Invisible People Coming into View

Luke 16:19-31                                                                September 26, 2004

         "There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid 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.

         "The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 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.'

         "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. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.'

         "He answered, 'Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father's house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.'

         "Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'

         " 'No, father Abraham,' he said, 'but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'

         "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.' "

CCI: God will give us eyes to see the invisible people around us.

Intro: This parable is a story that was common in Jesus’ day. It is a parable of reversal where the victim becomes the champion. Following death, the forgotten one is comforted in paradise while the person with all the benefits in life is tormented. The reversal is complete.

         But Jesus used this story to teach more than just reversal and God’s justice. In this story he reveals the nature of miracles and faith. Jesus said, “They will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” Miracles only have meaning if we choose to see them. God may be at work, but if our eyes are closed, we will miss it. If we do not have eyes to see, even the hand of God becomes invisible.

         And that lesson is seen at the beginning of the story. This is a story of an invisible person who came to be seen too late. When I say he was an invisible person, I do not mean he was a ghost, nor was he someone who could not be seen. Rather he was a person that the rich man and the rest of the world chose not to see. He was invisible.

         Listen to the description of this man. “At his gate was laid 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.” First, we see that this beggar named Lazarus lay in the rich man’s gate. In other words, the rich man had to step over him whenever he left his house. Daily he was confronted by this person in front of him, yet daily he ignored him. Second, he was covered with sores. He was a sick man. He may have had leprosy, he may have been diabetic and had sores that would not heal. But he was a pitiful sight. Third, he was a hungry man. The bread that fell from the table, was like a napkin. After a big meal, people would clean the table and the plates with pieces of bread. These would be thrown on the floor and the dogs would fight for them. And finally, we see that the dogs came and licked his sores. Even today that is a bad picture of a man’s condition, but in Jesus’ day it was even worse. Dogs were unclean animals. They were not pets or animals to play with. Dogs were scavengers. The dogs probably did not only lick his wounds, it is likely that they also chewed on his wounds. If this man had been noticed, he would have been regarded as less than human; however, he was invisible.

         Invisible people still exist today. In India, even though the caste system has been declared illegal, there is a subgroup of the untouchable caste who are invisible to the rest of the world. These men and women come out of their crude shacks and holes only at night. They clean human and animal waste from the streets, they remove the bodies of cattle that die and people whose bodies are not claimed by relatives. They come out after dark and return to their dwelling places before dawn. They are invisible.

         In Japan, there is a growing problem with homelessness. 30-50,000 Japanese now live in parks and stations and streets and riverfronts (http://www.achr.net/japan_2002.htm). The government does not know how to deal with this problem and citizens simply ignore it. They are invisible.

         In Thailand and Cambodia there is a growing sex trade where pre-teen girls are sold by their families to brothels. These young women work as prostitutes until their health fails and then they are thrown on the street. A year ago the New York Times did a 5 part editorial on these women, but the world has turned a blind eye. They are invisible.

         In nursing homes all across our country are men and women who have been forgotten. After years of caring and sharing and reaching out, their health has failed, their memory has weakened and they need care around the clock. These things happen, but then they move to a nursing home and become invisible, lost to sight, lying in the gate.

         In the tri-city area, the most recent unemployment figures point to 16,000 people out of work, 8.1% of those who want work. These men and women go business to business putting in applications and hearing rejections. They are receiving calls from creditors. They are finding it hard to purchase food or medicine. We read about these people, we know neighbors or even family who are out of work, but we look away. They are invisible right in front of our eyes.

         Here in our own community, unemployment, divorce, substance abuse, gambling addictions and systemic poverty are working together to create a growing homelessness crisis. In Saginaw, the City Rescue Mission provided 7,315 nights of shelter to children in 2001. Daily, men, women and children find shelter in cars, hotels and with friends who will let them sleep one or two nights at a time. It reaches the paper when there are fires in the hotels or there are deaths under the bridges. But for the most part these are invisible people.

         We have eyes, but we do not see. We are the richest nation the world has ever seen, yet still there are people just as invisible to us, as Lazarus was to the rich man.

