September 28, 2025: May God’s words be spoken, may God’s words be heard. Amen. Lordy – what a gospel for our time. It practically preaches itself – but don’t get too excited… you are not that lucky. Now, you may have thought when the gospel first opened that you were getting a repeat of last week, because Jesus starts this parable the same way “There was a rich man…” But, as we will see, this is a completely different message Jesus is giving us here, so let’s take a look. The rich man in this parable is never named, but the poor man is called Lazarus (not to be confused with Mary and Martha’s brother whom Jesus brought back from the dead). Anyway, the rich man…okay – you know I need to give this guy a name (because, if we don’t, I am likely to break out in song with “If I were a rich man, Ya ba dibba dibba…). So, assuming no one wants to hear that, let’s call him Edmund, or Eddie, from the Old English word for protector of wealth! Anyway, Eddie had fine clothes and lots of food, but Lazarus, whom Jesus points out was right outside his door (or gate), lay hungry, thirsty, and in pain from sores that were left untreated, except by the dogs who licked them. All Lazarus wanted in the world were just the scraps that might fall from Eddie’s table, but they never did. Before we continue, my dog Lexi would like to point out the following: “Exegetically speaking,” my dog says, “the dogs in this parable are offering comfort and healing, as dogs Prof. Lexi Wilcox, the three-legged Wonder Dog do. They are not trying bother the sores of the poor human, Lazarus. As we dogs know, our saliva has good stuff in it for healing wounds. Human saliva does too, but humans don’t have as good a tongue as us dogs. So, the dog was demonstrating for the humans how to be – which, is not surprising. After all, our name spelled backwards is God.” Thank you Prof. Lexi. Now, back to the humans and this gospel. Lazarus died, and…because wealth does not buy you immortality, so too does Eddie. They end up in very different places in the eternal afterlife – one in heaven, the other in hell. The long and short of the rest of it is that Eddie finally sees he has erred, and begs Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers so that they might change their ways and avoid his fate. Abraham refuses saying `If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” Leaving the drop mic moment that this must have been for the disciples when they encounter the risen Jesus, and remember this parable he told, let’s go back to what Jesus is saying here. First, let’s be clear about one thing: Jesus is not condemning those who have money. That said, let’s go back then to look at what happens a little more closely. Eddie wants to warn his brothers that they may avoid his peril. And THAT is the crux of the parable. Eddie wants to warn his brothers, but here’s the thing that he missed in his life on earth… Lazarus is his brother too! And no, this isn’t a Darth Vader “I am your father, Luke” moment. Lazarus is not Eddie’s biological brother. No, what Eddie missed in life is his connection to Lazarus, and he doesn’t even see it when it is laid out for him visually. I mean, he calls Abraham father, but who is Abraham at that moment caring for like his own child? Lazarus! So, if Lazarus is Abraham’s child, and Abraham is father to Eddie, then…Lazarus is Eddie’s brother. If A+1=B and A+1=C, then…B=C. And you thought algebra was a waste of time. Anyway, Eddie never thought about Lazarus as his brother, and certainly never treated him like one. Instead, Eddie over consumed on his wealth, while his brother Lazarus lay outside Eddie’s gate dying for lack of food and proper care. Now, whenever I preach on this text, I always like to include a bit of another sermon on it given by a far more gifted preacher – the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. One, because so many people who rightly admire Dr. King for his civil rights work, while denouncing religion, forget that he was first and foremost, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. His faith was the foundation for his work. And, in this particular sermon, King cuts right to the core of the message of Jesus in a way no one else can. In King’s sermon, we first need to know two words that will sound different than what we heard in the text today. The was a time that the rich man was known as Dives, because the Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible used the word “dives,” meaning “rich,” to refer to him. This tradition began in the Middle Ages, when readers of the Latin text began to use Dives as the rich man’s name, even though the text itself does not name him. And in the King James Version prominently used in Dr. King’s time, the chasm was called a gulf. So, let’s get to that ...
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2025/12/1615 分