Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 • Jeremiah 18:1-11 • Philemon 1-25 • Luke 14:25-33

As we enter our 18th week of Ordinary Time, we are brought to consider the implications of following God. Our theme this week is the often painful path to perfection. The Psalmist declares his amazement at the wonders of the life God has created for him to live. In Philemon we have a plea for reconciliation between two people who have had a painful rift in relationship. Jeremiah warns us that the process of being molded by God will at times be disruptive and uncomfortable. In our sermon passage, we are told that Jesus expects us to be willing to give up everything, including family, for his sake.

Spiritual Risk Assessments

Luke 14:25-33 (ESV)

“An untenable risk.” This is the term used to define the point at which a given course of action should no longer be pursued, or perhaps actively worked against. Companies performing risk assessments are expected to define untenable risks to their operations. For a powerplant, those risks might define the point of balance between operating safely and operating efficiently. For an investor, it’s when the risk of failure for a given project is too high to justify the cost of investing. For an individual, it could be when an exciting job opportunity is eclipsed by the upheaval the move would cause.

These risk assessments are examples of why it’s important to consider the implications of your actions and choices. They are perceived in Western culture as examples of prudence and responsibility. And they are reflections of a challenge that Jesus gave to his disciples 2000 years ago.

Speaking to his disciples, Jesus warns that complacently following Jesus is not enough—we need to think through the implications of that course of action. Let’s read what Jesus said to them.

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:25-33 ESV)

It is hard to read this passage of Scripture and not think of your siblings, parents, or spouse. It references those we love and asks a heart-piercing question, are you ready to place Jesus above all of them? In the risk assessment of our spiritual lives, is the cost of following Jesus more than we could bear? If you feel yourself thinking that it might be, it might reassure you to realize you’re not alone.

Even after decades of Christian living, this question will continue to lead passionate followers of Christ to a place of doubt. The cost seems too great, yet the reward is incalculable. The scale of our spiritual risk assessment teeters back and forth wildly. We know it will land on the side of our eternal relationship with God (Jesus has shown us that), but this doesn’t reduce the anguish caused at the thought of the sacrifices he is calling for.

So, let’s take a moment to break the text down a little further. What is it that Jesus is asking of his disciples in this passage?

Setting the bar high

Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:25-27 ESV)

Jesus does not mince words when he presents the disciples with his expectations. Jesus wants everything from us. He is presenting us with a core biblical teaching, the primacy of God. The Ten Commandments declared that we were to have no other God before him, and Jesus teaches us the heart of that law – there should be nothing in our lives set before God. When Jesus tells us to hate our family, he does not mean literally. We know this from looking elsewhere in Scripture. For example, he shows love for his mother and provides for her on the cross by charging John with her care. Furthermore, 1 John 4:20 tells us that the person who hates his brother cannot love God! So where does this leave us?

Jesus has shown us he desires love not hate, so we can say with confidence that here he is using exaggeration to stress the importance of a teaching. The extreme reaction we feel at the idea of hating our family is the intent behind Jesus’ teaching here, that aversion to hating them, should be reflected by an even greater love for God.

By setting his bar so high as to be unattainable, Jesus is setting out for us a lifelong goal of loving God more and more. The Christian walk is a constant struggle to put God in the proper place at the center of our lives. As long as he’s not there yet, we haven’t achieved the goal of loving him so much as to hate everything else.

Jesus does set within his example an achievable goal. Contrasted with the call to reject our family is a call to reject ourselves, take up our own cross and follow Jesus. Jesus has demonstrated we can follow through on this call. And that call to a sacrificial love that endures much is core to what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Jesus has called us to an often- painful path to perfection and he wants us to be aware of all that could come with it.

Doing the assessment

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish.” (Luke 14:28-30 ESV)

For anyone who has done some renovations or overseen construction, the fear of unknown costs and setbacks is an ever-present reality. Common advice is to take the quote given to you and add at least twenty percent to determine your budget for the project. Falling short of the financial needs of such a project can have far-reaching consequences. A botched renovation can put the whole home at risk, and a half-finished building is a danger to those who enter it.

And it’s not a process that ends once the project begins. Progress reports, inflation costs, and fluctuation in markets are all things that seem irrelevant until they affect the things one must purchase. A change in the cost of lumber can have dire consequences when you’re building a wooden house!

