1 Kings 17:17-24/Romans 8:14-23/St Luke 19:31
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church - Racine, WI
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father who raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. Amen.
He was laid at the gate of the rich man, placed there in the hope that the man of means would have pity on him. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t bathe himself. Couldn’t dress himself. Couldn’t feed himself. It is likely he couldn’t even communicate very well. He was a beggar. Miserable and rejected. Ignored and forgotten by everyone.
Everyone except One. The Lord remembered him. For the Lord remembers the afflicted and the outcast. It is written, The Lord raises the poor from the dust; He stoops and makes us princes (Ps 113:6-8). He has mercy on poor, miserable beggars. He had mercy on Lazarus. He was helped by God. And in death he was carried by the angels to repose in the bosom of father Abraham, at peace and rest, awaiting the joy of the resurrection of all flesh.
According to the Gospel of St John, there was a pool in Jerusalem, in Aramaic, called Bethesda, where the invalids were laid. The blind, the lame, the paralyzed. Rabbinic legend holds that an angel would come down and stir the pool and the poor souls would clamor to its healing waters. Jesus once healed a man who had been lying there for thirty-eight years, saying, Get up, take up your bed, and walk (Jn 5:8).
This is where Danny was placed. Bethesda. Given to their charge in the hope that those with the means and ability would provide the care and compassion for our dear son and brother and uncle that we could not do on our own.
And in this way the Lord remembered Danny, provided for his needs not only of the body, but also for his soul. The Lord remembered him even when we forgot. The Lord cared for him even when his family could not.
Indeed the Lord cared for him more than we or anyone ever could. For Danny the Father sent His only begotten Son. Sent Jesus to be the outcast, to be afflicted, to be thrown outside the gates. Sent Jesus whose clothing was ripped from Him in His crucifixion. Jesus to whom food and drink were withheld at His death.
Sent Jesus who was ignored and rejected by all, even forsaken His Father in heaven. So that Danny would be none of those things. Sent Jesus so that Danny would receive mercy. So that Danny would be clothed with the robe of Christ’s own righteousness. Sent Jesus so that Danny would be fed with the wholesome Word of forgiveness. Our Father who is in heaven sent His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, so that Danny would receive temporal comfort here on earth and, of utmost importance, eternal rest, being carried by the angels, to recline upon father Abraham’s bosom and await the joy-yet-to-come of the resurrection.
For like the beggar Lazarus, Danny knew his condition. He knew he was a sinner in need of redemption; a beggar in need of divine mercy.
But the rich man, for all his decadence, all his luxury, was cast off to Hades, away from the presence of the Lord, away His mercy. Away from His comfort and rest, consigned for eternity to suffer torment. He was without mercy toward the beggar at his gate, so now the Lord was merciless to him. For he who denies mercy denies Christ.
Yet that man dares to call Abraham his father, even from hell! But it is Abraham who highlights for us the cause of his predicament: he did not listen to Moses and the Prophets; he refused to the heed the Word of the Lord. Despite his faithlessness he received temporal blessing and on account of his unbelief now endured eternal punishment. He serves as a warning. And a lesson in opposites, or better, in what we call the theology of the Cross.
The good things of our Lord are often hidden beneath suffering and shame; masked by what the world considers evil and weak. St Paul says it this way, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. And this is precisely what Danny is. One who suffered in and with Christ who suffered for him. He is a child of the heavenly Father, safely gathered to His fatherly heart, which is nothing less than our Lord Jesus Christ, crucified for us sinners and raised for our salvation, upon whom He bestows His Spirit of adoption as sons.
Behold, I tell you a mystery. Danny is not dead, even as Christ Jesus is not dead. Barb is not dead. Grandpa is not dead. The saints in Christ, made holy by faith in Him, are not dead. They are alive in and with Him who is the Resurrection and the Life. Their bodies are placed into the narrow chamber of the grave, awaiting the resurrection as a dear child is woken by his dear father.
For the truth, the reality, though hidden from our mortal eyes, is that Danny already died in Holy Baptism, even as we confessed this morning. He was buried with Christ in that watery grave. It is like Elijah and the widow’s son.
Grandma, when you and grandpa brought Danny to the waters of Holy Baptism, our Lord spoke these words to you, Give Me your son. There the Lord took Danny from you and made him His own. He snatched him away from the jaws of the devil and the grip of death. He rescued Danny from all his sin and welcomed him into the holy Body of Christ, the Church, through the gift of faith. And then, like Elijah in the story, delivered him to you to love and raise, saying, “See, your son lives.”
So even now Danny is with the Lord Jesus, to whom he belongs. To whom he has always belonged. To a Father who loves him more than any earthly father ever could. To His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ who ransomed Danny in body and soul with His own precious blood and innocent suffering and death. And to God the Holy Spirit who made Danny’s weak, mortal body His Temple. The Blessed Holy Trinity will keep him even as He keeps all His saints.
