This morning we conclude our series on the Christian's identity with one final, but critical question. Are you known as a passionate person putting your faith into action and serving Christ in the face of the poor, sick, downtrodden, and less fortunate?
I think that at some level we all feel compassion and pity for others. Feeling is a major interest of culture. We are a culture that gives lip service to compassion. But notice that this statement is not merely about feeling. It is about action. As Christians we are not to be passive bystanders, or voyeurs, of the calamities around us.
Who is responsible for compassion?
A big question that is asked these days is, "Whose responsibility is compassion?" There are many typical answers you hear thrown about. Some say it is the governement's responsibility. Every election cycle the politicians line up with a laundry list of items they are going to do to show compassion to the poor. We put a great deal of faith in these politicians who give us comfort as we abdicate our own responsibility to the poor.
Some say that compassion is the responsibility of the rich. I think that Bill Gates has enough money amassed that he could give tens of thousands to every single living American. Because the rich have received so much from God, many feel that it is their responsibility to be the leaders in compassion. Some say it is the responsibility of non-profit organizations who possess specific expertise and training in dealing with needs.
But the truth is that the Christian is responsible for compassion. You and me must step up and be compassionate. Consider a couple of key passages on the subject. 1 John 3:17-18 (NIV) says, "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."
Let's take a poll. Who here has material possessions? Notice the key words in these verses. "If anyone...... sees his brother in need." And also, "...let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." What do we see? What do we do about the needs of others? Are we merely touchy-feely, or are we obedient and in action? Do we see what God wants us to see?
In the Old Testament God commanded the Israelite community to care for the poor. Deuteronomy 15:7-11 (NIV) says, "If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother. Rather be openhanded and freely lend him whatever he needs. Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: 'The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,' so that you do not show ill will toward your needy brother and give him nothing. He may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. Give generously to him and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land."
Isaiah 58:6-8 is another key passage. When asking about true fasting, God tells them that compassion is the truest form of religious observation and fasting. In Isaiah 58:6-8 (NIV) God says, "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard."
Who are you?
This morning I want to share a disturbing story with you. It's the kind of story that you will think about all day today, throughout this week, and for quite some time to come. It's a story that will cause us to ask, "Who am I, truly? What kind of person am I?" It is a story that Jesus told in Luke 16. I want to share this story verse by verse.
In Luke 16:19 (NIV) Jesus says, "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day."
Now before we go further, I want you to know that purple was the color of the rich and powerful. The purple dye came from mollusks, or snails, found in the Meditteranean Sea. It was a habit of powerful people, royalty, and the privileged to have clothes dyed purple. Second, the reference to the fine linen of the rich person refers to his undergarments. Even his underwearwas imported from Egypt. This shows you the expense this rich man incurred in order to live in comfort.
But notice one other thing about him. The rich man, "lived in luxury every day." He had servants who responded to his every command, every need, and every whim. His dinner table was loaded down with the finest cuts of meat and the freshest fruits and vegetables. I learned another fact about the rich this week. Everyone in those days ate with their hands and had no utensils. But in order to clean their hands during a meal, the rich would wipe their hands with bread, and afterward throw the bread to the floor where dogs would scarf up the scraps. The rich had some well-fed dogs!
The bottom line is that this rich man had connections, power, affluence, good health, and comfort. And notice one last fact about the rich man. In this story he has no name! He has no name because he lived a forgettable life of luxury and extravagance.
What gates have you erected?
In Luke 16:20 (NIV) we read, "At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus..." Here in this verse is yet another interesting tidbit. The rich man had built a wall around his estate. This is evidenced by the fact that Lazarus is sitting at his gate. Essentially, access to the rich man's estate was controlled by a single gate. Walls and gates are built for a purpose. They are built to separate people from one another. They are designed to be impassable. They are built to welcome some, but exclude others. They were built for self-protection.
But the problem with gates, and the problem with the rich man's gate, is that they block us from seeing who God wants us to see. We all have walls and gates that keep us from seeing those God wants us to see! What gates have you erected? What walls have you surrounded yourself with? Our extreme busyness and preoccupation with our own lives are walls. Our work schedules. Our absorption in family, activities, and sports. The upscale homes and lifestyles we build, geographically distant from areas of poverty. The fears we have of what will happen if we engage a need, our convenient excuses, and our false assumptions about persons of need (they are immoral, evil, etc.). All of these things are the walls which we erect.
