“I used to think I was poor,” says one comedian. “Then they told me I wasn’t poor, I was needy. Then they told me it was self‑defeating to think of myself as needy. I was deprived. (Oh, not deprived but rather underprivileged.) Then they told me that underprivileged was overused. I was disadvantaged.
“I still don’t have a dime,” this comedian concludes, “But I have a great vocabulary.” Maybe that comedian was laughing to keep from crying, because whatever you may call it, being poor isn’t any fun.
“There was a rich man,” said Jesus, “who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 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.
“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 Hades, where he was in torment, the rich man 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 . . .”
If there ever was a parable of Jesus that should keep us awake at night, it is the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Why? Because, compared to most of the people in the world, we are quite rich. That is why most of us would prefer not to think too much about this parable.
“We’re saved by grace, not by works,” we rationalize to ourselves, so we skip over this parable and other teachings of Jesus much like it concerning our responsibility to the disadvantaged of our world. Indeed, we are very much like the rich man in our ability to see only those teachings of the Master that we want to see.
Bible teacher William Barclay titles this passage, “The Punishment of the Man Who Never Noticed.” That’s us. How many of us have ever noticed how often Jesus talked about our responsibilities to the poor and the down-trodden?
“For I was hungry,” the Son of Man will say on the Last Day, “and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.
“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me’” (Matthew 25:42-45).
This passage, too, we might call, “The punishment of the people who never noticed.” “Lord, WHEN DID WE SEE YOU hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison . . .” And that is the problem. Jesus was there in a person who was hurting and we didn’t even notice.
How many of us ever really notice the problems of the poor in our society?
Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, remembered that before they were married, she was working at University Settlement in New York City. Franklin called for her there late one afternoon. She wasn’t ready because there was a sick child at the Settlement and she had to see that the child was taken home. Franklin said he would go with her.
They took the child to an area not far away and Franklin went with her up the three flights to the tenement rooms in which the family lived. It was not a pleasant place and Franklin Roosevelt looked around in surprise and horror. It was the first time that he had ever really seen a slum. When he got back to the street he drew a deep breath of fresh air. “My God,” he whispered, “I didn’t know people lived like that!” (1)
Obviously that experience had an enormous impact on the man who would be our longest serving president. But he’s not alone. Most of us are unaware under what miserable conditions many people in our world live.
Pastor Edward F. Markquart tells how some years back he watched a political advertisement for a presidential candidate. The candidate’s name was Ross Perot. Remember Perot? He had those big, wide ears that political cartoonists just loved to draw. Markquart notes that on that paid political advertisement, Ross Perot brought out several charts that described economic life in America. One of those charts showed the level of poverty of our nation’s children compared to the levels of poverty of children living in European democracies.
“What percentage of the children who lived in European democracies were poor? About five to seven percent. What percentage of American children were poor? About 20% . . . No industrialized democracy was even close to the high number of 20% of American children living in poverty.
“Then Ross Perot said, with his big ears wagging, ‘It ain’t right, folks.’” (2)
And, pardon my grammar, friends, but Perot was correct: it ain’t right. And many of us who follow Jesus close our eyes and refuse to even acknowledge the problem. Like the rich man in Jesus’ parable we are the people who refuse to notice.
The rich man in this parable, of course, is not alone, or Jesus would not have told this story. All over the world in every generation, those who have much in terms of the world’s goods turn a blind eye to those who have practically nothing. How else could we live with ourselves if we did not?
According to a report released by the World Bank, nearly 2.8 billion people still live on the equivalent of two dollars a day or less. Of these, some 1.1 billion survive in extreme or absolute poverty on less than one dollar. Does anybody care? A few do, but it is still amazing to what lengths some people will go to not notice.
Brazil is a country with an even wider gap than the U.S. between the haves and the have-nots. I read recently that in Sao Paulo, Brazil, police have stopped seeking to remove beggars and other unsavory people from their streets. They’ve decided rather to concentrate on geographical containment of the problem. They’re seeking to wall off the poor from the rest of the population. The city’s rich have literally risen above it all by using helicopters to bypass poorer areas. There are now 240 helicopter landing pads in Sao Paulo, Brazil compared to just ten in New York City. (3)
Well, I guess that’s one way to ignore the problem. That is one way not to notice. Get a helicopter and fly over it all. The rich man in our story would probably have bought himself a helicopter if they had been available back then. He probably settled for a gilded carriage with thick curtains so he would not have to look at Lazarus lying there helplessly at his gate.
Notice that Jesus said in his parable that Lazarus “was laid” at the rich man’s gate. He didn’t walk there or drive there. He was an invalid who had to be laid there. Lazarus was totally helpless. There were no welfare programs. He obviously had no family to care for him. All he could do was beg, but the rich man couldn’t be bothered even to share a few coins. He refused to even acknowledge Lazarus’ existence. He was the man who refused to notice.
But, friend, there was one who did notice. God noticed. Luke tells us that the time came when Lazarus died. And what happened then? Jesus tells us, “The angels carried Lazarus to Abraham’s side.” What a beautiful image. This time it wasn’t friends or concerned neighbors who carried Lazarus home at the end of a long day of begging. It was the angels. God knew Lazarus’ situation. God cared about Lazarus.
