September 25, 2016

Text: Amos 6:1,4-7

Psalm 146

I Timothy 6:6-19

Tale of Two Men

• The gospel lesson this morning tells the stories of two men. Their experience of life seemed

  totally opposite. One was dressed in purple and ate rich food while the other lay outside his gates

  hungry and covered with sores- content to just have the chance to eat even a crumb fallen from

  the rich man’s table. But it isn’t a story of earthly wealth, it is the story of spiritual wealth.

  When they died, it was the man who physically had plenty to eat on earth who was the hungry

  one when he died-content to just have his tongue cooled with a drop of water from the finger of

  the man who had laid outside his gates covered with sores. It is the story of mankind and of

  Jesus, the bread of life. Will you pray with me?

  One day, the poor man died-his death hardly noticed. Angels carried him away to be with

  Abraham. The rich man also died but found himself tormented in Hades and for the first time he

  understood what it was like to be at someone’s mercy- hungry and thirsty for everything and

  anything.

  Looking up from his agony, he could see Abraham far off with Lazarus by his side. As he lay

  their in agony, he dreamed of being cooled-if only for a moment. If only Lazarus could dip his

  finger in water and cool his tongue, then he would be content. And so he called out to Abraham-

  but Abraham said: “Can’t be done- there is a great chasm separating us that is impossible to

  cross.”

  As he slumped in despair, he thought of his five brothers who were going down the same path as

  he had. Urgently, he again cried out to Abraham: “never mind the water- send Lazarus to my

  brothers and warn them”. It amazes me- of all the people he wanted to send to warn his brothers

  was a man he had only seen and known as a filthy beggar covered with sores. Again, Abraham

  replied- “can’t do”. God has given them Moses and the prophets. They have their chance just as

  you did.

  I see three messages here. First is that the bible tells us in Hebrews that it has been appointed for

  men to die once and then comes the judgement. God is a God of second chances for our whole

  lives here on earth until we breathe our last breath. God is patient- his kindness is meant to bring

  us to repentance. But once we die, there will be an accounting of our lives here on earth.

  Secondly, God has sent us to do exactly what the rich man from Hades wanted Lazarus to do-

  and that is, to warn people of the consequences of their sin- and then share the good news of

  God’s saving grace.

  We hear people complain and protest when they hear Christians standing up and sharing the truth

  of the bible. They say that Christians have no right to do that. They claim they don’t want to be
• warned or be told of Jesus- but there comes a time in everyone’s lives when they will seek the

  truth- and the ones they will seek out first will be those they persecuted the most yet stood firm

  in their faith. Why? Because they know those who are willing to forsake all and even die for their

  faith are the ones who have what they want and need.

  Saul the Pharisee had made it his life’s mission to persecute the followers of Jesus. And then one

  day on the road to Damascus- on his way to arrest Christians and bring them to trial, Jesus

  Himself confronted him and his life was changed. And then God sent him to who? The very

  people he was on his way to arrest.

  Writing to the Romans, this very man who tried to stop the spread of the gospel, now known as

  the apostle Paul said this: “if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in our

  heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and

  so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved.” He goes on to say: “but how are

  men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of

  whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men

  preach unless they are sent?”

  Too many of us too many times I’m afraid- have shied away from sharing the gospel with others

  when given the opportunity because it makes us nervous and uncomfortable. But sharing the

  gospel is not about us being comfortable- it is about the lives of people who are starving to know

  Jesus. What does being uncomfortable and nervous have to do with anything? Before I go on, I

  must confess that I am preaching to myself first of all. It is my prayer that you and I be sensitive

  and obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

  But the question still remains: why did the rich man want Lazarus of all people, to be the one to

  cool his tongue and warn his brothers instead of Abraham?

  It makes a difference how we preach as much as what we preach. The gospel becomes personal

  when it is shared in a personal way. Someone sharing a word and prayer who understands what

  someone is experiencing because they have been there before can share the gospel in a powerful

  way.

  The rich man may not have taken much notice of Lazarus while on earth- perhaps because his

  suffering made him uncomfortable. But now, knowing what it was like to suffer himself, and

  knowing Lazarus knew first-hand what suffering was about, they were now brothers- and

  because of that, he was drawn to him.

  Jesus said in the sermon on the Mount: “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for

  righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” It is hunger and thirst that motivates people to seek

  food and water. It is hunger and thirst for righteousness that moves people to seek God with their

  whole heart and mind. God is able to take the hardest things in life and redeem it for good. It

  seems those who are going through struggles in their life- makes no difference who they are or

  social status or bank account-is that when they are hungry to hear words of hope and assurance-

  that is when they find the bread of life- Jesus. And having experienced that- they are better to see

  and understand the hunger in others.
• On March 25, 1914, a baby boy was born in an upstairs room of a humble farm house near

  Cresco, Iowa. One hundred years later- a statue of him was installed at the US Capital building in

  Washington DC. During his life, he won not only the Presidential Medal of Freedom but the

  Congressional Gold Medal. If that was not enough, in October of 1970, he received the Nobel

  Peace Prize for his work in genetics in wheat. He is credited for saving literally a billion people

  from starvation and malnutrition around the world in third world countries. Does anyone know

  who I am talking about? His name was Norman Borlaug.

  Because he went to bed hungry more times than he could count, he was moved and motivated by

  the fact that millions of people around the world went to bed hungry. He did not set out to seek

  any recognition or praise for himself- he only set out to make it his life’s work to do what he

  could do to feed the hungry.

  Jesus said: “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in

  me shall never thirst.” The gospel is simple, yet powerful. Those of us who understand God’s

  amazing grace to save have a message to share in our own way- doing what we can to tell the

  world the story of God’s love. It has been compared to one beggar telling another beggar where

  to find food.

  Pray: Lord, as we drink deeply from the well of your salvation, as we are filled and nourished

  with your word- give us a burden to share you with those who are hungry for you. In Jesus name,

  Amen.