         These seem like insurmountable problems, it is far easier to close our eyes and not see them, than to try to address the situations. Yet Jesus’ story indicates there may be eternal consequences for closing our eyes and letting people fade into a world of the invisible.

         But I wonder, is there even more to it than this? Have you ever felt like you were invisible? Perhaps you remember a day as a child when you were picked last for the ball team. Maybe as a new person in school you were pushed to the side. Perhaps you have been bypassed for a promotion, or taken for granted at home. And you too feel invisible. Just this week, I spoke with a man who felt invisible because his church family had not seen his need.

         We have all been there. Sometimes we can almost feel ourselves fading from view until we are convinced that no one sees us and we see very little. And when we feel invisible, we justify closing our eyes to the people around us whether they are in our homes, or outside our doors, or in brothels in Cambodia, or in hovels in India. And when we feel invisible, even if someone were to rise from the dead, we would not listen, in fact we would not even see them.

         In the movie The Sixth Sense, Cole is a young boy terrified by visitations from those who have died. He finally summons the courage to reveal his "secret" to Dr. Malcolm Crowe.

         "I want to tell you my secret now," Cole says after a long and painful pause.

         "Ok."

         "I see dead people."

         "In your dreams?" Dr. Crowe asks.

         Cole shakes his head no.

         "While you're awake?"

         Cole nods yes.

         "Dead people like in graves or coffins?"

         Cole answers, "Walking around like regular people. They don't see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don't know they're dead."

         "How often do you see them?"

         "All the time. They're everywhere. You won't tell anyone my secret, right?"

         "No, I promise."

         "Will you stay here till I fall asleep?"

         "Of course," Dr. Crowe replies, nodding his head.

         And then under the loving eyes of Dr Crowe, Cole drops off into a peaceful sleep. The secret was out. And even though the Dr could not see the dead people, Cole knew he was no longer alone. And as the movie continues, Cole stops seeing dead people as a goup, and begins to see individuals who have died and are hurting.

         And that is what Jesus offers us today. As long as we continue to feel like a victim who is invisible to the rest of the world, we can not help those around us. As long as we see people as groups, they remain invisible. However, Jesus has promised that he will never leave us or forsake us. He tells us that if God watches over the sparrow, he will certainly watch over us. God has demonstrated his love for us in this way, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. No matter what else happens, we will never be invisible in God’s eyes.

         Jesus saw the invisible Lazarus’s around him. While passing through Jericho he saw Zacchaeus, the short tax collector watching from a tree. He saw Bartimaeus, a man who was blind, a man the rest of the crowd tried to ignore. Jesus saw the heart of the prostitute who anointed him in Simon the pharisee’s house. No one was invisible to Jesus.

         And after Jesus rose from the dead, his followers were given his eyes. Peter and John saw a blind beggar outside the temple and gave him a new life. Paul heard the call of a man from Macedonia and went into Europe with the gospel.

         Friends, no matter how invisible you feel, even if you feel like Cole’s dead people who are “walking around like regular people who don't see each other and only see what they want to see” – even if you feel like that, God’s eyes are upon you. He sees you and he cares. And with his eyes on you, you can have the courage to look at the needs around you in a new way. Because Jesus sees you as an individual, you can have the courage to see not just the problem of homelessness in Bay City, but now you can look at individual people in need and seek to reach out to them one by one.

         Because Jesus sees you, you can open your eyes to those who are lonely in nursing homes and bring to them new life, one at a time. Because Jesus sees and cares for you, you do not need to be afraid to see yong girls who are being abused in Cambodia or untouchable people in India, instead you can see individuals who are in need, individuals who are hurting, individuals who are lonely and when God gives you the opportunity, you can reach out to them with God’s love.

         When we look at the world around us, we can be overwhelmed by the problems that we see. However, when we look at the world through Jesus’ eyes, through the sixth sense he will give us, the invisible people will begin to come into view as individuals in need. And with that perspective we can join God in the work of bringing new life.

         Are you ready to let the invisible people around you come into view? Then trust that Jesus’ loving eyes upon you.

         Several years ago, the group Petra put out a song entitled “Just Reach Out” and I would like to share that with you as we close.