St Luke 16:19-31 /1 John 4:16-21/ Genesis 15:1-6
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
He has no name. He is simply known as a rich man. Certainly he was well known in the community, his name whispered on the lips of the masses that desired to be him, to feast with him, to bask in his wealth and splendor. Men will sell themselves for the chance to indulge in the company of the rich and powerful.
But for all his lavish feasting and extravagant attire, he is unknown. Dead and forgotten. Vanity of vanities. A chasing after the wind. All is vanity! He has no name. It is revealing, for why should he be named on this earth, when his name is not written in the Book of Life?
But the poor man, whom no one regarded, the one who was laid at the gate to rot, who found no mercy from his brothers and sisters, but only pity from dogs who would offer some relief by licking his wounds – he is named.
And his name is a confession; a statement of in Whom his trust and hope are placed. It was not in power and prestige, wealth and popularity, as the rich man. He is Lazarus. His name means, “one whose help is God.” He lacked any worldly possessions. His open sores were tended to only by stray canines. He longed to eat of the crumbs that fell from the table of the rich man. And yet I tell you this poor beggar possessed all the riches of heaven! He was clothed in the splendor and majesty of the King of kings. And he was given to eat from the full bounty of our Lord’s grace and mercy.
For he is named with God’s own Name! He is sealed with the promise of the One who, though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich (1 Cor 8). And He does not lie. His Name is His covenant. He is not like the sports arena, named one thing one day and changed the next. This is the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God who is Love. And He is Lazarus’ Shield. And his reward was very great: he was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom and he who in his lifetime received bad things, now is comforted. Kyrie eleison! Lord, have mercy!
But make no mistake, dear Christian, earthly suffering does not merit grace with God. Though neither is earthly wealth a sign of His favor. Abram knew both; he was extremely wealthy, yet also suffered for the sake of the promise. Neither garnered blessing with God.
But it is written, Abram believed the Lord and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. Now righteousness is nothing else than believing God when He makes a promise. And that despite our failings, our misgivings, our own emotions and feelings, our own desires and tendencies, even the world itself, despite all evidence to the contrary, trusting God at His Word, submitting to it, as one who receives, and abiding in His Love. To be like the childless one whose name means “father of many,” or the poor beggar, “helped by God.”
In short, Abram was justified by faith alone. So too Lazarus. So also you. But such faith is never alone, dear ones. St John writes, This commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. Let no one comfort himself that he shares the faith of Abraham if he is without love toward the brother. Faith alone justifies; but justifying faith is never alone, it is always accompanied by the fruits of faith, the works of love, as St John describes: We love because He first loved us.
What is the shape of this life of love? Why, it is cruciform. It looks not to the self, but to the other. It is written, God is Love. He is agape, that is, giving love, serving love, sacrificial love. Love that needs an object, that needs an other, a hetero, to give to. And so God created man in His image to love, to give to, to serve, to be the object of His perfect sacrificial love, to be His Holy Bride.
Our Lord says, I came not to be served, but to serve, and to give My life as a ransom for many; and again, Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word. Marriage is profound mystery indeed, but it is an icon of a deeper reality – Christ and the Church.
Thus the Lord, our God and Father, gives to Abram, without any merit or worthiness in him. He gives to Lazarus, that poor, miserable beggar. He gives to you; for you are His other, His holy Bride. This is the way of Christian faith. We love because He first loved us.
And Abram, a child of God, an heir of righteousness, exemplifies this love. For he considers Eliezer, his servant, to be a member of his own household, and an heir. He was prepared to sacrifice all for one who did not share his blood! He looks to another, and in love, served him. Eliezer is his Lazarus. Who is yours? Consider your place in life according to the Ten Commandments – are you a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, or worker?
But not so the rich man. He did not agape as God is agape. He ignored the beggar at his gate; grotesquely gorged himself as the poor man wasted away. He consumed the feast of self-love, lusting after self-gratification, after the homo, that is, the same, and despised the fast of sacrificial-love, of agape, of love for the other, for the hetero. It is written, Is not this the fast that I choose, [says the Lord]: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house, when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? (Is 58:6-7)
Repent. Love has not been perfected in us. For we all have hated our brother. We are all liars. We all have received our good things and, failing to return thanks for them, have gorged ourselves as the poor man at the gate wastes away.
