“I Could.... Or I Could....”
Luke 16:19-31
David P. Nolte
We are often confronted with alternatives such as: We come to a fork in the road; do we leave it there or pick it up? Okay, wrong kind of fork. Which branch of the road do we take? We have an opportunity to go fishing or to stay home and weed the garden? Easy choice! We can’t make up our mind between pizza or Chinese food. Alternatives means choices we could make. “I could do this, or I could do that.”
Not all choices are between good and evil, or right and wrong. Many alternatives are personal preference, like whether clams make better fertilizer or fish bait..
But many times the alternative we choose makes a huge difference in our lives, and the lives of others, for good or ill.
We are in week 3 of our 28 days of love series. Today we will remember that we have alternatives and that we could do one thing or we could do another. This week we have the opportunity to help Family Tree Relief Nursery by providing the items listed on the flier in the bulletin. We could skip it or we could be generous. I encourage generosity. Please bring your gifts by next Sunday.
The Bible contains the story of a man who faced an alternative that we all face sometime in life. “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’” Luke 16:19-31 (NASB).
I’ve entitled the sermon. “I Could .... or I Could....”
1. I Could Care Just For Me Or I Could Care For Others:
a. The rich man cared only for himself. He dressed in fine clothes, lived in splendor. But a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, hungry for just the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; and dogs were coming and licking his sores.
b. Lazarus, a poor man, was in bad shape. The rich man had it in his power to benefit the man. He could ignore him or invest in him – he chose to ignore the need. He cared only for himself, not Lazarus.
i. Like the Priest and Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan. They ignored the man as he lay in the road but it was the Samaritan who cared.
ii. Like the rich man whose barns were full and he had a bumper crop. He could have helped a widow or a poor family but he chose to build bigger barns. Ignoring the needy around him, he cared just for himself.
iii. Like one man who exemplified that in his prayer: “Lord bless me my wife, our son, his wife, us four and no more.” What kind of prayer is that? He has reduced God to his exclusively personal bodyguard, valet, and Aladdin’s Genie.
c. Both James and John point out the folly of knowing a need but not caring and ignoring it.
i. James wrote, “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,’ and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” James 2:14-17 (NASB).
ii. John wrote, “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” 1 John 3:17-18 (NASB).
d. Do we care only for self or also for others?
e. Princess Alice made a choice to care for someone other than self. Her 4 year old daughter, Princess Marie, was seriously ill with diphtheria. The doctors told the princess not to kiss her little daughter and endanger her life by breathing the child’s breath. Once when the child was struggling to breathe, the mother, forgetting herself entirely, took the little one into her arms to comfort her. The frightened child said, “Momma, kiss me!” Without thinking of herself the mother tenderly kissed her daughter. She got diphtheria and some days after the death of her child, she died.
i. Real love knows no danger but takes a risk. Real love doesn’t count the cost, it pays it. Real love forgets self and remembers others.
ii. As the song said, “Love sent my Savior to die in my stead; Why should He love me so? Meekly to Calvary's cross He was led; Why should He love me so? Nails pierced His hands and His feet for my sin; Why should He love me so? He suffered sore my salvation to win; Why should He love me so? O how He agonized there in my place; Why should He love me so? Nothing withholding my sin to efface; Why should He love me so? Why should He love me so?” Because He so loved us, let us love one another. We could do better at that.
2. I Could Grasp It All Or I Could Give Some To Others:
a. Even if the rich man had given left-overs, Lazarus would have been helped. Lazarus would have been satisfied with crumbs but the rich man gave none..
b. Think about these contrasts:
i. The rich young man who asked Jesus about eternal life. Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property. Matthew 19:21-22 (NASB). Contrast that with:
ii. The widow who put two small copper coins into the treasury. Jesus sad, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.” Mark 12:42-44 (NASB).
iii. Jezebel, who had Naboth killed so her husband, King Ahab, could take Naboth’s vineyard.
iv. The Macedonian Christians who, though impoverished, begged for the privilege of giving to the impoverished Christians in Judea. They gave more than they could afford to give. But, “little is much when God is in it!”
c. Hear the Bible on this matter of giving.
i. Jesus said, “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” Luke 6:38 (NASB).
ii. Paul wrote, “Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;” 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 (NASB).
d. Generosity is beneficial to giver as well as recipient.
i. “One who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, And He will repay him for his good deed. Proverbs 19:17 (NASB).
ii. “There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, And there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, And he who waters will himself be watered.” Proverbs 11:24-25 (NASB).
iii. Not that our motive is personal gain, but to be assured that you never lose what you give away and you cannot out-give God
e. One man was known for his generosity and a friend asked, “How can you afford to give as much as you do?” the man said, “It’s a matter of shovels.” The other fellow said, “Shovels?” The giver replied.”Yes. You see, God and I both have shovels. I shovel it out and God shovels it in. God has the biggest shovel.”
I could keep it all or share some.
3. I Could Think Of Self Or I Could Also Think Of God:
a. The rich man was so focused on his clothing, his food, his pleasure, his comfort that he not only forgot Lazarus, he also forgot God.
b. You cannot disassociate benevolence toward, or neglect of, others from your relationship with Jesus Christ.
i. Giving in faith honors God.
ii. Giving cheerfully pleases God.
iii. Giving draws us closer to God because giving is a sacrifice and a form of worship, “And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Hebrews 13:16 (NASB).
iv. Jesus said that whatever we did, or did not do, for others we did, or did not do, for Him. We will either be tested And found lacking for thinking only of self, or rewarded for thinking of others and God as well. Matthew 25:31-46.
v. Paul wrote, “you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God. Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all, 2 Corinthians 9:11-13 (NASB).
c. Our giving and sharing is definitely for the good of others but for the eyes of God as Jesus told the show-off Pharisees, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:1-4 (NASB).
d. Our good deeds, giving, serving, helping, lifting and so on, should not generate pride on our part, nor publicity and recognition for us but should put the spotlight onto God, who has given us whatever we have to impart to someone else. James said, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” James 1:17 (NASB).
e. A certain charity received several million dollars designated for help to people affected by a severe epidemic, but the charity was not planning on using all of the money collected for the purpose it was given.
A major donor responded by asking for the $3.2 million dollars they donated back. When the charity’s officials promised it would be used for the purpose it was donated, the donor let them keep the money.
The charity had a responsibility to use the money the way the donors intended.
In the same way, God has a right to insist that we use the money with which He's provided us in the way He's intended. After all, the money isn't ours, ultimately, it belongs to Him. We are just His stewards, using it according to His will.
The rich man didn’t care, share, or remember accountability. But he is not our model, Jesus is. Don’t ask, “What would Jesus do?” ask rather, “What DID Jesus do?” Follow that example and watch the blessings flow!
Pray / Invite
A 3 year old boy said, “Look Dad, I got this for you!” and he gave him a handful of dandelions. Every day the boy would hand Dad something from their yard, a leaf, a flower, a rock, a stick. The child didn’t have the best gifts to give and maybe we don’t either. But just like this little boy who selflessly gave something to his Dad every day, God uses EVERYTHING we give (no matter how big or small) for His glory!
One gift you can give to God and others is YOU – your heart, your mind, your will, your time, your material goods. When you are called upon by God to help, or to serve, just say, “Have Thine Own Way, Lord!” and then go that way.
