Monday, September 22, 2008
The Rich Man and Lazarus, Part 26 of 28
TEXT: Luke 16:19-31
IDEA: Poverty of resources can make the gospel sound like good news, not like a threat or a scolding.
PURPOSE: To help listeners understand how physical need can make it easier to respond to the call of the gospel.
Often Jesus set up contrasts between the rich and the poor. While we see that best in Luke 16:19-31 in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, that isn’t the only time He brought rich and poor together in the same story. Two parables in Luke 14, aimed at the wealthy Pharisees, admonished them to include “the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind” at their dinner parties (14:13-14 and 14:21). In Luke 21:1-4 He pointed out a poor widow’s gift to the temple and put it in contrast to the trumpeted gifts brought by the rich. Jesus’ concern to preach the gospel to the poor was part of His mission statement in Luke 4:18. Clearly, He cares about the poor. But He also knows that they are open to the Gospel in ways that people of means may not be. WHY?
I. When the poor have the gospel preached to them, it sounds like good news and not like a threat or a scolding.
What makes good news good news?
Good news lifts us up; it doesn’t crush us down.
What makes good news feel like bad news?
How do some people view the gospel? As good news or bad news?
WHY?
II. The poor can respond to the call of the gospel with a certain abandon and uncomplicated totality because they have so little to lose and are ready for anything.
What makes it possible to respond to the gospel with our whole hearts?
What makes some people respond to the gospel tentatively, guardedly? What are they afraid they will lose in the bargain?
How can we learn about responding to the gospel from those with few physical resources?
III. Jesus obviously wants us to learn from the experiences of the poor.
Jesus went out of His way to preach to the poor.
He sought out the poor.
He held up poor people as examples to the rich.
What are the lessons we can learn from the poor?
