Pastor's Sermon
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A WORD FOR LOSERS
St. Luke 16:19-31
Preached Sunday September 26th 2010
The 18th Sunday after Pentecost – Year C
By Lay-Pastor Danny J Stacy
At St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
Hazard, KY
Grace, and peace to you, from God our Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Children’s Time: TRADING PLACES
Theme: The rich man and Lazarus.
Object: Pictures of a movie star and a famous athlete, a hand full of dollar bills, a sign that says, "Hungry, will work for food."
Good morning.
It’s so good to see you all today.
Scripture: St. Luke 16:19-31
19There was once a rich man who wore expensive clothes and every day ate the best food. 20But a poor beggar named Lazarus was brought to the gate of the rich man's house. 21He was happy just to eat the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. His body was covered with sores, and dogs kept coming up to lick them. (CEV)
Have you ever WISHED you could trade PLACES with someone?
If you COULD, who might it BE?
A MOVIE star?
A famous ATHLETE?
Someone with a lot of MONEY?
The HOMELESS person that BEGS on the ROADSIDE?
"WAIT just a MINUTE," you’re probably THINKING.
"WHO’D ever DREAM of changing places with a HOMELESS person begging beside the road?"
Well, it might not BE what a person would WISH for, but that’s EXACTLY what happened to ONE person in our BIBLE lesson today.
It’s the story of someone named DIVES had EVERYTHING and a man named LAZARUS, who had NOTHING.
DIVES was someone who lived EXPENSIVELY, always DRESSING in the BEST clothes in the latest FASHION.
He lived in a BEAUTIFUL house and ate the very FINEST food.
The OTHER man, Lazarus, had NOTHING and was all covered with SORES, and had been set on the street outside DIVES front GATE.
An all he WANTED was EAT the SCRAPS and CRUMBS that fell off DIVES table.
He must’ve not been able to MOVE because the Bible tells us that DOGS passing BY him STOPPED and LICKED his sores.
Do you think DIVES ever offered to SHARE the FOOD from his TABLE?
Did he ever stop to offer LAZARUS one of his nice suits, maybe one was in last SEASONS style?
No WAY!
He passed BY Lazarus just like he wasn't even THERE.
Then one day, Lazarus DIED and ANGELS up into HEAVEN to be with ABRAHAM.
There he enjoyed all of the COMFORTS that he never KNEW when he was on EARTH.
He was HAPPIER than you could EVER imagine.
DIVES died at the same TIME, and was BURIED.
Well, the PLACE where DIVES went certainly WASN’T heaven.
I am SURE you can guess where that WAS!
He was HOT and MISERABLE.
Then DIVES happened to look up into HEAVEN and saw ABRAHAM with LAZARUS standing by his side.
He cried OUT, "Father ABRAHAM, send LAZARUS down and let him dip his FINGER in water to cool my TONGUE."
Abraham answered, "Don't FORGET that when you were LIVING you had EVERYTHING and Lazarus had NOTHING.
NOW he’s well CARED for and YOU are in great PAIN.
And BESIDES, there’s a deep DITCH between us, and no one from either SIDE can cross OVER."
Even though he didn't have very MUCH when he was on EARTH, Lazarus trusted in GOD to take CARE of him.
And that’s what God DID.
He sent his ANGELS to take Lazarus to HEAVEN.
But when DIVES was here on EARTH, he thought didn't need ANYONE.
And he thought, He surely didn't need, GOD.
He thought he had EVERYTHING he NEEDED.
At LEAST, that’s what he THOUGHT.
I think that there’s a VERY important lesson to be learned from this STORY.
You and I choose WHERE we’ll place our TRUST.
That we can either trust in GOD or we can trust in OURSELVES.
And if we put our trust in the wrong PERSON, we’ll find ourselves WISHING that WE could trade PLACES.
Let us pray: FATHER, help us to TRUST in your unfailing LOVE; let our HEARTS REJOICE in your SALVATION.
And it’s in your Son’s precious NAME we pray. Amen.
