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Pentecost 16 2025, Proper 21
September 28, 2025
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Hamilton, Ohio
Pastor Kevin Jud
Amos 6:1-7, 1 Timothy 3:1-13, Luke 16:19-31
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Text and Audio: immanuelhamiltonchurch.com click “sermons”
Text: pastorjud.org
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itunes: bit.ly/pastorjud
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Marla is very happy to have finally gotten a job at the local supermarket. She will be a cashier, and be stocking shelves. For cashiering Marla reports to Susan the cashier manager. For stocking shelves she reports to Bill the product manager.
After her training period Marla shows up a little early on her first regular day and sees Bill as she punches in. “Go ahead and stock the store brand cereals first thing today.” Bill tells her. “Okay”, Marla replies and pulls a pallet full of cases of cereal out to the aisle.
After 15 minutes, Susan comes up to Marla and tells her to leave everything and immediately open up register three. So Marla heads up to register three and begins ringing up customers.
Thirty minutes later Bill comes up to Marla and sternly asks her, “What are you doing up here? I told you to stock the shelves.”
Marla replies, “But Susan told me to come up here.”
“I don’t care what Susan wants. You do what I say.” And Marla heads back to the cereal aisle.
Ten minutes later Susan is calling Marla on the intercom. Marla heads to the service desk. “Where did you go?” Susan demands.
“Bill told me to get back to stocking shelves.”
“I don’t care what Bill wants. You do what I tell you to do.”
Marla has a problem. She has two bosses and you cannot have two bosses because you do not know which one to obey.
You cannot have two bosses. You cannot have two masters. Just prior to our Gospel text Jesus tells the money-loving Pharisees, Luke 16:13 (ESV) 13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
In our Old Testament lesson and in our Gospel lesson today we see people who are ruled by money. Money is their master. In Amos the people of Israel have turned away from God and are living in great luxury; living a life of ease while the destruction of the Northern Kingdom lays just over the horizon.
In our Gospel reading we have Jesus telling a parable, or maybe a story, we’re not sure which, about a rich man who lives in great luxury. Now we can get distracted in this story by the details and think Jesus is teaching about what heaven and hell are like; or teaching about how we should care for the poor. But in this account, the details are not the main point and shouldn’t distract us.
Jesus tells about a rich man who wears extremely costly purple cloth and, from the way it sounds, not just on special occasions, but every day. Under the purple robes he wears fine linen cloth. He feasts sumptuously every day. And feasting every day means he is not giving his servants a Sabbath rest; the rich man cares about himself -- not about God’s commands.
In stark contrast to the rich man inside, outside we find Lazarus, whose name means, “The one who God helps.”
The Rich Man inside is dressed in purple robes with fine linen undergarments. Lazarus is barely dressed in rags, if anything; his sores exposed for all to see.
The rich man feasts sumptuously every day. Lazarus hopes for a scrap from the table.
Lazarus cannot walk but is laid in front of the rich man’s gates each day and the rich man knows of Lazarus and his situation. But the rich man has no compassion. He doesn’t care for Lazarus. He doesn’t give Lazarus something to wear. He doesn’t invite Lazarus to eat at his table. He doesn’t even send his table scraps to Lazarus. The rich man ignores poor Lazarus lying at his gate.
The local dogs have more compassion on Lazarus then the rich man. The dogs pay attention to Lazarus and do what they can for him, licking Lazarus’ sores to try to bring healing.
The rich man’s master is money. He loves money. His focus is money. His life’s purpose is to make himself more comfortable and pander to every one of his own selfish desires.
Lazarus is hungry and wretched and lonely and ignored. But he knows that God is his master. We know this because when Lazarus dies he is carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. It appears that Abraham throws a feast to welcome Lazarus and Lazarus is reclining next to Abraham the same way the disciple John does with Jesus at the last supper. Lazarus is brought from wretchedness to a banquet at Abraham’s side.
The rich man is brought from a banquet to wretchedness. The rich man dies and is in torment in Hades. And he looks up and sees Lazarus, the formerly wretched little beggar reclining at the banquet with Abraham. And the rich man, who ignored Lazarus, now begs for Abraham to send Lazarus to bring him a drop of water. But that is impossible; a great chasm has been fixed.
