Food for Friday
And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores. Luke 16:20
A wrinkled and twisted little old man with a pathetic broken-toothed pleading grin used to ask me (and any other passers-by) for money as we exited the market. I rarely gave him any, knowing that it would likely be spent on drink. One particulartly cold day, he shivvered and shrank at the same entrance, and asked for a dollar. I had none to give, and hurried on. A day or two later, I read in the newspaper that this same panhandler had frozen to death under a bridge where he had sought some bit of shelter. I still wonder if he was my Lazarus, and if I should have tried to help him more.
Let’s face it, you and I are wealthy. Maybe not in terms of North American wealth, but compared with people in just about every other part of the world, we are rich, and fare sumptuously every day. We have our three squares, we have comfortable homes, we are dressed nicely, and we have no practical reason to worry about tomorrow. We are unlike the rich man in the Luke 16 account in that we will not land in hell – we are saved. But are we giving our Lazarus any more than crumbs from our tables? Are we going to lose the opportunity to serve the Lord in ministering to him?
We need to be careful that we are not victimized by fraudulent appeals for money. But there is a Lazarus laid at our gate, and we have a responsibility to him. There are believers that we know who could use a few extra dollars, or a helping hand, or a visit, or any of a dozen different things that would make a major difference. When was the last time you phoned a lonely Lazarus in a nursing home? There are also poor and suffering people all around us to whom our Lord would show compassion if He were walking among us. Why don’t we? Missionaries tell us about poverty and tragedy in their fields; have we offered any help for such cases?
Lazarus is full of sores and cannot help himself. He has nobody to care but the dogs and no hope except for the uncertain possibility of a few crumbs. You and I wouldn’t be content with dogs and crumbs, so why should we allow Lazarus to endure them? Have we at least asked the question as to what we can do to help?
Lazarus was a real man, and he really did suffer and die at the rich man’s gate. The Lazaruses among us today are just as real and their cases just as pathetic. Must we force them to wait for Abraham’s bosom to receive comfort? -Jim MacIntosh