I was tempted to call this parable, “The man who made a name for himself, and the man who did not.” That would have made a nice twist on the parable. It would demonstrate how differently we see the world from the way God sees the world. For you see, in Jesus’ story it is Lazarus who made a name for himself. It is the rich man who is anonymous. The rich man is sometimes called Dives. Dives simply means “rich man.” We know Lazarus’ name, but not the name of the man who ignored him.
Jesus identified Lazarus; Lazarus was named. That is significant. When giving a parable, Jesus never named a character not even once. The rich man was nameless, but Lazarus was named. The difference is ever so big. It is the difference between being known and honored by God and not being known or honored by God. Lazarus knew God and was known by God. His very name, Lazarus, means God is my Help or Helper.
“By naming Lazarus and not the rich man, Jesus’ story completely contrasts with worldly understandings of who’s who,” writes Sarah K. Bunge. “As was his style, Jesus reminds us that heaven is the opposite of this world in many respects, especially when it comes to rating an individual’s worth in society.”
Ms. Bunge asked her high-schoolers to name some rich people in our society. “Bill Gates, Donald Trump, the Middle Eastern oil guys, and Oprah” were some of the names they listed. Then she asked them for names of the people in their town who beg, or are homeless. The students made vague references to “that one guy who sleeps behind [a local store]” and “that crazy lady always asking for change when I come out of McDonalds.”
Bunge writes, “We all understood what Jesus was saying: God cares about everybody, even and especially those that society would rather not notice and definitely not name.” (4) God noticed Lazarus and cared about him.
God also noticed the actions of the rich man who refused to notice the poor man at his gate. Luke tells us, “The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, the rich man 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 . . .’”
Why do you suppose the rich man was in Hades? It was because God noticed him as well. But why did God deal with him so harshly? There is no record of a vicious, glaring sin; no record of a vulgar, public sin. He was not cruel, as far as we know. He never ordered Lazarus from his gate or refused Lazarus the crumbs from his table. He was not a tyrant; not an oppressor of the poor, not a monstrous member of society. Rather, he may well have been a socially responsible, upright citizen, respected and well liked. No earthly court would ever think of arresting or condemning him. In society’s eyes he was honored and highly esteemed. People liked him and spoke well of him. What then was his sin? It was the sin of not noticing.
How often do you and I take time to notice the people around us their needs, their concerns? Not just the homeless people asking for handouts on a city street, but the lonely teenager who lives down the street or the young mother trying to keep her family together after her husband has abandoned her. How often do we notice the elderly person whom no one visits; the jobless guy who is being left behind by a culture that no longer values his talents? How often do we notice the person sitting just a short distance from us in the congregation who has just received a devastating report from a doctor? Do we even notice what other people around us are going through?
It is a sin that afflicts all of us to one degree or another, and yet we rarely talk about it. It is the sin of self-absorption. It is the sin of being so preoccupied with our own cares and concerns that we give no thought to the problems of those about us.
Professor Robert Wuthnow once conducted some research about why some people are generous and compassionate, while others are not. He found out that many compassionate people at some point in their lives had someone act with compassion toward them. This experience of having someone show compassion toward them had transformed their lives.
For example, Wuthnow tells the story of Jack Casey. “All I ever learned from my father is I didn’t want to be like him,” Jack Casey once said. He was raised in a tough home. His father was an alcoholic. But something happened to Jack when he was a child that changed his life. Jack needed to have surgery and was terrified. But there was a nurse who remained by his side, holding his hand, reassuring him that everything would be okay. “I’ll be right here, no matter what,” she told him. And she kept her word; she was there and greeted him with a smile the moment he opened his eyes.
Years later, Jack became a paramedic and he was called to the scene of an accident. A man was pinned upside down in his pickup. Jack did his best to free the trapped man even as gasoline dripped down on them. The man was afraid that he was going to die as the rescuers worked to free him. One spark and the whole scene would go up in flames.
Jack remembered back to that time when he was a child and the nurse who never left. He took the man’s hands and squeezed them as he said, “Don’t worry! I’m right here with you! I’m not going anywhere!”
Days after the rescue, the two men embraced as the driver said to Jack, “You know, you were crazy to stay there with me. We both could’ve died.”
Jack smiled. “I just couldn’t leave you,” Jack said. (5)
Here is the point of today’s message. There was a time, spiritually, when each of us was a beggar lying at the gate totally helpless, and Christ noticed us and Christ loved us just as we are. As we remember that truth, that compassion, that grace, Christ calls us to look around and see someone who needs our attention, our compassion, our love. And what the research shows is that this person might just remember our generous attention when he or she is in the position to help someone else. And so that original act of kindness and love is extended perhaps forever. But you can’t be part of this chain of love if you never take time to look beyond you own cares and concerns. Don’t be like the rich man who will forever be remembered as the person who refused to notice. Look around you today, to someone who needs your love.
1. Leonard & Thelma Spinrad, Speaker’s Lifetime Library (Paramus, NJ: Revised & Expanded, 1997), p. 228.
2. http://www.sermonsfromseattle.com/series_c_money_and_wise_investments_for_the_future.htm.
3. Richard Watson, Future Files: A Brief History of the Next 50 Years (Boston: Nicholas Breasley Publishing, 2010).
4. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Proper+21%3A+September+26,+2004.-a0120526513.
5. The Rev. Dr. Thomas G. Long, http://day1.org/1051-meeting_the_good_samaritan.