Time with the Children of God
In today’s parable we hear of a rich man and a poor man. Let’s pretend these two glasses are their lives.

• The rich man had plenty of money—he had so much money he lived in luxury every day. [put money in the glass]
• The rich man not only had clothes, he had the most expensive clothes [put clothes in the glass].
• He was never without food—he would have had feasts every day. [put protein bar in the glass]
• And he would have had lots of people around him—servants, and friends [put Lego minifigs in the glass]
• And he probably had big parties [put party poppers in the glass]

The poor man didn’t have any of these things that the rich man had.

• He didn’t have any money. He was a poor beggar.
• He didn’t have fine clothes, probably just rags, and his body was covered with sores.
• He didn’t have other people helping him. He was left at the rich man’s gate with no one else around him.
• He didn’t have parties with lots of food. He was hungry.

The poor man’s name was Lazarus. Lazarus means ‘God is my help’. It might seem that God wasn’t helping Lazarus at all. But Lazarus received help from God with the most important thing in life. He had something the rich man didn’t.

Because the rich man had filled his life with other things, he had no room for God and his word. [cannot put mini bible in glass] But because Lazarus didn’t have a life filled with other things, he was able to have room for God and his word in his heart. And so Lazarus had the most important thing in life –he had God himself, so that even though he suffered and died, he was taken to heaven to live with God in paradise.

Jesus tells this story to teach us what is most important in life. There are many things that we need in life, and many things we can fill our lives with. Money is important. Friends are important. Having fun is important. Clothes are important. But when that is all we focus on and fill our lives with, we are in danger of forgetting God…and then we don’t actually have true life at all. Let’s read what Jesus says in the Bible: “Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:31-33).

The Good News is that anyone who trusts God by listening to his word are those whom God helps, and whoever believes in him will live even though we die. Let’s pray:

Prayer

SERMON – “Hearing hearts series: Hearing the Son through Moses and the Prophets”

The children’s TV show Mr Squiggle and friends was one of my favourite TV shows as a kid. Mr Squiggle was a puppet with blue fuzzy hair, green pointy hat, yellow clogs, and a pencil for a nose, and would arrive from outer space in a dodgy silver rocket. Children could mail in random disconnected squiggles on paper which Mr Squiggle would connect to create a picture. The host, Miss Jane, would try to guess what the picture was. An enduring memory of the show is while Miss Jane would try to work what Mr Squiggle’s picture was, Mr Squiggle would say: “It’s upside down, Miss Jane.” Mr Squiggle had drawn the picture which made perfect sense, but the viewer couldn’t fathom it. It was upside down—and only when it was turned around could we see what was in the artist’s mind.

I think it’s helpful to keep that illustration in mind as we travel through today’s text—a parable that Jesus tells which turns the human picture of how God works, upside down.

There are two main characters in the parable—the rich man, and Lazarus. From our text, we can see that the rich man has faith. He put his faith in his heritage. He called out to ‘Father Abraham’. This brings to mind to the religious leaders of Israel, who thought that purely by their biological ancestry—being descendants of Abraham—they were right with God, and had an automatic pass to heaven. You might remember their protest when Jesus said: “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” and They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone! How can you say that we shall be set free?” (John 8:32-33).

The picture we have of the rich man is that he has faith, but he doesn’t know God. Despite growing up in God’s chosen nation of old, the rich man does not know God, and does not know God’s ways, for instead of calling out to God in his time of trouble, he calls out to Father Abraham. How can this be?

Because he is completely self-absorbed. Being rich and wealthy has meant he has always had power and status, and therefore life security. He will never be without. He has gone through life with his focus on the things of this life, building his empire and has enjoyed living in luxury every day. He is clothed in fine tailored attire. The purple robe suggests that he is probably some kind of royal figure. Whether or not this is the case, he is presented as being the royal ruler of his own life. We could imagine that he indulges in the most lavish feasting, being attended by servants, and entertainers. He doesn’t know what it means to be worried, or to be in want. He probably has never had to work and has servants to do everything for him. His life is ‘right side up’ for him. In fact, it is so ‘right side up’ that he can’t see past himself, or anything else around him, even the poor beggar laid at his gate.

