Jesus Talks Money: Generosity
God desires us to be generous and compassionate to others who are in need. Being generous has eternal rewards, but being stingy has eternal consequences too. (Luke 16:19-31)
Transcript
Luke 16:19-31
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and 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, and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So 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. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
A REVERSAL IN GOD’S KINGDOM
I was a devout professional wrestling fan growing up spending my Monday and Thursday evenings glued to the TV. My favorite moment was the special move. It was even better when a reversal happened. There was something exciting, thrilling, and unexpected about it. Here’s a quick clip of what I’m talking about.
Even as a little kid, reversals were huge. In grade school when teachers had us line up in reverse alphabetical order. Instead of the Andersons, Browns, and Carters, it was the Yangs, Vangs, and Xiongs.
Even Screen names. My very first screen name was Asiankid2004, but as I grew older I needed to find something more mature so I opted for something like kongmoua@hotmail.com, but I didn’t want to be kongmoua47@hotmail.com so I decided to spell my name backward and add “ster” to it and all throughout my college years my peers knew me as gnokster. I don’t know what it was, but there was something special about being the only gnokster and not the 47th Kong Moua on Hotmail.
But, not all reversals are positive. Some have their setbacks too.
Miss a turn
Medical condition.
Losing a job and the major setbacks
In our scripture reading, Cheelu read a parable about a reversal that two individuals experienced and a dynamic of the reversal involved finances. So as we continue our money series, let’s see what this passage has to say about money, reversal, and God’s Kingdom.
THE PARABLE OF THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS
Luke 16:19-31 is the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. And like I mentioned, it’s another parable that deals with money. Parables were stories that Jesus used because they borrowed common, everyday life situations to illustrate a profound, spiritual truth. Let me quickly summarize the parable for us.
There’s a rich man who is unnamed and he lives in luxury. At his gate, there is a beggar named Lazarus who yearns to eat any crumbs from the rich man. One day, they both die and the rich man ends up in Hades where he is tormented. Hades is basically a temporary place where souls are kept before God’s final judgment. While the rich man in Hades, he sees Abraham and Lazarus and asks Abraham for pity. The rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water to cool his tongue, but Abraham tells them that it can’t be done. The separation between Paradise and Hades was permanent so people couldn’t cross from one place to the other. The rich man then asks that Abraham sends Lazarus to his family to warn them about what they’re doing and the consequence they will face. Abraham responds by telling the rich man that they have the scriptures, specifically the Old Testament, to warn them, but the rich man insists that they will only repent if the dead go to them. Abraham replies that if they don’t won’t obey God’s Word then they won’t be convinced of anyone, even if it was Lazarus who rose from the dead to warn them.
Now there’s a lot of content in the story. Some might say it’s about salvation while others say it’s about the nature of heaven and hell. Others might even argue that it’s about the communication between the living and the dead or the spirits in heaven and hell, but the point of a parable is that it communicates one profound spiritual truth. In this case, the story is about the rich man and what he says and does. And it’s clear that this story has a message and it’s this.There are consequences to our sins in this life. There are 3 scenes in this passage:
Life
The Afterlife, part 1
The Afterlife, part 2
And each scene illustrates a sin that accompanies wealth. But before you say to yourself “I am not wealthy, so I don’t need to worry about these sins,” I want you to consider these things.
In comparison to the world’s economy, all of us are rich.
Even in this room, all but one of you has more money at least one other person.
Most of you are wealthy compared to what your immigrant family grew up with.
So, I don’t think any of us are exceptions to these three sins of wealth.
INDIFFERENCE
In the first scene of life, we see the rich man and Lazarus contrasted. One lives in luxury while the other is begging. One wears purple, the color of royalty, and fine linens while the other is covered in sores. The rich man had to be aware there was a beggar who begged at his gate, but every day he ignored Lazarus’ needs. This demonstrates the first sin of wealth, indifference. This is a sin to be indifferent to the needs of the poor. It’s an attitude that says this issue doesn’t concern me. It’s not my business. And we face it every day when we drive by panhandlers, homeless encampments, and we simply go about our day. We have to fight against this callousness towards the poor and less fortunate and find the opportunity to serve them resisting the pull of indifference.
