Friday, August 29, 2008
Luke 16:19-31
IDEA: There is a difference in seeing the Word of God as a goal or as a standard.
PURPOSE: To help listeners deal with the effect that the Word of God has on their lives.
When you hear the story of the rich man and Lazarus, of the two men, with which one do you identify?
"There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead’" (Luke 16:19-31).
I. We may identify with neither one because their lifestyles aren’t like ours.
On the one hand, we are not fabulously wealthy; on the other hand, we’re not wretchedly poor. Does that mean that this parable has nothing to say to folks who feel that way?
If people in the rest of the world were looking at us, would they feel we were closer to either of these characters?
If you knew these two men personally, would you hold either of them in high esteem? The person that we honor reveals a great deal about what we are.
When we look at the indifference of the rich man to the beggar at his gate, is it possible that we share the same attitude?
II. Suppose you feel uncomfortable about yourself as you read the story. What do you do?
There is an important difference between reading the Bible as a standard and seeing it as a goal.
The standard always condemns us, but the goal motivates us.
The standard drives us to God for forgiveness and cleansing, but the goal motivates us to be more like the standard. Illustration of an athlete who takes the Olympic time in a marathon as a standard or as a goal.
The Bible serves both as a standard and as a goal for us.
If we take It only as a standard, we end up feeling our need of forgiveness. But it may not really change the way we act.
When we recognize that it is also a goal, then we will do what we can in God’s strength to make a difference in our lives.
Therefore, how we respond to this story and to what Jesus says about money depends on whether we settle for it only as a standard, or we recognize it also as a goal.