The Rich Man and Lazarus

Preached on 02-25-01

THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS

A Sermon by the Rev. Patrick A. Rose

"There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, who was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table; . . . " (Lk. 16:19-21)

THERE IS NOTHING NEW ABOUT CONTEMPT for those outside of one's own church. In the Jewish Church many of the Jews completely and utterly despised the Gentiles. So too in the Christian Church: many socalled Christians throughout the history of that church treated the heathen with complete contempt.

There is a warning for us in this. For us to think and speak contemptuously of our fellow human beings outside the church would be to repeat a mistake made countless times throughout history.

Of course we all know enough to realize that despising others in this way is terribly wrong. But the temptation is still there. We have access to truths which others do not have. The tendency, then, is to think as if in some way we are intrinsically better than they.

At those times when we succumb to this tendency, we should remind ourselves that behind such an attitude towards those outside the church lies a fundamental error. Not only is such contempt for those outside of the church both unkind and uncharitable, but it also involves a complete misunderstanding of what makes a human being to be what he is.

This error, this misunderstanding, is dealt with at length in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. This whole parable deals with the mistaken belief that a person is judged according to what he happens to have, rather then according to what he is actually like deep down inside.

The story is about a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and who had fine food to eat every day. It is also about a beggar called Lazarus, who had sores over his body, and lay down at the rich man's gate hoping to get some of the crumbs from the floor under the table. Though it is not explicitly stated in the story, it is clearly implied that the rich man felt contempt for the beggar at his gate, as if the rich man's wealth made him somehow better than Lazarus, who had none.

Anybody can see the error of this. Simply because he had greater wealth did not make the rich man a better person than the beggar. His wealth did make it possible for him to live a more comfortable life. It also gave him the potential for being of greater service to other people. But, by itself, it did not make him a better person. Indeed, as we learn later in the story, it so happened that the rich man went to hell, while the beggar went to heaven.

As it is with material wealth, so it is with spiritual wealth. When it comes to possessing knowledges concerning spiritual things, we are wealthy beyond imagination. Having been given the Writings, we can turn every day to the teachings of the three-fold Word, just as the rich man in the story dined daily on an abundance of food. And like him, we also are clothed in purple and fine linen. This purple and fine linen stand for basically the same thing as the so-called New Church colors red and white that is, for good and truth, or the knowledge of what is good and what is true. We are rich, fabulously rich, when it comes to the possession of spiritual knowledge. But this by itself does not make us better people than those outside the church.

Those in falsities and in ignorance are represented by the beggar Lazarus. The sores that Lazarus had, represented falsities, and his poverty and lack of food represent ignorance, that is, the lack of spiritual food. There is no doubt that he was in a far more miserable condition than the rich man. However, this did not make him a worse person. So too with spiritual poverty. Spiritual poverty can bring a person a lot of misery. But it does not mean that he is worse than somebody who has the truth. He may, in fact, have a greater desire for the truth than someone in the church. As Lazarus would have been overjoyed with only a few crumbs from the rich man's table, so it is possible that someone in ignorance may have a far greater affection for any glimpses of the truth he may gain, than do those who have truth in great abundance. Now this is not necessarily the case. It is also quite possible for a man with little knowledge of the truth to have no concern for it, even when he is given an opportunity to learn this truth. The simple fact is that what a person has, whether it be wealth, bodily strength, good looks, intelligence or spiritual knowledge . . . these do not make the man. A man is not what he has, but what he loves. The Lord does not look upon what possessions or opportunities a person has or does not have, but, rather, upon what the person, from the love within him, does with these things.

Now it does not follow from this that spiritual wealth, that is, knowledge from the Word, is unimportant. Truth is very important, for truth is an opportunity. It is an opportunity to learn how to serve, and to love better, both the Lord and our fellow human beings. To reject the truth is to reject an opportunity for expressing love and charity more perfectly. Still, what we know or can know remains, by itself, only an opportunity. If a person in the church does not seize the chance to do that good which the truth makes possible, then the truth is of no benefit to him. Indeed, his rejection of the truth by not living it is actually harmful.

This is also the case even with somebody who is in falsity or ignorance. With him also, truth is important. Even though he may be in great ignorance, and may believe in many falsities, still, he has something of the truth. He has some conception, however slight, of the difference between what is right and what is wrong. If he lives according to whatever little truth he may have, and also seeks after and desires more truth, he thereby expresses a love for serving others to the best of his ability. Then, though he may remain in ignorance while he lives in this world, he is nevertheless able to receive truth in fullness in the life to come. If, on the other hand, from a love of evil he rejects what few glimpses of truth he may been given, and, from this love of evil embraces only what is false -- falsity which condones the evils he loves -- he then condemns himself.

What matters is not what a person has, but how he responds to and uses what he has. The reason for this is simple. A human being is, essentially, his love, and love is something that is within, something that is free. Such things as wealth, intelligence and spiritual knowledge are from outside. They are not a matter of freedom. A person has little choice when it comes to such things. He may indeed strive to acquire wealth, worldly wisdom, or spiritual knowledge. Yet very often such things are determined by external circumstances quite beyond his control. He cannot help it if he was born with a greater or lesser ability to learn things. He cannot help it if he was born inside the church, or outside of it. What he can help, though, is how he uses what he has, and how he strives to better himself. These are the areas which determine whether a someone is good or bad, for here is where he exercises his freedom. If a person can help something, if it is within his ability to change something, or to use something, then his love and his freedom are involved. And, where a human being's love is involved, there he is involved.