For by faith in Moses and the Prophets, that is, the Word of Christ Lazarus followed in the train of the saints of old - father Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, David and Samuel, Ruth and Boaz, all his brothers and sisters in Christ. So too Danny. Blessed is the one You chose and bring near to dwell in Your courts! (Ps 65:4a). Danny is gathered with the great cloud of witnesses, patriarchs and prophets, apostles and evangelists, angels and archangels, with Barb and Grandpa, and all the company of heaven around the throne of the Lamb, who was slain yet behold He lives, beholding with his own eyes the glorious face of the Son of God, his Savior, praising him without end.
What about us? The rich man had five brothers for whom he was concerned after his death. He begged father Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to warn them. Abraham said to him, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.” “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” Abraham said, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”
Here we sit. Richer in the Word than they, having not only Moses and the Prophets, but also the Apostles and Evangelists - the totality of the Old and New Testaments - and the One to whom they point and preach, even Jesus Christ, back from the dead! Will we heed His Word? Even as the widow responded to Elijah?
Perhaps you’ve heard the story, but at the end of his life, Dr Luther scribbled something on a piece of paper in German and Latin. It was found in his coat pocket after he died. It read, We are all beggars, this is true.
We may be dressed and fed like the rich man; having everything we need, but when it comes to our place before God we are poor, miserable beggars, all of us. Sore ridden Lazaruses flung at the gate of the Rich Man. Covered in the shabby clothes, the filthy rags of even our best works. The sores of sin festering and infecting our bodies and the lives of those around us. Even the dogs stay away from us.
But Christ had seen our wretched state. And though He was rich, He made Himself poor for your sake, that in Him, you might receive the riches of the kingdom of His Father and the righteousness of heaven. He stooped into the gutter in order to lift you to Himself.
And the comfort with which He comforted Danny is offered to you as well. The cleansing bath of His Baptism by which He adopted you in grace and made you His own. The sumptuous feast of His Supper, His Body and Blood, in which He gives you not mere crumbs, but a seat at the Table, as His dear child. The sweet voice of His love spoken and preached to you in His Word, through which you have the forgiveness of all yours sins and the hope of the resurrection to eternal life.
People loved by God, hear His Word. Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest it, that by patience and comfort of His holy Word, you may, together with your son and brother and uncle, embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Prince of Peace Lutheran Church - Racine, WI
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father who raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. Amen.
He was laid at the gate of the rich man, placed there in the hope that the man of means would have pity on him. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t bathe himself. Couldn’t dress himself. Couldn’t feed himself. It is likely he couldn’t even communicate very well. He was a beggar. Miserable and rejected. Ignored and forgotten by everyone.
Everyone except One. The Lord remembered him. For the Lord remembers the afflicted and the outcast. It is written, The Lord raises the poor from the dust; He stoops and makes us princes (Ps 113:6-8). He has mercy on poor, miserable beggars. He had mercy on Lazarus. He was helped by God. And in death he was carried by the angels to repose in the bosom of father Abraham, at peace and rest, awaiting the joy of the resurrection of all flesh.
According to the Gospel of St John, there was a pool in Jerusalem, in Aramaic, called Bethesda, where the invalids were laid. The blind, the lame, the paralyzed. Rabbinic legend holds that an angel would come down and stir the pool and the poor souls would clamor to its healing waters. Jesus once healed a man who had been lying there for thirty-eight years, saying, Get up, take up your bed, and walk (Jn 5:8).
This is where Danny was placed. Bethesda. Given to their charge in the hope that those with the means and ability would provide the care and compassion for our dear son and brother and uncle that we could not do on our own.
And in this way the Lord remembered Danny, provided for his needs not only of the body, but also for his soul. The Lord remembered him even when we forgot. The Lord cared for him even when his family could not.
Indeed the Lord cared for him more than we or anyone ever could. For Danny the Father sent His only begotten Son. Sent Jesus to be the outcast, to be afflicted, to be thrown outside the gates. Sent Jesus whose clothing was ripped from Him in His crucifixion. Jesus to whom food and drink were withheld at His death.
Sent Jesus who was ignored and rejected by all, even forsaken His Father in heaven. So that Danny would be none of those things. Sent Jesus so that Danny would receive mercy. So that Danny would be clothed with the robe of Christ’s own righteousness. Sent Jesus so that Danny would be fed with the wholesome Word of forgiveness. Our Father who is in heaven sent His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, so that Danny would receive temporal comfort here on earth and, of utmost importance, eternal rest, being carried by the angels, to recline upon father Abraham’s bosom and await the joy-yet-to-come of the resurrection.
For like the beggar Lazarus, Danny knew his condition. He knew he was a sinner in need of redemption; a beggar in need of divine mercy.
