Here's the point of the sermon I was planning to preach before Tuesday: our relationship with Lazarus reveals our relationship with God.  It doesn't create it, but it reveals it.  The way I love my neighbor shows the way I really love my Lord. 

How you treat my children shows your real regard for me.  How we relate to those we don't have to treat well reveals the nature of our relationship with God.  Here's the biblical logic behind my assertion.

The rich man is in hell.  Scripture clearly teaches that we don't go to hell because of our relationships with people, but our relationship with God.  Jesus was blunt about this: "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son" (John 3:18). 

If the rich man was condemned purely for his treatment of Lazarus, our salvation would be based on works, not grace through faith.  He is in hell because he has rejected the word and love of God.

But Jesus' story shows us the best indication of that spiritual condition: his treatment of Lazarus.  He could have fed him the bread which the dogs ate.  Better, he could have brought him into his mansion, cared for his wounds, and given him a new life.  He had the means to change Lazarus' life, but he did not. 

Even in hell, he continues to treat Lazarus as his servant, asking that he be sent to give him some water or to bring a message to his family.  His relationship with Lazarus reveals his true relationship with God.

This fact is taught throughout Scripture.  For instance, Jesus told us that when we feed the hungry or clothe the sick or visit the imprisoned, "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40).  James requires us to care for the poor as well as the rich.  How we relate to people we don't have to treat well is the best indication of our true character.

I heard recently about an employer with a very perceptive hiring practice.  He would schedule a prospective employee interview, but make the person wait in his assistant's reception area for 15-20 minutes.  Afterwards he would ask her how the person treated her.  If he was kind and gracious, he was usually hired.  If he was condescending or demeaning, almost never.  The employer said he had found this test to be the truest indicator of an employee's real nature.

Who is your Lazarus?  Who is that person you don't have to treat well this week?  When you meet him, remember that you're really meeting Jesus.