, the poor man. Remember the man with dropsy whose only value to the Pharisees at the beginning of this conversation was an object lesson on the judgement of God? They were the epitome of the rich man in this parable.

This passage is also not about all rich people going to hell and all poor people going to heaven. It is 100% about both the rich and the poor person being in right relationship to one another based on God’s ways of relating and not our own. Let’s review each of these men in the passage:

The rich man was indifferent to Lazarus’ plight every day. This was intentional.

It reflects a transactional perspective on human relationships -

what can you do for me? your value to me is based on my benefit.

If you can’t benefit me then you mean nothing to me.

Lazarus’ perspective was about being without.

He was without the ability to provide for his own needs - we don’t know why.

He could see, hear, smell, and be aware of the rich man’s excesses while at the same time not benefiting from them.

He would have been satisfied with what was discarded by the rich man.

No other comment by Jesus on Lazarus’ thoughts on his rich neighbor.

Jesus follows up the parable with a few additional comments -

Temptations are sure to come

He warns those who bring temptation on purpose

He calls us to “pay attention to yourselves”

He describes the interaction that should be happening between people who know him and know the Word of God -

He talks about their need for openness and correction regarding sin.

He talks about their necessity for forgiveness even to the extreme.

If we are going to get this Christian life thing at all, we will have to learn to include everyone in our spheres and learn how to agress towards them in a way that does not convert the relationship into a transaction. The Gospel itself is not a transactional one it is a transformational one.

How we treat others is defined by God’s Word

The question the parable poses is really, “how do people who are nothing alike engage with one another?” God’s answer is to engage with them in same way he has engaged with us.

I had a precious time with the Lord this week up in my office. I was listening to some music and I was overcome with the presence of God ministering to me, spirit to spirit, without any initiation from me. All I could do was put my hands over my head and my head on the desk and weep as he told me over and over again how much he loved me. It will never get any sweeter with the Lord than hearing him speak his love towards you in a private moment when you least expect it. I got to be in that moment for at least ten minutes. And it’s not the first time he’s visited me in my office.

I pose the question to you - did I do anything to receive this affection from the Lord? Had I earned it? What about Sean Siemen is enough to warrant the attention of the God of the universe? In every respect, I am Lazarus or worse in respect to who he is. And he draws near to my smelly and rather unimpressive self to whisper “I love you.” I guarantee you that was a transformational moment for me.

Our relationships are many - we have many kinds of relationships with one another. Professional, educational, actual friendships, brotherhood, sisterhood, parenthood, grandparenthood, mentors, coaches, pastoral, etc. When does the implied requirement of Jesus for me to see and highly value as he does those relationships, regardless of their definition, not apply? Never.

Let’s look at the 10 Commandments as a framework for proper relationships.

Exodus 20:1–17 ESV

And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. “You shall not murder. “You shall not commit adultery. “You shall not steal. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

The first relational correction God makes is that there be no one as important to you as he is. The inference here really is that he is either everything or he is nothing. The rest of the commandments make no sense without the first.

The second commandment is not to make anything that represents me as an object of worship. So you can’t make a cow, as Israel did, and call it Jehovah and worship it as if it were him and expect God to approve. Men do this with jobs, women with their children, students with their schooling, and children with growing up. Music lovers do it with music and outdoors enthusiasts do it with being in nature. But the sum of it all is that we easily place things on par with God, call them being with him, and lie to ourselves about having spent time in his presence. Nothing but God is God. Nothing.

Don’t use his name in vain - literally turning him into a curse word. You can figure that out all on your own.

Work for six days and keep a day for rest. For those of us who believe on some level we are intrinsically lazy, we had to be told to rest. It also implies we are expected to be productive the rest of the week. The sabbath is as much about proper use of our time as it is about proper use of rest. If you cannot get your work done in six days you can’t in seven either. It means your over-obligated and not available for God to interrupt you in your daily life. Neither are you available for others who God may send to you for encouragement or correction. You simply will not be able. Pastors and leaders are often overwhelmed, frustrated, and tapped out because they refuse to both work and rest in respect of the word of God. They are also isolated, vulnerable, and living a secret nightmare because they are unavailable and untruthful about their issues…because they have no time for fellowship.

Honor your parents, don’t kill people, don’t have sex with people who you are not married to, don’t steal, don’t lie, and don’t long for what is not yours but belongs to someone else. These all help us know the boundaries of human relationships by beginning with our relationship with Him. If you look at the first bit of the passage - God is saying “Because I brought you out of Egypt (a metaphor for the world’s way of doing things) and out of slavery (literal slavery and slavery to sin), I want you to relate to me and others like this.”

Jesus reduces these ten in Matthew 22:37-40 “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.””

There is no way to separate our relationship with God from our relationships with others. He built that in. It isn’t an after effect of human brokenness in it’s design. It is simply that we cannot fix our inability to do it right without the context of God and his word to inform us of our actual behaviour AND our intentions.

Psalm 19:7–13 ESV

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.

