The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)
My first experience with real poverty came during a three-week mission trip to Ghana in 2007. The country was experiencing a significant drought, which affected food supply, water availability, and the production of electricity. The result included horrific living conditions for the majority of the country. I saw women carrying five-gallon buckets nearly five miles from their rural village to the nearest water source, which was a mud hole about the size of one of our backyard swimming pools. I was shocked. I saw children no older than 8 covered in dirt and tattered clothes who were forced to dig all day for gold and other minerals. I was astounded. I met a young boy who was once featured on the Oprah Winfrey show who had been redeemed (bought back) out of actual slavery from a fisherman on Lake Volta. It had been his job to dive from the little fishing boat into the crocodile-infested lake waters to untangle the fisherman’s nets every day. I was horrified.
The poverty and the resultant living conditions of the majority was in stark contrast to the living conditions of the upper class. The wealthy received the lion’s share of the electricity being produced. The wealthy had access to clean drinking water. The wealthy inhabited nice neighborhoods in nice homes without having to rub shoulders too often with the riffraff in the streets or in the countryside. It was hard to believe how different the poor and the wealthy lived. The rich didn’t seem to care.
We, of course, have our own version of this great divide in our country, and so did the Jews in Jesus’ day. In this morning’s sermon, we’ll explore a famous story Jesus tells about a rich man and a poor beggar that would have shocked, astounded, and possibly horrified many of Jesus’ hearers. May God give us ears to hear this morning.
— Patrick Barber, preaching minister
Ears to Hear: The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)
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