The Rich Man and Lazarus
Parables
March 27, 2022
Rev. Dr. Gabe Sylvia
The sermon warns that the modern pursuit of earthly happiness and wealth — exemplified by millennials' focus on personal happiness — blinds people to eternal realities, using the parable of the rich man and Lazarus to show that loving money is incompatible with loving God and that our choices in this life carry final consequences in the next.
Summary
The preacher argues that contemporary Western culture, especially millennials, is driven by a pursuit of personal happiness, which can become idolatrous when focused on wealth and temporal rewards. Using the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, he contrasts earthly comfort with suffering and reminds listeners that only God knows the span of our days; choosing happiness in this life risks eternal loss. The story demonstrates that Lazarus was taken to Abraham's bosom while the rich man ended in Hades, underlining that love of money and the accumulation of wealth tend to blind people to spiritual truth and make them unreceptive even to miraculous proof or prophecy. Ultimately, the sermon calls for reorienting desires toward God and the next life rather than temporal pleasures.
Key Points
- Modern Western culture (especially millennials) is driven by the pursuit of personal happiness.
- Scripture is invoked: if people won't heed Moses and the prophets, even a risen person won't convince them.
- Parable contrast: a rich man feasts while Lazarus is poor and hungry; the text offers contrasts but not a reason for differing earthly conditions.
- Only God knows the length of our days; gambling our souls for present comfort is dangerous.
- Eternal accountability: Lazarus is carried to Abraham's bosom; the rich man ends in Hades.
- Loving money and loving God are incompatible; the love of wealth leads to ruin and spiritual blindness.
- The pursuit of worldly happiness can blind people to eternal realities so completely that even resurrection evidence won't persuade them.
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