And so my dear Christians, repent, but do not despair. Listen to Moses and the Prophets. For they tell of One who has had mercy and compassion on you. He has traversed the great chasm that separated you from Him. And who has dipped you in the water of His Baptism and has cleansed you of all unrighteousness.
Jesus Christ is your Lazarus! Though He was rich in the majesty of the Godhead, for your sake He took on the lowly form of a servant, bearing the poverty of your sin and guilt and death, so that we may have confidence for the day of Judgment. He is the Promised Seed of Abraham, the Seed of the Woman, who crushed the skull of the serpent and has rolled back the curtain of death for you.
This is the Love the Father has for you, that in His Son He has made you sons. For He is the One who has risen from the dead as Moses and the Prophets, the Holy Scriptures bear witness. And He brings you comfort and the forgiveness of sins, mercy and life. He is your Shield. By faith you are reckoned as righteous in His sight. You are the offspring of Abraham, the beloved of Christ, His other, His Bride, bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh.
For you have been named with the Name of the Lord and clothed with the blessed wedding garment of salvation, better than fine linen, in the refreshing waters of Holy Baptism! And the angels are given charge over you, for in Christ you are heirs of the household.
And more, let your heart rejoice in His salvation – for you are brought here, to the very gate of heaven, to His Divine Service. And you are given a share in the bounty of His grace, a place at the Table of the Rich Man. And you receive the very Body and Blood of your Lazarus, your Jesus, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
Do not be ashamed to be sinners, dear ones. For you are. But Christ died only for sinners. Indeed we are beggars. And like dogs, we come and lap up the precious blood from the wounds of our Lazarus.
Have no fear, the perfect love of Christ has cast out your enemies, and at the last His angels shall come, and to Abr’ham’s bosom bear you home. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
He has no name. He is simply known as a rich man. Certainly he was well known in the community, his name whispered on the lips of the masses that desired to be him, to feast with him, to bask in his wealth and splendor. Men will sell themselves for the chance to indulge in the company of the rich and powerful.
But for all his lavish feasting and extravagant attire, he is unknown. Dead and forgotten. Vanity of vanities. A chasing after the wind. All is vanity! He has no name. It is revealing, for why should he be named on this earth, when his name is not written in the Book of Life?
But the poor man, whom no one regarded, the one who was laid at the gate to rot, who found no mercy from his brothers and sisters, but only pity from dogs who would offer some relief by licking his wounds – he is named.
And his name is a confession; a statement of in Whom his trust and hope are placed. It was not in power and prestige, wealth and popularity, as the rich man. He is Lazarus. His name means, “one whose help is God.” He lacked any worldly possessions. His open sores were tended to only by stray canines. He longed to eat of the crumbs that fell from the table of the rich man. And yet I tell you this poor beggar possessed all the riches of heaven! He was clothed in the splendor and majesty of the King of kings. And he was given to eat from the full bounty of our Lord’s grace and mercy.
For he is named with God’s own Name! He is sealed with the promise of the One who, though He was rich, for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich (1 Cor 8). And He does not lie. His Name is His covenant. He is not like the sports arena, named one thing one day and changed the next. This is the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The God who is Love. And He is Lazarus’ Shield. And his reward was very great: he was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom and he who in his lifetime received bad things, now is comforted. Kyrie eleison! Lord, have mercy!
But make no mistake, dear Christian, earthly suffering does not merit grace with God. Though neither is earthly wealth a sign of His favor. Abram knew both; he was extremely wealthy, yet also suffered for the sake of the promise. Neither garnered blessing with God.
But it is written, Abram believed the Lord and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. Now righteousness is nothing else than believing God when He makes a promise. And that despite our failings, our misgivings, our own emotions and feelings, our own desires and tendencies, even the world itself, despite all evidence to the contrary, trusting God at His Word, submitting to it, as one who receives, and abiding in His Love. To be like the childless one whose name means “father of many,” or the poor beggar, “helped by God.”
