Poverty at the Gate
11/25/2010
“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores. “The time came when thebeggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and wasburied. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus todip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’ “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. And besides allthis, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go fromhere to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’ “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family,for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they willnot also come to this place of torment.’ “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets;let them listen to them.’ “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes tothem, they will repent.’ “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, theywill not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
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Luke 16:19-31 NIV
When I was in college atHarding UniversityI was required to take preaching classes. AlthoughI'd been preaching for a few years already at that point, or perhaps for that very reason, Idespised taking those classes. I especially disliked making a video of me preaching and refusedto watch it. While I was rarely nervous about preaching to a congregation, preaching to a classone day make me shaky. I got through it fine though, and my text was the one I quoted aboutabout the rich man and the beggar. I think my message was good and correct, but I missed thepoint Jesus was making.I've read articles puzzling out whether this was a literal depiction of hell or a symbolicrepresentation. I've heard sermons based on this text that elaborate on the horrors of hell and theneed for personal salvation. The day I preached it to my class I focused on the last bit, whereAbraham says "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced evenif someone rises from the dead." I talked about how we have the testimony of Scripture, thewitness of the apostles and prophets, and despite Jesus having risen from the dead, people stilldon't believe.Well, that's all essentially true. Putting myself in the mindset of Jesus at that time and in thatcontext, as well as one can do this, it becomes rather obvious that his true focus was on thewicked greed and social inequality that was prevalent in Israel at that time. Why did masses of people follow Jesus around, looking for a meal or a miraculous healing? It wasn't just the fault of the Romans who occupied their land. It was the result of the collaboration of wealthy Israeliteswith the foreign powers. They would make loans with high interest, confiscate land taken ascollateral and use their influence and other machinations to avoid paying their required taxes,leaving the burden on the poor and uninfluential.The rich man had a poor, sick man laying at his very doorstep. What did he do to help him?Nothing. Lazarus was starving and even had dogs licking his sores. This is the very picture of
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