Glynlea Grace United Methodist Chruch

Scripture

 Matthew 22:34-40

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. ³⁵ And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, to test him. ³⁶ "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" ³⁷ And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets."

Luke 16:19-31

"There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. ²⁰ And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, ²¹ who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; ²³ and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴ And he called out, `Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.' <sup>25</sup> But Abraham said, `Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.' ²⁷ And he said, `Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house, <sup>28</sup> for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' <sup>29</sup> But Abraham said, `They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' ³⁰ And he said, `No, father Abraham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' <sup>31</sup> He said to him, `If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.'"

Summary and Function

 

Summary: What would you do if you won the lottery? How would you spend the money? These are questions many of us have dreamt about. They are, however, the wrong questions for a Christian to ask. A Christian should ask, “How would this money change me?”

There is a relationship between an unhealthy desire for wealth and your willingness to love your neighbor as yourself. As you desire more wealth, you become less willing to love your neighbor. When you depend on wealth for your security and happiness rather than God, you become more willing to hurt others to achieve wealth. You also become less willing to give wealth away to help people.

This truth is illustrated in the parable about the rich man and Lazarus. Unlike the rich man, we should seek ways to use our wealth to help others and expand God’s kingdom on earth. When we do this, we’ll begin to notice and love the Lazaruses of the world.   

Purpose: To help the congregation to have the right view of money and to love others.  

The Sermon

 I. Introduction: Have you ever asked, “If won the lottery, how would I spend the

   money?” (As I ask this question, I hold up a lottery ticket)

• 10% goes to the church
• Create a church fund dedicated to keeping the air conditioners running
• Get out of debt
• Establish a nice savings account for emergencies to remain out of debt

     2. Asking, “How I would spend the money?” however, is the wrong question.

     3. The right question is: “How will this large amount of money change me?”

• We must be careful. Money can change us in a bad way.
• The more money we have, the more likely we are to develop an unhealthy desire for money

II. Healthy desire for money vs. Unhealthy desire for money

     2. Unhealthy desire for money: Always wanting more—never having enough

III. How this ‘unhealthy desire for money’ will make us less like Jesus.

     5. Jesus had something to say about this.

IV. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus

     3. There was a rich man

• Lived in a mansion, with an Olympic size swimming pool, army of maids, butlers, gardeners and other servants
• Loved to shop. Every week he rode in his limousine to the Mall at Millenia at Oralndo, Fl.
• As he rode in his limousine, he would cross an intersection where a homeless man named Lazarus would beg for money.
• The rich man would ignore Lazarus as his driver drove through the intersection on the way to the Mall at Millenia.

     4. Lazarus

• Raised in a middleclass family. Drafted into the Army and served in Vietnam
• While in Vietnam, lost a hand, breathed an inordinate amount of agent orange and suffered from Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• When he returned from Vietnam he was harassed by ‘peace protesters’. He couldn’t maintain a job and never received help to deal with PTSD and agent orange related health issues.
• For the next 25-30 years he became a homeless beggar.

     5. On the same day, the rich man and Lazarus died of a heart attack.

• Lazarus went to heaven and found himself in the arms of Jesus. His hand was restored, there was no trace of agent orange in his new body and he was in his right mind
• The rich man went to the fiery hell. He skin was dry, bright red and blistering. He looked up and said, “Jesus, send Lazarus down to give me water.”
• Jesus loved the rich man but had to say, “I can’t. There’s an impassable chasm separating us. You had your chance to choose me, but you chose money instead. You decided it was more important to make lots of money than it was to love me and your neighbor. You received your reward on earth. Lazarus is now receiving his reward here with me.”
• The rich man then asked, “Could you send him to my brothers? Perhaps if they see someone from the dead, they’ll believe and not do as I have done.”
• Jesus explained, “Your brothers have been to Sunday school and grew up in youth just like you have. They heard the good news announced at all the Christmas and Easter services they attended. They know that I rose from the dead and conquered sin, death and evil on their behalf. They have been given the opportunity to make the right choice, just as you have.”

V. Like the rich man and his 5 brothers, we have a choice to make.