Yet it seems that the rich man—this king of his own life—has not lived by what he needs most: Moses and the Prophets—that is, the word of God. In Jewish tradition, Moses was like a tagline for the first five books of the Bible. These five books were, and still are, regarded by the Jewish people as the most important and cherished part of the scriptures. The Prophets are those whose words are preserved in the Old Testament, speaking warnings to God’s people, calling them to repent and ready themselves for the Saviour promised of old.

Not long after I was ordained, the rural parish I was assigned to held their parish picnic, and it was a real joy to be involved. We travelled to the racecourse, had worship in the clubrooms, great food and lots of activities around the vast green space. One of these was a table quiz. As we began, one of the parish elders leaned across to me and chuckled: “Just wait—there’ll be the obligatory question about John 3:16.” Sure enough—two questions later—it came: “Where in the bible does Jesus say: ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life’?” The elder looked at me and chuckled again: “See, I told you!”

But at that same table came a very different response—from a man who was in his 80s. He had grown up in the church from an infant, was confirmed in the church, and rarely missed a service. As that question about John 3:16 was asked, he didn’t chuckle…but instead scratched his head. “Never heard it,” he mumbled.

I was so shocked I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t understand how an 80-year-old man who had been to church most Sundays since a boy had never heard of John 3:16 and those words of Jesus, the centre of the Christian faith. How could this be?

Perhaps it’s because it is easy to slip into the busy rhythm of each week, as we go through life focused on our material wants and needs. We work longer and harder to keep up with the consumer treadmill, paying of the mortgage, getting the kids through school, and weekend sports. Longing for a break, we take much needed vacations. We might even find a church home with the services we like, coming each week to sing the hymns we like, serving generously, giving generously, with our time, working hard on the rosters. In retirement, we become part time babysitters, finding that we were busier than when we were working…

Suddenly the years of our lives have blurred into one, and all the while, the word of God is over there, and we have passed it by over here. That’s the only way I can make sense of an 80-year-old gentleman who had been in church nearly every week never hearing of the gospel in John 3:16. And it is why the rich man in the parable finds himself calling out to Abraham, and not God, in his day of trouble, after he had died. His whole focus in life was on one luxurious day to the next, until it was just one big blur of extravagance, and he had passed the word of the Lord by. Despite all his earthly wealth he was spiritually poor before God. Despite his regal status he has no legal standing before God. Despite the security he enjoyed from his empire on earth, he has no place reserved for him in the Kingdom of Heaven. And did you notice, in the parable, the rich man has no name. He is not remembered after his great life.

By contrast to the rich man, the poor man has a name: Lazarus, which means ‘God is my help.’ Just as well, because no one else has helped him. We are told that Lazarus has been laid at the rich man’s gate, but the original Greek is far harsher: he has been dumped there—and left there. He has been cast out from the community, regarded as an imposition for whom nobody has responsibility. He has probably never had a cent to his name; a beggar who must rely on others’ help simply to survive. Rather than being clothed in fine linen he is covered in sores. He is so immobile that he has to be carried, and he cannot even keep the dogs away from licking his sores.

To human eyes it looks as though Lazarus has not been helped, but cursed by God. It seems that the rich man, with all his wealth, status and extravagance, is the one favoured by God. Yet death is the great leveler, and when the rich man dies he no longer has riches, feasting, or celebration. His situation is reversed. He is now the poor one. In their lives on earth the rich man had kept a distance between he and Lazarus, leaving Lazarus outside his gate. Now it is the rich man who experiences distance and separation—from God and his people—separated by a great chasm.

Now it is the rich man who is the beggar: `Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ He still has a warped sense of entitlement, that others should do his bidding. When Abraham explains that’s not possible because the chasm is impassable, the rich man answers: “Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.”

But in our parable, we learn that the five brothers don’t need Lazarus. They already have what they need—`They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

`No, father Abraham,’ the rich man said, `but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

You see, therein is the problem. They have the Scriptures that point to Jesus as the Saviour promised of old. If people are not going to believe what God has promised in his word, they won’t believe Jesus when he rose from the dead. They rejected Jesus even when he was among them, teaching and performing miracles.