It is an equally agonizing process for our spiritual lives. And it is appropriate to point out that while many of the would-be disciples Jesus was speaking to in this passage were new, some had been with him throughout his ministry. But that doesn’t reduce the need for these moments of introspective spiritual self-assessment. No doubt Judas did not always intend to betray Jesus, but at some point, he began to value something more than God. Perhaps it was money, or as portrayed in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar, perhaps it was the ideal of a Jewish nation that did not jive with who Jesus was revealing himself to be. Regardless, something led him to conclude that the cost of discipleship was too great.

This call from Jesus to carefully assess the cost of following him is not completed the moment we declare him to be Lord. Rather, it should become a regular practice to think about the depth of the call God has made to us.

A forecast less dire than it might seem

Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:31-33 ESV)

Everything that we’ve discussed so far could lead us to the conclusion that the Christian life is one of joyless introspection and confessions of inadequacy. Indeed, taken alone, this passage could lead us to the conclusion that since we fall short of perfection, perhaps we should just give up. Thankfully this passage does not sit alone. Luke takes pains to emphasise to us that the calling of Christ is one that requires complete and utter devotion, a devotion we are unable to provide.

Our passage today comes before the parables of the lost sheep, coin, and son. All these parables speak of the incredible love of God that is present amid the failures of his children. Where there is a gap in our ability to relate to God, Jesus steps in and fills that gap. An allusion to this can be seen in the final example Jesus gives in this passage: the king who is not capable of fighting the enemy coming toward him. In this example, a cost is going to be paid regardless – the other king is coming to wage war on him. While the man thinking about building his tower can simply decide not to build it, the king cannot simply decide to ignore the army that is approaching his lands.

Counting his cost, he realizes he comes up short. But that is not the end of his narrative; the parable does not conclude with his defeat and death. Instead, the king realizes his need to seek the mercy of his opponent. Like this king, we found ourselves in conflict with a foe impossibly beyond us. But this foe is not Satan, or sin, but rather God himself. In our past rebellion, we found ourselves aligned against the Creator of all things. Jesus refers to this when he tells the apostle Paul in a vision “It is hard for you to kick against the goads” (Acts 26:14b). Opposition to God is an exercise in futility, much the same as this king’s war.

If the king had insisted on his own rule and way, he would have found himself not just without crown or country but also without his life. Instead, he must sue for peace, he must give up the crown and country, he must “renounce all he has.”

On the path to salvation, destruction is found in every direction except the narrow path that leads to Jesus. The cost of discipleship is not just about counting what we must give up to follow Jesus, it is also about recognizing how much greater is the loss of not following him. This is the point of Jesus’ lesson. Without him there is no life, no resurrection, no hope, and no future. Without him you would have no mother, father, brother, or sister. Without him there is no narrow path to keep to.

When we count the cost of discipleship, we will consistently find we are incapable of providing what is required. We too need to realize our need for mercy and grace. Counting the cost does not lead us to the conclusion that we will pay and sacrifice what is needed—it leads us to the conclusion that we cannot pay or sacrifice enough. But we do not despair. Our inability is contrasted by the Holy Spirit’s ability and desire to take hold of us and lead us back to the foot of the cross. It recalls the costly price that has been paid for us by Jesus, and the horrific cost we would endure if it had not been paid. And it is in light of his loving sacrifice that we once more commit to acknowledging him as the center of our lives.

Let’s conclude with the powerful words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship:

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “Ye were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.

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Small Group Discussion Questions

Psalm 14:1-7 • Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 • 1 Timothy 1:12-17 • Luke 15:1-10

The theme for this week is the restoration of relationship. Our call to worship in Psalm 14 contrasts the response of the foolish with the wise and the inevitable struggling and suffering that goes along with trying to go it alone, not relying on God’s presence. Jeremiah 4 emphasizes the sorrows we bring on ourselves by thinking we can handle this life without seeking a relationship with God. Paul reminds us that Jesus has saved us, and God seeks a relationship with us, regardless of our checkered past. Our sermon text is Luke 15:1-10 where Jesus tells the Parable of the Lost Sheep and the Parable of the Lost Coin, showing us that lostness is our typical state and one that we need not fear.

