KNU International English Church
Matt Banner, Christian Education Pastor
September 30, 2007
Lazarus
Luke 16:19-31
I worked with children in the inner-city of Indianapolis for several summers while I was in university. There, I met many kids who were living awful lives, lives without hope.
I met Yu-san, who was this cute little boy with some energy. He was sweet and cute and he loved to draw. He would sit there and work on a craft for the hours on end. But one day, when he came to camp, his eyes were unfocused, and he walked around like a zombie. He couldn’t even pay attention to what I was saying. I asked his mom about it, and she told me that she was tired of him being so active all the time and never giving her any peace and quiet, so she took him to the doctor got him a sedative so that he wouldn’t bother her so much. This was a kid who was full of life, and they put him on medicine so that he wouldn’t bother anyone. And I wondered, “where is God here, where is the hope?” It’s just not fair.
And I met Ja’el, who had three older brothers and one younger brother. Now, each of Ja’els older brothers was in Jail, all of them for selling illegal drugs. His younger brother was only six months old. His baby brother came down with the chicken pox and his mom had to go to work, so Ja’el had to stay home and babysit his six month old brother all day. He was six years old at the time. How can a child that young be expected to have that much responsibility. And I wondered “Where is God here, where is the hope?” It’s just not fair.
But the hardest person I met in Indianapolis was John. John was an 8 year old, and he lived with his dad. We had to give him a little bit of extra food on Friday afternoon, because he would often get in trouble on Friday night and his dad would lock him in his room, and wouldn’t let him out of the room all weekend long. He wasn’t allowed to get any food, and he wasn’t allowed to use the restroom. His father just didn’t care. And I wondered, “Where is God here, where is the hope?” It’s just not fair.
Then I read about Lazarus:
Luke 16:19-27
19"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. 22"The time came when the beggar died
So, here is a guy in scripture that I can relate to, He was poor, had open sores, and died a slow and miserable death. Lazarus lived a life that was not fair. And not only that, but there is this rich guy, who is living in the life of luxury. Where is God? How is this fair.
and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24So he called to him, '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.'
25"But Abraham replied, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'
All my life, I had heard that if you trust God, God will bless you and you will makes lots of money!
If you believe in God, God will help you become successful in business!
I God is the head of your family, you will eventually find health and joy and happiness!
How many times have you heard this? That things will turn around for you if you will only trust God? Your family members who are sick will become well. You will find money that you weren’t expecting, all good things will happen to those who are blessed by God.
But that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes, people who are sick stay sick, and people who are poor stay poor, and it seems like bad things keep happening to good people. And we are left to wonder, where is God? Why doesn’t God help the ones who need help? Why doesn’t God give us exactly what we want, when we want it.
I get so mad, because I see bad people getting good things, and bad things happening to good people. I saw it happening to my friends in Indianapolis, and I see it happen to Lazarus.
But, upon death, things switch. It is the rich man who is needy and suffering, and it is Lazarus who is living the life of luxury. So, what are we saying? Is it bad to be rich and is it good to be poor? No, of course not. I like money, and money is not evil. It is not bad to be rich. But, being rich and having a good life does not mean that God is blessing you. On the flip side, if a person lives an awful life, and circumstances are bad, it doesn’t mean that God has abandoned them. Look at Lazarus, his life was bad, but it is obvious that God loved him, because he is with Abraham when he dies. He is truly blessed.
Now, the rich man, in life he had everything, and he lived a life that everyone would want. But, he ended up on the wrong side when he dies. Why? Was he evil? Probably not. He was probably just selfish and thought only of himself. He never thought he needed help. He never understood that, despite all of his wealth, he really needed God.
My best friend in high school was like that. She had a great life, lots of money, great grades in school, and me as a friend. We had been friends for years, and whenever I brought up anything about God or my faith she always said the same thing. She said she didn’t believe in God, and she didn’t not believe in God, she just didn’t want to deal with it right now; she would deal with it after college. Then, her mom came down with cancer. Suddenly, God seemed so much more important to her. She eventually realized that she had to decide where she stood with God, and eventually she chose to follow God.
And what about Lazarus? He already realized that his life was in a bad way. He knew that he needed God. And he lived a virtuous life despite his terrible situation. Life was not fair for him. But where was God? God was loving him just the same. There are more important things than our life situations. God still loves us, even when our life situation does not improve. In the end, we are going to be living with God. Is there hope in that? Yes, there is.
For my kids in Indianapolis, their lives were unfair. And sometimes, I wondered where they could find hope. I wondered if God had abandoned them. The truth is, God still loves them. And I could tell them to hold on to the hope that God gives to us, and that their life situation does not define them. And more than anything, I hope to find them at the end of their lives, sitting in God’s embrace. Now, don’t get me wrong, I tried to help them in their life situations, to do everything I could. But, even if I fail, there is still hope.
How important is this scripture. Albert Schweitzer read it and found that he could no longer be self-content in his life, so he built a hospital in Africa in order to live his life looking forward to the hope of God being fulfilled. In doing that, he said “Ethics is nothing else than reverence for life.”