But the rich man, for all his decadence, all his luxury, was cast off to Hades, away from the presence of the Lord, away His mercy. Away from His comfort and rest, consigned for eternity to suffer torment. He was without mercy toward the beggar at his gate, so now the Lord was merciless to him. For he who denies mercy denies Christ.
Yet that man dares to call Abraham his father, even from hell! But it is Abraham who highlights for us the cause of his predicament: he did not listen to Moses and the Prophets; he refused to the heed the Word of the Lord. Despite his faithlessness he received temporal blessing and on account of his unbelief now endured eternal punishment. He serves as a warning. And a lesson in opposites, or better, in what we call the theology of the Cross.
The good things of our Lord are often hidden beneath suffering and shame; masked by what the world considers evil and weak. St Paul says it this way, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. And this is precisely what Danny is. One who suffered in and with Christ who suffered for him. He is a child of the heavenly Father, safely gathered to His fatherly heart, which is nothing less than our Lord Jesus Christ, crucified for us sinners and raised for our salvation, upon whom He bestows His Spirit of adoption as sons.
Behold, I tell you a mystery. Danny is not dead, even as Christ Jesus is not dead. Barb is not dead. Grandpa is not dead. The saints in Christ, made holy by faith in Him, are not dead. They are alive in and with Him who is the Resurrection and the Life. Their bodies are placed into the narrow chamber of the grave, awaiting the resurrection as a dear child is woken by his dear father.
For the truth, the reality, though hidden from our mortal eyes, is that Danny already died in Holy Baptism, even as we confessed this morning. He was buried with Christ in that watery grave. It is like Elijah and the widow’s son.
Grandma, when you and grandpa brought Danny to the waters of Holy Baptism, our Lord spoke these words to you, Give Me your son. There the Lord took Danny from you and made him His own. He snatched him away from the jaws of the devil and the grip of death. He rescued Danny from all his sin and welcomed him into the holy Body of Christ, the Church, through the gift of faith. And then, like Elijah in the story, delivered him to you to love and raise, saying, “See, your son lives.”
So even now Danny is with the Lord Jesus, to whom he belongs. To whom he has always belonged. To a Father who loves him more than any earthly father ever could. To His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ who ransomed Danny in body and soul with His own precious blood and innocent suffering and death. And to God the Holy Spirit who made Danny’s weak, mortal body His Temple. The Blessed Holy Trinity will keep him even as He keeps all His saints.
For by faith in Moses and the Prophets, that is, the Word of Christ Lazarus followed in the train of the saints of old - father Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, David and Samuel, Ruth and Boaz, all his brothers and sisters in Christ. So too Danny. Blessed is the one You chose and bring near to dwell in Your courts! (Ps 65:4a). Danny is gathered with the great cloud of witnesses, patriarchs and prophets, apostles and evangelists, angels and archangels, with Barb and Grandpa, and all the company of heaven around the throne of the Lamb, who was slain yet behold He lives, beholding with his own eyes the glorious face of the Son of God, his Savior, praising him without end.
What about us? The rich man had five brothers for whom he was concerned after his death. He begged father Abraham to send Lazarus back from the dead to warn them. Abraham said to him, “They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.” “No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.” Abraham said, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”
Here we sit. Richer in the Word than they, having not only Moses and the Prophets, but also the Apostles and Evangelists - the totality of the Old and New Testaments - and the One to whom they point and preach, even Jesus Christ, back from the dead! Will we heed His Word? Even as the widow responded to Elijah?
Perhaps you’ve heard the story, but at the end of his life, Dr Luther scribbled something on a piece of paper in German and Latin. It was found in his coat pocket after he died. It read, We are all beggars, this is true.
We may be dressed and fed like the rich man; having everything we need, but when it comes to our place before God we are poor, miserable beggars, all of us. Sore ridden Lazaruses flung at the gate of the Rich Man. Covered in the shabby clothes, the filthy rags of even our best works. The sores of sin festering and infecting our bodies and the lives of those around us. Even the dogs stay away from us.
But Christ had seen our wretched state. And though He was rich, He made Himself poor for your sake, that in Him, you might receive the riches of the kingdom of His Father and the righteousness of heaven. He stooped into the gutter in order to lift you to Himself.
And the comfort with which He comforted Danny is offered to you as well. The cleansing bath of His Baptism by which He adopted you in grace and made you His own. The sumptuous feast of His Supper, His Body and Blood, in which He gives you not mere crumbs, but a seat at the Table, as His dear child. The sweet voice of His love spoken and preached to you in His Word, through which you have the forgiveness of all yours sins and the hope of the resurrection to eternal life.
People loved by God, hear His Word. Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest it, that by patience and comfort of His holy Word, you may, together with your son and brother and uncle, embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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