Lost and Found

Luke 15:1-10 (NRSV)

We all have lost something, and we recognize that feeling associated with loss: the knot in the pit of our stomachs. Most of us have also experienced the joy of finding something we lost—the elation and satisfaction of having something we valued restored to us.

Consider sharing a personal story about something you lost and found.

Imagine being in a foreign country and losing your wallet. That’s what happened to American soldier Chad Reid, who was headed home from Afghanistan. On the night before he was to leave, Chad lost his wallet on a busy Afghan street. That meant his credit cards were gone, and more importantly, so was his military ID. Meanwhile, aircraft mechanic Bill Peasley, who was working in Afghanistan as a civilian, went out to dinner that night, and he found Chad’s wallet. It took a few phone calls—first try was to Chad’s mother in Denver and then to his grandfather in Pennsylvania. Finally, Peasley was able to connect with Chad via Facebook and return his wallet just hours before his scheduled flight back to the US. You can imagine how delighted Chad was to receive something back he thought he’d never see again.

Our sermon text today has Jesus sharing two parables about being lost and being found. Let’s take a look.

Read Luke 15:1-10, NRSV.

What can we notice about this passage?

These two parables about being lost and found appear right before the parable of the Lost Son (or the Prodigal Son), so the theme of lost and found is an important one for this 15th chapter of Luke. To set the stage for these parables about lost and found, notice the first two verses of the chapter:

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So [Jesus] told them this parable. (Luke 15:1-3 NRSV)

Luke takes a special interest in often pointing out that Jesus ate and spent time with “sinners.” In Luke, we find the story of the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume and her own tears (Luke 7:36-50), the story of the tax collector Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10), and the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9-14). Interestingly, even though Luke records at least three meals where Jesus was criticized for hanging out with sinners, Jesus never comments about the sinners’ behavior. Within the cultural context, sharing a meal meant more than just eating together. It meant friendship and acceptance, and by eating with tax collectors and others deemed “sinners,” Jesus shows his complete acceptance of them.

While we believe that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, NRSV) and might feel like we should lump ourselves into the “sinners” category, Jesus does distinguish between human beings who perpetually fall into behaviors that are contrary to God’s will for humanity and those “righteous persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7, NRSV). The righteous, in Luke’s estimation, are those who are actively striving to live within God’s law in the context of Jewish society of that time. The point that Luke makes is that Jesus reaches out for people who are on the fringes, who frequently engage in behaviors that are not in their best interests or the best interests of those who love them. If we’re following Jesus’ example, we will take the side of those who might be considered “losers” in our culture and speak out on their behalf.

By looking at the basic structure of these two parables, we can see the following similarities:

• There is a larger group, and one of that group becomes lost.
• The main character of the parable searches relentlessly for the lost one.
• The restoration of the lost one becomes an opportunity for the whole group to celebrate.
• Jesus summarizes the lesson by talking about repentance.

Let’s look at each of these components:

Lost

The two parables focus on two familiar situations for the cultural context: a shepherd loses a sheep, and a woman loses a coin—the equivalent of a day’s wage. If we read the parables carefully, we’ll notice that the lost sheep and lost coin don’t know that they’re lost, nor do they play a role in being found. The lost sheep and coin do nothing to help the shepherd or the woman find them.

Those who are “lost” are engaged in habits that aren’t life-giving. While certain habits, like addiction, have destructive tendencies, other seemingly harmless habits can also negatively affect or destroy relationships over a lifetime. Selfishness and the desire to control others are two examples. Notice that degrees of “lostness” still have the same basic effect: our lostness keeps us from enjoying the fullness of relationship with God and/or with others.

Found

This is the most important aspect of the parables: the main character is completely committed to finding the lost and restoring it to the larger group. The shepherd and the woman in the two parables are actively seeking the passively lost sheep and coin. The searchers are relentless in their care and concern, and in their desire to restore the lost to the larger group. God’s desire to restore is critical. By focusing on God’s determination to restore us to right relationship, we can let go of the idea that our own efforts are what makes us “found”, saves us or makes us right with God. We can rest in God’s gracious character.

