St Luke 16:19-31/Genesis 15:1-6/1 John 4:16-21
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
“There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between these two ways” (Didache 1:1). But what is the difference between these two ways? What is the difference between the rich man and Lazarus? Appearances can be deceiving.
It was not on account of his luxurious attire or his sumptuous feasting that the rich man ended up in torment in Hades. To be sure Abraham had extravagant wealth, unparalleled in his day or ours! But neither was it on account of his poverty that the sore covered beggar, Lazarus, ended up in heaven, in Abraham’s bosom.
What, then, is the difference between the rich man and Lazarus? It is written, The Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart (1 Sam 16:7). Not for his clothing or his food, but for his rejection of the Word of God, was the rich man condemned. He turned a deaf ear to Moses and the Prophets and thus turned a blind eye to Lazarus.
For in despising preaching and the Word, the rich man despised Christ Himself, whom Moses and the Prophets proclaimed. Despising Christ, he therefore despised the poor man laid at his gate. For how can one say he loves God, whom he has not seen, yet hate his brother whom he has seen? God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. To say it another way: to reject mercy is to reject Christ, who is Mercy Incarnate!
For in this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
The truth is, the rich man, for all his extravagance and luxury, for all the signs that he was living an abundant life, was already dead.
Good works do not earn salvation. You know this. You confess it. Faith alone justifies. But neither do good works strengthen faith.
It would not have mattered if he fed the poor, clothed the needy, acknowledged the beggars, recycled and was green. The rich man denied Jesus Christ as Lord. He did not confess the One who came back from the dead, the One whom Moses and the Prophets spoke of, the One who paid for all his sin, the One who loved him to the end and reconciled him to the Father, making him a child of Abraham. And so he was condemned already. He was dead.
But what about Lazarus? Earthly wealth and prosperity are not necessarily signs of God’s favor. But neither is poverty, of itself, a virtue. Lazarus is laid by others at the gate of the rich man because the communal expectation is that he because he has the means to do so, the rich man will help. This is not socialism, rather it is mercy within the Christian community.
But Lazarus desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. His hunger and desperation had led him to coveting. His desire was for the daily bread of the rich man. Consider the ravens; they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them (Lk 12:24). It is God gives daily bread to everyone.
He coveted that which belonged to another. Does this change your perception of this poor beggar? Consider the beggars you meet. Are they laid by the gate, the top of a bottle showing out of a crumpled paper bag? Do you begrudge them the change from your coffee, skeptical that they’ll misuse it? Do you assume that their poverty and plight are signs of their being cursed for past sins? Do you suppose they are worse off sinners than you?
We ought not confuse suffering with evil. God does not deal in karma. Suffering is not a sign of His punishment. And though he may have coveted the rich man’s food, Lazarus despised the desires of his own flesh. He wished to be rid of them, to be free from sin.
And so he waited. He waited on the Lord who is his Helper. He waited for relief from his suffering. He waited for mercy in the hour of need. He waited for Jesus to come and take him home.
This is the first way, the way of life. And it begins in death; in denying the lusts of the flesh and the sinful desires of the body. It begins by dying to oneself, taking up the Cross and following after Jesus. This is the way of life.
The way of death is this: certainly dishonest sinners, murderers, thieves, fornicators, adulterers, and idolaters shall take the way of the rich man, the broad road that leads to perdition. But so too the virtuous men of this world, who would count their blessings as signs of God’s favor.
And what are your blessings? Family? Children? Freedom? A roof over your head? Clothes on your back? These are the things Christians tend to number when they are told to count their blessings. Why is it that when we sit down at Thanksgiving we pray only for such things? How many of these are simply because you were born in America? How many of them could be taken away tomorrow?
What about faith? The Bible? Moses and the Prophets? The vicarious death of Christ on behalf of sinners? What about Holy Baptism? The forgiveness of sins? These are the blessings counted by Lazarus. Thus does he pray in the words of the Introit: O Lord, I have trusted in Your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Our Lord’s bounty is not measured in material blessings. It is this: Christ Jesus was the Rich Man, who for your sake became poor, that by His poverty you might become rich.
And we have dishonored the Poor Man.