In short, Abram was justified by faith alone. So too Lazarus. So also you. But such faith is never alone, dear ones. St John writes, This commandment we have from Him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. Let no one comfort himself that he shares the faith of Abraham if he is without love toward the brother. Faith alone justifies; but justifying faith is never alone, it is always accompanied by the fruits of faith, the works of love, as St John describes: We love because He first loved us.
What is the shape of this life of love? Why, it is cruciform. It looks not to the self, but to the other. It is written, God is Love. He is agape, that is, giving love, serving love, sacrificial love. Love that needs an object, that needs an other, a hetero, to give to. And so God created man in His image to love, to give to, to serve, to be the object of His perfect sacrificial love, to be His Holy Bride.
Our Lord says, I came not to be served, but to serve, and to give My life as a ransom for many; and again, Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word. Marriage is profound mystery indeed, but it is an icon of a deeper reality – Christ and the Church.
Thus the Lord, our God and Father, gives to Abram, without any merit or worthiness in him. He gives to Lazarus, that poor, miserable beggar. He gives to you; for you are His other, His holy Bride. This is the way of Christian faith. We love because He first loved us.
And Abram, a child of God, an heir of righteousness, exemplifies this love. For he considers Eliezer, his servant, to be a member of his own household, and an heir. He was prepared to sacrifice all for one who did not share his blood! He looks to another, and in love, served him. Eliezer is his Lazarus. Who is yours? Consider your place in life according to the Ten Commandments – are you a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, or worker?
But not so the rich man. He did not agape as God is agape. He ignored the beggar at his gate; grotesquely gorged himself as the poor man wasted away. He consumed the feast of self-love, lusting after self-gratification, after the homo, that is, the same, and despised the fast of sacrificial-love, of agape, of love for the other, for the hetero. It is written, Is not this the fast that I choose, [says the Lord]: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house, when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? (Is 58:6-7)
Repent. Love has not been perfected in us. For we all have hated our brother. We are all liars. We all have received our good things and, failing to return thanks for them, have gorged ourselves as the poor man at the gate wastes away.
And so my dear Christians, repent, but do not despair. Listen to Moses and the Prophets. For they tell of One who has had mercy and compassion on you. He has traversed the great chasm that separated you from Him. And who has dipped you in the water of His Baptism and has cleansed you of all unrighteousness.
Jesus Christ is your Lazarus! Though He was rich in the majesty of the Godhead, for your sake He took on the lowly form of a servant, bearing the poverty of your sin and guilt and death, so that we may have confidence for the day of Judgment. He is the Promised Seed of Abraham, the Seed of the Woman, who crushed the skull of the serpent and has rolled back the curtain of death for you.
This is the Love the Father has for you, that in His Son He has made you sons. For He is the One who has risen from the dead as Moses and the Prophets, the Holy Scriptures bear witness. And He brings you comfort and the forgiveness of sins, mercy and life. He is your Shield. By faith you are reckoned as righteous in His sight. You are the offspring of Abraham, the beloved of Christ, His other, His Bride, bone of His bone and flesh of His flesh.
For you have been named with the Name of the Lord and clothed with the blessed wedding garment of salvation, better than fine linen, in the refreshing waters of Holy Baptism! And the angels are given charge over you, for in Christ you are heirs of the household.
And more, let your heart rejoice in His salvation – for you are brought here, to the very gate of heaven, to His Divine Service. And you are given a share in the bounty of His grace, a place at the Table of the Rich Man. And you receive the very Body and Blood of your Lazarus, your Jesus, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
Do not be ashamed to be sinners, dear ones. For you are. But Christ died only for sinners. Indeed we are beggars. And like dogs, we come and lap up the precious blood from the wounds of our Lazarus.
Have no fear, the perfect love of Christ has cast out your enemies, and at the last His angels shall come, and to Abr’ham’s bosom bear you home. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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