Celebration

This part in both parables is the aspect that seems most out of place. Would a shepherd throw an over-the-top celebration because he found one lost sheep when the other ninety-nine were fine? Would a woman, who was so concerned about losing one day’s wage (the equivalent of the lost coin), hold a celebration that would create additional expenses? Jesus’ inclusion of this lavish celebration demonstrates God’s great joy and welcome for all people, righteous and sinners alike. This is the absurdity of a God who loves and delights in us. Grace doesn’t add up – it doesn’t make logical or economic sense – but it is the driving force of love that governs all of God’s interactions.

Repentance

The lost sheep and the lost coin don’t really “repent.” However, both parables point out that without the restoration of seeking and finding, repentance could not take place. The word translated as “repentance” is the Greek word metanoia. Metanoia indicates a change in our worldview – how we see ourselves, others, and the world – as well as a change in how we respond. It means a transformation in our typical ways of understanding and reacting to life.

While Jesus welcomed those who were considered “sinners” in the culture of his day, we also might consider our own need for metanoia – a change in how we view ourselves and the world and the way we respond to situations in ordinary life. Too often we allow hurts from past experiences or our upbringing to influence our reactions and responses to the world around us. Some of us were not loved, valued, and understood the way we needed to be when we were younger, and this has created a particular way of seeing the world. Letting go of past hurts and letting God love us and love others through us is part of metanoia.

Application:

• Recognize that God doesn’t require us to change before we can be found. Instead, being found and letting ourselves be loved creates a change in our worldview and consequently, in the way we respond to God, to others, and to the world.
• Realize that God seeks after us relentlessly until we are restored. Restoration, connection, and acceptance are part of God’s vision and intention for humanity.
• Know that we participate in God’s heavenly celebration when we show acceptance and love to those who might be thought of as “sinners” or “less than.” By following Jesus’ example of eating with those deemed unworthy, showing full acceptance and love, we play a part in the restoration of the lost to the larger group.

This third application is crucial to our participation in the Love Avenue. Do we see how God is reaching out to others – often through us? Are we focused on behavior and attitudes more than God’s purposes to restore the lost? By considering our own experiences with losing and finding items we value, we can understand a little about how God feels for those who are caught in the habitual web of negative behaviors. We can consider our own negative habits that might be destructive in our relationships, and we can think about our own need for metanoia, and celebrate that God has invited us to participate in others’ metanoia. We can know the joy of finding something lost that is valued, and we can rejoice with God when people, including us, are transformed in the way they view themselves and others.

For Reference:

https://www.rd.com/list/5-amazing-stories-of-things-lost-then-found/

https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-24-3/commentary-on-luke-151-10

https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-24-3/commentary-on-luke-151-10-2

https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-24-3/commentary-on-luke-151-10-3

https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/lost

 

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Small Group Discussion Questions

Psalm 79:1-9 • Jeremiah 18:18-9:1 • 1 Timothy 2:1-7 • Luke 16:1-13

The theme of this week’s scriptures is the singular faith God desires. Our passage in Jeremiah laments the fate of his people brought on by their idolatry and the Psalmist prays for their deliverance and atonement that the people might glorify him. In Timothy, Paul encourages believers to pray for the ability to lead lives focused on our faith in the one God and Mediator, Jesus. Finally in our sermon passage for today, Jesus warns that everything we have is given by God and intended to be faithfully administered in service to him.

Gifts Not to be Squandered

Luke 16:1-13 (ESV)

This year has seen the release of the latest Spider-man movie, No Way Home. In a gutsy gamble that seems to have paid off at the box office, this movie included three separate versions of the iconic superhero, drawing from previous reboots of the movie franchise, and tying them together in a neat temporally fractured bow. Most iterations of the Spider-man persona have the same back story. Newly imbued with superhuman strength and resilience, Peter Parker forgoes stopping a criminal when he has the chance, only to discover the same criminal murders his uncle and mentor moments later. With his dying breath, his uncle leaves him with one of the most memorable superhero mottos of all time: with great power comes great responsibility. Parker decides to live in honor of that statement, seeking to not squander the gifts he had been given.

