Luke 16:19-31

Let Us Hear Them!

            What is the difference between Karma and Justice? I’m sure you’ve all heard of Karma, “what goes around comes around”. It’s an appealing concept to many people because it surmises that good people get rewarded and evil people get punished. But it’s more than just people, this is how it treats every action of a person. Sometimes we do bad things, so bad things happen to us; other times we do good things, and good things happen to us. For karma proposes this direct one-to-one relationship between actions and their consequences. It sounds all good and pleasant. This is what people regularly say they wish would happen in our world. However, it’s not as good as it sounds... especially when we have to talk about God. If God were a god of karma, he’d have no choice but to give us the due reward of our actions. And what would that be for us who are sinners by nature and inclined to evil? In Karma, there’s no room for mercy or grace, that is getting the opposite of what we deserve. This is why we must understand biblical justice. For justice is the idea that there must be restitution for every evil committed. Its goal isn’t punishment, but rather making things right. Punishment is only a byproduct of true justice. For when a murder happens, we may not be able to bring the person back, but to make things right, the murderer faces consequences. Or when something is stolen, it must be paid back. Thus, with justice, there can be mercy, but with karma there’s only punishment.

            As we dive into our Gospel lesson today, we examine the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. While we must understand justice to understand their eternal fates, we also should come to understand the importance of God’s Word. It’s God’s word that is center stage and how we each respond to it based on our earthly life. So, let us learn today:

LET US HEAR THE WITNESS OF GOD’S WORD!

I.

            It’s easy to make the wealth gap the center of attention here. Indeed, Jesus sets up this very contrast in his parable that the rich man is super rich and Lazarus is dirt poor. We could theorize about what evil this rich man did since he didn’t take care of Lazarus. Because of this, we might embrace the idea of karma as Abraham mentions and think this rich man is getting what he deserved. As we read, “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,” Luke 16:25. If we’re to take the shallowest reading of this parable, then we’re to understand that if you have money now, you’re somehow doomed and unsavable… because you’ve already had your comfort. At least, that’s what Karma would say. But the key to this parable isn’t in this distinction between the rich man and Lazarus, but with the rich man’s family. His family becomes the focal point of this dialogue.

            For the first thing to notice in this parable is the truth which King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes ages before… that the same event happens to all (Ecclesiastes 2:14). All people die, regardless of wealth, fame, morality, or any other metric. As this rich man is grappling with his fate, he begins to plead that his family be warned of this doom lest they fall into the same fate. And Abraham has such a simple response, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them,” Luke 16:29. The problem which the rich man had wasn’t exactly his wealth, but that his wealth lured him into shutting his ears to God’s word. Understand the “comfort” this rich man had… he had the best, most expensive clothing, a feast prepared for him every day, and likely a host of people waiting on his every need. Yes, Jesus warns us time and time again about the idolatry of money. For it’s far too easy to think you don’t need any help when everything is going well for you. It’s all too easy to make money your comfort instead of God. For this is what Abraham mentioned before… the rich man had his “comfort” or god in his life… whereas Lazarus had no comfort but God and his faith in God. 

II.

            This is why we must understand God’s justice above all else. For if God gave us the consequences of our actions, we’d have no hope. Even as we say in service, “If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with You, there is forgiveness, therefore You are feared.” Indeed, God is just. He cannot let evil go unpunished. However, it’s because of God’s justice that he seeks not our destruction but our salvation! Yes, God has given us Moses and the Prophets as both a warning and example for us. He’s given us his Word that we may hear it and heed its teaching. For we know that our time is short and that the time of forgiveness and grace is now. As we also heard Abraham say, “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,” Luke 16:26. Once judgment comes, there’ll be no more opportunity to draw near to God. Nor shall we cross from heaven to hell just to reconnect with family or friends who rejected God’s word.

            But there’s one more pertinent detail that’ll help us fully understand this parable. It’s the name Lazarus. For the name Lazarus means “one whom God has helped”. Indeed, God helps us in our weakness that we may find comfort not in material things or things of this world, but in God and his mercy! God helps us by sending Jesus to be the propitiation for our sins. God helps us by giving Jesus over to death, even death on a cross, so that the punishment for sin may be on him instead of us. This is God’s justice; how great and wonderful it is! God’s justice is the act of making right what has gone wrong! By Jesus blood, God makes right the world by granting forgiveness and mercy through faith in Jesus’ name! For consider our final verse, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead,” Luke 16:31. For those who are perishing, the gospel is foolishness. But to us who are being saved, it’s the power of God (cf. Rom 1:16)!

            Let us hear the witness of God’s word and the justice he brings. Let us hear of our sinfulness and brokenness that in repentance we may cry out to God for the comfort he alone can give us… which is none other than the comfort of Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for you! In Jesus’ name! Amen!