What can change our destination?

Jesus tells us a story of reversal in the afterlife? What are we to learn? The king demands generous stewardship; there are consequences to ignoring his design; and what's needed to change the direction of a life isn't more information or evidence, but a change of heart.

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Big idea: The King demands generous stewardship - choose to listen

Intro

Introduce me

Continuing our journey through Luke’s gospel

Jesus speaking, has a gripping story to tell

A tale of reversal in the afterlife - a story meant to teach us something

1:00 Luke 16:19-31 find it, Jemima reading

Like I said, this is a story meant to teach us something. But what? What’s Jesus point?

2:30 A great reversal

Listen to Abraham in v25 again: “Son, remember that in your lifetime you recieved your good things while Lazarus recieved bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony”. What’s Jesus trying to teach us here?

Is it that a total reversal is coming? That everything will be turned upside down? Good now, bad later; bad now, good later?

I don’t think so. I mean for starters that would mean you just have to make sure things are rotten for you here so they are great later; get poor now to lock comfort into your reversal afterlife, right? Cry now to lock joy into your reversal afterlife.

This isn’t quite so simple as a total reversal - woe to the rich, blessed are the poor - and you can see that because Abraham’s on the right side of the divide - and he was loaded. Gen 13:2

Genesis 13:2 NIV

Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold.

So this isn’t just rich->bad, poor->good

Good news for us all since whether you feel rich or not, globally speaking you’re all loaded. If you want to get a handle on that, on where we fit in on a global scale, try out the calculator at givingwhatwecan.org/get-involved/how-rich-am-i real quick. It’s easy and profound. You can do it while I keep talking - I won’t mind.

So if the big message here isn’t just about a total reversal, a new order, curses for the rich and blessings for the poor, what is it about?

4:00 Same King, Same design

If you were with us last week, remember we were talking about how a new age dawns with Jesus - but there’s still the same King, with the same design for his Kingdom? I think that’s part of the message here in this story Jesus tells. God’s design for his community, a just and caring community that looks out for the weak and the poor, hasn’t changed. I think Jesus is emphasising that contuinuity again:

God’s design for his people, Israel, is laid out for them in the writings which have been passed down to them: records of their history, God speaking to them, acting for them - and even against them, sending them instructions and corrections through his messengers. In this passage, see “Moses and the prophets” in v29 and v31? That’s a reference to these writings, these teachings. And they are chock full of care and provision for the poor.

For example, every third year, each person in Israel was meant to bring a tenth of whatever they produced to a special store in their towns which would provide food to the poor among them. Ancient foodbanks! Deut 14:28-29

For example, they were required to lend whatever they were asked for to anyone who was poor - but those debts didn’t strangle them like debt does so often today - because every seven years, all debts were to be cancelled. Deut 15:7-11

For example, when you had a field to harvest, you had to deliberately leave some of the crop behind - for the poor. You had to do only a rough job so there would be something left for them.

And that’s just a few part of God’s design to care for, and provide for the poor.

God’s design for his kingdom, for this care for the poor, hinges on understanding the foundations have been rewritten: the “mine” of ownership has been replaced by the “yours” of stewardship.

Stewardship is just a fancy way of saying you’re looking after something for someone else - if you’re a steward of something, it’s their stuff, not yours.

The foundation of God’s kingdom is that everything belongs to the king - his people just get to look after it for him, to steward it. His people just get to use it for a while, to use it how and where he directs.

Anyone familiar with Jewish teachings and their heart would know this rich man, feasting away while ignoring the poor beggar at his gate, was ignoring God’s design for his people, ignoring God’s call to stewardship. And he’s not going to get away with it.

He’s condemned not because he was rich, but because he ignored his duty to care for the poor with the riches he had been given to steward. It’s worth noticing that his ommission condemns him just as much as any active comission of wrong would.

There’s a new age dawning, but the king hasn’t changed and nor has his design. So this rich man’s dereliction of his duty, his failure to live as a generous steward, which sees him punished, has something to say to us, too.

6:45 Generous Stewardship

So what does that generous stewardship look like for you and for me? What does it look like to live in line with God’s design and to care for the poor - or on the other hand, to ignore our duty, to sit on our hands, like this rich man did? How can we see which side of that chasm we’re headed?

First, I think it starts with us getting our heads around the idea that we’re handling someone else’s stuff

Imagine if you deposited some of your money with a bank, or put some of your money into your pension, and they just decided to spend it with no reference to you! Imagine you leave your car with a mate while you’re away for a few weeks and come back to find it up on bricks because they’ve sold the wheels. That’s what it’s like when we forget we’re handling God’s stuff, God’s money, and we’re just stewards.

Here’s a test for you: Do you feel that way when you hold your bank card in front of you? when you think about the home you live in if you’ve been able to buy a home? when you handle your paycheque or your pocketmoney or your birthday money? When you’re deciding how you will spend it, are you thinking “mine” or “yours”? are you thinking “how will I choose to spend this” or “how would God have me spend this”?

Here’s another test: can you be cheerfully generous? Or does it have to pried out of your cold dead hands? If you’re thinking “mine” then it’s hard to let go - but actually there’s something almost easier about giving away someone else’s stuff! Never mine anyway!

So watch out for the “mine! hands off!” sentiment; God has given it to you. So pray: what does God want you to do with it? Be a generous steward, cheerfully generous, knowing God cares for you and will provide for you.

And second, open your eyes to the needy at your door - beware this rich man’s omission of the care he should have given to the poor. In our modern world this can all seem a little overwhelming - because we’re so aware of so much need here there and everywhere, millions and millions of people - but notice in this parable it’s the poor beggar at the rich man’s gate. Or think about the good samaritan: it’s not every wounded traveller who’s helped, it’s the one he comes across on his journey.

