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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2007

THE EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Luke 16:19-31 (Rich man, poor man)

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TODAY’S SERMON THEME:

Jesus spoke at great length about rich people and poor people.  But He did not just blur the line between “rich” and “poor.”  He reversed them.  And He carefully distinguished between the world’s riches and God’s riches.  The world’s riches come from accumulating things (material, temporary things); God’s riches come from giving things away (especially love, mercy, kindness, hope, comfort).

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1.   This morning, I would like to begin by doing a little time-traveling.  That’s the current fad with Hollywood movies and TV programs.  So let’s try it ourselves for a few moments.  Let’s rewind the clock exactly 32 years and return to the year 1975.  Some of you may remember that year.  It was amazingly different from today.  Let’s look a little closer:

                        (1) The President of our nation in 1975 was a man who was never elected to be President OR Vice President.  The only people who elected him were the folks in a small Congressional district in Michigan.  His name was Gerald Ford.  He was appointed Vice President by Richard Nixon when Spiro Agnew resigned.  And then, when Nixon himself resigned in August of 1974, Ford became our nation’s leader.  DO YOU REMEMBER?

                        (2) The government of the nation of Iran was still in the hands of the Shah of Iran -- Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who had reigned since 1941.  The Islamic leader -- the Ayatollah Khomeini -- was still in exile in Paris, living a life of luxury.  DO YOU REMEMBER?

                        (3) The venerable Rush Limbaugh was working in the public relations department for the Kansas City Royals baseball team.  He would not start his national radio program for another 14 years.  DO YOU REMEMBER?

                        (4)  The great baseball Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan struggled in 1975 to a 14-12 record with the California Angels.  It was his 8th year in the big leagues, and many people thought he was all washed up.  Of course, he went on to play another NINETEEN years.  DO YOU REMEMBER?

                        (5)  And, of all things, Americans were UP IN ARMS, and in a state of shock, over the price of gasoline.  In 1975, the price of gasoline had SOARED to the unheard-of level of . . . 55 cents a gallon.  DO YOU REMEMBER?

2.   The year was 1975.  It was the year that one of the most ambitious, the most remarkable, the most controversial programs in history aired on network television.  It was a 10-part series starring Nick Nolte and Richard Strauss, based on Irwin Allen’s 1970 book.  It was called “RICH MAN, POOR MAN.”  DO YOU REMEMBER?  The show created a furor because it blurred the familiar lines between rich and poor.  Peter Strauss was the very rich, very successful brother who built a fabulous political career.  His brother, Nick Nolte, struggled from job to job, falling lower and lower in the social scale.  He was the very poor brother.  Or was he?  At the end, Strauss “the rich man” was bitter, battered, broken, burned out, and betrayed.  Nolte “the poor man” was caring, compassionate, concerned, charitable, and connected.  In the end, the rich man was really the poor man, and the poor man was really the rich man.  And people talked about this television mini-series for all of 1975.  Somehow, the very idea of blurring the line between rich and poor struck a nerve with the people of this nation.  And the show made a lot of us take a close look at our own lives -- to see whether we, too, had blurred the line between rich and poor.

3.  The Lord Jesus talked a lot about rich and poor, too.  But He did not just BLUR the line between them.  He REVERSED them.  And He made one thing very clear:  That, in the final analysis, there are only two ways to measure wealth -- the world’s way, and God’s way.  And the two ways have absolutely nothing in common.  Nothing.  The world’s way has to do with the accumulation of things -- possessions, materiality.  God’s way deals with the GIVING AWAY of things -- things like mercy, love, compassion, hope, comfort.  And the most important point about all of this is that, according to the Lord Jesus, our salvation depends on choosing God’s way.  Not the world’s way.  We can, in this life, either spend time storing up riches on earth, or storing up riches in heaven.  There is no middle ground.  And we get to choose.

4.   Our Gospel lesson this morning is the greatest “Rich man, Poor man” story ever told.  It is also the most shocking -- since it contains the most important words ever spoken about heaven and hell.  Let us look at this shocking story from Luke Chapter 16:

                        (1)  A rich man had everything in the world -- money, power, status, prestige, food, clothing.  The best of everything.

                        (2)  And yet, at the very gate of his mansion lived a poor man named Lazarus, a man who had nothing -- no food, no money, no status, no power, no prestige.  He was also a sick man covered with sores; and even the dogs used to come and lick his sores.  All Lazarus wanted was to eat the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table.  (Tradition tells us that the rich man’s name was DIVES, the Greek word for rich.)

                        (3) The two men died unexpectedly, probably on the same day.  The poor man was transported into heaven, where the angels took him to be with Father Abraham, the patriarch of the Hebrew people (and of the Islamic people, too).  The rich man -- on the other hand -- was transported straight to hell, where his body was tormented by the eternal flames.  The poor man was in heavenly luxury; the rich man was in great agony, his tongue parched, his body burned.

                        (4) From the pit of hell, the rich man sees Lazarus, Abraham and the angels.  And he tries to get Abraham to make Lazarus wait on him.  (Do you think THIS type of attitude has anything to do with the man’s permanent residence in hell?)  “Just a cup of cool water,” the rich man pleads.

                        (5) Abraham reminds the rich man of an eternal truth:  He had made his own heaven on earth.  He chose the earthly riches.  And now he must spend an eternity in hell.  Lazarus, the poor man, suffered greatly on earth, and he is now rewarded in heaven.  AND THERE IS A GREAT CHASM, a great divide, between heaven and hell.  And no one can cross over.

                        (6)  Still the rich man tries to order the poor man around.  He asks that Lazarus be sent to warn his five brothers on earth.  Again Abraham refuses.  The rich man’s brothers need to pay attention to the Scriptures for their salvation.  If they ignore God’s Word, then they will also ignore a man who comes back from the dead.

                        A few points to consider:  According to this story, told by the Lord Jesus, there is a heaven.  And there is a hell.  And the way we live TODAY determines which place we will inhabit after we pass through the grave and gate of death.  And please notice that the rich man is NOT accused of doing anything overtly wrong -- lying, stealing, killing, fornication or adultery.  ALL HE HAS DONE, from this story, IS TO IGNORE THE SUFFERING MAN AT HIS GATE.  I repeat:  All he has done is to ignore the suffering man at his gate.  And there is -- according to this parable -- a HUGE and YAWNING GULF  (MEGAS CHASMAH) in the Greek language, fixed between the eternal place of reward, and the eternal place of punishment.  A chasm so wide that crossing is impossible.

5.   So.  Here is the main point I want to emphasize today:   Throughout the Gospels . . . Jesus spoke at great length about rich people and poor people.  But He did not just blur the line between “rich” and “poor.”  He reversed them.  And He carefully distinguished between the world’s riches and God’s riches.

                   (1) The world’s riches come from accumulating things (material, temporary things).

                   (2) God’s riches come from giving things away (especially love, mercy, kindness, hope, comfort).

6.  The questions for us to ponder in our hearts, and in our prayers, as individuals and as a community of faith, are these:  ARE WE SPENDING OUR TIME TAKING things AWAY from life, or are we spending our time GIVING THINGS AWAY? In other words, are we accumulating the world’s riches?  Or are we storing up riches in heaven?  Are we giving away love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (the nine “fruits of the spirit” from Galatians Chapter 5)? Are we giving of ourselves in the service of others . . . Or are we looking for others to serve US?

                        But perhaps the most important point to add to our prayers (as individuals and as a community) is this: Are we taking the time to notice and care for the poor, the sick, the friendless, and the needy people at our gates?  Remember:  Where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also.