Pt Dominic Hoàng Thương
THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS PARABLE
Luke 16:19-31
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
We just heard about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. How many of us ask ourselves if I die today, am I going to heaven or not?
What did Jesus want to teach us in the parable?
We have the rich man and the beggar – Lazarus two completely opposite life’s qualities.
Notice: the rich man does not have a name while Lazarus means “God is my help.”
Before they die, the rich man lives a happy and abundant life with everything he wants, he can have. He lives a life of gluttony and luxury while Lazarus suffers terribly in hunger and sickness.
Did the rich man ever notice Lazarus lying at his gate every day? Of course, he did but decided to ignore and does not care about Lazarus at all.
The rich man feasts every day While Lazarus is hungry every day.
The rich man lives in a mansion while Lazarus is homeless.
We have beggars on our street here and now. Have we ever stopped by to acknowledge their existence and their desperate condition by having a conversation with them?
Do we also ignore them and hope that the traffic light is not red, so we do not have to see them. Are they visible or invisible to us?
I know sometimes we think if we give them money, we might help them to buy liquor or drug. That might be true but I have come to term that I do not give them a lot but a few dollars, so if they are hungry or thirsty they can buy something.
I took my family to Disney Land 2 months ago. I stopped by a gas station to dump gas. I saw a homeless man looking for food in the trash cans. He went from one can to the next. Feeling with compassion, I approached and asked him ‘if I can buy food for you inside the gas station.” He was so happy following me inside. I still remembered what he picked out a bag of donut and a bag of chip. I asked him what about a drink. He went to the fridge to pick out a Dr Pepper bottle. We left the store and he sat down right outside the store and starting eating and drinking like he did not have food for a while.
Lazarus died first before the rich man.
God sent his angels to carry him straight to the bosom of Abraham. You know what Abraham is known as a very rich man. So, wealth is not a problem. How we use it will determine our eternal home?
Lazarus has only one thing and that is faith in God despite his suffering in life.
1- Any Suffering:
The truth is that any suffering we endure in this life God will never forget. Any suffering we endure in this life will be compensated a zillion times in heaven for eternity.
The rich man also died. He was buried. Despite he had a lavish funeral in the synagogue, his soul suffered in torment the moment he stopped his last breath.
You might ask what crime did he do to suffer in hell?
2- A Sin of Omission:
He committed no crime like stealing and killing, but what he did not do land him in hell. He did not help Lazarus nor he had compassion for him. He committed a sin of omission which we confess at the beginning of every Mass.
Their roll is now reversed. Lazarus is comforted and at peace while the rich man is in torment.
He raised his eyes and recognized Abraham from afar and surprisingly he also recognized Lazarus next to Abraham.
He cried out, “Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. For I am suffering torment in these flames.”
You know what scares me the most that he knows Father Abraham and calling out his name for help.
3- Faith Without Action Is Dead:
How many times have we been calling out Jesus’s name for help in our life? This reminds me of what Jesus said: “not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord. Will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven” (Mat7:21)
Do you know when he acknowledges Lazarus’s presence for the first time?
after he dies.
Why now? It is too late right. No, not according to him because he now can use Lazarus to mitigate his suffering in hell.
4- Repent Now:
Jesus teaches a big lesson here: the urgency of transforming our heart now.
Sing: “If today you hear his voice, harden not your heart.” (Psalm 95:8)
None of us can guarantee we can have another day or even next hour to live here on earth. Scripture teaches us “do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Roman 12:2)
We, human, are habitual creatures not only in our action but more importantly it starts in our mind, soul, and heart.
If we are not transformed by renewing of our mind today, now, we might not have tomorrow to be transformed after we die.
The rich man never renews his mind by the Words of God for his transformation while being alive on earth. Unfortunately, the moment he stops breathing, the next moment he remains the same self-centered person for eternity.
If we do not repent now, I mean now we will not have a second chance to repent after death. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor 6:2)
The rich man continues to converse with Abraham:
“Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.”
It is obvious that his mind is not transformed since he only cares for himself and his immediate family members, his natural relationship.
5- Natural Vs Supernatural Relationship:
Jesus teaches us one prayer “The Lord’s prayer” which reveals our supernatural relationship surpassing our natural relationship. We call God “our Father” so we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. The Lord’s prayer teaches to pray “give us this day our daily bread” -- not give me this day my daily bread.
If God bless us with extra bread in our life, we are called to share, we have an obligation to share our abundant blessings with our less fortunate brothers and sisters.
Our true relationship is no longer based on our natural relationship but supernatural one because what is invisible and unchanged is more important than what is visible and changed.
- But then Abraham replied,
“They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.”
- He said,
“Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.”
- Then Abraham said,
“If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.”
6- Faith Based On Words Of God Vs Spectacular Event:
Jesus emphasizes the importance of the words of God revealed by Moses and the prophets surpassing any spectacular event even someone rising from the dead.
It is not coincident that Jesus rose his friend - Lazarus coming back to life after he died for 4 days. Did they believe in Jesus as the Christ of God? No, they arrested him and killed him on the cross a week later after he rose Lazarus from the dead.
In Conclusion:
God has created us for a purpose which is to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul and to love our neighbors as ourself. Jesus reminds us: “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required; and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded” (Lk 12:48)