Jump Start # 1316

Luke 16:29 “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.”

  Our passage today comes from that wonderful account of the rich man and Lazarus. What a fascinating lesson. Two men so different in life and complete opposites in death. The rich man had every thing in life. Poor Lazarus did not have even basic food or medical care. In death, Lazarus is in comfort, resting in Abraham’s bosom and the rich man is tormented in fire. There doesn’t seem to be anyone for the rich man to talk to where he is at. He speaks across the great chasm or gulf and gets the attention of father Abraham. He begs for water. Not happening. He begs for Lazarus to be sent back to the living to warn the rich man’s five brothers. It is interesting that he doesn’t ask to go back himself, he asks for Lazarus to be sent. Not happening. No one is crossing over and no one is going back.

This must add to the rich man’s frustration and misery. I expect he was pretty used to getting his way and commanding orders for others to obey. Not now. He doesn’t get his way. He can’t push people around. He carries no position and no prominence where he is at.

He realizes that his brothers are just as indifferent to their souls as he has been. I expect his brothers attended the rich man’s funeral. They may have divided up his estate after his death. But his death didn’t move the needle spiritually for them. They did not take it to heart. The rich man knows unless something radical is done, his brothers will be with him in torment. It’s too late to do something for himself, now he is concerned about them. It’s too bad that he never seemed very concerned about Lazarus as he lay dying at his gate. He wants Lazarus to go back and tell his brothers. He believes they would listen if Lazarus talked to them. He’s certain that they could be turned if only Lazarus would go. But that too, wasn’t going to happen. Our verse is Abraham’s response. They have Moses and the Prophets. Moses and the Prophets pretty much sum up the Old Testament. The Law of Moses would have showed them how to treat the poor. It didn’t do anything for the rich man. He had the very things that could have kept him from being lost. He ignored it just like his brothers were currently doing.

The plea of the rich man is repeated even today. Folks want something special. They want God to nudge them, whisper to them, lead them, shout to them in a visible, audible way. They are wanting something special and something unique. A sign from Heaven is what the Jews asked Jesus for. He told them that they would get no sign other than the sign of Jonah and the fish.

You and I have the very things that not only can keep us out of agony, but can change our lives and make them meaningful and pleasing to the Lord. What we have is the word of God. The Bible is alive as Hebrews reports it. It transforms us. It builds faith and confidence. It comforts the weary heart. It drives out doubts and fear. It becomes our best friend.

It is not uncommon to have folks ask if you will go talk to a family member or a friend about their spiritual condition. I do that often. Where I always end up is with the word of God. There are no magical words, no warm story that will immediately bring them to change. It must come from God’s word. The Bible must be the source and reason for change. No threats, no bribes, no incentives will bring lasting change. Some, for the sake of a marriage, will change a little on the outside, until the marriage is sure, then back to their old ways they go. They never really changed. Some will put on a good face when mom and dad come to town. They’ll get down to the church house and act as if they are responsible for holding the walls up. But as soon as the parents leave town, so does the appearance of these faithless children. They are putting on a show. Nothing is there. It’s like the hollow Easter bunny. It looks good on the outside, but it’s empty on the inside. There is no spiritual interests. There is no Biblical understanding. There is no desire for godliness. However, when there is a death, they’ll come running, wanting the preacher to put their loved one into Heaven. How shallow all of this is.

With great reservations, and totally destroying the intent of Jesus’ lesson, I now explore what might have happened had the rich man had compassion for poor ole’ Lazarus. It might have run something like this:

One day, as the rich man was leaving the gate to enter town, he noticed the sickly Lazarus. He immediately stopped his carriage and ordered his servants to carry the man into his house. There, Lazarus would have been gingerly laid in a soft bed. Water and food would have been offered to him. His wounds would have been cleansed and bandaged. Servants would have been sent to bring the doctors at once. The rich man may have stayed up through the night watching over Lazarus. In time, the poor man started to gain his strength. His wounds started to heal. Bathed and in new clothes, his appetite returned. Soon he would be sitting up and even talking to the rich man. A friendship emerged. The poor man gained full health. It was time for him to move on, but by now the rich man had grown fond of him. He had been taught and reminded the ways of God. The rich man’s brothers become friends of Lazarus as well. The rich man gave Lazarus a job and they would travel together to the synagogue to worship. The destiny all these people and their families changed because the rich man opened his heart and his home to Lazarus. God was thanked, honored and praised.

That could have happened. That would have been a wonderful story. Together in life and together in paradise. Side by side in Abraham’s bosom after they crossed over the doorway of death.

But that’s not the story. That didn’t happen. The rich man died, ignoring Lazarus, ignoring the word of God and ignoring the Lord. They were not together, either in life or in death. What could have happened, didn’t.

Now, how about your family and your friends? Do you have one in your life that is walking the same direction as the rich man? Does he ignore God’s word and the Lord? Will he too be forever in agony? Maybe it’s time for you to take a chance and speak to him. Maybe your story can be different. It didn’t happen in Luke 16. Could it happen in your world?

Roger

Jump Start # 1313

Luke 8:14 “The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.”

