Brought into the Presence of God [3-29-26]

March 29, 2026

Luke 16:19-31

“Brought into the Presence of God”

Money is a curious thing. Or should I say, what money represents is a curious thing. Remember, money is value neutral. It’s how we think about it and what we do with it and what we do for it that gives it meaning. Money is the cause of, and solution for, many of life’s problems. Jesus talks a lot about money.

The funniest line from dystopian dark comedy, “Idiocracy” are the only words one of the characters ever speaks. He repeats, “I like money.” Over and over and over again. That there is the best way to capture the hold materialism has on people’s lives.

We see that in today’s parable of The Rich Man and Lazarus. Jesus has a lot to say about money. Here’s what he says in Luke 16:19-31:

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on 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.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 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.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house - for I have five brothers - so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

Lazarus is destitute. He’s got nothing. Table scraps would have been welcomed relief. As Jesus says in verse twenty-one…the phrasing he uses makes the point…moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The phrasing translated, moreover, is better rendered as, but it gets worse. “But it gets worse, dogs came and licked his sores.” That’s as horrific a picture as you’re going to see Jesus paint for us. The poor wretch can’t even dream of being invited to the feast or having a table to sit at. All he can hope for is what nobody else wants to eat. We’re not talking decent leftovers. It’s what’s fit for the garbage heap. And even that isn’t offered. What horrible human beings these rich people are.

So let’s be honest. That’s often the case of people with money and power. Their first and greatest love is money and power. One of the side stories in John U. Bacon’s book about the Edmund Fitzgerald was about how the shipping company treated the families of the 29 dead crew members. Or should I say, how poorly they treated them. It was all about CYA, or for the more delicate among us, “cover your behinds.” Twenty-nine families had to deal with horrible loss, while all the rich corporate bigwigs cared about was limiting liability and protecting capital. In the end, they offered the surviving loved ones a pittance compared to the loss suffered by those grieving families.

In the same vein, me, my wife, and oldest granddaughter have been watching a series that takes place in England in the late 1790s-1800. It’s based on the historical novel series, Poldark. In season five, one of the characters is a very wealthy woman born into a life of comfort and luxury. She moves from her country estate to London. She loses herself in parties and galas and hobnobbing with the rich and powerful. They are all about the show of opulence. It is one frivolity after another.

Meanwhile, most everybody else suffers from lack of food and resources. They are barely eking out a hardscrabble life. It’s a powerful contrast.

At some point, Caroline comes to her senses. She returns to the countryside. As she explains her motivation for moving away from London, she says, “I wanted a different life. I wanted a meaningful life.” And there you have it. Negotiating money and meaning. Here’s something to write down:

“DO I HAVE MONEY, OR DOES MONEY HAVE ME?”

As Jesus tells the story of Lazarus, remember an important detail. This is the only parable where a character is named. That will come into play later. As Jesus tells this story, as we’re listening to it, it’s good to understand how his audience understood it.

At its most basic, the average person thinks Lazarus is where he’s at because of some sort of sin or short falling in his life. It is well-earned punishment for a life sinfully lived. Are you with me on that?

So, as Jesus sets up the story, most in his audience anticipates the next 

logical move. When he dies, Lazarus will end up in hell. But as so often happens, Jesus tells parables with great reversals. What you think is going to happen doesn’t happen. Where you think the story is going to go, it veers off into an entirely different direction. The rich man goes to hell. Lazarus, the named man, goes to heaven. The unnamed man goes to hell. Who knew?

So, what led to the rich man’s rightful place in hell?

We have to begin with a look at God’s plan of salvation for people living in the time before the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

In a nutshell, faith has always been the foundation for salvation. As Paul writes in Romans 4:3-8:

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,    and whose sins are covered;blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Here’s what that means. What matters for salvation is the faith in a person’s heart. What did Abraham believe about God? Did he trust God? Did Abraham accept who God was and what God was doing in His life? Was Abraham obedient to what God taught? And was Abraham repentant when he was not? And that goes for everyone from Abraham to the time of Christ. Jesus’ death on the cross was effective retroactively for those who were devoted and obedient to the One True God.

