Thursday, August 28, 2008

The Rich Man and Lazarus, Part 9 of 28

Text: "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).’"

IDEA The same gospel looks different as it comes to different people with different needs.

PURPOSE: To demonstrate to listeners why Jesus seems to say different things to different people when He confronts them about God.

If you had an hour with a financier on Wall Street, and he said, “Give me your best shot about what you believe about God,” what would you say?

I. Imagine that Jesus went to have dinner with this rich man one day, and Jesus confronted him as He did some of his other hosts.

What do you think Jesus would have said?

In the light of the rest of the story, He would have said, “Repent.” But what would that have meant to that man with his lavish lifestyle?

Change of mind? Certainly.

But about what?

Change of direction of his life?

But how?

II. Suppose Jesus had met the beggar earlier in his life.

He is not only destitute, but he has no relationship with God. What do you think Jesus would have said to him? That would be reflected in his name, Lazarus.

III. Both men would have been given the same basic message, but would it have sounded different because of who they were when Jesus met them?