Dock Resource Kit

Sunday sermon, 22 February 2026

Summary

Michael continued our Upside Down Kingdom series on Jesus' parables in Luke by exploring the sobering parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16:19–31. Structured around two lives, two ends, and one invitation, the sermon calls us to examine the habits of our hearts and who we have trained ourselves not to see. Michael shows how the rich man’s sin was not his wealth but his indifference — a life so shaped by self-focus that he could not see the suffering at his own gate. In contrast, Lazarus, whose name means ‘he whom God helps’, represents those whose hope rests entirely in God. The eschatological reversal at the heart of the parable is not a reversal of rich and poor, but a revelation of the inner lives each had lived. The invitation is not condemnation but a call to hear, to lift our eyes, and to ask ourselves honestly: who is the Lazarus at my gate? And, for those living after the resurrection, we have far more than Moses and the prophets — we have Christ himself, who crossed the chasm for us.

Key Points & Takeways

The rich man was condemned for indifference, not wealth - The rich man was performatively wealthy but was not condemned for being rich. He is condemned for training himself not to see the suffering at his own gate.

Lazarus: he whom God helps - This is the only parable of Jesus in which a person is ever named. Whilst Lazarus is silent throughout, his name, ‘he whom God helps’ suggests where his hope lay.
Eschatological reversal — the Upside Down Kingdom - The reversal at death is not: poor people go to heaven, rich people go to hell. The reversal is about inner life, not income and reversal is made possible only through Christ.
We are people of formation - The rich man didn’t wake up one morning and forget Lazarus. He trained himself, little by little, not to see him. Our habits of life shape our eternal end.
One invitation: hear and obey - Abraham says: they have Moses and the prophets — let them hear them. To hear in the Semitic sense is not merely to listen. It is to listen and obey.
Who is the Lazarus at your gate? - Jesus calls us to lift our eyes and see those whose needs we have learned to ignore. This includes: the marginalised in our community, but also our spouses, children, friends, and co-workers. We cannot afford to rationalise away the needs of those around us. Our lives form our ends.

Dock Discussion Questions

Michael says the rich man’s sin was not wealth but indifference, a life trained not to see the suffering at his own gate. Where do you see signs of that same pattern in your own life?
The only person named in any of Jesus’ parables is Lazarus, ‘he whom God helps.’ What does it say about God that the one named is the one with no status or voice
Michael uses the social media algorithm as an analogy for spiritual formation, what we attend to shapes us. What are you currently giving your attention to, and what is it forming in you?
Who is the Lazarus at your gate? Is it someone in your neighbourhood or community? Or someone much closer; a spouse, child, friend, or colleague whose needs you’ve been rationalising away?
We live after the resurrection. We have Christ who crossed the chasm. How does that change the way you hear the invitation in this parable — as condemnation or as hope?

Long-form, edited transcript

Upside Down Kingdom –
Invited not Condemned

Luke 16:19–31
Matt 6:19-21

Why Jesus Teaches in Parables

Before we get into Luke 16, it’s worth reminding ourselves of why Jesus taught in parables, since we are working through a number of them at the moment found in Luke. Jesus’ parables are designed to help those whose hearts are turned towards God to understand the rhythms and the shape of the kingdom of God. That's ultimately what almost all the parables are about.

In Matthew 13 and Mark 4, the disciples come to Jesus and ask him outright: 'Why do you teach in parables Jesus indicates that for those who are genuinely seeking God, the parables reveal something far deeper about God’s kingdom than a simple, explicit statement would. But also, if he were just to say “this is what God’s kingdom is like” without the parable, part of it would go over our heads — and another part would make us think, “Oh, I understand it now. I know how to get there on my own steam.” Jesus says: no. You need me. I am the way, the truth and the life.

Two Lives, Two Ends, One Invitation

For those taking notes, we are going to work through three sections today: two lives, two ends, and one invitation.

Luke 16:19–31 says this:

19 “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.
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. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 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.’
25 “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. 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.’
27 “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.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “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.’”

The First Life: The Rich Man

Verse 19 tells us there was a rich man dressed in purple and fine linen who lived in luxury every day. Many of you will know that purple is the colour of royalty and riches. In the ancient world, purple dye came from crushed sea slug and sea snail shells, a process requiring around 250,000 shells to produce enough dye for a single robe. That’s why purple dye in the ancient near east was as valuable as gold.

The point is this: the rich man’s wealth was demonstrative. It was wealth on display. He was performatively rich. One commentator suggests that feasting every day implies he never observed the Sabbath — he never rested from his own comfort and his own need to be seen as wealthy. Either way, the rich man lived a life of no restraint and no obvious dependence on God.

