Our Hope is Not in Worldly Riches

18th Sunday after Pentecost
Luke 16:19-31
Vicar Darren Harbaugh

‘I don’t think that means what you think it means.”
Have you ever come to the realization that something you always thought to be true did not, in fact, mean what you thought it meant? For example, you know the thing you eat – two pieces of bread with meat in the middle? I always thought that was a “Sand Witch”, as in an evil, magic wizard woman that lived near a lot of dirt. I never knew why such a lady and a meal were associated, but that’s what I thought. This happens to me all the time. Maybe it’s the spelling or meaning of a word, maybe it’s somebody’s name. Maybe it’s something bigger. For the disciples and the Pharisees, it was something bigger; something way bigger.

At this point in Luke’s Gospel - which we just read - Jesus has told a series of increasingly absurd parables that seem to flip his listeners’ worldview upside down. With the coming of Jesus, there is a Great Reversal. Things are not as they seem. “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.” Jesus is blowing his disciples’ minds. They think, “If the elite, who have been blessed with riches, aren’t first on the guest list, then what hope do I have?”

But not only are Jesus’ disciples listening to these parables, but also the Pharisees, the movers and shakers of the time. And what do they think of Jesus’ parables and the Great Reversal? Well, they think it all stinks. They know that they are directly in Jesus’ crosshairs, and they grumble and ridicule the Word of God spoken through Jesus.

Then, Jesus tells another story; this time about a rich man and Lazarus, a poor beggar. The two men could not be more different. It’s like comparing a guy staying in the Presidential suite at the Ritz-Carlton to a homeless man sleeping on the street in the Tenderloin.
The rich man was clothed with fine linen and purple – the Armani suit of his day. The poor man was covered with sores.
The rich man feasted sumptuously everyday – constant lobster tail dinners and Dom Perignon. The poor man? He dreamed of scrounging scraps from the table after the dogs had eaten their fill. His life was filled with suffering, struggle and survival.

But then, the great equalizer, both men died and we find that our characters are no longer on earth, but in the hereafter. There is still a feast going on, but the Rich man is no longer the master of ceremonies. Rather, God has indeed helped Lazarus, whose name means “he whom God helps.” The angels have carried Lazarus to Abraham’s side, which if you grew up reading the old King James Version, you will remember that it reads – Abraham’s “bosom.” This is a phrase to describe a guest sitting in a place of honor at a first century Palestinian banquet. Just as the beloved disciple John reclined next to Jesus at the Last Supper, here Lazarus is reclining next to Abraham, participating with him in a feast which has no end. This is the feast of victory that we too will enjoy when we “recline at table in the kingdom of God,” as we read a couple weeks ago. This is the feast that we anticipate in our Service of the Sacrament as we are fed and comforted by the presence of our Lord in his body and blood.

Lazarus, that poor beggar in the story is now comforted. The last is indeed first. In the Beatitudes in Luke 6, Jesus said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.” Here is a fulfillment of that promise for Lazarus. He is being comforted, filled, satisfied.

But also see in our story that not only are the last first, but the first are last. Just after the Beatitudes in Luke 6, follow the Woes. Jesus says “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry.” Here is fulfillment of that curse for the Rich Man who is in Hades – a place of eternal torment.

Why is the rich man in torment? Because he was rich? No, of course not. But because he did not fear, love and trust in God with all his heart, rather he feared, loved and trusted in money with all his heart. That is where all his security lay. He was selfish and unrepentant on earth and he was selfish and unrepentant in hell, ordering Lazarus around to do his bidding. And if you haven’t put 2 and 2 together by now, the Pharisees who were listening to Jesus surely had. The Pharisees who were lovers of money - selfish and unrepentant- who ridiculed the Word of Christ, and who grumbled that Jesus associated with sinners (Sinners, mind you!) could look forward to the same eternal fate as the Rich man.

I suppose that the story could end here and wouldn’t be half bad. The underdog winds up on top; the bad guy gets what he deserves. But it seems at this point in the story it’s time to consider the question: “Who are you? The good guy or the bad guy? The Rich Man or Lazarus? Do you overlook the down-trodden and outcasts? Do you find your security in your wealth and processions? Do you ignore God’s Word? Remember we confessed at the beginning of the service that we “cling to the things of this world for meaning” and that we “crave things that are physical and ignore the eternal and the needs of those around us.” That sounds an awful lot like the rich man. It sounds like the selfish and unrepentant Pharisees. We deserve what the Rich man got.

But there’s more to the story. Jesus tells his hearers - the Pharisees, the disciples and us - how we can end up like Lazarus, beggars enjoying the riches of the eternal kingdom. How does this happen? Let’s look at the rest of the story.

The Rich man wants his family to be saved and he asks that Lazarus be sent back from the dead to warn them. Abraham replies, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets – the Word of God. They must listen to Scripture.” That didn’t fly with the Rich man who responds with an emphatic “No!” NO WAY! The Rich Man disagrees with his father Abraham. For the Rich Man, the Word of God is not enough. God is not capable of working through His Word to save people by sending His Holy Spirit to produce faith. There must be some other way!

Abraham responds,” If they don’t listen to the Word that they have, they won’t believe even if some one rises from the dead.” Bingo. Sound familiar? When Jesus did actually rise from the dead, he went to his disciples and opened their minds to understand the Word. Jesus told them that Moses and the Prophets said, “that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

God as given us Himself and His Word - The Gospel. This indeed is true riches. Paul writes: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty you might become rich.” Christ “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” He was the first and he became last for us. He was the “firstborn of all creation,” “the exalted one, but he became “despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows” Christ took all our sin, our false trust in wealth, our neglect of others, our despising of God’s word and he bore it all as he suffered upon the cross that we might obtain an eternal inheritance. Your treasure is not material wealth or worldly possessions, but the free gift of Christ crucified and His Holy Word.

Because of the saving grace of Christ, your story does not end like the Rich man’s. The Rich man, and the Pharisees rejected the Word of God, but you, like a poor beggar, have received the Christ’s word of absolution spoken by the pastor. Your sins are forgiven. Everything we have in this life is a gift of God, especially God’s forgiveness. Listen to that Word of forgiveness. Cling to that Word of forgiveness; the Word of the one who was humiliated and despised for you, who rose from the dead for you and continues to be present with you through his Word and through the Sacrament.

You want to be in attendance at the feast Lazarus enjoyed? You’re in the right place. There is still a feast going on and there is no last call. The food is still fresh and the champagne is still on ice. We have a foretaste of the feast to come available for you today at the altar. Taste and see that the Lord is good. He is present to offer you life and forgiveness and rescue from sin, death and the devil. Join in the feast with Abraham, Issac and Jacob and all the poor beggars who have gone before us. The riches of Christ’s word and sacrament empower you hold fast to Him and to His gifts and enable you to show His mercy to those whose lives are filled with suffering, struggle and survival.

Come to the feast and dine sumptuously as we enjoy the presence of our Savior as His heavenly banquet invades this earthly space.

And may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.