In Luke 16, we met a very rich man and a very poor man, named Lazarus. That’s how they’re identified, but there is much more to these two men beyond the labels “rich” and “poor”.
Identity is important. Who am I? Who are you? What’s your true identity—who you are? Poor man Lazarus had a hard, painful life full of hunger and literal sores. In Matthew 5, Jesus looks out at a crowd of his followers and says, “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” I’m guessing there might have been a few listeners like poor Lazarus in the crowd that day. And Jesus saw and said they were much more than their daily lives of difficulty.
What was the rich man’s identity, beyond his riches? Beyond the fashion and gourmet foods, we learn that he knew the poor man Lazarus well, probably saw him daily. He sat there at his gate, desperately in need. In the first century, it was assumed that if someone was wealthy, then wealth was a reward from God for their righteous conduct. But since the rich man dies and ends up tormented in hell, we can assume his identity was far from “righteous”. While alive, the rich man had every opportunity to love God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. He could love others as he loved himself—others like his neighbor Lazarus.
You see, how we live reveals who we truly are. Identity is shaped by behavior. We can say we “believe” something, but that belief is proved true or false by how we behave, how we speak, how we share with others, how we love.
What I DO displays who I honestly am.
It’s no fun to picture this rich man, now full of regret. The text says, he’s burning in agony in the fire. It’s difficult to think about and talk of God’s judgment, even though he warns us in Matthew 7 that “wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. May we be encouraged today by poor Lazarus. Because Lazarus became a truly rich man, he found the narrow gate that led him to everlasting life, the richest life of all. Few find that gate, but Jesus commands all of us in Luke 13 to MAKE EVERY EFFORT to enter through the narrow door, because many…..will try to enter and will not be able to. Christian, may we make every effort to live out our true identity in Christ faithfully and sincerely, one day at a time.
Donielle Winter
EFCC Member