Obedience to the Word is Worship

How often do we try and love the Lord while doing whatever we want to. This is different than experiencing the conviction of the Holy Spirit or plain old shame about something we’ve been doing and turning to him for help after we’ve already driven headlong into our sin and desire. The unsaved and unrepentant person doesn’t care what they do or how they affect others. They care about getting the satisfaction they are seeking in the circumstances they are seeking it from.

If you care that you’ve been destroying your relationship with the Lord because of your porn habit then you have an opportunity to present the state of your heart to God and seek his mercy, his forgiveness, and his assistance to be free from the sin of lust. You might have to get radical and stop using your cell phone or your computer except in highly public places. I have a friend who asked his mom as a 20 something to sit at the computer with him while he did his studies because he just didn’t trust himself to stay off porn sites. What is it going to take to honor God with your sexuality?

If you care that you’ve been telling everyone everybody’s dirt so that you can feel like you’re in the know while you still know all you’re doing is being a giant gossip and can’t be trusted then you have an opportunity to present the state of your heart to God and seek his mercy, his forgiveness, and his assistance to be free from the sin of gossip. You may have to stop speaking or when you’re about to hear something you know you’ll be tempted to share to demand they not tell you or even walk away with your ears covered. What is it going to take to honor God with your words?

We forget that worship is not just an expression of music or emotion. Worship is an expression of the will and obedience to his word. If you will not worship with your obedience, you cannot worship with your heart. Submitting your will to his first is the only way to worship God in Spirit and in truth.

Jesus said it. If you love me, obey my commandments. Period.

“Pay Attention to Yourselves...”

This insertion here by Jesus into the thought stream is interesting to me. It is an aside to the disciples or he said it later, after the confrontation they were in with the Pharisees, to help the disciples understand what Jesus’ thoughts had been. Jesus does not deny the opportunities to sin are plentiful in this life. In fact he affirms, here, that they are plentiful. Even in his encouragement to do whatever you can to avoid sin, he also allows for the unsolicited invitation of others for us to engage with them in their sin. Notice how Jesus doesn’t tell us to watch for such people but to watch ourselves and our responses to such people.

We’ve already seen how being attentive to God’s Word and to intending to be obedient to his word are key elements to this Christian life. But what really is this verse, verse 1 of chapter 17 really about? It’s about our need for prayer.

Psalm 119:17–32 ESV

Deal bountifully with your servant, that I may live and keep your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law. I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me! My soul is consumed with longing for your rules at all times. You rebuke the insolent, accursed ones, who wander from your commandments. Take away from me scorn and contempt, for I have kept your testimonies. Even though princes sit plotting against me, your servant will meditate on your statutes. Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors. My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word! When I told of my ways, you answered me; teach me your statutes! Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word! Put false ways far from me and graciously teach me your law! I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I set your rules before me. I cling to your testimonies, O Lord; let me not be put to shame! I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart!

You can hear how the psalmist is on one side pleading his case, on another pleading for help, and on the other longing for wholeness despite his best efforts. It is a prayer for being transformed by both seeing and understanding and internalizing the Word of God so that he can ‘run in the way of your commandants”. It’s an image of running a path so well prepared that there is no resistance or stumbling, you just run.

When was the last time you had to tell yourself to breathe? You didn’t, because you’ve worn that nerve path down so well by the time most of us were born that breathing is an activity the brain has relegated to your brain stem where it keeps other automatic functions like your heart beating and your food digesting. That’s what the psalmist is wanting in his yearning to obey the Lord and know him.

Most of us would never call smelling a loaf of bread eating. Ever had fresh baked bread? You can’t help but inhale, right? You wouldn’t walk into a bakery, take several deep breaths, and then walk out believing you’d enjoyed a breakfast sandwich. It’s not until you bite into the bread and chew on it and move it around with your tongue and really taste the bread and whatever you’ve put on it that you are willing to say you’ve had breakfast.

So when was the last time you engaged God’s word the same way as that breakfast sandwich? Do you just walk into the bakery and snag a few breaths or do you sit down and really taste it? You and I can’t transform or be conformed to the image of Christ if the only image we have of him is little more than a sniff.

Notice the prayerful nature of the Psalm in that he’s asking for the Lord to open his eyes, open his understanding, teach him, protect him, strengthen him, give him mercy. This is the overflow of wrestling with our obedience to God’s word. It’s the overflow of our worship. It is the essence of learning to see those around us from God’s perspective like our Luke passage is directing us. Jesus isn’t calling us to easy or free love. It’s the exact opposite.

Unlike the Pharisees, we can see those who are somehow different or socially less than us as people God loves jealously. Unless we’re praying like the Psalmist, we’ll act just like the Pharisees and only learn to use and judge people because that’s easy to do.

The Gospel Changes Everything

2 Corinthians 4:1–5:11 ESV

Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.

Conclusion

Getting back to Luke, it isn’t about money at all. It’s about knowing God and being known by him.

That takes work. It takes effort. It takes humbling yourself in the presence of the Lord and being willing to hear what he has to say through his Word and through the Holy Spirit.

There are no shortcuts. No easy answers. No cheats or easter eggs.

There is only him and then you learning to be like him in a world that does not know him. That could have preserved the rich man in the afterlife as much as it would have helped Lazarus in his earthly life. It’s clear God cares about both.