But the wealth of the rich man is not actually what determines his end. He is not condemned for being wealthy. He is condemned for being indifferent — for a life trained in not seeing the suffering at his own gate.

The Second Life: Lazarus

In verses 20 and 21 we meet Lazarus. Lazarus is the Greek rendering of the Hebrew name Eleazar, meaning ‘he whom God helps'. But this poor man is still so clearly in need of help. He is laid at the gate, covered in sores, longing to eat the scraps from the rich man’s table. The dogs come and lick his sores.

This is a parable of contrasts. The rich man is clothed in purple and linen; Lazarus is naked and covered with sores. The rich man feasts extravagantly every day; Lazarus longs to feed himself from scraps. The rich man has servants; Lazarus has only the dogs. The rich man responded to his wealth with self-indulgence, indifference, and pride. We are not told much about Lazarus’ inner life, he is silent for the whole parable. But this is the only parable of Jesus in which any person is ever named. And the name given ‘he whom God helps’ despite his suffering, tells us where his hope lay: in God.

Two Ends: Eschatological Reversal

Verse 22 and 23 bring us to the crux of the parable. The beggar dies and is carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man dies, is buried, and finds himself in Hades in torment.

Scholars call this eschatological reversal: a reversal between the fortunes experienced in life and those experienced in death. This is, in a much more understandable way, exactly what we’ve been calling the Upside Down Kingdom.

But it is vital to be clear: Jesus is not saying that if you are rich on earth, you’ll be in torment in eternity; and if you are poor on earth, you’re guaranteed a place in heaven. We know this because Lazarus is raised to Abraham’s side and Abraham was incredibly wealthy. Genesis tells us he was rich in gold, silver, and livestock. Abraham had 318 trained fighting men in his household.

We don’t associate Abraham with wealth; we associate him with faith because that’s what defined him. He left his country, his family, the gods of his people, and responded to the call of God. The reversal is not about income. It’s a continuation of what Jesus keeps showing us about the Upside Down Kingdom: where the last will be first and the first will be last.

Without Jesus, we all stand where the rich man stands. The reversal is only made possible through Christ. And we see that even in death, the rich man’s priorities don’t change. He calls out to Abraham as a fellow Israelite appealing to his covenant identity. But covenant identity without covenant obedience is exactly what the prophets and the law, and ultimately Jesus, are warning against.

He still sees Lazarus as someone beneath him. He still sees him as someone who exists to serve his needs. There is no remorse. No contrition. Abraham’s reply is not vindictive punishment. The chasm between the rich man and Lazarus was not created at death. It was formed across the rich man’s life. It was shaped at his gate every day he walked past without seeing.

We Are People of Formation

Consider how social media algorithms work. If you watch one garden transformation video, your entire feed fills with garden transformation content. It takes weeks to get back to what it was. In the same way, we are people of formation. Our hearts are shaped by what we give our attention to or what we fail to notice.

The rich man didn’t wake up one morning and suddenly forget Lazarus existed, like a kind of amnesia. He trained himself, little by little, to ignore the suffering at his gate. And that habit of life shaped his eternity.

One Invitation

But whilst the die is cast for the rich man in this parable, it is not cast for us. The parable is not one of condemnation, it is one of invitation.

Verse 29: Abraham replied, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.” To hear in Semitic languages is not merely to listen. It is to listen and obey. We think of the Shema in Deuteronomy 6: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one,” a daily prayer that is a call to obedience.

The invitation of this parable is to lift our eyes. Not from completely down to completely up in one movement, with nothing in the middle — but to lift our eyes and in doing so, to see the needs of those around us.

The real question this parable asks of us is: who is the Lazarus at my gate?

Yes, it’s the people in our communities whose needs we’ve not learned to see — the least, the last, and the lost. But it is also the people in our lives every day. Our spouses, our children, our friends, our co-workers — whose needs we’ve learned to rationalise away.

We cannot afford to desensitise ourselves. We cannot afford to cast our eyes down onto our own needs and ignore the Lazarus at our gate, because our lives form our ends, form our eternity.

And for those of us who live after the resurrection, that’s all of us here, not only do we have Moses and the Prophets, but we have Christ himself, who did rise from the dead, and who calls us to follow him.

The chasm that could not be crossed, that cannot be crossed, Jesus crossed for us. Christ crossed for us. And in him, every day, every moment, is a new opportunity to raise our eyes and to see those we have forgotten to see.

So today, if there is one thing to take away: don’t harden your hearts. Listen. Trust. And follow him.

Closing Prayer

Lord, help us to raise our eyes to you,

and in doing so, see the needs of those around us.

Soften our hearts, reveal to us the people whose needs we have learned no to see.

Strengthen us to love boldly in justice and mercy

In Jesus name we pray.

Amen