Sermon St. Luke's UMC Kyiv.

I'm preaching this Sunday at St. Luke's UMC in Kyiv. This was a very difficult sermon to write. The lectionary scripture for the week tells the story of the rich man and Lazarus. It deals with socio-economic issues - and the church in Kyiv is comprised of people in poverty. Because I come from America I am instantly categorized as being wealthy - so this creates quite a strange dynamic. The rich man will preach to Lazarus about why being rich isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Essentially.

Also, the translator isn't super confident so the language is simple. Maryanna Yatsik and I have created a magazine to tell the story. On the cover is a rich person to grab people's attention, but inside is the story of Lazarus and the rich man in paintings, photographs, and drawings. It will help to give another layer to the story.


Lazarus
Luke 16:19-31
16:19 "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day.

And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man's table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores.

The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side.

He called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.' But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.

Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.' He said, 'Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father's house-- for I have five brothers--that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.'

Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.' 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 listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"


Jesus begins this story with a hook. “There once was a rich man.”

We love stories about rich people. The gossip columns only talk about poor folk if they were rich at one point. Magazines feature stories about rich people, pictures of their houses, and even information about their pets. Stories about rich people sell magazines and get people’s attention.

But then Jesus turns the story upside down.

This is a story about two people, but only one of them is important – and it’s not the one we would think. We never learn the name of the rich man. This is a story about Lazarus. Poor, poor, Lazarus.


Yes, there’s a really rich man in this story – but his name’s not important. The hero of our story is Lazarus. Poor, poor, Lazarus. The man who lies on the street in front of the mansion and begs for scraps of food – he’s our hero. The man with sores all over his body, the man who can’t afford medical care, the man who is so pitiable that even the dogs lick his wounds. He, Lazarus, is the hero of this story.

For Lazarus lived a good life. He loved God and he loved people. Lazarus probably even cared for the dogs that licked his wounds. Lazarus didn’t have anything in the world, but he had treasure in heaven. The people who were listening to Jesus were Pharisees – and they were lovers of money. They were people who would see Lazarus on the ground and would step over him in order to go and sit and visit with the rich man.

Our story begins with the death of two men. First poor Lazarus dies and enters his reward in heaven. Then the other guy, the rich one, also dies … and ends up in hell.


The rich man in hell asks Abraham to send help. But Abraham refuses. In life, the two men had lived very different lives. The rich one had already lived his reward. And Lazarus had only wanted the scraps off of the rich man’s table. The rich man asks that Lazarus be allowed to dip his finger and cool his tongue with it – the equivalent of giving scraps off the table.

Abraham says that it’s too far – no one can cross from heaven to hell. So the rich man asks that Lazarus be sent to warn the rich man’s family. Abraham also says no to this. The rich man’s family has the law and the prophets – they wouldn’t listen even if someone should rise from the dead.

When we read stories of rich people – we usually know the outcome. Rich people get whatever they want. Their money makes their crimes disappear, their children get jobs they could never earn, and even the roads they drive on are nicer than the roads we ride on.

But in this story the rich man is told no. No. No. No. He offers different solutions, and each time Abraham tells him no.

Now, this story isn’t an original story that Jesus told. It was a common story 2000 years ago. People were familiar with this story. But, Jesus changed the ending. In the story that people knew the rich man got what he wanted and Lazarus went to his five brothers to warn them. In Jesus’ version Abraham says “no” even to that request. They have the law and the prophets. They wouldn’t listen “even if someone should rise from the dead.”

And this is the big finish. Because, who rises from the dead? Jesus rises from the dead. And even if someone should rise from the dead – some will still ignore him.


This is a story of faithfulness. Yes, Lazarus was a poor man - but he wasn't in paradise because of the smallness of his checkbook. He was in paradise because of the largeness of his heart. He was faithful to the law and the prophets and heaven was his reward. The rich man wasn't in he'll because of his wealth. He was in hell because his wealth made him forget that he needed God.

It’s easy to forget where everything came from. Statistics tell us that most people feel they would be happy if ONLY they earned 30% more than they did. They did a survey in which they asked people how much money they would have to make in order to be truly happy. Most people said about 30% more than they were making at the time. If someone was making 1000 UAH, they probably felt they could be truly happy if they were making 1300 UAH. If someone was making a million UAH, they felt they could be happy at 1.3 million UAH. There’s something in all of us that just wants a little more than what we have.

Even a small amount of wealth can make us forget our need for God. There was a man in West Virginia who had always been rather poor. He had a wife and two children who loved him very much. Then one day he won the lottery – and he was sure that his life would finally be better. He couldn’t have been more wrong. His life did change. He suddenly had money and he ended up using it to buy expensive drugs and prostitutes. His wife left him and took the children. He was arrested and sent to prison. After he got out of prison he quickly spent millions of dollars on things he didn’t need. The only people who would talk to him were people who wanted access to his money. Soon enough he ran out of money and quickly found himself in the exact same spot he had been just a few years before – except now he had no job, no family, and no faith in God.

How quickly would we forget God if we felt that we provided our daily bread instead of God?

It’s easy for us to think that our problems would go away if we had more money. But that’s a lie. That’s a lie that too many of us believe. Our scripture today teaches that we will be doing a lot better if we are faithful. If we listen to the law and the prophets – yes, we will still be poor- we will be rich in faith and in love for one another. And really, could there be anything better than that?