WATCH TODAY’S EPISODE ON YOUTUBE.
CONSECRATE
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
HEAR
Luke 16:19–31 NIV
“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 Hades, 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 set in place, 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 family, 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.’”
CONSIDER
What was his name?
He was a homeless man (or as they say these days, “unhoused”). Most every day as I drove to and from work I passed him by on the corner of Bridge and Main Streets in Franklin, Tennessee. He sold newspapers. These weren’t just any newspapers though. They were newspapers written, edited, published, and sold by a community of homeless people (which I suppose makes the case for the term “unhoused”).
These guys were all over town and they could be identified by their official name tags as bonafide employees of the organization. Anyhow I passed this man by almost every day, and rarely if ever did I buy a newspaper. Why not? To be honest, I rarely if ever had a dollar in the car.
Each day as I approached the busy intersection I went through the same frantic ritual of searching for a dollar I knew was not there. Then I would carefully avoid making eye contact, secretly hoping the light would change and I could speed away. Every day I did this. How easy would it have been to get some change from my bedside table and put it in my pocket so I could buy a paper once a week? How easy would it have been to stop by an ATM and get . . . well they don’t give $1 bills at ATMs and I would have had to go make change somewhere for a $20. Or maybe he could have made change or maybe I could have just surprised him with the whole $20 bill or . . . or . . . or. I guess it just seemed easier to do nothing.
It reminds me of the closing story from our text today—the one at the end of Jesus’s masterclass on money and stewardship. He taught us the one who serves God becomes a transformed steward of everything, and the one who serves money is a self-deceived steward of nothing.
How many times did the rich man pass this poor man—the unhoused, homeless man—without so much as a nod? How many times did the rich man think to himself how easy it would be to do something, anything, to help him? Yet he never managed to lift a finger.
It’s so easy for me to villainize this unnamed rich man, whose crime had nothing to do with being rich and everything to do with not caring. Strangely, it was so easy for me to excuse my upper-middle-class, minivan-driving self for my callous disregard of the homeless man selling dollar-newspapers—en route to pick up my five-dollar grande five-pump, no-water, chai latte with a shot of espresso on my way into work.
I wish I had another chance.
His name was Lazarus. And the rich man’s name? Nobody cares.
PRAY
Lord Jesus, thank you for caring enough to give us the revelation of the hard truth about God, money, the poor, and self-deception. Give us the grace to believe you when you say, “As you did it unto the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it unto me,” or not. By your Spirit, teach me to serve God and steward everything. It will be for your glory, others’ gain, and my good. In your name, Jesus, amen.
JOURNAL
Are you a “never enough” or “more than plenty” kind of person—especially as it relates to money? What if a scarcity mentality is the root of self-deception? Could you be open to hearing the real truth? What would it look like to become a steward of money rather than a hoarder? How might that be connected to serving God?
SING
Today, we will sing “In the Garden” (hymn 342) from our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
John David (J. D.) Walt Jr. is the Sower-in-Chief for Seedbed and the pastor of the Gillett Methodist Church in Gillett, Arkansas.
Subscribe to get this in your inbox daily, and please share this link with friends.
8 Responses
I was singing the harmony part for this hymn along with you 🙂 I’m also speaking briefly on Stewardship this Sunday at church, and the chapter of Luke and your thoughts on it are very timely!
And what was her name? Who did Jesus offer an inner spring of water that wells up to eternal life? Who so strongly believed in Jesus that she boldly testified about Him all over town? (John 4:7-42) The Bible doesn’t tell us her name, but it does tell us that Jesus revealed many things to her and so drastically changed her life that she said to multitudes of people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” God is offering you what He offered the woman at the well. Jesus says: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink.” (John 7:37)
God is offering you His never-ending living water. (John 7:38-39) He is calling you to set your affections on things above (Colossians 3:2) and to always look unto Jesus the author and finisher of your faith. (Hebrews 12:2) Jesus is calling you to worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. (John 4:23) Then God the Father can fill you with the mind and perspective of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) and through the wisdom and understanding that the Holy Spirit gives (Colossians 1:9) the Father can directly and personally reveal to you things that no eye has seen or ear heard. (1 Corinthians 2:9-10) Then, like the woman at the well and like James and John (who felt compelled to write about the woman at the well) you won’t be able to help speaking about the things you have seen and heard. (Acts 4:12)
This reminds me that it is not about the quantity of my wealth, but about the quality of how I use it.
For me it’s easier to justify the situation that another person is in looking in from the outside. And the last I know the less complicated the judgment.
That homeless person is me / you under the same circumstances.
The church doesn’t seem to be much about it in general.
There are buildings to pay the bills for.
There are official positions that need to be paid.
There are very important ministries that need that money.
Surely not me Lord.
Sometimes it’s as difficult to be generous with our time as with our money.
First of all, I love the way you introduce your father, and your appreciation and gratefulness for him is beautiful.
I got an encouraging word for my son yesterday. It was his birthday. And I created an emoji with this AI app and sent it to him and that was his birthday present and he loved it.
And he said basically to me, I struggle with feeling loved by everyone in my life… Except for you. You always make me feel better than good. He’s a sweet boy. And a beautiful young man at 22.
But I wanted to share some of my journal entry with you this morning. I’m an abundance guy often challenge people to give out give God. But lately I’ve been walking around with people who have a negative attitude towards money, a scarcity attitude. And I must admit that it infected me. I even lashed out in anger and fear yesterday to someone. I love and respect very dearly. Someone I normally encourage. So I lay it on the altar today.
“You took the pulse point today. I’m under the wilderness, provision of Manor, daily bread. You give me, always, what I need and want. But I’ve vacillate between never enough and plenty of money all the time. Helping me joyfully give and work out selfishness and finance. I have been willfully, praying and complaining about lack.
What does it look like to be a steward of everything? I’m asking you about it all. I give you my debt and ask you to council me in the moment. Relieve me of my strain. And forgive me again. I only want to serve you. I do. Helped my unbelief. Amen.
What a great song choice! thank you for sharing your dad with us and also encouraging us to sing hymns every. single. day.
today, i am especially grateful for the part where you spoke about “God’s grace pulling us into an abundant way of life”. scarcity is so convenient and easy, and i usually wish i had done more, said more, stopped and paid attention, ….. i have God’s favor and love. what else could i possibly need?
I was sure you would speak to the verse about not being able to cross over but once again, a new lesson from the parable surprises me! What was his name? No one cares! I have struggled all my Christian years with scarcity. As a believer, my husband taught me abundance. Now as a widow I trust God to provide enough and am learning again to live in abundance. Lord open my eyes. As I read scripture to see the Real Stories in your stories. Amen