John 3:16-17
God Sent Jesus to Save Our World
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Luke 16:19-31
The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 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.’
25 “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. 26 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.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “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.’”
Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
God LOVES the world...He shows it by giving His One and Only Son to us to die for our sins...And if we believe this and in Him, then we can have eternal life...But God is also concerned about our present world and those in it...It is often difficult for me to want to think about let alone dwell on the troubles of this world...We can at anytime get on the internet of pick up a newspaper and see troubles in the world...And as we read through these news stories, we can sometimes if not often see the unfairness of the world...Just by living in a certain country we have more opportunity than others in poorer and less rich countries...To always be helping and doing the right thing is very difficult...Gilbert K. Chesterton said, "Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried."...Following the ways and teachings of Jesus are difficult...
So we can easily overlook these stories and the people in these stories, because they are sad stories that make us sad...We do like being sad...But disasters, wars, and the poor ones in need in some countries are written about regularly...We can easily learn to live around these stories and not even think about them...We can put them out of our minds with our work, and our daily busyness so they do not have affect us on a day to day basis...As Jesus tells us in His Parable about Lazarus, we can have an unfairness right in front of us, and we can avoid it or look right past it...Sometimes, we can look right through the problems on a regular basis without even noticing there is nothing amiss...But in Lazarus' life, we are told all he wanted during his day was this longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table...So the parable goes, it seems to me that Lazarus was often unnoticed as people went by...Maybe because he was regularly there at the gate of the rich man...Lazarus, in his need, probably saw a great chasm in the way he lived and the way the one behind the gate lived...Lazarus' current life was not the best of lives...
God LOVES the outcast...He LOVES and wants to comfort those in need...For Lazarus was hungry and was given anything to eat...Lazarus was thirsty and was given nothing to drink...Lazarus had sores and was not given help...Lazarus was a poor stranger and was not invited in...He did not dress everyday in purple and fine linen...He may have needed clothes and was not helped with any clothing...
Jesus turns our worlds upside down...He is always helping neighbor, no matter what their class or position or wealth or how poor someone is or how ill someone is...He wants us to think about these people and these things in the present moment, as well as His teachings about eternity...