The Nameless & The Named

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

We've all heard the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Lazarus was the poor beggar at the rich man's gate, hoping for a simple crumb. There's something very strange about this parable. It's the name, Lazarus. The parables of the Lord rarely give names. It's usually a king, son, father, woman, shepherd, or merchant - but not a name. The Lord always has a reason for what He does, so why the name? The answer is striking. We'd expect the rich man to have a name, not the beggar. So, why does the Lord give the beggar a name? We tend to leave the poor, homeless, third world people in the streets without names. They tend to be faceless crowds, statistics, and not real people. But with names, they become harder to ignore; harder not to feed, clothe, or care for. So, God is saying the poor of this world are not nameless. As a child of God, stop seeing them as nameless faces in a nameless crowd. Learn their names. Help them. For it might turn out to be Lazarus.rn

From Message #438 - The Rich Man And Lazarus