The rich man never really saw Lazarus. To him, Lazarus was invisible. His walls and gate were erected so high. But notice an important fact. To God, and perhaps to God alone, Lazarus had a name. In fact, of all the parables Jesus ever told, this is the only characterwho is ever given a specific name. This is a message to us that God sees those individuals who are in need.
There is a ministry here in town called Beer-lahai-roi Women's Ministry. I attended one of their gatherings lately where a young lady gave her testimony of how she ended up at their ministry. The name caught her by surprise, but she quickly discovered that Beer-lahai-roi is a Hebrew word meaning, "The God who sees me." She came to Christ because the women in this ministry told her that God saw her in her moment of need and personal crisis. Who do you see? Do you see what God sees?
Who is your Lazarus?
In Luke 16:20-21 (NIV) Jesus says, "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."
Here are some more tidbits about Lazarus. As is often the case of those in need, Lazarus had no relationships. Perhaps he had burned all his bridges to those who knew him. He had been carried to and abandoned at the gate by ordinary people. In my opinion, these peoplewere just as irresponsible as the rich man. These people assumed that it was the rich man's task to be compassionate.
Lazarus was physically incapacitated and disabled. He was too sick and weak to move. He was in physical agony from the pain of sores, much like Job in the book of Job. He was homeless and without shelter from the elements. He was hungry for dirty bread crumbs, if not bread itself. He was naked. Alone. Without a voice. Without credibility. Without reputation. Without financial means. From a religious viewpoint, he was unclean and despised. He was presumed to be a sinner, so judged and branded. He was lacking opportunity. And the great tragedy was that he was looked after and cared for by dogs.
The rich man had completely stripped Lazarus of all dignity by not caring. He had stripped Lazarus of dignity by erecting walls and gates. By not seeing a person who had a name and a life story. We live in a day where dogs are better cared for than our own flesh and blood. We live in a day where dogs receive better health care, training, and diet than fellow human beings. What kind of people give more dignity to their dogs than to their fellow human beings? Unfortunately, our kind of people. You and I. Where did we go wrong?
On the other side of the gates that we have conveniently erected sit people of dignity and worth in the eyes of God. What are their names? What is their situation? What do they need? Do we possess more compassion than a dog?
What is your destiny?
This story of Jesus takes on a "Twilight Zone" kind of reversal. In Luke 16:22-26 (NIV) we read, "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, 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 to dip 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 all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.' "
The truth is that rich or poor, we are all going to die and appear before God with nothing. In Matthew 16:27 Jesus says that each of us will be rewarded according what we have done. Lazarus was righteous because he lived a life of faith, depending on God. The rich man was unrighteous because he was uncompassionate and self-sufficient. In Hebrew the name Lazarus means, "God, the helper" or, "he who God helps."
Notice that hell is place of finality. It is not a place for change and repentance. As John MacArthur says, "Hell is place of unquenchable flame, a place where our accusing conscience is fed by undying memories of lost opportunity, and a place of permanent irreversible separation from God and everything good. Failure to practice love and mercy is this life leads to loss in the next life.
Notice that the rich man asks for as small a thing as he could possible imagine; a drop of water! But just as he deprived Lazarus from tasting even smallest crumbs from his table, so in eternity he is deprived of just a drop of water. Just as he erected walls and gates to seperate himself from Lazarus' needs in this life, so a chasm is fixed separating himself from the abundance of Lazarus in eternity.
What is our destiny? How have we responded to the Lazarus of our day and age, the one sitting at our gate?
What is your response?
Having been denied even drop of water Luke 16:27-30 (NIV) concludes, "He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not 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 to them, they will repent.' 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.' "
This story is intended to stir an awakening among God’s people. Notice what compassion is and what it is not. Compassion is not a matter of more teaching and knowing. We know the full counsel of God. We have the law and the prophets. We have the teachings of Jesus. We have the Holy Scriptures.
Notice also that compassion is not a matter of seeing some great sign from heaven. No sermon, no matter how great, no matter how educational, will move your heart to show compassion for people of need. No sign, no matter how great, no matter how terrific, not even the bodily resurrection of Christ, can compel you to become compassionate. Unbelief is essentially a matter of rebellion and of disobedience, not intellect!
God wants us to choose on this day to tear down walls and to see our Lazarus. Will we make this a point of obedience? Will we see the one God wants us to see and respond compassionately?