Lazarus-the Unheralded Missionary - Maynard Force

Lazarus—the Unheralded Missionary

There was a rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, full of sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table; moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried; and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes, and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And lie called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in anguish in this flame.” But Abraham said, “Son, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may pass from there to us.” And he said, “Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.” But A bra- ham said, “They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.” And he said, “No, father A bra- ham; but if some one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” He said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if some one should rise from the dead.” Luke 16:19-31.

Our text introduces us to a man by the name of Lazarus. A name which means, “God has helped.” This name is not common for there are only two people who carry that name in the entire Bible. Although our text does not call Lazarus a missionary, he nevertheless is just that—not only a missionary but one of the greatest missionaries that ever lived. We will, therefore, proceed to get better acquainted with him as such.

HIS FIELD

Every missionary has a mission field, that is, an appointed place where he is to serve his Lord. Some missionaries are given large fields like those in China, India and Africa where the souls entrusted to them number in millions. Other missionaries are given smaller fields with fewer souls to which to minister. Lazarus was given a very limited field —it consisted mainly of one man, “a rich man.” Even though the world was in dire need of missionaries, God had ordained that this one rich man should constitute, in the main, Lazarus’ field. The rich man’s soul was indeed valuable in God’s sight since He put forth so much effort to win it.

Some mission fields are small. There are those who have been commissioned to do their work in a Sunday school, with a class of a few boys or girls. Others may have even a more limited field. For example, some saintly grandparents, whose health forbids them to leave the house, must do their witnessing to their grandchildren and an occasional visitor who may show them some interest. Still others who have been called to serve God in the home may have even a more limited field.

The field that God gives should never be despised because of its size. We are told that “he who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much: and he who is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much” (Luke 16:10).

How would you like to have a one-man mission field? It would take more grace to be faithful in such a small field than in a larger one. It is interesting to notice that Lazarus, as far as we know, never complained about his field of service. He could say with Paul, “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content” (Phil. 4:11).

HIS HEALTH

A missionary’s health is very important. No mission board wants to send a candidate out to a mission field who will not be able to hold out physically. For that reason, many prospective missionaries do not pass the rigid physical examination and are rejected.

Lazarus’ health was poor. God had so ordained that this missionary should live in a frail body, “full of sores.” Pain and suffering were common to him. Abraham said of Lazarus that during his “lifetime” he received “evil things.” He knew what it was to like awake nights and suffer.

Why some of God’s people should have weak and broken bodies while others have the best of physical health is a matter for God Himself to decide. If we can glorify God better in physical weakness, then let us pray for grace to say with Paul, “I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9).

It isn’t likely that Lazarus was good looking. The running “sores” would have disqualified him from any beauty contest. Had his picture been put on a poster or handbill, it no doubt would have been repulsive to some. He would have made a poor prospective candidate to serve in a modern church. Had the rich man had a chance to choose his own spiritual adviser, he surely would have cast his vote for one with better looks. It is God, however, who calls His workers and He uses an altogether different system. “The Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). It does not appear that Lazarus ever complained about his health.

HIS SALARY

Most people are vitally interested in their salary. Their one concern seems to be what they will get in return for their services. Missionaries, too, must live, so most mission boards stipulate a set salary.

Lazarus’ salary was small. We read that he desired “to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table.” He didn’t desire to live like the rich man but only to get some of the crumbs. Lazarus was satisfied to get what others did not want. His menu was indeed modest. I’m sure he knew what it meant to tighten his belt.

Lazarus was a beggar. All God’s servants are beggars in one sense of the word. They have nothing in themselves and are entirely dependent upon the Lord to sustain them. Therefore, they come daily to the throne of mercy and plead for help. There they also plead for other souls who do not care about their eternal salvation. Their entire life becomes one of asking or to put it stronger, begging. Often, less sympathetic people call God’s people beggars. They accuse them of always begging—first for this cause and then for some other cause.

Most missionaries live off the crumbs. That is what is left after we are satisfied. We, like the rich man, usually take good care of those within our own households and then toss the crumbs to the missionaries. It takes no grace from God to give the crumbs. We would throw them away anyway, therefore, we steer some of them to the cause of missions and get as our reward a relieved conscience. Missionary Lazarus did not complain about his salary; he took what he got and said nothing. Truly, “there is great gain with contentment.”

HIS FRIENDS

One of the missionary’s greatest temptations is to become lonely. Even though there may be hundreds and thousands of people milling around him, yet there come times when Christian fellowship is at a premium. Rebellious thoughts can then come that otherwise would never enter his mind. Therefore, it is always good to have Christian friends to turn to when the going becomes difficult. To meet a Christian when you feel lonely is, indeed, tonic. No one has ever complained of getting an overdose of this. Therefore, missionaries crave all the Christian fellowship that they can find and long for more.

Missionary Lazarus had no friends as far as we know. Had there been some, they would not have let him lead a beggar’s life. It is true, there must have been those who helped carry him out to the rich man’s estate and laid him there at the gate but whoever did the job soon forgot about him. You know, the easiest people on earth to forget are the missionaries. When once they have been helped to their field of service, it is so easy to leave them there and not even contact them any more—-to say nothing of remembering them in prayer.