So the rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus as a messenger to the rich man’s brothers -- to warn them so they can avoid the same fate.
Abraham tells the rich man that his brothers have Moses and the prophets (including Amos) to listen to.
The rich man did not listen to Moses and the prophets and he’s pretty sure his brothers won’t either.
“No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” In the Gospel of John we have another Lazarus who rises from the dead. And we have Jesus who dies and rises from the dead. Would having someone rise from the dead really bring people to repent of having money as their master?
Abraham replies, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”
The rich man worries that there is no hope for his brothers because they too have money as their master. There is certainly no hope for the rich man; it is too late for him. Having money as his master sealed his fate forever in hell. This is a stern warning. No servant can serve two masters…You cannot serve God and money.”
You know who Jesus is. You know Jesus came to earth as that baby born in Bethlehem. You know He lived the perfect life and took on your sin. You know He carried your sins to the cross at Calvary and paid the price for them with His own suffering and death. You know Jesus rose from the dead. You know this to be true. You know a man returned from the dead and He is your Lord and master. You know the truth, but the danger is that you live among a people who have money as their master and it is far too easy to slip into their way of life.
Each day ask yourself, who is my master? Who is my boss? Is Jesus my Lord, or do I take my direction from the love of money?
Love of money is a great danger for all; rich or poor. We live in a land of abundance surrounded by advertising that relentlessly wants to convince you that you deserve more, more, more. You deserve the best. You deserve to have your every desire fulfilled. You deserve it. It is very easy to get a good case of the gimmes. “Gimme this gimme that.” Little children can get a case of the gimmes when shopping with parents or grandparents. Teenagers can get the gimmes when just regular clothing and shoes isn’t enough. For my generation it was having the right kind of Levi’s jeans with the little orange tag on the back pocket and the right little alligator on your shirt. Today it is having just the right hoodie and having the holes in your brand new jeans in just the right places, or having silhouette of an elderly Chicago basketball player on your sneakers. Adults can get a case of the gimmes as they spend money they haven’t made yet to buy things they don’t really need. We can all get the gimmes when it comes to the latest and greatest technology. There is a constant pressure to be discontent and to covet what others have. It is a constant temptation to give in to the love of money. But the love of money is the path to hell.
The love of money is especially dangerous because you can’t just avoid money. We all need money. You need food and shelter and clothing and transportation. You need money to live. And money is not evil. If you work hard and invest well you can end up having a lot of money. Money is not evil. The love of money is evil.
In life you see the destructiveness of the love of money. You see how people use others and step on others and destroy others to get more money for themselves. You see how the poor are exploited by those wanting to take what little money they have. The love of money is evil. The love of money leads so many away from God.
And so Jesus warns. Repent of the love of money before it is too late. Reject money as your master and return to the Lord your God. Jesus is your true Master. He has purchased and won you from sin, death and the power of the devil.
Examine how you use money and turn away from practices that are loving money and return to practices of using money in love and service to others. Figure out ways of spending less so you can give away more. Manage money in a way that gives glory to God rather than in ways that focus on your own indulgence.
Fight the tyranny of money. The rich man wouldn’t give up his purple robes for Lazarus. He wouldn’t give up his nice underwear. He wouldn’t give up his feasts. He wouldn’t give up a place at his table. He wouldn’t even give up his banquet leftovers. He loved all that stuff more than he loved Lazarus…more than he loved God.
Keep money and belongings in their proper place. Everything you have belongs to the Lord and you are the manager of the Lord’s gifts to you. You manage the money; the money does not manage you. Give freely and generously back to the Lord’s church to acknowledge that all you have is from the Lord. Give to those in need. Give to helping groups which serve those in need.
Never acquire anything you wouldn’t be willing to give up for Jesus because Jesus is your Master; not money.
Jesus did rise from the dead. Jesus conquered death for you. Jesus has taken away your sins and promises everlasting life at the banquet table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Like Marla at the grocery store, it does not work to have two bosses. You can have only one master. God? Or money? You have answered it. You pray to God, “Thy Kingdom come.” You pray, God, rule me. O Father, be my Lord and Master. You shall have no other Gods. You belong to Jesus…forever. Amen.