Today’s Scripture: St. Luke 16:19-31
19 ‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. 22The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. 23In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. 24He called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.” 25But Abraham said, “Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. 26Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.” 27He said, “Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house— 28for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.” 29Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.” 30He said, “No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” 31He said to him, “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” ’ (NRSV)
One of my sermon DISCUSSION group friends said this week, that a few YEARS ago this morning’s PARABLE was his TEXT, and during his SERMON, God MOVED him to EXPAND on heaven and HELL.
After the SERVICE, he said, as he shook HANDS with folks as they LEFT, one lady told him, “PASTOR, I never knew what HELL was really LIKE until I heard you PREACH today!”
He said he’s wondered for YEARS what she MEANT by that. (Pause.)
The term "LOSER’S" used all the TIME to describe a certain KIND of people.
We’ve even got a SIGN for THEM, a finger and a THUMB in the shape of an ‘L’ on
our FOREHEAD.
To US a LOSER is someone who, after being WARNED ‘NOT’ to DO something, goes AHEAD and does it ANYWAY, and it ‘ALWAYS’ ENDS UP in TROUBLE and DISASTER.
A LOSERS someone who can’t do ANYTHING right – a FOOTBALL player who can’t KICK
the ball straight if his LIFE ‘DEPENDED’ on it, someone who’s FOREVER bumping
into GUARDRAILS and GARBAGE cans with their CAR– someone who SEEM S to ALWAYS be
in the wrong PLACE at the WRONG time.
Someone who’s CONSTANTLY suffering V8 moments – that’s a "LOSER".
And do you know WHAT?
As we read thru the GOSPELS, we find STORY after STORY about LOSERS.
For INSTANCE, just PRIOR to our TEXT this morning, we find a STORY about a SON who took ADVANTAGE of his father’s LOVE and DEMANDED his INHERITANCE.
He went off and lived it UP, until the MONEY ran out.
Then it just so HAPPENED, that a FAMINE struck the land.
He ended up LIVING and EATING with PIGS.
Only a LOSER would end UP, LIVING with PIGS.
A JEW would find it hard to CHOOSE between ‘WHICH’ was WORSE – living with PIGS, or in HADES itself .
And as we CONTINUE thru the Bible we find a whole PARADE of LOSERS- LEPERS, the BLIND, the POOR, the PARALYZED, the POSSESSED, WIDOWS, ORPHANS, TAX collectors, SAMARITANS, BEGGARS, and even reluctant PREACHERS.
ALL THESE were PEOPLE who WEREN’T highly THOUGHT OF at ALL.
Whether their present CIRCUMSTANCES was of their OWN making, or NOT, they were labeled LOSERS.
They JUST weren’t WORTH paying any ATTENTION to at ALL.
Now, WHY, did folks have that KIND of ATTITUDE towards these FOLKS?
WHY did they THINK that so many PEOPLE were LOSERS?
It SEEMS that they were just FOLLOWING what they were TAUGHT in Old TESTAMENT times.
It was commonly BELIEVED that if you were RICH and HEALTHY you were BLESSED by GOD.
In THIS light, it’s CLEAR that your life of Adherence to the LAW, and devout
WORSHIP were REALLY paying OFF and God was REWARDING you with PROSPERITY.
But IF, however, you were POOR and suffered from bad HEALTH like LEPROSY, BLINDNESS, EPILEPSY, or maybe you’d lost your HUSBAND and/ or a CHILD, THESE were SIGNS that you’d SINNED and THIS was your PUNISHMENT.
SO it was CLEAR, then, that if a person was WELL-TO-DO, God was BLESSING them, and if a person were POOR, THIS was God’s PUNISHMENT.
So if a WEALTHY person saw a POOR person BEGGING on the side of the ROAD, they didn’t give it a second THOUGHT, the just walked right PAST – after ALL who in their RIGHT MIND would want to INTERFERE with God’s JUDGMENT and PUNISHMENT of THESE people. (Pause.)
And so we come to the parable that JESUS tells us TODAY.
We hear of a WEALTHY man, TRADITIONALLY named DIVES, a word we use for a dump, but which means RICH in Latin, who wears expensive ROBES and fine LINEN of PURPLE, the color only ROYALTY wore in those days.