Has God placed a need right in front of you? don’t close your eyes to it. How to truly help is sometimes a challenge, though. Perhaps some of you will have read books like “When Helping Hurts” or “Toxic Charity” which explore the difficulties which can go with helping: how easy it is to breed dependency rather than empower; how easy it is to solve just today’s problem with no thought to the new one you’ve made for tomorrow. Sometimes it’s harder to truly help someone than it seems - and often doing it right means much more inconvenience than just writing a cheque.

So, generous stewardship to meet the need. But we have to see that’s not all Jesus is telling us here

9:00 There are consequences

The King wants to warn his original audience and us that there are consequences to ignoring his design

we might imagine one of the big takeaways from this whole story is better understanding of the details of the afterlife, of how that will work - but that really isn’t what Jesus is trying to do here - that really isn’t the stuff he’s trying to teach, the point he is trying to make.

You see Jesus is accomodating himself to his audience, using their mental maps to tell the story. He’s building on undrestandings of how the afterlife worked that were commonplace when he walked the earth rather than laying out the blueprints for us all to see. So we should be wary looking for answers to our questions about the afterlife in this story:

do angels carry us to the afterlife?

is half of it on fire?

can people on one side chat to those on the other?

is it a temporary stop for everyone on the way to a final destination?

Jesus’ goal isn’t to detail the layout, or answer our questions

What is clear + consistently taught, just so we know?

death is coming for us all (rich+poor)

judgement follows, based on the life we’ve lived, with bad + good options

no second chances, no mulligans, no do-over

Ignoring the King and his design will have consequences

So what? If you’re ignoring the king’s design, listen to Jesus’ words

Stop. Turn around. Head the other way.

This new age is a new age of grace, a time of opportunity to enter the Kingdom

Even for people who’ve ignored the King’s design so far - like so many of those Jesus hung around with

But there’s limited time, a closing door: choose to change while there is time

There’s one last thing here: an insight into what could change people while they still live

12:00 What changes people?

The story Jesus tells seems to have been commonplace; ones like it were doing the rounds already

this idea of reversal between rich and poor in the afterlife was not a huge novelty - so his listeners were probably thinking “I’ve heard this one before, I know where it’s going...”

but Jesus adds an epilogue that’s unique to him v27-31: the rich man has five brothers, still living

“send a messenger to warn them; someone back from the dead would change the game”

easy to believe that, isn’t it? Just a bit more information, just a bit more evidence would change the game

but Abraham says no. [well, Jesus]

It’s not that we lack information

maybe you’ve never read the Law of Moses or the prophets

but you can still tell a thing or two about who God is from what he’s made - Rom 1

and you still know a thing or two about what’s right and what’s wrong because you bear his image

Lack of knowledge isnt the heart of the problem

It’s not that we lack evidence

“they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead” he says

Funny thing, that. because as it turns out someone has risen from the dead - and still people aren’t convinced. kind of like he saw it coming, right?

There’s excellent evidence for the resurrection of Jesus

not just by “friendly” sources who maybe you wouldn’t trust, Chrisitans and the like

but by outside observers, ancient historians, people hostile to everything Christianity is

And the alternative explanations are really unconvincing

“swoon theory”

disciple-heist - Oceans 11 if you like your heist movies

group hallucination

total fabrication - one the fabricators would be willing to die for

that’s the thing: something must be true - so what are the options, and which is the most reasonable?

If you’ve never checked out the evidence we have free books here we want you to take which can help you with that

show samples

there isn’t a lack of evidence here

and if you’re thinking i just need to see it for myself, to experience it directly

then Jesus’ message to you is that wouldn’t be enough either

lack of evidence isnt the heart of the problem

16:00 the heart is the heart of the problem

The heart is the heart of the problem

What could save this rich man’s five brothers from sharing his fate?

not more information. not more evidence. That’s what Jesus says

So what’s left? Only a change of heart. They have to choose to listen.

So what?

well perhaps you’re hanging around the edge of faith, thinking you just need a bit more information, or you just need a bit more evidence. We try and be a church which welcomes people like that, people like you - and if that’s you, we’re really glad you’re here.

But Jesus’ words show you’re never going to get all the way with information or with evidence

It will always take a change of heart.

it will always take a step of faith - not blind faith: reasonable faith - but faith nonetheless.

Is it time for you to get off the fence and acknowledge the king? To accept you aren’t living according to his design, and choose to bow the knee instead? This new age of grace has dawned where there’s a welcome for people like you. And Jesus stands ready to welcome you in even today.

It is time to get off of the fence? before it’s too late? Because there’s a limited opportunity, and there’ll be a day when it’s over for each one of us

Perhaps you’ve already bowed the knee to this king, commited to pursuing his good design for life in his kingdom? What should you take away?

I don’t think Jesus wants you to give up on sharing information with people.

I don’t think Jesus wants you to give up on sharing evidence with people - Jesus’ first followers, after he’s gone, have his resurrection right at the centre of their message. And they’ll go on to give their lives to sharing that message with anyone and everyone. Even though it isn’t enough to convince someone who won’t listen to Moses and the Prophets. So keep on giving your lives to sharing this message, this information, this evidence.

But I think Jesus wants you to know this is ultimately a question of the heart. That’s the key to your friends responding to this message. That’s ultimately what has to change.

And what can you do for someone else’s heart, to change their heart?

Love them - in tangible ways, with actions. Listen to them. Eat with them. Serve them. Share your story. Show them you care.

But most of all, pray. Pray for their heart to be changed. Pray for that supernatural work that only God can do - to take out an old heart and put in a new one.