THERE IS AN ABUNDANCE OF TRUTH from the Lord within the Writings of the New Church. For this we should be profoundly grateful. But only as we use this truth, by learning it, reflecting upon it and living it, will it make us better people; otherwise, belonging to the New Church is nothing more than a matter of external circumstance. As for others outside the church, we cannot condemn them on account of the falsities and ignorance they may be in. They are not responsible for their ignorance, and so it does not, in any way, make them worse than us. To harbor the attitude that we are somehow better than they are, would be completely wrong. Others are as much the Lord's children as we are. We can condemn the falsities they may believe in; we may condemn actions of ignorance that result from these falsities. We cannot, though, condemn those who grew up being taught things that are false. Far from it! We should, rather, seek for ways to make the truth available to them, not just by telling them the truth, but by striving to present it and make it known in such a way that they can see it for themselves.

The rich man made the tragic mistake of thinking that his wealth made him somehow better than Lazarus. He made the fundamental mistake of believing that external circumstances make the man, rather than the love that is within him. His error is a common one, shared by many evil people, and he, as do they, carried this error with him to the other world. There also, evil people believe that a man's state is simply a matter of external circumstances.

The rich man found himself in hell, and, looking up, he saw Lazarus the beggar in Abraham's bosom, that is, in heaven. Abraham represents the Divine love, and the rich man could not understand why Lazarus should receive the Lord's love, while he, on the other hand, was tormented. He asked that Lazarus bring him a little water. But Abraham told him that this was impossible: " . . . between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that they who would pass from here to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from there."

The rich man believed that the circumstances in which he found himself had an external cause. He thought that all that was needed was for Lazarus to be sent with some water to cool his tongue, and he would feel better. But the fire which tormented the rich man was nothing other than the fire of infernal hatred towards others. This fire could not be quenched by water, not even by spiritual water, which is truth.

Some people are attracted by the idea that, given enough instruction, the devils in hell can be reformed. But this simply cannot happen. It cannot happen, because even when they are given the truth, all they do is pervert it. To tell them the truth, to teach them about what is good, would have only an external influence upon them. What makes them to be the way they are, though, comes from within. Evil spirits are not in hell because they haven't been taught enough truth. Rather, they don't have enough truth because they want to do what is evil, and they therefore reject any truth they might be given. Within, their love is a love of evil. Any truth they may have is only something from outside, which does not touch their interiors. There is therefore this great gulf, a gulf between the loves of those in heaven and the hatreds of those in hell. No truth can bridge this gap. It was impossible for Lazarus to bring water to quench the rich man's thirst.

But still the rich man persisted in his error. He next requested that Lazarus go and warn his brothers who were still living in the world. The rich man stubbornly held to the view that a man is what he is because of what he has, or is given. He thought that if his brothers were given the knowledge of what had happened to him that if Lazarus should suddenly appear before them miraculously they would somehow change. But he was given this as an answer: "If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."

If his brothers were evil, then it was because they chose to be evil. They already had the Old Testament. If they didn't listen to this, additional warnings, no matter how miraculous, would not help. If their love was to do evil, they would ignore these warnings also. On the other hand, if they desired what was good, then the truth they already had would be sufficient for them.

The belief that somehow evil people, whether they be already in hell, or still living in this world, can be changed if only they be taught more truth -- this belief may seem quite unrelated to a belief that those outside the church are worse than those inside it. But both boil down to the same thing. They both depend on the false idea that a man's character is determined by the external circumstance of whether or not he possesses certain knowledges. This is why both of these false ideas are treated of in the same parable.

Once again, we would emphasize that knowledge from the Word is still important. The knowledge we have been blessed with can bring us into the sphere of heaven itself while we still live in the world. This is not the case with those outside the church. If they are good people, they must normally wait until after death for the instruction they need to be finally introduced into a full heavenly state. Knowledge from the Word is also important as the means by which a person is encouraged to repent and to change his life.

Without love being involved, though love which is the man himself, such knowledge is useless. If we do not love the truth by living it, then we can go to hell as easily, indeed more easily, than those outside the church. Furthermore, if somebody is intent upon evil, no truth in the world would ever change his mind. It is only if he is willing to listen that any real change can occur.

Consider the Israelites. Even though they were given to see wonderful miracles both before and during the giving of the Ten Commandments -- miracles that were absolutely amazing once Moses was absent upon the Mount they still lapsed into the sin of idolatry, making a golden calf. Nothing that comes from outside a man, whether it be truth, miracles, arguments, or continual pleading, will ever change him if he does not want to change.

This, then is the lesson of the parable concerning the rich man and Lazarus. And in practice it means but one thing. Since a man is not what he has, but what he loves, we should always remember that the way we respond to the teachings of the Word is of supreme importance. We should respond to them by learning them and living them. We should not so much think of ourselves as being New Church, but should, rather, think of how we might become worthy of being New Church. We should not rest content with what we know, but should strive to learn more, and to understand more, and, especially, to live according to this understanding.

Above all, we should always remember that the responsibility for our salvation lies with ourselves alone. The Lord can do many things. He has provided us with knowledge of the truth. He has given us the Word, and the church, so that we might learn more. And He gives each one of us the ability to live according to what we know. But unless we respond from love within ourselves, nothing the Lord, or any angel, or any man or woman in the world can do, will ever save us. We ourselves must respond freely to the Lord's Word. As Abraham, that is, the Lord, said to the rich man at the end of the parable: "If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."

It is only as we respond from love to what the Lord has given us that we can be saved. Only then can we, like Lazarus, be "carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." If we turn freely to the Lord, if we use whatever truth He has given us, then He will draw us to Himself. He will hold us in His bosom and keep us safe forever.

Amen.