Perhaps after hearing that quote, some people feel inspired to live up to their potential, while others breathe a sigh of relief and thank God they don’t have “great power.” Well, our message today is going to bring good news and bad news to both groups of people:

We may not have great power, but we do have great responsibility.

These are two truths that Jesus shares with us throughout his ministry, the implications of which can be found in our scripture passage today.

He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, “What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.” And the manager said to himself, “What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.”

So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, “How much do you owe my master?” He said, “A hundred measures of oil.” He said to him, “Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.” Then he said to another, “And how much do you owe?” He said, “A hundred measures of wheat.” He said to him, “Take your bill, and write eighty.”

The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Luke 16:1-13 ESV)

When tackling a parable, it is worth considering who in the parable we are supposed to identify with. In this parable it does not take long to realize that we are supposed to see ourselves in the place of the shrewd manager. Parables do not present perfect parallels for reality, but express practical, moralistic, and theological concepts that we as followers of Jesus need to embrace. When they are given in a series, as this one is, each one contains truth to be contemplated, but it’s all those truths woven together that form Jesus’ message. In this case Jesus weaves together a message for the Pharisees who were deriding the time he spent with sinners and tax collectors, and a message for his disciples who were also listening (Luke 15:1-2).

So, what is the message of these parables here in Luke 15:3-16:13? Let’s take a moment to outline the lessons that Jesus is sharing and how they tie into a larger conversation between him, the Pharisees, and the disciples:

1. The parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin (Luke 15:3-10) give a message of hope for those who have gone astray. The parables are to be understood as God going to the sinners to bring them back into their relationship with himself. God pursues us and so we are saved. The return of those who are lost is a cause for rejoicing.
2. In the parable of the Loving Father (Luke 15:11-32), Jesus expands on the sheep and coin. Not only is the return of the son who is lost a cause for rejoicing, the father happily and willingly forgives the son who turns from the path of self-destruction. We are left with a question in this parable: what will the envious and resentful older brother chose? Will he renew his relationship with the father, or turn and walk the path of Cain, allowing his pride and anger to rule over him?
3. In our text for today, the shrewd manager continues the narrative of redemption that has been outlined so far. Having established that God pursues us, forgives us, and rejoices at our reconciliation, Jesus is free to turn to the question of our past choices and how we should act in light of them. This parable, which is directed to the disciples rather than the Pharisees, calls for them to follow in the example of generosity given to us and extend that generosity to others.

Jesus’ conclusion following these parables is that one cannot “serve God and money.” This statement from Jesus cuts to the heart of both Pharisee and disciple. It sets before them a clear dichotomy: opposition to God is not just defined by bad choices, sinful acts, or dubious professions, it is also defined by the pursuit of wealth, comfort, and earthly influence. The Pharisees hated what Jesus said here; they saw clearly in this message a condemnation of their lifestyle as well as a dismissal of the sins of the people Jesus was spending time with. They could not comprehend that the relationship with the sinner was more important to God than condemnation of the sin, so much more important that he sent his Son to remove the condemnation in order to restore the relationship.

In our passage, the shrewd manager is not a person to be idolized or celebrated, yet he is presented in the parable as the hero. He has cheated and swindled, and only at the last moment, with the certainty of unemployment and disaster upon his doorstep, does he change his ways. Yet this corrupt manager is set up as making the correct choices for one simple reason: he looks to the future.

The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. (Luke 16:8-9)

No power of our own

Jesus is telling his disciples that they need to change their perspective if they want to follow him. They need to look heavenward, with eyes firmly fixed on the eternal prize in Jesus. Many choices presented to us will have one of two outcomes, either to build unrighteous wealth here or true riches in heaven. While sins are forgiven with the costly grace of God freely given to us, pursuit of wealth for personal comfort and social status binds us in service to sin in a deep and dangerous way.

Within the narrative of this parable is a freeing truth: we possess nothing. Just as the manager has no wealth of his own, we too cannot claim anything for ourselves. Our wealth, our land, our health, our skills, and our potential, are all gifts from God. This is what was meant when we said at the beginning that we have no power. The question asked of us here is simple: what will we do with what we’ve been given?

Great responsibility

The prodigal son and the older brother, the lost sheep and coin, the disciples and pharisees, you and me, we all have a moment in our lives where we find ourselves in the shoes of the shrewd manager. Like the manager, all we have is not our own, but gifts given to us. Like the manager we realize that we have been unwise with these gifts, squandering them for our own gain.

