Fatal Mistakes
Sermon
THE WORD IS NEAR YOU
Sermons For The Church
"But I meant well!" This defense was given by a convicted forger as he explained that he was forging checks in order to feed his hungry children. The jury was sympathetic, but not swayed in his favor. Do good intentions count? Yes, but not always. Some mistakes are minor and insignificant. Others are fatal and tragic. Let Jesus, through Luke's Gospel, tell a story which pictures a well--meaning man who made some fatal mistakes.
The background of this story is that Jesus was talking with some Pharisees "who were lovers of money," as verse 14 says. They wanted to justify themselves before others for their niggardly attitudes. Jesus then told the story we know as "The Rich Man and Lazarus." In this story Jesus pointed out some serious errors the rich man had made in attitude and action.
I. He Mistook Today For Eternity
The rich man, called Dives in the Authorized Version, is pictured as having the best of everything - regal clothes, scrumptious meals, spacious house. He had it all. No one on The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous ever fared better. The trouble with this is that the rich man began to think of this life as all there is. The fine clothes and great meals blinded him to the fact that this life is not the end, but that eternity awaits all.
This mistake is still very much with us today. How often do people say or live as if, echoing an old beer commercial, "You go around only once." Dives mistook today for eternity, thinking that he would always do well. He forgot that judgment will come and that God is not impressed by fancy clothes or banquet spreads. God will ask for an accounting of life.
II. Next, He Mistook Opportunity For Privilege
The rich man had enormous opportunity to ease the suffering of the poor, especially of Lazarus who sat at his gate. This could have been done so easily as hardly to bother Dives at all. But he failed! He saw wealth as privilege rather than as an opportunity to help others.
We do not have to be rich in order to help. Contributions to food banks, clothes closets, and community chests help. Most important, though, is your getting personally involved with people in need.
III. He Mistook A Neighbor For A Nobody
The contrast between the rich man and Lazarus is striking. One had everything - food, clothing, friends to share the banquet. The other had nothing except a seat on the ground by the other's door. Lazarus had only the companion of dogs who licked his sores as a way to heal them, as they licked themselves. They cared, but the man who could have done most did not.
Dives mistook his neighbor Lazarus for a nobody. He did not speak to him, comfort him, give him anything except crumbs. In that day before napkins, people would use chunks of bread to wipe their hand on after a meal. These crumbly chunks were then thrown out. This is what Lazarus longed for. Even garbage was better than what he had. The rich man could have done so much so easily, but he did nothing. For him, Lazarus was simply a nobody.
For Dives, none of the suffering or hardship of others made any difference to him. His mind was closed to the revelation of God, and his heart was closed to the revelation of the demands of compassion. Even after death he still wanted Lazarus to be his lackey, his "boy." He told Abraham, "Send Lazarus to get me some water." He thought he was still in charge! In all of this Dives never thought of Lazarus as a real human being like himself, with a name and a history and a future. He seemed like a nameless nobody. But he did have a name. Lazarus is from the Hebrew Eleazar which means "God is his help." And so he was. Earthly values were reversed later and the nobody became somebody. God noticed the one whom the rich man ignored.
IV. He Mistook His Possessions For His Soul
Can't you just see Dives taking care of his expensive clothes? No treatment was too good for them - special cleaning and pressing and storage. And his other things? He built a special garage just for his Rolls Royce. He sent his servants into the market every day so they could buy only the freshest food for the meals. They cleaned the mansion daily and made sure it was spotless.
The rich man neglected one thing, however - his soul. He had made the fatal mistake of thinking that his things fully comprised his life. He was probably a Sadducee and believed in no afterlife, although he had the law and the prophets. Amidst all of the elaborate preparation and care he took, Dives neglected the thing of greatest value - his very self. Was he not like the one about whom Jesus spoke as he told the story of a farmer who built bigger barns? On the night of the completion of the building expansion God said to him, "You fool, this night your soul will be required of you."
Dives made some fatal mistakes in his relationships with other people, with God, and even with himself. You do not want to make the same mistakes, do you?
The background of this story is that Jesus was talking with some Pharisees "who were lovers of money," as verse 14 says. They wanted to justify themselves before others for their niggardly attitudes. Jesus then told the story we know as "The Rich Man and Lazarus." In this story Jesus pointed out some serious errors the rich man had made in attitude and action.
I. He Mistook Today For Eternity
The rich man, called Dives in the Authorized Version, is pictured as having the best of everything - regal clothes, scrumptious meals, spacious house. He had it all. No one on The Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous ever fared better. The trouble with this is that the rich man began to think of this life as all there is. The fine clothes and great meals blinded him to the fact that this life is not the end, but that eternity awaits all.
This mistake is still very much with us today. How often do people say or live as if, echoing an old beer commercial, "You go around only once." Dives mistook today for eternity, thinking that he would always do well. He forgot that judgment will come and that God is not impressed by fancy clothes or banquet spreads. God will ask for an accounting of life.
II. Next, He Mistook Opportunity For Privilege
The rich man had enormous opportunity to ease the suffering of the poor, especially of Lazarus who sat at his gate. This could have been done so easily as hardly to bother Dives at all. But he failed! He saw wealth as privilege rather than as an opportunity to help others.
We do not have to be rich in order to help. Contributions to food banks, clothes closets, and community chests help. Most important, though, is your getting personally involved with people in need.
III. He Mistook A Neighbor For A Nobody
The contrast between the rich man and Lazarus is striking. One had everything - food, clothing, friends to share the banquet. The other had nothing except a seat on the ground by the other's door. Lazarus had only the companion of dogs who licked his sores as a way to heal them, as they licked themselves. They cared, but the man who could have done most did not.
Dives mistook his neighbor Lazarus for a nobody. He did not speak to him, comfort him, give him anything except crumbs. In that day before napkins, people would use chunks of bread to wipe their hand on after a meal. These crumbly chunks were then thrown out. This is what Lazarus longed for. Even garbage was better than what he had. The rich man could have done so much so easily, but he did nothing. For him, Lazarus was simply a nobody.
For Dives, none of the suffering or hardship of others made any difference to him. His mind was closed to the revelation of God, and his heart was closed to the revelation of the demands of compassion. Even after death he still wanted Lazarus to be his lackey, his "boy." He told Abraham, "Send Lazarus to get me some water." He thought he was still in charge! In all of this Dives never thought of Lazarus as a real human being like himself, with a name and a history and a future. He seemed like a nameless nobody. But he did have a name. Lazarus is from the Hebrew Eleazar which means "God is his help." And so he was. Earthly values were reversed later and the nobody became somebody. God noticed the one whom the rich man ignored.
IV. He Mistook His Possessions For His Soul
Can't you just see Dives taking care of his expensive clothes? No treatment was too good for them - special cleaning and pressing and storage. And his other things? He built a special garage just for his Rolls Royce. He sent his servants into the market every day so they could buy only the freshest food for the meals. They cleaned the mansion daily and made sure it was spotless.
The rich man neglected one thing, however - his soul. He had made the fatal mistake of thinking that his things fully comprised his life. He was probably a Sadducee and believed in no afterlife, although he had the law and the prophets. Amidst all of the elaborate preparation and care he took, Dives neglected the thing of greatest value - his very self. Was he not like the one about whom Jesus spoke as he told the story of a farmer who built bigger barns? On the night of the completion of the building expansion God said to him, "You fool, this night your soul will be required of you."
Dives made some fatal mistakes in his relationships with other people, with God, and even with himself. You do not want to make the same mistakes, do you?
