Luke 16:19-31 · The Rich Man And Lazarus
What Goes Around Comes Around
Luke 16:19-31
Sermon
by Timothy J. Smith
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"Grandfather's Corner," is the story of an old man who lived with his son and his son's wife and children. The man was almost deaf and blind and had difficulty eating without spilling his food. Occasionally, he would drop a bowl and break it. His son and his wife thought it was disgusting and made the old man eat in a corner behind the stove. They gave him a wooden bowl which could not be broken.

One day the old man's little grandson was working with some pieces of wood. When his father asked what he was doing, he replied, "I'm making a trough for you and mother to eat out of when I'm grown up." From that moment on, the grandfather rejoined the family at the table. No one ever said another word about it. (1)

What goes around comes around. The way we treat other people is the way we will be treated. That is especially true within the family. The boy saw how his father treated his grandfather and assumed that it was an acceptable way to treat someone who was old.

Jesus told a parable. A certain rich man had the very best of everything. He was so rich that he didn't need to work. He had the finest clothing money could buy. He wore the finest robes, fit for a king. He had so much food that he was able to have a feast every day. He lived a life of luxury and was the envy of all his neighbors.

Living outside the gate of the rich man's estate was a homeless man named Lazarus. Lazarus had nothing. He was desperately poor and hungry and sick. His drew his only comfort from dogs who came and licked running sores that covered his body. Lazarus spent his days lying on the ground waiting for the servants to throw some food out to him. In the days before forks and spoons persons ate with their fingers. They would wash their fingers in small bowls placed on the table. Wealthy people would dry their hands on loaves of bread which would be thrown out. This discarded bread was what Lazarus ate. He lived day to day, never knowing how much food he would get or if he would get any. The little bit of food he did receive he shared with the dogs.

The rich man surely saw Lazarus lying in front of his house, but he never paid much attention to him. We know how it is, don't we? Sometimes we too are guilty of blocking unpleasant sights from our mind. Poor people living in the streets and under bridges might as well be invisible. We pretend that we don't see them. We act as though we don't hear their cries for food as we pass them on the streets. Poor people are often forgotten people. No one cares much about them. Even worse, there seems to be a great deal of anger building in our society towards those who are without. The rich man never really noticed Lazarus. He was just someone who was there ” part of the scenery.

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND. Both men die and something totally unexpected happens. A reversal of fortunes takes place. As Jesus told this parable, "The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham." The rich man was not so fortunate. He was headed for a warmer climate. The rich man, who had the best in life, was in Hades while Lazarus, the poor man who had nothing, was at Abraham's side.

ACCORDING TO JESUS, GOD OFTEN TURNS THE TABLES. Jesus taught many times about God's reversals. Jesus said, "But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first." (Matt. 19:30) On another occasion he told his disciples, "Whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave." (Matt. 20:27) This goes against our nature. We admire and are fascinated by wealthy people, aren't we? We dream of joining their company.

No doubt some of the Pharisees were dismayed with Jesus' parable. From their viewpoint, the fact that the rich man was wealthy meant God showed favor on him. The Pharisees believed that righteous people were rewarded by God with wealth. In their thinking, the rich man should be the hero ” not poor Lazarus. Sounds like many affluent people today.

All through this parable Jesus reverses the common perceptions. For example, notice that the rich man is nameless. Even in our world rich people are known by name and by face. We see them on television programs showing off their luxury homes. We see their faces on magazine covers in the supermarket. We know who they are. The poor, on the other hand, are often nameless. We don't know their names or their faces. In this parable the poor man ends up along side of Abraham while the rich man ends up in Hades.

GOD TURNS THE TABLES. HE REVERSES WHAT WE THINK IS IMPORTANT. God's ways are not always our ways. Both men die and the rich man discovers what life was like for Lazarus. Sometimes we understand someone better when we are able to view life from their angle.

It's happening with increasing frequency in the Memphis, Tennessee, area. Perhaps you've seen the stories in the newspapers. Somebody slips into a house or apartment, "cases" the place and snatches up whatever he or she wants. All this takes place under the eyes of a deputy sheriff. And it's perfectly legal, thanks to Criminal Court Judge Joe B. Brown.

Judge Brown raised some eyebrows by ordering several burglars to open their homes to former victims. "He [the burglar] learns what a good citizen feels like," the judge says, "worrying whether he's going to come home and find all his stuff still there." With deputies in tow, victims can take what they want up to a limit set by the judge that approximates the value of what they lost.