Christ Jesus was laid at the gate, that is, He came into the world, but the world did not acknowledge Him. We rejected and despised Him, mocked and spit upon Him. We dragged Him outside the gate of Jerusalem, split open His hands and feet and side, making gapping sores. He hungered and thirsted for the food and drink His body needed, yet did not serve Himself. He came to serve and to save you. He crossed the great chasm into Hades and has bridged that unbridgeable gap with His Life, in order to bring you, in and with Himself out of death and the grave to the very bosom of the true God and Father in heaven.
This is the love God has for you. He made traitorous rebels His children. He took loveless sinners and made them merciful saints, by the blood of the One whom Moses and the Prophets foretold; the One who came back from the dead in order that you might not die.
When we hear the story of the rich man and Lazarus, none of us would chose to end up in hell like the rich man, but neither do we really want to be like Lazarus, not in this life.
Yet the truth is, beloved, we are all beggars. We receive. Nothing we have it because we made it ourselves. We simply receive. And this is the way of life. To receive life as gift from the Lord of life. Faith is the beggars empty hand, which Christ in love fills by His mercy.
Thus are you brought here, like Lazarus to the gate of the Rich Man. Only Christ does not neglect or ignore you. He meets you at the gate and says, “Come, enter the kingdom of grace, which is yours by faith.” He washes you up in Holy Baptism, cleansing you of your filth and stain. He treats your sores and wounds with the healing balm of His Gospel, which is the forgiveness of your sins. And He sets the banquet before you saying, “Come; take and eat, take and drink, My Body and Blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
Fear not. Have confidence for the Day of Judgment. You shall not be cast off in Hades. You shall not suffer in anguish and torment. You shall not go to the land of the dead. You shall live. You are forgiven. You shall dwell in peace and comfort. For you have heard Moses and the Prophets. You have given ear to their preaching, which is the preaching of the Apostles and also your pastors. which proclaims Christ to you.
And you depart here beggars still, but rich beggars. For you have the very treasure of heaven, which is yours in Christ Jesus. So you have come to know and to believe the love that God has for you. Thus do you love God and use the blessings He has given you for the good of your neighbor in need. You who have received mercy are merciful, as your Father in heaven. You defend your neighbor, speak well of him, help him to improve his possessions. Serve him in love with the bounty the Lord has freely provided to you.
This is the way of life. “See that no one leads you astray from this way of the teaching” (Didache 6:1). For by His grace you believe His Word and He reckons this faith to you as righteousness.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
“There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between these two ways” (Didache 1:1). But what is the difference between these two ways? What is the difference between the rich man and Lazarus? Appearances can be deceiving.
It was not on account of his luxurious attire or his sumptuous feasting that the rich man ended up in torment in Hades. To be sure Abraham had extravagant wealth, unparalleled in his day or ours! But neither was it on account of his poverty that the sore covered beggar, Lazarus, ended up in heaven, in Abraham’s bosom.
What, then, is the difference between the rich man and Lazarus? It is written, The Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart (1 Sam 16:7). Not for his clothing or his food, but for his rejection of the Word of God, was the rich man condemned. He turned a deaf ear to Moses and the Prophets and thus turned a blind eye to Lazarus.
For in despising preaching and the Word, the rich man despised Christ Himself, whom Moses and the Prophets proclaimed. Despising Christ, he therefore despised the poor man laid at his gate. For how can one say he loves God, whom he has not seen, yet hate his brother whom he has seen? God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. To say it another way: to reject mercy is to reject Christ, who is Mercy Incarnate!
For in this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
The truth is, the rich man, for all his extravagance and luxury, for all the signs that he was living an abundant life, was already dead.
Good works do not earn salvation. You know this. You confess it. Faith alone justifies. But neither do good works strengthen faith.
It would not have mattered if he fed the poor, clothed the needy, acknowledged the beggars, recycled and was green. The rich man denied Jesus Christ as Lord. He did not confess the One who came back from the dead, the One whom Moses and the Prophets spoke of, the One who paid for all his sin, the One who loved him to the end and reconciled him to the Father, making him a child of Abraham. And so he was condemned already. He was dead.
But what about Lazarus? Earthly wealth and prosperity are not necessarily signs of God’s favor. But neither is poverty, of itself, a virtue. Lazarus is laid by others at the gate of the rich man because the communal expectation is that he because he has the means to do so, the rich man will help. This is not socialism, rather it is mercy within the Christian community.
But Lazarus desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. His hunger and desperation had led him to coveting. His desire was for the daily bread of the rich man. Consider the ravens; they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them (Lk 12:24). It is God gives daily bread to everyone.
