Lazarus 1974

I just want to read a couple of verses from today's Gospel, Luke 16, 19-21. There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table.

If we pray for power, for the sake of being able to say, look, we bear the marks of the authentic apostolic church, look at the power. If we ask God for the power to cast out devils and heal the sick, in order to keep the critics off our backs, in order to be able to say, look to yourself, brother, we have the power of God in here. Then all the power of heaven itself will do us little good, because then our hearts are far from the heart of Jesus.

On the other hand, if in our attempt to be faithful to our Lord, we go out there looking for the lost, bringing good news to the poor, delivering to the captives, and discover that we just don't have what it takes to impart to these people the healing grace of Jesus, then we can turn to our Father and ask him for the power, and know that it will come. Which of you shall have a friend at midnight, and shall go to him and say, friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him. We have a friend at midnight, and we can go to him in the middle of the night, and we can ask, and we know that we're going to receive.

See that God will pour out the power of his Son upon an assembly of believers who are truly committed to him and who really want to do his will. Of this there is no doubt, never since the church first came to birth, has Jesus ever failed to pour out his Spirit upon saints who cry for bread at midnight. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.

If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? When I sent you out with neither purse nor bag nor sandals, did you lack anything? Nothing was. And he's teaching us that at those points where we have no power to rely on but his power, his power is always there. And we discover at every point where we experience that power moving, it's when we're trusting nothing else.

And incidentally, while we are feasting sumptuously every day on God's living word, and while we are clothed in the purple and fine linen of manifold blessings from God, there lies at our gate a beggar who isn't asking for something we don't have. He's simply asking for a few crumbs from that well-furnished table we do have. We're praying, God give us power, at the same time that Lazarus is praying to us for a few crumbs.

Now, the truth is that there's not one person in this place, not one, who doesn't have a Lazarus right now lying at his gate, her gate. And the most important issue of our lives, the issue which will decide whether the mercy of God and the blood of his Son will avail for us on the other side of death, is what are we doing with our Lazarus? When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and every single one of us will, we will be inclined to point out to the Lord all the mighty things we did in his name. Lord, we prophesied in your name, we cast out demons in your name, we did many mighty works in your name.

But he will say, yes, but what did you do about Lazarus? And we'll say, Lazarus? Who's Lazarus? I didn't know anybody by the name of Lazarus. And then he will cause to come before our mind's eye the face of a man, or a woman, or perhaps some child, who cried out to us in a thousand ways, not for prophecy, not for miracles, not for profound teachings, but for a little bit of love, a few scraps of material help. Now maybe you don't feel led to go out on the streets, and perhaps you just don't have time to write twelve letters a week to people who really ought to be getting some letters.

Now maybe it doesn't fit in your schedule to go to the convalescent homes and visit these people who are so forgotten, but your Lazarus, you don't have to go out looking for, he's right there. He's staring you in the face every day, calls you on the phone. Perhaps God brings him to your mind in some other way.

It might be one of your children. Here you are running around doing the Lord's work in a thousand places. You're not even hearing the cry coming up from this neglected heart in your own house.

Or it may be an old friend who's going through a hard time. Somebody at work that you never even notice. You give about as much attention to him or her as a piece of furniture, maybe even your wife or your husband.

Let's not talk about the five or ten people that you're responsible for. Let's talk about that one person that lies at your gate right now, that God put there, that needs to get some love. Wait a minute a second.

Wait a minute. I really don't know who my Lazarus could be. I mean, there's so many people and there's so many, many needs.

You know, when I go home from work, I don't just pass one beggar, I pass a hundred, a thousand. How can I know which one is mine? How can I know which one God has assigned to me as my Lazarus? Now, surely the God who will one day cause our minds to know precisely who this is, is able to reveal now to our minds who this is. But there are several things of which we can be almost positive concerning Lazarus, whoever he or she may be.

First of all, like the beggar in Orloy's parable, he's probably poor. In other words, there's no way that he or she can repay us for whatever favor it may be that we give. And that person has nothing that is attractive to us, nothing that we want, nothing that we need.

They can't even give us a smile or gratitude. They'll probably never join our church. He's also helpless.

Notice that Lazarus was not standing in the rich man's gate, he was lying there. He couldn't do anything for himself. Somebody had to carry and lay him there.

Like so many older people, and so many children, and so many sick folks, and so many discouraged, confused, beaten souls all around him. He's also unwanted by the world. Only the dogs come and lick his sore.

Nobody pays attention to his needs. A thousand people walk by him and nobody sees him. He has no beauty that we should desire him.

And when we shall see him, he has no form or commonness. He's despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.

And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. But guys, he makes me depressed every time I'm around him. He never is cheerful.

I can't stand it. You know, he doesn't even show any gratitude, he doesn't know how to say thank you. I'm not going to minister to him.

He's ungrateful. He's also hungry. Maybe for some plain old food.

Perhaps for a friend. Somebody pay a little attention to her. Whatever it is that he or she is hungry for, you have on your table.

Now what does it take to minister to Lazarus? Does it take power? Gifts of prophecy and miracles? No! Now don't tell me that you have no love to us. If you're following Jesus, the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. But are we dwelling in that love? God is love.

And he who dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. And to dwell in love means more than to dwell in an emotion that's syrupy. It means to do something concrete and practical.

Well, Lazarus, what does it take to go to the cupboard and get a loaf of bread for somebody? How much strength does it take to reach down in your pocket and get hold of some money and give to that woman to help her with her rent? Or to stop what you're doing and just listen to that man's complaint? Nobody listens to it. Or to drop by for a minute or an hour and see how that lonely old soul is doing. Now how can our Heavenly Father believe that our cries for power to heal the sick and cast out devils come from hearts that care if Lazarus still lies at our gates waiting? Step number one for this flock, and doubtless for others that are represented here, assemblies of believers that are crying out to God these days for the power to heal the sick and cast out devils and bring deliverance to these multitudes of people with problems that are pressing in on us from every side.

Praise God for that. The first step is to begin with Lazarus. God will verily show each one of us who this is for you and for me.

One person. God will do that. That's his problem.

And he'll do it if you want him to. Now if we will take, let's say, this week and just concentrate on Lazarus for a change, even if it means that we're going to neglect some of the more exotic ministries that we have, we might even miss Bible study or fellowship, our brothers and sisters might even misunderstand us. Where were you? Never mind.

And just give Lazarus, whoever Lazarus may be for you, the royal treatment in Jesus' name. Then that will matter, that we really are trying to make love our aim and that our earnest desire for the spiritual gift is based on that love. We don't go up to heaven to bring Jesus down.

We don't go down into the depths to raise him from the dead. God already sent his son here. God already raised his son from the dead.

All we have to do is to begin to love that unloved soul that God has already placed at our gates. And we will there meet Jesus alive from the dead in a new way. In the despised and rejected Lazarus, we will meet the despised and rejected and glorified Jesus.

And then he, with the power of his spirit, to preach good news to the poor, deliverance to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those who are oppressed. We will do that. Let's pray.

Lord God, we're asking that you'll just help us now with your spirit to cut the dancing around and the darting from place to place and looking in 50 million directions and measuring ourselves against this one and that one and reading a million books and to hear your voice and to be sensitive, Lord God, to your spirit as you reveal to us who it is that you have us pay attention to. Right now, today, this week, and give us the liberty, oh God, to just do your will regardless of what people think and regardless of how it looks or what it does for our image or how much we think Lazarus is going to get off our table. Teach us by your spirit, oh God, this week to dwell in love.

We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.