One victim made several visits before he was satisfied. "The first day he didn't find anything, but the second time he came back, he bagged a color television and a stereo component set," Judge Brown said. (2)

In torment the rich man looks up and sees Lazarus at Abraham's side. The rich man calls out, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames." Do you see the irony? Instead of Lazarus begging for food from the rich man, now the rich man is begging for a few drops of cool water from poor Lazarus.

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND. This parable teaches us that WHAT'S IMPORTANT IN LIFE IS NOT HOW MUCH WE HAVE, BUT THE WAY WE TREAT OTHER PEOPLE. The rich man was not a bad person. He kept the letter of the law. His only sin was that he failed to notice Lazarus lying in his doorway. The way we treat other people says something about our understanding of what it means to be a Christian. Do we treat the people we come in contact with in ways that Jesus would want us to? Or, like the rich man, do we pretend they are not there?

Abraham answered the rich man saying, "Child, remember that during your lifetime you received good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony."

Let me give you a quiz? What can you take with you when you leave this world? Nothing? That's not altogether true. There is one thing that survives the grave. Relationships ” relationships with others and our relationship with Jesus Christ. That's it. That's the only thing we can take with us. Was the rich man really rich? The truth is, he didn't have anything that mattered!

Dr. Leo Buscalgia tells of an experience he had in Cambodia years ago. He noticed that during monsoon season the people's way of life changed. The great rains washed away their houses, so the people lived on great communal rafts, several families together. Dr. Buscalgia writes: "I went down there on a bicycle and there they were. I thought I'd help these people move and become part of their community. The Frenchwoman whom I was talking with just laughed. `What do they have to move?' she asked. `Nature has taught them the only thing they have is from the top of their head to the bottom of their feet. Themselves, not things. They can't collect things because every year the monsoon comes.'"

Dr. Buscalgia reflected upon what he saw: "I couldn't help thinking to myself, what would you do, Buscalgia, if the monsoon came to Los Angeles next week? What would you take? Your color TV set? Your automobile? The only thing you have to take is you." (3)

The only thing we take to the grave and beyond is our relationships with others and with Jesus Christ. So, instead of trying to accumulate as many possessions as we can, our goal should be to strengthen our relationships ” with our family and friends, with the homeless at our gates, and most of all, with Christ. Ultimately, of course, they are all part of the same package. Jesus said, "...just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." (Matt. 25:45) The rich man could have helped poor Lazarus, but chose to ignore him. The rich man discovered what goes around comes around.

In Mel Brooks' latest movie, "Life Stinks," Brooks plays wealthy businessman, Goddard Bolt. Goddard Bolt has the very best of everything money could buy. He rides in a chauffeur driven limousine. He's wealthy and his sights are set on making more. His plan is to tear down some old downtown buildings and construct a modern complex with luxury condominiums and a mall.

"What about the people living down there?" one of his employees asks him. "What people?" Goddard Bolt asks, "There are only old deserted buildings." What he doesn't take into account are the homeless people living in those "old deserted buildings" and in the alleys.

A wager is made that Brook's character cannot live among the street people for thirty days. He accepts this wager. While he is living on the streets, he learns firsthand what it's like to be homeless. He also makes some friends among the homeless and discovers that they are not bad people ” just people down on their luck. On a rainy night one of his new friends, Sailor, dies on the street and the next morning is found on the sidewalk. No one cares. No one even stops to see if he is dead or alive.

At the end of the thirty days Goddard Bolt is a changed man. No longer is making money his only goal in life. Now he wants to build new homeless shelters where he once planned luxury condominiums.

Like the wealthy man in our parable, Goddard Bolt was always too busy or too preoccupied to notice the poor and homeless persons living right outside his building. Unlike the wealthy man, Bolt realized his error and was able to change his ways and attitudes before it was too late.

I hope you and I are that fortunate. For there is much of the rich man in us. There is much we would not see. For a few moments a graphic injustice or a riot opens our eyes just a bit, as occurred in Los Angeles this past Spring. But then we go back to the way things were. We forget that what goes around comes around. God is a God of justice. Be careful who you ignore. The tables may someday be reversed.


1. Leo Buscalgia, BUS 9 TO PARADISE (New York: Wm. Morrow & Co., 1986), pg. 249.

2. "A Turnabout in Foul Play," The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 10, 1992.

3. Leo Buscalgia, LIVING, LOVING, AND LEARNING (New York: Fawcett Columbine, 1982), pg. 17.

by Timothy J. Smith