Why do we know the rich man was a bad guy? Well, primarily because when he dies he goes directly to hell. Not because he was a rich man. But because he was a bad rich man. He could have been a good, decent rich man. He could have been a rich man who honored God…who trusted God…who was obedient to God…who did those things a man with a faithful 

heart would do…do justice…love mercy…and walk humbly with the Lord. None of it would have been difficult or out of reach.

But what did the rich man do? Every day, he walked past hurting people. He never lifted a finger to help anyone but himself. He clearly had disdain for anyone who wasn’t like him. That’s not the attitude of a good person. That’s not the attitude of a person who believes what God says. I love what C.S. Lewis wrote about this parable:

"The gates of Hell are locked from the inside."

That captures it perfectly. God didn’t send him to hell. That’s the trajectory of his life based on the choices he made. God doesn’t send people to hell. They end up there because they choose to reject God’s offer of salvation. Which the rich man decidedly does.

How hard would it have been for the rich man to worship God? How hard would it have been for him to help others? How hard is it to be a decent human being? Remember what Paul says:

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Those are the tell-tales signs of a decent human being. That’s the way you tell what’s in the heart of a person. That’s how you know where their relationship is with Jesus Christ. The rich man was not a good guy. He 

showed no mercy toward Lazarus.

And it goes further than that. Even in torment, the rich man is so used to using his power that he thinks it gives him clout in hell. He thinks he can order Abraham to send Lazarus to be his lackey. Make him give me a drop of water. Not even repentant in hell. As C.S. Lewis observed, this points to the persistence of his pride and lack of repentance. More than anything else, Jesus is showing us how these two huge character flaws seal his fate.

When that request fails, what’s the next thing the rich man asks? Right… send Lazarus to warn my brothers. Need any further convincing what a horrible person he is? And it seems entirely self-serving. The hidden agenda to the request is, if he had been warned, then he wouldn’t be in hell. Like, that’s all it would have taken? He had the law and the prophets. He had all of God’s Word to instruct and guide him. And yet he still didn’t get his act together. As one man writes:

“If a man cannot be humane with the Old Testament and Lazarus 

at his doorstep, nothing will teach him otherwise.”

• Archibald M. Hunter

Next week…Easter morning…we’ll focus on the conclusion of the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Some have called it the Great Reversal of Fortune. That’s what Easter is all about. It illustrates our Great Reversal of Fortune from sin and death to eternal life.

Until then, to prepare our hearts for the Good News of Easter, I’ll leave you with a word of warning about our human condition. Jesus gives us such a warning in the parable.

Author and pastor Randy Alcorn, in writing about this parable, says:

“Seeking fulfillment in money, land, houses, cars, clothes, boats, campers, hot tubs, world travel, and cruises has left us bound and gagged by materialism – and like drug addicts, we pathetically think our hope lies in getting more of the same.”

What a great thought to meditate on between now and Easter. We know 

where our hope lies. Not in things of this world. But in Christ and Christ 

alone.

Make no mistake. Too many preachers perpetuate the myth of health and 

wealth by saying things like you can have all these things if you believe. You can have all these things if you do such-and-such. You can have all these things if you give to the church. It reminds us of what Satan said to Jesus in the wilderness – all this can be yours if you worship me. But when it becomes all yours, your realize it has been a bad bargain. Jesus says, just ask the rich man. There is no contentment in those things. There is no true and lasting joy or happiness. There is only the sad pursuit. There is only the disappointing pursuit. As an anonymously wise person once said:

“It doesn’t matter what we want, once we get it, then we want something else.”

Heed the warning from Jesus. The rich man chose his misery. But for us, someone has come back from the dead to show us the way. His name is Jesus. As Jesus teaches us through this parable, there is great urgency in sharing the Good News about salvation through Christ and Christ alone with unbelievers. Come back next Sunday as we celebrate the promise of being in heaven with Lazarus and all those others who have gone on before us.

To get the flavor of what next Sunday holds in store for us, here’s a forward look at Luke 19:6. This is the passage when Jesus calls Zacchaeus to follow him:

“So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.”

And there it is. That’s the point we’ll arrive at next week. As Charles Spurgeon said about this passage:

“When sinners receive Jesus, they receive him joyfully, so that there is joy on both sides. It is a joyful business altogether; the Savior is glad to save, and the sinner is glad to be saved.”

And together, the saved people of Covenant Church said:

SOLI DEO GLORIA…

To the Glory of God Alone