Following
Pastor David Jang’s sermon on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, this
reflection explores how faith that prepares for eternity leads us to share our
wealth, the Word, and grace with our neighbors. It considers the fate of the
rich man who ignored the suffering at his gate and why we must repent and obey
today in response to the Word already given to us.
Separated
by a single gate, one man feasted lavishly every day while another waited for
scraps to fall from his table. The physical distance between them was small,
yet a chasm of the heart lay between them—a chasm that was never crossed. In
Kafka’s Before the Law, a man remains waiting outside a door. In
Luke 16, however, the rich man inside the gate never truly sees the man lying
outside it. Through this closed way of seeing, Pastor David Jang, founder of
Olivet University in the United States, asks how the insensitivity that causes
us to lose sight of eternity can begin so close to home.
The
parable of the rich man and Lazarus does not condemn wealth itself or present
poverty as a condition of salvation. The central question emphasized in this
sermon is how we have used the wealth, the Word, and the opportunities
entrusted to us—and whether we have accepted the suffering at our gate as a
responsibility of love. The gospel speaks of the world beyond death, but
eternity does not empty the present of meaning. On the contrary, it makes the
question of what we see today and to whom we open our doors even more urgent.
At
the Closed Gate, the Gospel Questions How We See
The
parable of the dishonest manager and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in
Luke 16 belong to the same flow of thought. The first asks how we will use the
wealth and limited opportunities entrusted to us. The second reveals the end of
a life that spends those gifts entirely on self-satisfaction. What we possess
is not ultimately our own; it has been placed in our care. The wisdom of a
steward is revealed in using the time and resources that remain to prepare
wisely for what is to come.
The
dishonest manager was praised not because his wrongdoing somehow became good.
He realized that his position could come to an end, and he used his remaining
opportunity to prepare for the future. This scene illuminates a wisdom entirely
opposed to the attitude of clinging to possessions as though life will continue
forever. Our time, wealth, and opportunities will all be brought to account.
The faith of a steward begins by refusing to forget that truth.
The
rich man was not condemned merely because he lived in abundance. His purple
garments, fine linen, and daily feasts blinded him to Lazarus at his gate. He
was not someone who lacked the ability to help. He was someone who refused to
accept the suffering nearby as his own responsibility. The deeper problem was
not material wealth but the fact that the door of his heart was closed.
We
should therefore resist reducing this parable to a simple formula in which the
poor go to heaven and the rich go to Hades. Scripture asks not merely how much
we possess, but how we regard what we possess and whether we practice love and
mercy in the place entrusted to us. The rich man’s sin was not abundance
itself. It was that he confined his abundance to his own feast and refused to
let it flow toward the person beside him. At this point, biblical meditation
calls us to stop judging the destiny of others and begin looking at the gate we
ourselves have neglected.
When
Entrusted Abundance Becomes a Path of Grace
In
this sermon, Pastor David Jang does not restrict the meaning of abundance to
material wealth. Those who enjoy access to the Word, theological knowledge, a
supportive environment for worship, opportunities to hear sermons, and freedom
of faith may also be spiritually rich. Yet when the grace we have received
circulates only within our personal comfort and the satisfaction of our own
community, abundance becomes not a life-giving river but a high wall. Receiving
much is not a reason for pride. It is the beginning of a responsibility to
share more widely.
Spiritual
self-centeredness can be harder to recognize than visible greed. A person may
hear an abundance of biblical teaching and consume it only for personal
security and reassurance. Such faith may appear to be deepening while producing
no fruit for one’s neighbors. To enjoy the gospel and grace does not mean that
we have earned the right to store them away. It means that we have received a
calling to let them flow farther. Even theological insight becomes the language
of life only when it leads to love and obedience that build others up.
Sharing,
therefore, is not an act of charity in which we casually give away what is left
over. It includes caring for those who are physically hungry, but it also means
bringing the gospel to those who hunger for the Word, helping them learn, and
equipping them to serve others in turn. This is also why the sermon emphasizes
the work of collecting Christian books and sending them to places where they
are needed. One book may seem insignificant to some, but to a person who lacks
spiritual nourishment, it can become a hand that opens a previously closed
path.
