Luke 16:19-31 on March 30th, 2025
Above is audio of the sermon pulled from the video and amplified.
Below is transcript pulled from the video and formatted by artificial intelligence. There may be inconsistencies or errors.
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The parable of Lazarus and the rich man is hard for those of us believe that salvation is by grace through faith apart from works of the law, because this text sure does not make it sound like it. Instead it sounds like if you are poor you get carried away by angels and if you are rich you burn in haides. And before we get worked up over this we should remember that Jesus is telling a parable, not outlining a systematic theology of salvation. Nor is this story an allegory where every detail is meant to correspond directly with something else. Instead Jesus is teaching a lesson, one that ties directly into his larger message in Luke's gospel which we will get to in just a minute.
Being at the parable we meet a rich man who lives a life of luxury, ignoring the poor beggar Lazarus sitting at his gate. In the afterlife things have dramatically shifted. Lazarus is comforted while the rich man finds himself in torment, unable to change his circumstances. So let's not bury the lead any longer. Why is this the post life situation? The rich man isn't in this state simply because he had wealth. His failure wasn't having much, it was carrying little. He didn't just overlook Lazarus. He knew his name but he still chose to do nothing. His wealth made him blind to the suffering that was right in front of him.
So what does this say to us? Show us, teach us about God and God's reign. It shows us the comfort that God wants to give and how God wants us to live on earth as it is in heaven. Ignoring the suffering of others has real consequences. The rich man had every opportunity to respond and make a difference but he chose not to. And now for him it is too late. He didn't see Lazarus but Jesus sees. Seize the suffering, sees the overlooked, sees even us.
And this is where we can zoom out to see Jesus' larger message. In Luke, more than any other gospel story, Jesus' preaching talks about how our relationship with wealth, our stuff, reflects our relationship with God. It's not that having wealth, money and stuff is evil but they can be obstacles to following Jesus because you don't want to lose your stuff. You don't want to leave your stuff behind. For us, for our world, for our sinner self, the ultimate goal is wealth to have, to keep to ensure our status above and over everything else. And this Jesus tells us has ramifications.
Wealth deceives us into thinking that we are self-sufficient. The more we rely on ourselves, our status, our possessions, the less we rely on God. And when we trust our things, more than we trust God, we turn those things into our savior. It's not just you're a tight wad, you're worshiping the wrong thing. Now it's not like we don't need material things to live but the temptation is to see this as source and the giver of life. Wealth can become an idol, money can be a God. Whatever is at the center of one's life, where one finds security and that place of ultimate trust, that is one's God. And then priorities shift, actions are shape, generosity fades and self-interest takes over. It makes one insensitive to the needs of others. It squashes empathy, it hardens our hearts against compassion. It makes one step over others in order to maintain the status quo. Our status quo.
So Jesus tells parables against that. His point here and elsewhere is that if you're going to follow me and be in right relationship with God, it means caring for people like Lazarus. It means inviting him to dinner and being generous with your wealth and possession so that he's not in that state. You can't follow me and be insensitive to the suffering of those around us.
So if Jesus is calling us to open our eyes to the needs around us, what does that look like? It doesn't mean that we can fix everything, but it does mean that we take seriously the opportunities that we do have. And the fancy church word here is stewardship. And stewardship isn't just about giving money. It's about using what God has given us to care for our neighbors and the world that God has made. One thing is this isn't as much an obligation as it is an opportunity and an invitation to participate with God in God's work. It's a chance to build the kingdom of God, to live like Jesus and to shape a church and a community that embodies God's love.
We give because through giving we impact the world. We give because it impacts our neighbors. We give because in doing so, we share love and hope making a difference in the and the mortal beach and beyond. It's seen in monetary gifts to benevolences like helping hand and helping for kids. It's seen in canned goods for our blessing box. It's seen in a meal that served in this very room cooked for those who are hungry. It's seen in people being cared for, in real, tangible, life giving ways.
Currently there's been a lot of building renovation talk going on because well we're renovating a building. From the get go, this hasn't been about renovations for renovation's sake. It's about creating a space that is more welcome, more worshipful, more hospitable, more inclusive. There's a vision for what and who St. Philip can be. Because of your generosity past present, we are making that vision a reality. And welcome are the heart of who we are and building renovations will be yet another tool to make that happen.
Beyond that, who we are is people. The time we give, the monetary gifts that you share, the talents that are present in this room and beyond. Over the years we have been building this community of love and welcome. And your stewardship has helped us to do that. And in doing so, we are building the kingdom of God. And as such we are doing exactly what we are supposed to be.
And the thing is Jesus didn't just tell us how to live. He showed us. He lived it. His life and death revealed the true way to live in love, in humility, in self-sacrifice. He literally gave up everything for others. He sets up an example of how we should live, inspiring us to follow, to love and to work transformation of the world. And through his resurrection, he calls us into a new life, a life shaped by grace, not by greed, by generosity, not self-interest, by love, not indifference.
Jesus preaches transformation, not condemnation. And Jesus tells the story to reprimand us, but to wake us up, to stir our hearts to open. The rich man may have missed Lazarus, but Jesus doesn't. And Jesus doesn't miss you either. Through grace, through forgiveness, through Christ, through presence and bread and wine, through a community of love and service, we too can see the Lazaruses in our world and serve those in need.
Jesus has set us free. Jesus calls us to love and serve. Jesus invites us into a life of generosity and grace that is born out of all those good things that God has given us in Jesus Christ. And because of that grace, we're able to recognize the needs around us, give freely and joyfully in doing so. We join in building God's kingdom for the sake of the world. Amen.