God arranged it so that “the dogs came and licked his sores.” Even though Lazarus was competing with them for the crumbs still they befriended him to the extent of licking the matter off his festering sores. What an opportunity this would have been for someone who wanted to serve God, to have come before the dogs to this place and extended a hand of love to Lazarus. May we never forget the words of Jesus when He said, “As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (Matt. 25 :40). Perhaps not too far from where we are there is some lonely Christian who is in dire need of encouragement. At our gate, also, lie many opportunities. Hands of need are reaching out to us for aid that we may sustain them so that the cause of Christ can still live on. Will we, like the rich man, starve them at our very gates? It is challenging to observe that Lazarus never complained that he had been left in such a lonely place.

HIS PULPIT

Every true pastor and missionary loves his own pulpit. Effort is put forth to arrange everything so that when the message is given, conditions are at their best. Churches are constructed so as to create an atmosphere of worship. Songs are sung, Scripture read, and prayer is offered so that the setting may be the most favorable.

Missionary Lazarus did not have that setting, however. His pulpit was the gate. He witnessed under discouraging circumstances. He had to make the best out of the few moments allotted to him as the rich man came and went through this narrow place. He surely must have been time-conscious as he spoke forth the Word to this busy rich man.

The average man would have given up in despair. Not so with missionary Lazarus. He saw no results of his work, yet he kept on. He had been divinely called and was determined to be faithful until death. He could say with Paul, “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may accomplish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord

Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20 :24).
No efforts were put forth by Lazarus to get moved to another place of easier service. His name, which meant “My God has helped,” was a good reminder to look always in the right direction for His guidance. It was God who had chosen his field of service and he would not make an effort to leave—no, not even under the most discouraging circumstances. Lazarus was not of the complaining kind—he stayed where God put him.

HIS DEATH

The day came when Lazarus died. “It came to pass that the beggar died.” Notice that the last reference made to him on earth is as a beggar. He died while at his post. Nothing is said about his funeral. In fact, it doesn’t even say he was buried. It does record about the rich man that he “died and was buried.” Evidently the funeral service was of no importance, that is, if there was one. No letters of condolence were read at his death. No memorial funds were gathered to keep his name alive. It is unlikely that any church, school, hospital, or institution of any kind has been named after him.

When Lazarus died he “was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.” Angels were at hand to carry him through the “valley of the shadow of death” so he need “fear no evil” (Ps. 23:4). Angels are at hand in the moment of death to escort God’s people to their heavenly home. What a glorious moment death must be for a child of God. No wonder the scripture tells us, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints” (Ps. 116:15), for “He will be our guide for ever” (Ps 48:14). Some of the departing saints, during their last moments on earth, see the angels come for them. They even tell those who are standing by them what a glorious sight this is. The bystander sees nothing but realizes from the expression on the face of the departing one that it must be wonderful.

HIS REWARD

Lazarus was carried to “Abraham’s bosom.” He was placed with the greatest of God’s people— Abraham. Isn’t it good to see these two names together? Lazarus, a former beggar, and Abraham, a former man of wealth, both in the same place.

This was a place of comfort. Abraham speaking about Lazarus said, “He is comforted here.” Lazarus, who knew little or nothing of physical comfort while he was on earth, is now enjoying to the full the comforts of heaven. He who had waited so patiently during the testing years on earth now is enjoying the reality of God’s promises.

This scene of Lazarus in glory is one of the few places in the Bible where God draws aside the veil that hides the future to let us peer in. He could have shown us thousands of other characters such as Moses, Jeremiah, or Isaiah who are also in glory but He chose to show us Lazarus. Is it not significant that when God would show us a successful man, He chose Lazarus—the missionary who never won his man. We are so prone to think that the successful men are those who have won thousands of souls. To be sure, they are men of success but they are not the only ones. Our text would teach us that Lazarus, too, was a great man for he takes his place with Abraham and yet he did not win the rich man.

Lazarus was given a great compliment by the rich man when he requested, “Send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers so that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment.” The rich man could now have requested any missionary to go to his father’s house but he chose Lazarus; Lazarus, who had witnessed to him at the gate, the man full of sores, the man of God whom he had rejected. Evidently Lazarus had done such a thorough job in witnessing that the poor rich man wanted him to go to his brothers. At least, in Hades he could not point an accusing finger at him and say, “Why didn’t you warn me?” Rather, he pleaded that this one-time, unheralded missionary be sent back to earth to testify again.

CONCLUSION

Lazarus’ work was done. He, therefore, could not be sent back to earth to testify to the relatives of the rich man. Someone else would have to preach the “law and the prophets” to them. The descendants of the rich man, however, are still living. More missionaries like Lazarus are needed to lay themselves down at their gates to testify to them. God is looking for more men like Lazarus, who will not despise small fields and who will testify under adverse conditions. Won’t you pray the Father of the harvest that He may send more such laborers to do His work? How about yourself as a prospect?