This is where we are called upon to ask the question: what should I do next?

The choice the manager makes is based not upon his present needs, but rather what he hopes for in the future. This is the moral we are called to embrace. Christian forward thinking is not a matter of hours, days, or years, but of our eternal relationship with the Father.

Our great responsibility then is to seek guidance from that relationship. The generous gracious heart of the Father is our guide for good stewardship. Christian fiscal responsibility is realized when we are prayerfully considerate with the gifts we have been given.

Whether you are donating to churches and charities or buying a family home, this wisdom can be applied. Use of material wealth for our own need and even comfort is not necessarily sinful, but the parable warns us against placing those purposes before faithful service to God.

Our great responsibility is to take what we have been given and put it toward our eternal purpose, a life lived with God and one another. In so doing we will have been faithful with the unrighteous wealth that once held us in its grip, and gained in its place the true riches that come from service to God.

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Small Group Discussion Questions

Psalm 91:1-6 (14-16) • Jeremiah 32:1-3a (6-15) • 1 Timothy 6:6-19 • Luke 16:19-31

This week’s theme is God’s caring provision. In our call to worship Psalm, we can proclaim that God is our refuge and our fortress we can run to. In the Old Testament, Jeremiah acts out the word of the Lord, communicating that God has not forgotten his people, but has plans to restore them. In the epistles, Paul encourages us by sharing that God cares enough to provide everything that we truly need in this life. And in Luke, Jesus gives the parable of Lazarus and Dives, showing how Lazarus was comforted and cared for by God in the next age.

The Heart That is Moved

Luke 16:19-31

Oscar Schindler was a German industrialist during World War 2. He was also considered a proud member of the Nazi party. But when he began to witness the plight of the Jews who were in concentration camps, his heart was moved with compassion.

He knew that he could not possibly save all the Jews, but he could save some. Schindler used his wealth and privilege as a respected member of the Nazi party to bribe the German prison officials. The bribes went towards releasing Jews to work for him at his factories. This compassionate act on the part of Schindler saved many Jews from death.

By the end of World War 2, Oscar Schindler had spent his entire fortune saving the lives of more than 1200 Jews. Here was someone who could not live with himself if he knew he had the opportunity to save others but chose to do nothing.

We may not have the finances or status that Oscar Schindler had, but what matters is where our hearts are. Are we open to seeing to the needs around us when it is in our power to do so? Do we have hearts that can be moved?

Today, we are going to look at a parable that Jesus aims at the Pharisees. It’s a story about a man of great wealth and privilege. But despite all his great resources, he chooses not to help someone in need, even though the opportunity was always at his doorstep. And while this story is told to the Pharisees, may we have ears to hear it as well.

Read Luke 16:19-31

Earlier in Luke’s Gospel we see Jesus telling several parables concerning finances and resources. The parable just before this one was about the shrewd money manager. Jesus is on a roll here and is having another go at the Pharisees, whom he has identified as greedy and lacking in compassion.

Jesus pulls no punches with this parable. He sets up a story about two men who were polar opposites in their worldly circumstances. The first man is described as someone who is extravagantly dressed and wasteful–a wealthy man, who tradition calls Dives, meaning “rich.” The fact that Jesus gives the detail that he was dressed in purple shows that he was in the top tier of the population. When Jesus says that Lazarus longed to eat the bread that fell from the rich man’s table, he was talking about the practice of the super wealthy using their bread as napkins to wipe their faces and discarding the crumbs.

Next, you have the beggar, Lazarus, who was laid at the rich man’s gate. Being laid there more than likely meant that he was dumped there. This indicates that he may have been crippled or suffered some disfigurement or disease. In any case, he didn’t even have the strength to fight off the wild dogs as they came and licked his sores.

This pitiful and grotesque condition of Lazarus should have elicited a response out of even the most hard-hearted and greedy individual. And yet, Dives ignores the suffering of someone at his lowest point as Lazarus lays there at his gate.

The disturbing picture that Jesus has just painted for the Pharisees was done to get a reaction—to cause them to feel outrage over the lack of compassion in the rich man. We read later that the lesson was lost on the Pharisees just as it was on Dives.