For DIVES, life is a BANQUET, FEASTING every DAY at a table that threatened to BUCKLE under the WEIGHT of so much FINE food.
Now, Jesus was telling this PARABLE for the BENEFIT of the PHARISEES whom we’re told back in Luke 16:14 were lovers of MONEY and saw their WEALTH as a SIGN of God’s BLESSINGS for their careful OBSERVANCE of the LAW.
Jesus CONTINUED on saying that a beggar named LAZARUS was placed right outside DIVES front DOOR.
He’ VERY thin, hollow EYED, STARVING, and dressed in RAGS.
He’s HOPING for just a few SCRAPS he might manage to RUMMAGE out of the GARBAGE.
He’s so WEAK he can’t even shoo the DOGS away that’re licking his running SORES.
If scraps ARE thrown out though, most likely the DOGS would be SURE to GET them a LONG time before HE could.
Lazarus is a real LOSER.
His condition’s OBVIOUSLY a SIGN of God’s PUNISHMENT.
Later, Jesus says, BOTH men DIE and those LISTENING (the Pharisees) EXPECTED him to say that DIVES went to HEAVEN and LAZARUS to eternal PUNISHMENT.
After all, the beggar’d been a LOSER his whole LIFE and they EXPECTED to HEAR, that he was a LOSER in the HEREAFTER.
Most LIKELY, Lazarus’ BODY was thrown into the EVER burning GARBAGE dump outside the CITY, after ALL, that WAS the FATE of a LOSER.
He wasn’t even WORTHY of taking up the SMALL piece of ground it would take to BURY him in.
But Jesus SHOCKED his listeners when he said, "Lazarus DIED and was carried by ANGELS to SIT beside ABRAHAM at the FEAST in HEAVEN.
DIVES died and was BURIED, and opened his eyes in HADES where he was in GREAT TORMENT".
In this PARABLE the LOSER becomes a WINNER; and the WINNER becomes a LOSER.
The situation’s REVERSED – during HIS life Lazarus BEGGED for scraps from that food LADEN table; now DIVES begs for a few drops of WATER to cool his TONGUE.
How come the Pharisees were so SURPRISED that the LOSER, Lazarus, ended up in HEAVEN, and DIVES in hell?
How had the PHARISEES come to such a wrong CONCLUSION, that WEALTH was a sign of divine FAVOR, and POVERTY and SICKNESS a SIGN of God’s JUDGEMENT?
Let’s take a LOOK at the REST of the story to find that out.
DIVES wanted LAZARUS to go back and WARN his BROTHERS that they HAD it ALL wrong.
Like DIVES, they TOO were reading God's Word SELECTIVELY – applying only THOSE parts of SCRIPTURE that JUSTIFIED the selfish USE of their RESOURCES and the IGNORING of the POOR, the DISABLED, the WIDOWS, the ORPAHANS, and the LEPERS.
Like DIVES, his brothers were overlooking God's WORD spoken through the Old Testament prophet ISAIAH, "Share your FOOD with the HUNGRY and open your HOMES to the HOMELESS.
Give CLOTHES to those who HAVE none ….
Then my FAVOR will SHINE on you like the morning SUN …. I will ALWAYS be WITH you to SAVE you; my PRESENCE will PROTECT you…." (Isaiah 58:7-8).
EZEKIEL recorded EXACTLY the kind of person, GOD regarded as RIGHTEOUS, and LIVING ACCORDING to His WILL.
He doesn’t worship IDOLS ….
He doesn’t CHEAT or ROB….
He feeds the HUNGRY and gives CLOTHING to the NAKED.
Such a MAN obeys my COMMANDS and CAREFULLY keeps my LAWS.
He’s RIGHTEOUS, and he will LIVE," says the SOVEREIGN Lord (Ezekiel 18:5-9).
DIVES sees NOW that he had it all WRONG.
He’d PROBABLY believed all his LIFE that his WEALTH was a SIGN of God's FAVOR
and SO could use it SELFISHLY, ignoring the BEGGAR there at his door.
He can see NOW, that God had BLESSED him so that HE could be a BLESSING to
OTHERS.
