August 18, 1992
for
September 27, 1992 am

                         Lesson: Luke 16: 19 - 31
                      THE ONE WITH THE MOST TOYS ...

          Text: Luke 9:25 For what is a man profited if he gains
              the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

I. THIS IS NOT A STATEMENT ABOUT THE COMPARATIVE MERITS OF SOCIAL
CLASSES OR A TREATISE ON THE RE-DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH

     It is (too) easy to assume from reading the words of Jesus
that rich people are (always) bad and that (poor) people have the
advantage of being good and nearer to God.  People have tried to
"use" the words of Jesus to serve a selfish perspective, and either
justify selfish use of wealth or seek to soothe and hush the cries
of poverty with the promise of "things-- later!"


II. THIS IS AN ORIENTAL STORY REPRESENTING ABSOLUTELY TRUE VALUES

     Jesus has a way of turning our value-systems upside down. He
sketches a poor-but-angel-attended blessed man and he contrasts him
with a rich-but-wretched damned man.

     In the beginning of the story we are almost envious of the
rich man and certainly feel sorry for Lazarus.  At the end of the
story we are curious about Lazarus' surroundings-- he is in an
Oriental heaven, eating grapes, lounging on rugs, in the very lap
of luxury-- while we are even more curious about the rich man's
surroundings for they are one of a very, very few glimpses into
what we call "hell." Dive's, as we have come to call the rich man,
is parched, in torment, begging for one drop of water.

III. THE CONCERN OF JESUS IS THAT WE DISCOVER WHO WE ARE BEFORE IT
IS TOO LATE TO ACT ON THE KNOWLEDGE  
             
     It is NOT so easy to submit to the authority of Jesus, and
seek to let His words sink down into our souls to show us, rich or
poor, what we really ARE, and what or whom we really LOVE and
SERVE. And it is not so easy to reject the idols of comfort and of
security and to believe that, rich or poor, there is not that much
difference in our deepest needs. It is not so easy, whether we are
rich or poor, to deliberately submit to the call of Jesus to follow
Him to the cross on the way to the Throne.

EXHORTATION
.................................................................
Illustration:

John LeCarre's novel A Perfect Spy pictures a man, Magnus Pymn,
with great intelligence and sensitivity, a chameleon able to fit
into any and every situation, but who had no abiding loyalty or
abiding foundation of trust on which to build his life. He rose to
the top of his profession, and had the world at his feet. But his
life was absolutely empty. The final solution he found was suicide.