Friday

Luke 16: 19 – 31


"There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

"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 hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 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.'

"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 fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'

"He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'

"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'

" 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'

"He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.' "

Luke 16, the story of Lazarus and the rich man, contains a difficult message. To many, the story’s karmic implications are especially disturbing: the rich man lived for pleasure, and he suffers in death. Lazarus lived in torment, and is given rest in Heaven. However, this simple interpretation is deceptive.

What truly damned the rich man was his flawed heart and his dismissal of God. The rich man ignored God in life, but wanted his help in death. When he saw Lazarus during their lives, he hadn’t raised a finger to help him. Then, when he sees Lazarus in Heaven, he asks Lazarus to descend to Hell to help him. The rich man’s wealth gave him an attitude of entitlement that he carried to the afterlife.

Even when the rich man asks Abraham to help his brothers, he still doesn’t seem to understand. He thinks if Lazarus comes back to life, his brothers will believe whatever Lazarus said. Unfortunately, a living dead man isn’t enough to make some people believe, whether it’s a beggar or the resurrected Jesus. Some are more comfortable not believing than letting Christ change them.

PA

Tuesday

March 10, 2009

Genesis 22: 1 – 14

Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!"

"Here I am," he replied.

Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you."

Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, "Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you."

Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, "Father?"

"Yes, my son?" Abraham replied.

"The fire and wood are here," Isaac said, "but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?"

Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And the two of them went on together.

When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, "Abraham! Abraham!"

"Here I am," he replied.

"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, "On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided."

Do you ever wonder where the money will come from to pay the next mortgage payment or make the next rent check? Maybe you are staring at the tax forms and wondering, baffled how it came up red … and you have no idea how to turn red to black.

Perhaps you’ve considered doing something, not illegal, but just…um…questionable to make ends meet. (Okay, maybe you have considered something illegal when looking at those bills.)

Abraham was asked to do an awful thing to meet a need. Sin requires a blood sacrifice, and God told him to sacrifice his son. But ultimately, killing Isaac was the wrong thing to do and God, I’m sure, knew it.

But He asked Abraham to come to that place so that Abraham would know that it would never be necessary to do the wrong thing to meet a need because God will always provide. God will provide for you as well.