Has anyone gone through rehabilitation? Has anyone gone through physical therapy? Maybe it is just exercising or eating right? Is it easy to do? Is it painful? Why do we do it? A lot of people have seen me on my crutches and how slow I go and say hey can’t you use your scooter? Yeah I could and it would be easier, but my leg wouldn’t get better. I could keep using this boot and crutches, but again my foot would never get better. I have to go through pain, difficulty, strain, and time so that I can walk again. It is a lot of work, it’s not easy, and I have to push myself to do things that sometimes I am scared to do. Believe me that I don’t want to do it, but I know it is the only way that I can walk correctly again.

Your old man wants you to be comfortable. It tells you that it’s okay to eat that extra helping, you deserve it. It’s okay to just veg out on the coach instead of exercising you deserve it. Go ahead and play video games instead of working. Your old man wants you to feast sumptuously on this life. Your old man wants you to take on all the comforts that this world has to offer. Why? You deserve it.

Let’s talk about what you deserve. What do you deserve for working hard? Nothing. Just as Adam was told this carries on to you.
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
What do you deserve for taking care of your body? Nothing. Just as Adam was formed by God that carries on in the proof from Jeremiah “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” You are supposed to work hard, you are supposed to take care of your body because you are God’s creation. Your sin inherited from Adam and your actual sin that you commit daily means you deserve nothing, but damnation just like the rich man.

Too many times you are whispered to “You deserve this…” or “You deserve that…” from the world, from satan, and especially from your sinful self. This takes your eyes of what you truly are deserving of and who is really deserving of your time, attention and energy.

In this life you are commanded to follow God’s Law. You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as yourself. Will this be easy? No. Will this be painful? Most likely. Just like anything that is truly for your benefit takes time, discipline, sacrifice and most likely giving up comfort. It is comfortable just to come to the divine service and do no more in this church. It is comfortable to say I don’t need to come to bible study, I already have had enough of God. It is comfortable to say I have already done a lot for this church so I don’t need to do anything else. It is comfortable to say I don’t have to be involved, someone else will take care of it. Are you finding comfort in this world or the next? It’s comfortable not bringing up God in front of your neighbors, it’s comfortable doing your will and not God’s, but just as the rich man if you seek your comforts in this life you will be in anguish in the next.

Let it also be clear that you don’t have to live in squalor, or in extreme poverty like Lazarus did to get to heaven. This is not the takeaway from this Gospel reading. Him being poor is not why Lazarus is comforted in Abraham’s bosom. Neither will giving up your comforts in this life. If salvation was based on your works no one would be in heaven. On the other hand, if you don’t know God’s Word, just like the rich man you also will not believe in the Messiah.

Lazarus trusted in God. This is implied because he was in Abraham’s bosom, because he has a name and the rich man does not. This is also implied because Abraham tells the rich man that his family has Moses and the Prophets. Are Moses and the prophets still alive? No. These are the writings, this is the Torah the laws of God, and the Nevi’im the prophets. This is speaking ot the Holy Scripture which you also have. For in scripture Lazarus knew of the promise of the Messiah. He looked to the Messiah as the one who would save him from himself, that would save him from this sinful world. You too have the scripture that tells you of Christ. It tells you are a sinner in need of a Savior and that He Jesus Christ is that Messiah, He died for you to forgive you of your sins.

Jesus gave up the comfort of heaven, He gave up the comfort of a home, He gave up the comfort of popularity and went toward suffering and death for your sake. He gave up comforts because He knew that you could not, that you would fall short. However, He did everything perfectly. He suffered in your place so that you could have a new life so that you could be perfected. It is through His knowledge of the Word that He could keep it perfectly and fulfilled all of it to the dot and the tilda. He became the scapegoat so you could be declared innocent. He bore the cross and faced the wrath of God unto death so you could be at the feast of victory, that you could be part of His flock.

Now you truly do have comfort. You have comfort that you are saved. You have comfort knowing that your name is in the Book of Life. You have God’s name placed upon you, you have the Holy Spirit. Forgiveness of sins is yours. For Christ says that you receive through scripture that your sins are forgiven. You have eternal life. This is the comfort that this world does not know. This is the comfort Lazarus has. This is the comfort you dear Christian have. You are in the bosom of Abraham for you are covered in the blood of the Lamb. The blood of the all atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. You have this comfort because you are baptized. You know you are washed clean. You have this comfort in confession and absolution because God declares you forgiven by the office of the keys. You have this comfort in the Lord’s Supper where the Lord gives you His very body and blood for the forgiveness of sins. You have this comfort in His Word which continues to reveal His grace to the lost and the dead.
The comforts in this world are only temporary and never give reprieve. The sacrifices you make are no benefit if you don’t have the Lord. Only through Christ can you have comfort. He has given you this comfort so you have hope in this fallen world. He has given you comfort that when you do face trials He will be with you. He gives you comfort so that you may face pain and difficulty. He gives you comfort so that you can have the peace that surpasses all understanding. He has opened up eternal life to you, He has given you a new home. You have that guarantee. He has even given you the comfort that when you do fall short that He will forgive you. He gives you comfort knowing that He will hear your prayers and give you the strength you need. He continues to sustain you and strengthen you. Jesus Christ, the suffering servant, has robed you with perfection, and given you riches beyond measure. He gave this to Lazarus and He gives this to you. He has given you His Word both the Scripture and as a promise that you will be with Him in paradise.

SDG

Pr. Daniel Holm

Luke 16
19 “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.'”