Three Rs, as in the letter R, refers
to the foundations of education: reading, writing and arithmetic. We use the phrase
“the three Rs” because each word has a strong R sound at the beginning. The
term is ironic, since everyone knows that two of the words do not actually
begin with the letter R.
During the 17th century, New
England teachers summed up learning as "four Rs" - Reading, 'Riting, ‘Rithmetic
and Religion. These days, school districts identify three Rs as Relating, Representing
and Reasoning. Employers use the words Rapid, Reliable and Repeatable; and environmentalists
encourage people to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. All this to say that my three-pointed
sermon is Repent, Right and Relationship – and what those Three Rs have to do
with Christian living.
First, repent. A simple definition
of repent is to feel or show sorrow for something bad or wrong that you did and
that you want to do what is right. Repentance is a major theme in Luke, but before
Jesus began his earthly ministry, John the Baptist proclaimed a baptism of
repentance for the forgiveness of sins.[1]
Jews taught repentance long before
John appeared on Jordan’s banks. In Deuteronomy, we read, “When you and your children return
to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul
according to everything I command you today, then the Lord your God will
restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all
the nations where he scattered you.”[2]
The Chronicler wrote, “If my
people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my
face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will
forgive their sin and will heal their land.”[3]
Prophets echoed repentance in their
preaching. In Isaiah, we read, “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy
One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness
and trust is your strength.’”[4]
Jeremiah wrote, “After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my
breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.”[5]
Ezekiel exhorted, “If a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and
keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely
live; they will not die. None of the offenses they have committed will be
remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they
will live.”[6] So,
John or Jesus did not introduce repentance. It was present from the days of
Moses.
From Repent to Right. Simply
defined, right means morally or socially correct; agreeing with the facts or
truth; or speaking, acting or judging in a way that agrees with the facts or
truth.
Its root word is from the Greek, orektós, and the Latin, rectus, meaning straight. The Ancients said
the straight muscles in our bodies – the thigh and abdomen – enable us to stand
straight or erect. In English, the word right emerged as straighten or direct,
and the obvious connection between right and righteous is easy. God called
people to live righteous lives, that is, morally acceptable lives, and called them
to stand up straight for themselves and others; that is, to live in
relationship with others.
We stand erect and see straight with
our brothers and sisters beside us. That brings me our third R – Relationship.
The word relationship means the way
two or more people, groups or countries talk to, behave toward or deal with
each other, or the way they are connected.
The root word of relationship is the
Latin word, relatus, meaning to refer,
but initially from latus, meaning
side. Think latitude or lats if you exercise. To stand in relation or to have a
reference point, or to bring something into relation with something else is how
people used the word in the 17th century. "To feel connected or
sympathetic to" emerged in psychology around 1950. However used, the word connotes
a connection. As God’s people, we relate to one another in righteous living. We
stand and see straight with our brothers and sisters beside us.
Now that we have the three concepts
– repentance, right and relationship – let us examine our passage.
Our parable opens with Jesus contrasting
two characters. The rich man is unnamed, but Jesus named the other man Lazarus,
meaning “the one whom God helps.” The rich man lived large. A clothes hog, he
covered his body with purple linen and silk, but the only thing that covered
Lazarus’ body was sores.
While people reserved feasting for
special occasions, this man partied to the extreme. He feasted sumptuously
seven days a week. Lazarus, like the prodigal son who would have been content
with pig food, yearned to be satisfied with food scraps that fell from the rich
man’s table. Moreover, the fact that dogs licked his sores only added to his
humiliation. A crippled beggar at the gate of the rich man’s house where people
came and went, Lazarus was the perfect recipient for almsgiving.
The parable provides a fitting
conclusion to chapter 16 and the attitude toward possessions in view of God’s
Kingdom. In addition, the description of the rich man suitably depicted the
Pharisees, who were lovers of money. They were like him, who knew, yet ignored Lazarus.
On the other hand, Lazarus represented society’s outcasts. Though his life was
pathetic and pitiable, his name suggested importance in God’s sight.
At the moment the Pharisees
identified with the rich man and the outcast identified with Lazarus, Jesus
introduced the Great Reversal. Lazarus died and angels carried him to Abraham’s
bosom. The rich man died and was buried.
From Hades, the rich man opened the
conversation by asking Father Abraham to have mercy on him. This recalled Pharisees
who came to John the Baptist and claimed, “We have Abraham for our father,” yet
refused to repent and submit to John’s baptism.[7]
Unlike Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, whom Jesus dubbed a son of Abraham,[8]
the rich man refused to repent. Zacchaeus repented and welcomed Jesus into his
home for he knew that simply being a son of Abraham did not protect him from
condemnation.
The rich man did not speak words of
repentance. He realized his condition was permanent and pleaded for help. He
still thought only of himself and his needs, and not those of Lazarus. In
response, Abraham told the rich man to remember what happened, that is, to read
back and interpret events that took place. Lazarus begged at the gate, while he
lived large and ignored the beggar’s needs.