At this point let’s check in with how this parable makes us feel so far. Do we feel the outrage that Jesus intended? Are we tired of seeing the greed that causes so much harm to others? Are we responding to the needs around us when we are able to do so?

Owen Cooper was a chairperson for the Mississippi Chemical Corporation. He had amassed much in his lifetime. As he got older, he reflected on how he had lived his life. A friend asked him, “If you had your life to live over, what would you do? Here is an excerpt of his answer:

If I had my life to live over, I would love more, I would especially love others more. I would let this love express itself in a concern for my neighbors, my friends, and all with whom I came into contact. I would try to let love permeate me, overcome me, overwhelm me and direct me.

I would love the unlovely, the unwanted, the unknown and the unloved. I would give more and I would learn early in life the joy of giving, the pleasure of sharing, and the happiness of helping…

I would choose to go where the crowd doesn’t go, where the road is not paved, where the weather is bitter, where friends are few, where the need is great and where God is most likely to be found.

Let’s read on in Luke 16:

The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. (Luke 16:22-23)

Now we get to the part of the parable where everything is equal. Death doesn’t play favorites; we are all taken at some point. Lazarus and Dives are both in the place of the dead. However, one person’s experience is that of comfort and relief and joy – paradise – and the other experiences the torment and misery of Hades. The tables have been turned. Now it is Dives who is separated from his life of ease and extravagance while Lazarus has been restored.

Any improvement in Lazarus’ situation would have been greeted with shouts of hallelujah. It wouldn’t have taken much for him to feel relieved, to know that God has seen him. The name Lazarus means He who The Lord helps.

At the same time, Dives was so accustomed to having it all, that to take the slightest step down would have been unbearable. To be stripped of all his wealth and privilege and to be on equal footing with everyone else would have been agonizing.

Despite the torment and agony that Dives is experiencing, he has still not had a change of heart. This is evidenced by his unchanged attitude about Lazarus.

So he called to him, “Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.” (Luke 16:24)

In verse 24, and again in verse 27, Dives pleads with Abraham to send Lazarus to do something for him — to serve him. He still doesn’t understand the position that he is in. He still thinks that he is above everyone else, especially Lazarus, as if Lazarus should bow to the whims of Dives. Dives has not humbled himself even in death.

Thomas Merton once wrote,

Our God also is a consuming fire. And if we, by love become transformed into him and burn as he burns, his fire will be our everlasting joy. But if we refuse his love and remain in the coldness of sin and opposition to him and to other men then will his fire (by our own choice rather than his) become our everlasting enemy, and Love, instead of being our joy, will become our torment and our destruction.

Let’s continue with the text:

But Abraham replied, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.” (Luke 16:25-26)

Abraham reminds Dives how different his life was from that of Lazarus. The difference was more than what was seen on the outside. The difference was the condition of their hearts. The real problem was not that Dives was wealthy, it’s that he refused to do anything with his wealth to aid others. He had a life of opportunities and hoarded everything for himself.

The chasm that could not be crossed in Jesus’ parable was the condition of Dives’ unchanged, prideful heart. When we ignore the suffering of others, our hearts become hardened. As pitiful as Lazarus’ physical condition was, it was only physical. But on the inside of Dives was a grotesque condition that was far worse. It was the condition of a greedy, unrepentant heart.

Although Jesus tells this parable to the Pharisees who were stuck in their greed, this parable has something to teach all of us.

Jesus, through his Spirit, is looking for open hearts – hearts that can be moved with compassion for others. We have all been given gifts, resources, and opportunities. And this Spirit is always with us, longing to commit us to the acts of God directed towards others and to remind us of our temptation to center on self.

May we do what we can with what we have, to be able to share with those who have so little. May we be reminded that when we have done something for the least of these, we are doing it to Christ.

Let us be warmed by the fire of God in our hearts as we seek to keep others warmed by that same fire. We anticipate the joy that awaits us as we see others through the compassionate eyes of our Father in heaven. We embrace the self-giving life of his son, Jesus. And we submit to the guidance of the Holy Spirit who moves our hearts to serve those who are in need.

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Small Group Discussion Questions