What about us? Jesus’ purpose for today’s parable is to have his audience reflect deeply on who, or what it is in their life that they place their trust, and the consequences for us of what we put our trust in. For where our treasure is, there our heart will be also.

The regard we have for God’s word is the regard we have for God himself. Some people think that we don’t need to listen to Moses and the Prophets anymore—that the Old Testament is old hat, that salvation in the Old Testament was by keeping the law, and in the New Testament salvation is by grace, so the Old Testament demands of God’s holiness and his commandments don’t matter anymore, because we have grace and love in Jesus. But this is a false distinction. This was the thinking of Marcion, a heretic, who asserted that the God of the Old Testament was evil and the whole Old Testament therefore had to be done away with. Or other people say that the Apostles only wrote for their time. What matters is that we listen to Jesus, and not Paul or Peter with their rules for the church.

Today’s parable is a warning to us also, to not be so consumed with the things of this world that we lose sight of God’s word. The whole of God’s word is divinely inspired truth from heaven to earth for us. Through faith in his word, we are members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” (Ephesians 2:19-20). Jesus does not only speak through the Gospels, but from Moses to the Apostles, from Genesis to Revelation. All of his words are divinely inspired—and the divinely inspiring truth for life.

Through this word, the kingdom of God works in ways we humans don’t expect it, to bring us to share in the life and blessings of God. Blessings are not necessarily what we can see; the material things we have in this life. The greatest blessings are those that are unseen. And so when things seem upside down to us, they are actually God turning them right side up according to his plan, that we might learn to depend on him.

Perhaps at the moment you feel afflicted, tossed to and fro by the storms of life, or condemned by the devil, or abandoned by others or even God. Perhaps it feels like you are covered in sores; hurt by the sins of others. Or perhaps it is literal physical affliction. Perhaps you feel all alone in your troubles, or a guilty conscience bears upon you heavily. Perhaps it seems to you as you look through human eyes, everything in your life is upside down, and there is an expansive chasm between you and God.

It is not what we can see in this life, not how little or how much you have, not your social status, and not what you may be suffering that determines whether or not you have God’s favour. It is the Lord Jesus, the Saviour whom Moses and the Prophets point to. God’s love has come down from heaven to earth in flesh and bone for you in the Person of Christ, who although he was rich, became poor for our sakes, that you through his poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).

Jesus himself bridged the chasm between God and humanity, when he came all the way from heaven to earth for you, born as a tiny baby in a stable full of muck. As the King of kings, Jesus also wore a purple robe, like the rich man in our text—given to him in mockery, placed on him by soldiers, who also put on him a crown of thorns and said “Hail, King of the Jews!” Jesus was treated like Lazarus, when he became the undesirable One, dumped outside the city gate, abandoned, left to die, by his own Father, and he prayed from the Cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me” (Psalm 22:1, 16). He was covered in sores from being flogged, and rather than feasting on extravagant fare he was offered vinegar on a sponge, and tasted death itself to deliver you from the torment of hell, before rising from the dead to live and rule eternally.

So dear brothers and sisters cling to that which you need the most: the word of God through which you hear your Saviour speak to you through every page. God hasn’t given you some crumbs that have fallen from his table, but you have the full loaf; Christ, the bread from heaven for the life of the world. So you too shall go by the name ‘Lazarus’—for you whoever simply trusts in Christ Jesus are the ones whom God has helped. Amen.

 

Pastor Tim Ebbs
St Paul’s Lutheran Church, Glenelg
Time after Pentecost, 2025

 

REFLECTION AND APPLICATION POINTS:
“The rich man had faith, but he didn’t know God.”

• Do you view certain parts of the Bible more important than others? Why, or why not?
• Who do you think was truly poor in this parable—Lazarus…or the rich man? Why?
• The rich man had faith, but he didn’t know God—think of some modern day examples where people profess to know God but their hearts are really far from him.
• How does this parable challenge our priorities?
• Does life seem ‘upside down’ for you at the moment? What might God be asking of you?
• How is the Good News of Christ, ‘though he was rich, became poor for our sakes’ encouraging for you?
• ‘Lazarus’ means “God is my help”.
• How do you need God’s help this week?
• How do you need God’s help in eternity? How might this help you when life seems ‘upside down’?

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