ENTITLEMENT
The second sin is entitlement. In the second scene of the parable, we find that they both die. The rich man goes to Hades and Lazarus goes to paradise. Even in Hades, the rich man still carries his sins of wealth and in this particular scene, he still feels entitled. Entitlement is a feeling that you deserve certain privileges, special treatment, or recognition over others. Even in Hades, he sees Lazarus who he ignored every day, and asks Lazarus to serve him by dipping his finger in water to cool his tongue. The rich man’s entitlement caused him to see Lazarus below him, someone who might relieve him of his responsibility. He still felt entitled even in death.
Many of us have grown up in a culture or a family that almost endorses entitlement:
Where certain people are treated as special over others.
You don’t have to care for the needs of others if they’re not family.
You regularly see people blame others when things go wrong.
Some classes of people are allowed to feel and act superior to others.
And if you fall into any privileged classes within your culture or family of origin, chances are high that you’ve got some entitlement.
ARROGANCE
The last sin is arrogance. The third scene also occurs in the afterlife. The rich man makes a request to Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his family members. Again, he sees Lazarus as a servant to run his errands. Abraham responds by saying that they have the scriptures to warn them. And even if they saw someone come back from the dead, it was no good because they weren’t even obeying God’s words through Moses and the prophets. There are plenty of commands in the Old Testament to care for the poor, widows, orphans, and immigrants, but the rich man nor his family obeyed any of them. They struggled with arrogance. Arrogance is only listening to yourself. Arrogance is ignoring clear, obvious commands in Scripture. Arrogance is demanding your way over and over again. With money comes power, status, privilege, and even insecurity. All of that leads to arrogance. The sins of wealth impact us more than we know. The sins of indifference, entitlement, and arrogance all elevate the individual, but this parable cautions us against these things. And it’s kind of ironic that Abraham denies the rich man’s request to have Lazarus warn them about these sins, but we find it in the scripture to warn us. This passage is an example of what the entire chapter of Luke 16 is about. And Luke 16 is an example of what the entire gospel of Luke is about. The gospel of Luke is sometimes referred to as the great reversal. There’s a key theme that is crucial to helping us understand what it means to have money and be a part of God’s Kingdom and it’s this:
God’s Kingdom is a heavenly reversal of earthly standards.
Jesus wants us to understand that God’s Kingdom is here and it is coming so we need to consider what it means to be in His Kingdom now and when it fully comes. And that includes our money. Jesus wants us to consider what it means to have money knowing that his Kingdom is here right now and his Kingdom is coming. It’s kinda like us trying to acclimate to the next best thing, but much better. Whether it’s getting acclimated to a new phone, a new car, or a new house, we know there’s a promise that new is going to be better, but we have to work out the growing pains and learning curves of getting ourselves familiar with the new. But while there’ll always be a new phone, new car, or new house, God’s Kingdom is it.
APPLICATION
This parable reminds us that we need to consider the current condition of our hearts and how we deal with our money so that it matches and reflects God’s Kingdom. So instead of being indifferent where we lack sympathy for others, we become concerned about the wellbeing of others and show care. I think about Matthew 9:36 where it says,
“When he [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Instead of entitlement by believing that we deserve or are owed privileges or special treatment, we become grateful by being thankful that it's not by our own strength, but someone else provides for our needs.
Philippians 2:5-8 reminds us this,
“5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage”
And lastly, instead of arrogance, thinking and believing that we are superior to others, we become humble, and we know our place and we see others as equals or greater than us. The rest of Philippians 2 says this,
“7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
Let us acclimate from worldly standards to heaven’s standards. Let’s pray.