He coveted that which belonged to another. Does this change your perception of this poor beggar? Consider the beggars you meet. Are they laid by the gate, the top of a bottle showing out of a crumpled paper bag? Do you begrudge them the change from your coffee, skeptical that they’ll misuse it? Do you assume that their poverty and plight are signs of their being cursed for past sins? Do you suppose they are worse off sinners than you?
We ought not confuse suffering with evil. God does not deal in karma. Suffering is not a sign of His punishment. And though he may have coveted the rich man’s food, Lazarus despised the desires of his own flesh. He wished to be rid of them, to be free from sin.
And so he waited. He waited on the Lord who is his Helper. He waited for relief from his suffering. He waited for mercy in the hour of need. He waited for Jesus to come and take him home.
This is the first way, the way of life. And it begins in death; in denying the lusts of the flesh and the sinful desires of the body. It begins by dying to oneself, taking up the Cross and following after Jesus. This is the way of life.
The way of death is this: certainly dishonest sinners, murderers, thieves, fornicators, adulterers, and idolaters shall take the way of the rich man, the broad road that leads to perdition. But so too the virtuous men of this world, who would count their blessings as signs of God’s favor.
And what are your blessings? Family? Children? Freedom? A roof over your head? Clothes on your back? These are the things Christians tend to number when they are told to count their blessings. Why is it that when we sit down at Thanksgiving we pray only for such things? How many of these are simply because you were born in America? How many of them could be taken away tomorrow?
What about faith? The Bible? Moses and the Prophets? The vicarious death of Christ on behalf of sinners? What about Holy Baptism? The forgiveness of sins? These are the blessings counted by Lazarus. Thus does he pray in the words of the Introit: O Lord, I have trusted in Your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord because He has dealt bountifully with me.
Our Lord’s bounty is not measured in material blessings. It is this: Christ Jesus was the Rich Man, who for your sake became poor, that by His poverty you might become rich.
And we have dishonored the Poor Man.
Christ Jesus was laid at the gate, that is, He came into the world, but the world did not acknowledge Him. We rejected and despised Him, mocked and spit upon Him. We dragged Him outside the gate of Jerusalem, split open His hands and feet and side, making gapping sores. He hungered and thirsted for the food and drink His body needed, yet did not serve Himself. He came to serve and to save you. He crossed the great chasm into Hades and has bridged that unbridgeable gap with His Life, in order to bring you, in and with Himself out of death and the grave to the very bosom of the true God and Father in heaven.
This is the love God has for you. He made traitorous rebels His children. He took loveless sinners and made them merciful saints, by the blood of the One whom Moses and the Prophets foretold; the One who came back from the dead in order that you might not die.
When we hear the story of the rich man and Lazarus, none of us would chose to end up in hell like the rich man, but neither do we really want to be like Lazarus, not in this life.
Yet the truth is, beloved, we are all beggars. We receive. Nothing we have it because we made it ourselves. We simply receive. And this is the way of life. To receive life as gift from the Lord of life. Faith is the beggars empty hand, which Christ in love fills by His mercy.
Thus are you brought here, like Lazarus to the gate of the Rich Man. Only Christ does not neglect or ignore you. He meets you at the gate and says, “Come, enter the kingdom of grace, which is yours by faith.” He washes you up in Holy Baptism, cleansing you of your filth and stain. He treats your sores and wounds with the healing balm of His Gospel, which is the forgiveness of your sins. And He sets the banquet before you saying, “Come; take and eat, take and drink, My Body and Blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
Fear not. Have confidence for the Day of Judgment. You shall not be cast off in Hades. You shall not suffer in anguish and torment. You shall not go to the land of the dead. You shall live. You are forgiven. You shall dwell in peace and comfort. For you have heard Moses and the Prophets. You have given ear to their preaching, which is the preaching of the Apostles and also your pastors. which proclaims Christ to you.
And you depart here beggars still, but rich beggars. For you have the very treasure of heaven, which is yours in Christ Jesus. So you have come to know and to believe the love that God has for you. Thus do you love God and use the blessings He has given you for the good of your neighbor in need. You who have received mercy are merciful, as your Father in heaven. You defend your neighbor, speak well of him, help him to improve his possessions. Serve him in love with the bounty the Lord has freely provided to you.
This is the way of life. “See that no one leads you astray from this way of the teaching” (Didache 6:1). For by His grace you believe His Word and He reckons this faith to you as righteousness.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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