The
abundance possessed by churches and communities of faith must face the same
question. While communities with plentiful resources, teaching, and fellowship
opportunities continue consuming them repeatedly, people elsewhere may be
waiting for a single book or one opportunity to receive instruction. Genuine
love does more than temporarily cover a person’s lack. It makes room beside
that person until they can learn the Word, experience restoration, and become
able to serve someone else. Sharing what we have received so that another
servant may be raised up is the far-reaching wisdom of a faithful steward.
Grace
reveals its true light not when it is possessed, but when it is allowed to
flow. Faith is measured not only by how many sermons we have heard, but also by
whose hunger has been relieved through the Word we have received. Love does not
remain a warm feeling within the heart. It moves our time, wealth, knowledge,
and speech until they reach another person’s life. Obedience begins not with a
grand resolution, but with the decision to stop treating the needs beside us as
someone else’s concern.
The
Word Is Closer Than Signs, and Repentance Begins Today
In
his suffering, the rich man begs for Lazarus to be sent to his brothers.
Abraham answers that they already have Moses and the Prophets, and that they
should listen to them. Even the dramatic event of someone returning from the
dead cannot automatically turn a hardened heart. True repentance does not begin
by waiting for a new sign. It begins by listening to the Word already close at
hand and changing direction now.
This
passage quietly strips away the excuses we make concerning faith. We sometimes
imagine that we will obey when clearer evidence, a more powerful experience, or
a more extraordinary opportunity comes. Yet the Word has already come near, and
the responsibility of love we have postponed is already before our eyes. What
we lack may not be light, but a heart willing to open itself before that light.
The
rich man’s plea for a drop of water to cool his tongue is also deeply
significant. During his earthly life, his tongue never offered a warm word to
Lazarus or issued an instruction that someone should help him. After the tongue
that could have helped save another person remained silent, the rich man begged
for mercy on behalf of his own tongue. Repentance is more than regret within
the heart. It means renewing the way our words comfort others, communicate the
gospel, and lead to practical help.
After
death, the great chasm between the two places could not be crossed. That
separation appears not so much as a strange destiny suddenly imposed at the end
of life, but as the hardened result of obedience repeatedly postponed and a
heart that was never opened. The time to share the life-giving Word with
beloved family members and friends, to release our attachments, and to approach
the neighbors we have ignored is while we are still alive. The fact that we can
repent today is, before it is a warning, a grace that has not yet been
withdrawn.
Those
Who Believe in Eternity Open the Door Today
The
reversal of the rich man’s and Lazarus’s positions shows that our circumstances
in this world do not constitute God’s final judgment. Lazarus’s suffering was
not eternal, and neither was the rich man’s feast. The hope that God will judge
rightly in the end sustains those who suffer and humbles those who live in
abundance. Those who believe in eternity do not treat the present lightly.
Instead, they feel the weight of greater responsibility in the choices they
make today.
This
hope enables us to continue loving even when our good work brings no immediate
reward. Helping one soul through the gospel, building someone up through the
Word, and sharing our wealth and time may appear insignificant according to the
world’s calculations. Yet the movement of this sermon leads us toward faith
that God does not forget the labor of each person. Those who look toward a
heavenly reward do not become indifferent to earthly suffering. Rather, they
endure longer and remain faithfully beside those in need.
The
urgency of Pastor David Jang’s sermon is not intended to create fear. It is
meant to awaken us to the fact that time still remains for us to open the door.
The time to share the gospel with those we love, to give what we possess, and
to turn our hardened hearts is not someday, but today. Today is the time before
the final accounting, and the very fact that we can still obey is the hope that
remains for us. Faith directed toward eternity is not a gaze that escapes
reality. It is a way of seeing that refuses to overlook even one person within
the world as it is.
Preparing
for eternity does not mean abandoning today. It means accepting, before it is
too late, the responsibility of love placed before us now. Am I holding on to
the wealth, the Word, and the gifts I have received as decorations for my own
feast, or am I offering them as channels through which someone else may receive
life? Whose long waiting has accumulated outside my gate—and when will I open
the door?
David Jang Sermon Video:
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