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QUALITIES OF DISCIPLESHIP

Sympathy

Luke 16:19 – 31.

Introduction.  We are continuing our series on the qualities that mark true disciples of Christ.  We’ve considered other Christlike  traits that the Holy Spirit produces in those who belong to Jesus.  Today we come to that is often overlooked yet absolutely essential:  Sympathy.  That’s not the best word to describe this trait.  Others might use empathy, which also isn’t the best word.  It’s the quality of caring and concern for the well-being of others.

Biblically, sympathy is the ability to suffer with another person, to enter into their pain, to be moved in the depths of our being by their need, and to respond with appropriate concern and action.  It’s never detached pity or occasional charity.  It’s a heart quality that reflects the very heart of Christ, who was “moved with compassion” when He saw hurting people.  Without the right kind of sympathy, our profession of faith remains cold and incomplete.  With it, we show that the love of Christ is truly at work in us.

The Lord Jesus gives us a powerful parable to drive home this truth.  It’s a story told in two clear scenes.  In the first scene we see life on earth and the complete absence of sympathy in one man’s heart.  In the second scene the curtain is pulled back and we see the eternal consequences of a life lived without sympathy.  This parable is one of the most solemn warnings in the Bible about the realities of heaven and hell, the finality of death, and the absolute necessity of possessing and showing genuine concern for the needs of others while we still have time.

Scene 1 – Luke 16:19 – 21.

 “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.”  (Luke 16:19 – 21 | TNIV)

Jesus begins with a striking contrast.  Purple was the color of royalty and extreme wealth; the dye alone cost a fortune.  Fine linen was the softest, most expensive fabric available.  That phrase, “lived in luxury every day” means he feasted sumptuously day after day.  So, this wasn’t a man who enjoyed the good things in life once in a while.  This was his settled lifestyle – comfort, pleasure, status, and abundance without interruption.

At the very gate of this man’s property lay “a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.  Even the dogs came and licked his sores (vs 20, 21).  Lazarus is the only named character in any of our Lord’s many parables.   “Lazarus” means “God helps” or “whom God helps.”  It’s a  name of faith and dependence.  He is helpless.  He has been “laid” at the gate, unable to walk on his own.  His body is covered with painful, open sores.  He’s starving, reduced to carving the scraps that fell from the rich man’s daily feasts.  In a final touch of irony, the dogs – animals considered unclean in Jewish culture – showed more instinctive care for his wounds than the rich man ever did.

Every single day the rich man passed by that gate.  Every single day he enjoyed his feasts while Lazarus suffered in plain sight.   The gate was not a barrier; it was a daily opportunity for mercy.  Yet there is no record of one kind word, one coin, one invitation, or one act of relief.  The rich man had everything this world could give, and he gave nothing to the man whose only hope was at his doorstep.

Then comes verse 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.”  (Luke 16:22 | TNIV)

Death levels both men, as it levels all.  Lazarus receives no elaborate funeral, but the angels themselves carry his soul to “Abraham’s side,” the place of highest honor and comfort among the righteous dead, a picture of paradise and intimate fellowship with the patriarchs.  The rich man receives a grand burial, probably a very public affair, but what happens after the funeral is what matters forever.

Don’t misunderstand this parable.  Jesus is not teaching that all rich people go to hell and all poor people go to heaven.  Abraham himself was very wealthy.  The issue isn’t the size of the bank account but the condition of the heart.  The rich man had daily evidence of human need right at his gate, daily access to the Word of God that commands love for neighbor, and daily means to make a difference – yet he lived as though the suffering man didn’t exist.  His lack of sympathy revealed a heart untouched by the grace of God.

The question this parable forces upon us is simple but searching.  Are we showing the right kind of sympathy, or have we grown so comfortable in our “luxury every day” that we have developed a quiet hardness of heart?

True discipleship requires sympathy because sympathy was at the very center of Jesus’ life and ministry.  He touched lepers no one else would touch.  He stopped for blind beggars everyone walked past.  He wept with grieving sisters.  He fed hungry crowds.  The apostle John later wrote this:

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?  (1 John 3:17 | TNIV)

Sympathy is not optional evidence of the new life; it is the necessary evidence.