He can see NOW that the person who lives a truly God-PLEASING life is the one
who FEEDS the HUNGRY and CLOTHES the NAKED.
He can see NOW that to have true FAITH means DOING something for those whom
everyone ELSE sees as "LOSERS".
He can see NOW how all this was so CLEARLY spelled OUT in the SCRIPTURES.
WHY hadn’t he seen THIS BEFORE?
And his BROTHERS are going down the same ROAD.
They think they’re WINNERS when ACTUALLY, they’re LOSERS.
He BEGS (notice who it IS that’s begging NOW) that LAZARUS be sent BACK to WARN them, but his REQUEST is DENIED.
ABRAHAM says, "Your BROTHERS HAVE Moses and the PROPHETS to warn THEM; your brothers should LISTEN to what THEY say".
It’s all WRITTEN in the BIBLE; they don’t NEED anyone to return from the DEAD to warn THEM.
This is one of those PARABLES that I thought I had all FIGURED out early ON, but after all THESE years I think I finally HALF-WAY managed to get a HANDLE on it.
See, this parable ISN’T so much about the fact that it’s HARD for those who’re WELL-OFF to go to HEAVEN, or that being WEALTHY’S WRONG.
And folks, let me throw THIS out right here, we HAVE to REMEMBER, that even IF
we have very LITTLE, here in AMERICA, we’re RICHER than the MAJORITY of PEOPLE
on this EARTH.
Folks, this PARABLE’S then, ‘AIMED’ right at US.
It ISN’T so much about how HELL waits to TORMENT the SINNER.
It ISN’T a CONDEMNATION of the WEALTHY and the COMMAND to care for the POOR.
This parable IS, however, about UNDERSTANDING and ACCEPTING God's WORD and LETTING that WORD ‘THEN’ DETERMINE what we DO in our EVERYDAY life.
DIVES wasn’t CONDEMNED for his WEALTH, but he WAS condemned for his FAILURE to let the SCRIPTURES, SHOW him WHAT God's IDEA of a good LIFE ‘IS’ and to let that WORD then GUIDE him.
He was CONDEMNED because he didn’t HELP OTHERS PERIOD.
Jesus’ parable ENDS without TELLING us what HAPPENED to the FIVE brothers.
Did they LISTEN to Moses and the prophets and CHANGE their WAYS?
This is ANOTHER case where Jesus leaves a parable UNFINISHED in order to draw US into the story.
He leaves us WONDERING not JUST about the five brothers, but about OURSELVES and our RELATIONSHIP with GOD.
He leaves us WONDERING about our ATTITUDES and ACTIONS; about whether or not we’re MOTIVATED and GUIDED by God’s WORD.
He leaves us WONDERING about what LOSERS we’ve been, about carrying OUT God's WORD in our everyday LIVES.
And THAT brings us BACK to the one TELLING this story, to JESUS, who’s God's
Word in HUMAN form.
He came to GIVE us his saving MESSAGE!
JESUS, who was counted a LOSER by MANY, came to DIE for LOSERS who FAIL to read his WORD;
for LOSERS who THINK it isn’t all that IMPORTANT;
who READ it and yet FAIL to understand its IMPLICATIONS for everyday LIFE;
who READ it, try to carry it OUT and STILL, fail.
Jesus came to give LOSERS eternal LIFE, REGARDLESS.
This story about DIVES and LAZARUS calls OUT to us to HEAR God's Word and then
to PUT it into PRACTICE.
This story CHALLENGES us to USE the MATERIAL blessings we HAVE, to bring a
BLESSING to those who’re SUFFERING.
This is a story that CHALLENGES our COMPLACENCY, our self-SATISFACTIO N, our
PRIDE, and our REFUSAL to see those SUFFERING all AROUND us.
This is the STORY about the ONE who walks STEADILY towards the CROSS for all us LOSERS.
You see, He loves us so MUCH that he was willing to DIE for us.
To SHOW us that no LOSER is a HOPELESS case.
And then , in TURN, his story CHALLENGES us, as well, to see NO one ,as a "LOSER". Amen.