This parable illuminates the story
of the unrighteous steward who showed mercy toward his master’s debtors,
because he trusted in the mercy of his master. Because God treats sinners with
mercy, the rich man so should have treated Lazarus, and the Pharisees should have
treated society’s outcasts with mercy.
Still unrepentant, the rich man
requested that Lazarus go to his brothers, for he realized repentance was
crucial to salvation. Yet, he did not consider the Word of God sufficient to
produce repentance. Instead, he desired a miraculous sign – someone raised from
the dead. While the Old Testament contained accounts of the resurrection,[9]
why would his brothers believe another’s testimony if they did not believe the Scriptures?
Abraham suggested they listen to
Moses and the Prophets read in the synagogue. In other words, heed the
Scriptures read during worship and take them to heart. As hearers of the Word,
they would know all they need about the kingdom of grace, characterized by
mercy and almsgiving to people like Lazarus. The conclusion for the Pharisees
is this: If they do not stop scoffing at Jesus’ teaching about the proper use
of possessions, they would find themselves with the rich man in eternal
torment.
Now, let me examine our Gospel in
light of my three Rs of Christian living – repentance, right and relationship.
It is easy to see Jesus’ call for
repentance. As I explained earlier, repentance is a basic Biblical teaching,
which includes righteous living in relationship with people like Lazarus.
True Sons of Abraham heed God’s
commandments. In Exodus, we read, “For six years you shall sow your land and
gather in its yield, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow,
that the poor of your people may eat. … You shall do likewise with your
vineyard and … olive orchard.”[10]
Leviticus legislated, “When
you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to
its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall
not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of
your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner.”[11]
Deuteronomy repeated the command to live righteously with others, [12]
and Proverbs taught, “Whoever gives to the poor will not want,
but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.”[13]
Isaiah exhorted, “Is
not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the
straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is
it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into
your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from
your own flesh?”[14]
That Abraham suggested the rich
man’s brothers listen to Moses and the Prophets read in the synagogue is the
message Jesus directed to the Pharisees. You see, one of Luke’s goals in
writing his Gospel was to encourage rich Christians to attend to the needs of
the poor and to share material goods. We can easily imagine the impact this
parable must have had on the Church’s rich members. Sobering and scary, it should
do the same to 21st-century American Christians.
Some early Christian Pharisees who saw
no need to observe Old Testament Law regarding right living in relationship
with the poor needed to repent more than anyone. Let me repeat that because it
applies to Christian living today. Some early Christian Pharisees who saw no
need to observe Old Testament Law regarding right living in relationship with
the poor needed to repent more than anyone.
We live in a rich country. However
slender our personal fortunes, they dwarf the incomes and possessions of people
in most countries. I have been out of work since May, but many more poor people
rely upon our generosity. In other words, Lazarus is among us! Do we choose to
ignore Lazarus? Do we distract ourselves with foolish pleasures as the rich man
did?
Neither Jesus nor Luke was an
economist or a politician, but at a certain point, the problems of poverty and
homelessness turn into economic and political matters. How we deal with the
poor personally and socially is one of the challenges we face today.
Most of the time, we live righteous
lives in relationship with the poor, and yet, even if that is always true, we
cannot afford to gloss over this parable. Pastor Arthur Just, who digs into Luke
in his commentary, raises the idea of the proper use of possessions. He writes,
“The proper use of possessions in view of the coming age and the Old Testament
testimony, including [the] resurrection … prepares people for the Gospel and the
life to come.”[15]
The proper use of possessions
prepares us for the Gospel and eternal life, and for how we live as a Gospel
people today. Folks, if we are not a Gospel people, what kind of people are we?
If I am not a living Gospel, what am I? If I am not a repentant sinner who
lives righteously in relationship with society’s outcasts – widows, orphans,
the poor and the foreigner – what kind of Christian am I? So, my friends, I pose
a delicate question: How do I use my possessions? Delicate indeed, but one to
ponder.
I worked for an organization that
promotes church planting in Asia, Africa and Latin America. One of our donors,
a financial advisor, informed me that when he told clients about this
nonprofit, some replied, “I want you to tell me how to invest my money, not how
to spend it.” In other words, asking people to consider how they use their
possessions is a delicate question, but it needs to be pondered.
Friends, I imagine you are in a
relationship with our Triune God, and, like the Trinity, in relationship with
other people. I ask you to do only one thing. Ponder the three Rs of Christian
living. Am I a repentant sinner who strives to live in right relationship with
the outcasts of society and share with them my possessions for the greater
glory of God? Ponder that question, and when you do, may the peace of
God that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ
Jesus. Amen.
[1]
Luke 3:3.
[2]
Deuteronomy 30:2-3.
[3] 2
Chronicles 7:14.
[4]
Isaiah 30:15.
[5]
Jeremiah 31:19.
[6]
Ezekiel 18:21-22.
[7]
Luke 3:7-9.
[8]
Luke 19:9.
[9] 2
Kings 4:8-37; 13:20-21.
[10]
Exodus 23:10-11.
[11]
Leviticus 19:9-10.
[12]
Deuteronomy 15:4-8.
[13]
Proverbs 28:27.
[14]
Isaiah 58:6-7.
[15]
Just, 634.