Scene 2 – Luke 16:23 – 31.

Our second scene opens in the unseen realm.

In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side.  (Luke 16:23 | TNIV)

The rich man is now in conscious torment.  He’s not sleeping, not annihilated, not in some neutral waiting room.  He is suffering and he is aware.  He looks up and sees the very man he ignored now resting in the intimate comfort at Abraham’s side.

Then comes a heartbreaking cry:

‘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.’   (Luke 16:24 | TNIV)

Notice what the man asks for – pity, sympathy – the very quality he never gave.  He wants Lazarus, the man whose sores he never bandaged and whose hunger he never satisfied, to perform even the smallest act of mercy:  A drop of water on the tip of a finger.  In hell, the rich man finally discovers the value of mercy.  But, of course, it’s too late.

Abraham’s reply is both tender and terrifying:

“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.”  (Luke 16:25 | TNIV)

The positions have been eternally reversed.  Then comes the dreadful statement of verse 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.’  (Luke 16:26 | TNIV)

A great chasm – fixed, permanent, and impassable.  No wealth can bridge it. No religious heritage can bridge it.  No second chances exist after death.  There is no development of sympathy in the grave.  There is no crossing over from torment to comfort after death.  The time to show concern for others – to live right – the time to repent, the time to believe the Word of God is now, in this life.  This is one of the clearest teachings in Scripture on the finality of death and the reality of eternal conscious torment for those who reject God and live only for themselves.

Still the rich man pleads:

“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.’  (Luke 16:27, 28 | TNIV)

 Suddenly, like a miracle, he cares about others!  He doesn’t want his brothers to experience what he is experiencing.  In torment he becomes an evangelist of sorts, but it’s too late for him to act.

Abraham’s answer cuts to the heart of the matter:

“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’  (Luke 16:29 | TNIV)

In other words, they already posses the Scriptures – the sufficient revelation of God’s character, God’s commands to love the neighbor, and God’s warnings of judgment and mercy.  The rich man protests that some spectacular sign would convince them:

” ‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’  (Luke 16:30 | TNIV)

 Abraham’s final, devastating reply is one of the most solemn statements in the Bible:

“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.’ ”  (Luke 16:31 | TNIV)

The problem was never lack of evidence.  The problem was a heart unwilling to listen to the Word of God already given.  Even the greatest miracle can’t penetrate a heart hardened against Scripture.  We know Jesus rose from the dead, and still many refuse to believe.  The issue remains the same today.

The necessity of sympathy for every disciple.

This curious parable is a mirror held up to every professing Christian.  The rich man likely considered himself blessed, religious, and secure.  He had Abraham as his father in heritage, wealth as his daily experience, and no apparent crisis of faith.  Yet his lack of sympathy for the man at his gate revealed a heart that had never truly been transformed by the grace of God.

For us as disciples of Christ, sympathy isn’t a nice addition to the Christian life; it’s a necessary quality of it.  It flows from the new heart the Spirit gives.   It’s evidence that we have passed from death to life.  It is the practical outworking of the command to love our neighbor as ourselves.

So, let’s examine ourselves honestly.  It there someone God has placed at our “gate” whose suffering we have grown accustomed to ignoring?  Have we come so insulated by our comforts that the daily needs around us no longer move us?  Sympathy begins in the heart, but it must move  to the hands and feet.  It looks like noticing the lonely person after the service and taking time to listen.  It looks like practical help for a family in crisis.  It looks like generous giving that actually costs us something.  It looks like the Gospel with urgency, because the greatest need of every Lazarus is not only physical relief but eternal salvation.

Remember the urgency.  The chasm is fixed after death.  There will be no opportunity to develop sympathy or to repent once we have passed from this life.  Today is the day for people to listen to Moses and the prophets and to the risen Christ.  Today is the day to show mercy.  Today is the day to make sure our faith is the kind that works itself out in love.