  Our verse today comes from the Lord’s explanation of the parable of the sower. This parable is not about evangelism, spreading the Gospel, nor the growth of the kingdom. It is about personal responsibility in hearing the Gospel message and then allowing our faith to change us to become what God wants. The Gospel makes one thing and that is disciples of Christ. This parable identifies why some never get there. It shows us the problems and difficulty faith has within our hearts. It’s not that the message is too hard to grasp, it’s that our hearts are cluttered with other things and there simply isn’t room.

The parable illustrates four types of hearts. Our verse is often called the weedy heart. It is crowded with many things. The seed finds a little soil and begins to grow. But along with the seed are thorns which seem to grow faster and denser than the good seed. Looking at such a garden, one would see a mess. There would be weeds everywhere. The weeds are stealing the moisture, sunlight that the little seedling desperately needs. The growth of the seedling is stunted and slowed. Others, in better hearts seem to be doing much better and getting there faster than this one. The slow progress becomes evident in many areas. Attitudes are just not where they ought to be. This person says things that he shouldn’t. He still holds on to old ways and old thoughts. He’s got one foot in Christ and the rest of his body is still in the world. He enjoys worship, likes his church family and wants to go to Heaven, but my, it’s slow going with this one. He seems to be stuck in neutral. His spiritual life remains shallow and it seems that the easiest things set him back.

Shepherds struggle to figure out what the problem is with this person. Just why isn’t he excelling in the Lord? Our passage has the key. The answer is within these verses. There are three negatives that are standing in the way of his growth and faith.

First are the worries. Worry and faith are opposites. The more the worry, the less the faith. The greater the faith the less the worry. Worry feeds fear and doubt. The worried heart is not joyful, optimistic, or hopeful. Chicken Little was worried that the sky was falling. Such is this person. The nightly news feeds his worries. He holds on to bad news and is certain bad things will come to him. Worried about his health, his money, his kids, his future, his safety, this person doesn’t enjoy life. He is too worried to be thankful.

Second, Jesus names riches. The thirst for more becomes a drive that occupies every waking moment. The latest, the greatest, the newest, the best occupy this person’s conversation. He’s up on stuff. He knows what’s coming out next. He already has his order in and he’ll be one of the first to have whatever is next. He likes being the go to guy for information. He knows and keeps up about stuff. Now all of this energy and information reading takes time. It takes a lot of time. His faith isn’t fed much because his thirst for stuff is always being fed first. This one has an eye for labels. He recognizes expensive things. Those things appeal to him. He measures people by the brands that they wear. His mind races and races and it’s hard for him to concentrate on lessons from God’s word. He is always thinking about stuff.

Third, we come to pleasures. This doesn’t have to be sinful pleasures, but that would be included. Enjoyment, fun, good times is what fills this heart. He likes laughing. He likes late night TV where there are many laughs. He likes to play. He likes fun. In itself, there is nothing wrong with this, except this fills his heart. This becomes all he thinks about. This defines him.

Now in this passage, Jesus throws all three together. Three thorns: worries, riches and pleasures. They are all growing fast and squeezing out the little faith in the heart. These three fill the thinking, the dreams and the ambition of such a person. There is little time, little thought, and little room for God in such a heart. Jesus tells us that the seed brings no fruit to maturity. What was intended never came about. The farmer doesn’t plant seeds just for exercise. He plants crops to harvest. At harvest time, this plant didn’t produce. It didn’t change. It didn’t do what it was supposed to do.

The problem here is priorities. This guy doesn’t have his order in order. If you are carrying boxes, you start with the largest one first, then add smaller ones on top. He’s got it all backwards. His order is messed up. This is the person that just as well skip church services to go to a show or ball game. He doesn’t see what’s so bad about that. He puts them both in a balance and sees that he’d have more fun at the game and so that’s where is choice is.

He needs some serious talking from godly folks. He needs some quality time in the Scriptures. He needs to see that at the end of a day, it’s only a ball game, it’s only a show. They don’t change your life. They don’t add character to your soul. They don’t make you a better person. There is a place for games and shows, but not over God.

Underneath much of this is a problem of selfishness. This person does what he feels like. His little faith doesn’t take top priority because he doesn’t want it to. His choices are based upon how he feels and not what’s best. If he doesn’t feel like doing something, he won’t. He has never learned the first step of discipleship and that is to deny self. He must crucify self. There will be times when a disciple may not feel like doing something, but he will because it is the right thing to do. Usually, in the end, he feels much better about it.

The riches and pleasures that have crowded this heart feeds his worries. Since he has so little faith, he worries. He is his own worst enemy. He could overcome all of this. He could be a real disciple if he would simply think less of himself and more about Jesus and the kingdom. If he would serve others, open his Bible and feed his soul, he would find peace, contentment, faith and joy filling his heart. His thirst for riches and pleasures would wane because those never satisfy. There is never enough. The thirst never goes away. Faith is the key.

Is there hope for the crowded heart? Certainly. It won’t be easy. Just like a garden, there’s a lot of pulling weeds that has to take place. Had the gardener, or the disciple stayed with it at the beginning, keeping the weeds out, it wouldn’t be such a task as it now is. Now, there’s a lot of work that must be done. It can, if he gets wanting to.

How’s the garden of your soul? Is it growing and bring a good harvest? Are things a bit weedy and messy? Maybe it’s time you took care of things and got around to putting your order back in order.

Roger